[Mortality and morbidity of premature infants].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Sidiropoulos.
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Eighty-two neonates suffering from widespread infection detected at an early stage were treated either with antibiotics alone or with antibiotics combined with immunoglobulins administered intravenously. In 35 children, haemocultures demonstrated septicaemia due to E. coli, Klebsiella spp., staphylococci or anaerobes. Following a 6 days' treatment with immunoglobulins i.v. (0.5 g/day in prematures and 1.0 g/day in children born at term) serum IgG levels were considerably increased. Already in children born in the 28 th week of gestation IgG levels were similar to those of children born at term. This increase in serum IgG's resulted in a 26% to 10% (p = 0.16) overall fall in death rate. In prematures, the death rate, which was 44% in children who had not received IgG's, fell to 8%. In 47 neonates without septicaemia the death rate was 15% without, and 10% with IgG. Immunoglobulin infusions were well tolerated. Clinical and immunological investigations performed between the ages of 1 and 4 years showed no difference in growth rate, psychomotor development, susceptibility to infections and immune functions between children who had received immunoglobulin during the neonatal period and those who had not. After intravenous administration of immunoglobulins in high doses (12 g/24 h) to mothers 1 to 3 weeks before premature delivery (33 rd to 35 th week of gestation rise in serum IgG levels was observed in either mothers or children. Higher i.v. doses (120 g over 5 days) given between the 27 th and 32 nd weeks of gestation resulted in an increase of serum IgG levels in mothers but had no influence on serum IgG levels in their children.
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The therapeutic effect of a polyvalent immunoglobulin preparation for intravenous use was tested in 82 newborns with bacterial infections. 35 of the children had neonatal sepsis, whereas in the other 47 bacteremia was not detectable. Treatment consisted either of antibiotics only or of antibiotics combined wih immunoglobulin SRK on an alternating basis for the first six days. Immunoglobulin substitution was tolerated without complications. In the group of infants with neonatal sepsis, two of 20 (10%) who were substituted with immunoglobulin and four of 15 (26%) who received no immunoglobulin died. Likewise, in the group of patients without detectable bacteremia, two of 21 on immunoglobulin substitution (10%) and four of the 26 who were not substituted (15%) died. The low mortality observed in the present study was attributed to efforts at early diagnosis and conventional early treatment on the one hand, and to immunoglobulin substitution on the other. To detect possible late sequelae of immunoglobulin therapy, particularly in hypogammaglobulinemic premature newborns, clinical and immunological investigations were performed in the septic patient group at the age of one to four years. There were no indications that administration of immunoglobulins during the neonatal period might have had an adverse effect on psychomotor and somatic development or on the immunological maturation of the infants.
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The fundi of 87 full-term newborns were repeatedly photographed from 2 to 144 h of life. At 2 h of life the width of the temporal arteries in the peripapillary area was about 100 micrometers and that of the nasal arteries about 70 micrometers, and all gradually decreased by about 30% during uneventful adaptation in room air. This decrease did not correlate with concomitant tcpO2 and blood pressure measurements. In most babies the arteries were slightly tortuous at 2 h of life and gradually straightened during adaptation. In some babies, however, there was marked tortuosity at 2 h of life, and this finding was significantly correlated with fetal risk factors. We conclude that marked tortuosity is a sign of passed acute fetal distress and that funduscopy in risk babies should be promoted.
The authors discuss the reasons for the frequently fatal outcome of infections in the newborn and report their own bacteriological findings in cases of perinatal infections. The predominant organisms were group D streptococci, staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, and anerobic bacteria, most of which were sensitive to clindamycin. Following introduction of clindamycin therapy, in combination with an aminoglycoside or ampicillin, the duration of hospitalization was shortened by an average of six days, and the duration of treatment by an average of three days.
Individual bile acids were determined in twenty-nine amniotic fluid specimens obtained from twenty-six women between the 32nd and 41st week of gestation. Total bile acid concentration ranged from 0.4 to 4.8 mumol/l with a mean of 1.57 mumol/l. Besides the two major bile acids of man, cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid, 3beta-hydroxy-5-cholenoic acid was found in all, lithocholic acid in ten and deoxycholic acid in nine of the twenty-nine amniotic fluid samples. 3beta-Hydroxy-5-cholenoic acid averaged 39.8% of total bile acids during 32-37 weeks of gestation and 20.2% at term (P less than 0.01). These findings point towards important differences between fetal and adult bile metabolism and may reflect maturation of hepatic bile acid biosynthesis near term.
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The results of an evaluation over 4 years (1973-1976) of 16,620 BM-tests (Boehringer-Mannheim newborn screening for cystic fibrosis) at 8 hospitals in Switzerland are presented and the data from analysis of albumin, protein and alpha1-antitrypsin concentrations, and on trypsin-inhibitory capacity of the meconia are discussed. 99.5% of the tests were negative. Of the remaining 0.5% BM-positive tests, the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis required confirmation by sweat test and clinical course in 6 cases, or 0.04% of the total collective. The test was false-negative in 2 cases (0.012%), of which one had a primary pulmonary form of cystic fibrosis. The study shows that the BM-test, as screening test for cystic fibrosis, makes it possible to distinguish between "normal" and "suspect". By calculating the ratio albumin to alpha1-antitrypsin, it would be possible to verify the probability of a reliable diagnosis as early as a few days after birth. As before, however, it would be indispensable to confirm the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis by a sweat test with pilocarpin iontophoresis. By consistent screening in all obstetric and pediatric clinics it would be possible to improve early diagnosis still further.
Studies of the bile acids of human meconium suggest that a fetal pathway of bile acid synthesis exists which leads to formation of 3beta-hydroxy-5-cholenoic acid, a bile acid not found in serum of healthy pregnant women. To obtain additional support for this hypothesis, cholic, chenodeoxycholic, and 3beta-hydroxy-5-cholenoic acid were measured in amniotic fluid specimens from 18 pregnant women without liver disease. The finding of a considerable percentage of 3beta-hydroxy-5-cholenoic acid (mean: 34 molar %; range 3-71 molar % of total bile acids) in amniotic fluid strengthens the hypothesis that a fetal pathway of bile acid synthesis exists which begins with oxidation of the cholesterol side chain.
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The mechanism inducing milk secretion in 10 puerperal women and in their children (Witch's milk) was studied by means of sequential hormone measurements starting at delivery and continued during the first postpartum week. Determinations included prolactin (PRL), growth hormone (GH), estradiol 17beta (E217beta), and progesterone (PG). Hormonal levels in the newborns closely paralleled those of the mothers. In both groups, the onset of milk secretion coincided with the disappearance of sex steroids from plasma in the presence of elevated PRL concentrations. Response to TRH (8 microng/kg) revealed adequate PRL reserve, and failure of this peptide to modify basal GH in the neonates was suggestive of appropriate hypothalamic control. The role of estrogens in the induction of pituitary hyperplasia during pregnancy is discussed.
Bile acid concentration was measured in amniotic fluid obtained for standard indications from 11 healthy pregnant women without polyhydramnios (28 to 42 weeks of gestation) and from 9 patients with polyhydramnios (28 to 38 weeks of gestation). Two of the latter women delivered infants with intestinal obstruction distal to the papilla of Vater, a condition that causes regurgitation of bile into the amniotic fluid. In the women without polyhydramios, the total bile acid concentration ranged from 1.4 to 2.4 micronmol/liter. In the seven patients with polyhydramnios not associated with fetal intestinal obstruction, the bile acid concentration in amniotic fluid was not significantly different (0.9 to 1.9 micronmol/liter). By contrast, the bile acid concentration in amniotic fluid specimens from the two patients with polyhydramnios who gave birth to children with intestinal obstruction was considerably elevated (30.3 to 83.1 micronmol/liter). These findings suggest that determination of bile acid concentration in amniotic fluid permits prenatal diagnosis of intestinal obstruction distal to the papilla of Vater.
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