Acta Paediatrica

AIM: We examined actual fluid intake, and routes of administration, in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants during the first week of life in a neonatal intensive care unit. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study comprised 953 infants born at less than 32 weeks and 1500g and treated at Helsinki University Children's Hospital from 2005-2013. All parenterally and enterally administered fluids, and their sources, were obtained from our patient information system. Infants were divided into three groups according to their gestational age: 23-26, 27-29 and 30-31 weeks...

AIM: To explore Swedish healthcare professionals' (HCPs) clinical experiences of the informed consent process (ICP) and to compare experiences between the professions. METHODS: In this nationwide study six paediatric oncologists (POs) and eight research nurses (ReNs) from all Swedish paediatric oncology centres were interviewed. The material was analysed using Grounded theory, a qualitative constant comparative method. RESULTS: The participants' main concern was how to fulfil research obligations without putting too much strain on a family in acute crisis, which led to the core category of balancing values and obligations of both healthcare and research...

AIM: Breastfeeding is associated with IQ, school attendance and income. Despite the known benefits of breastfeeding, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6-months is low globally. We examined the effect of short-term breastfeeding on long-term IQ. METHODS: In this secondary analysis of the prospective Cork BASELINE Birth Cohort Study, children were categorised as predominantly breastfed (n = 288) versus exclusively formula-fed (n = 254) at 2-months of age. Infants (n = 404) receiving mixed-feeding were excluded...

AIM: Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine (BCG) has been suggested to induce the primary immunity needed for the subsequent Kawasaki disease (KD). We studied the epidemiology of KD before and after the universal BCG vaccination ended in Finland in September 2006. METHODS: KD cases were retrieved from national health registries from 1996-2016 for annual incidence rates. We then compared 612433 children born in the BCG vaccination era, from 1 January 1996 to 30 August 2006, to 604163 born after BCG era, from 1 September 2006 to 31 December 2016...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

AIM: To investigate inter-institutional differences in preterm infant stabilisation between two European tertiary neonatal centres with particular focus on intubation timing, surfactant administration, caffeine therapy and neonatal morbidity and mortality. METHODS: Retrospective (2012-2014) study of very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants admitted to John Radcliffe Hospital (UK centre) and Charité Medical Centre (German centre). Timing of intubation, surfactant and caffeine administration and respiratory outcomes were examined...

AIM: We evaluated the effect that increasing physical education lessons from 1.5 to 4.5 hours per week for five years had on the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumferences of children aged 5-11 years at inclusion. METHODS: From 2008-2013, six intervention schools in Svendborg, Denmark, delivered 4.5 hours of physical education lessons per week to 750 children. Meanwhile, four matched control schools gave 549 children the standard 1.5 hours of physical education lessons per week...

AIM: Bubbly/cystic appearance on chest X-ray is an important factor in cases of severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia. We aimed to determine whether chest X-ray-based bronchopulmonary dysplasia classifications obtained in extremely premature infants with oxygen dependency at 28 days after birth (BPD28) is associated with wheezing disorders. METHODS: This was a multicentre retrospective cohort study of population data from infants (body weight, <1,500g) enrolled in the Neonatal Research Network of Japan...

AIM: This study examined long-term associations between mother-child interactions and parenting styles and electronic screen time. METHODS: We studied 280 healthy children (53.2% girls) enrolled at a mean age of 36 ±0.4 months from February 2015 to September 2016. The study included retrospective data on 267 children who had been recruited from medical facilities in Thailand at six months of age. Mother-child interaction, parenting styles and screen time were assessed at various ages and path analyses were performed to elucidate the directionality and relationships between the variables...

AIM: To investigate the relationships between pain in the lower extremities and back, and spasticity, bone/joint complications, and mobility. METHODS: Retrospective population-based registry study. Participants (N = 3,256) with cerebral palsy (CP), 2.5-16 years of age, participating in the Swedish Cerebral Palsy Follow-Up Program were included. Spasticity was measured using scissoring and the Modified Ashworth Scale. Bone/joint complications consisted of hip displacement, range of motion, windswept posture, and scoliosis...

AIM: Very preterm children born less than 32 weeks of gestation are at risk for motor difficulties such as cerebral palsy and developmental coordination disorder. This study explores the association between diffusion tensor imaging metrics at term and motor outcomes at 11 years of age. METHODS: A cohort of 37 very preterm infants (mean gestational age 29 4/7, SD 2 0/7) born in 2004-2006 in Turku University Hospital underwent diffusion tensor imaging at term. A region-of-interest analysis of fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity was performed...

AIM: Studies indicate that reduced fetal haemoglobin levels are related to increased neonatal morbidity rates. This study investigated the relationships between sampling-related blood loss and adult blood transfusions administered during postnatal day 1-14 and the development of severe neonatal morbidities in extremely preterm infants born before 28 weeks of gestation. METHODS: The medical files of 149 extremely preterm infants born at two university hospitals in Sweden from 2013 to 2018 were investigated...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The cerebral sulci and gyri develop in an orderly way following preterm birth, as demonstrated by fetal or serial postnatal imaging following preterm birth. Primary gyration, or cortical folding, occurs mainly between 19-32 weeks of gestation. Large grooves that subdivide the brain in lobes and regions appear, driven by complex forces in the cortex, white matter and germinal matrix. By 36 weeks, most secondary and tertiary sulci are formed and primary sulci are deeper and tighter. A focal cortical brain injury can change cortical and gyral morphology at either stage (1)...

AIM: Decades of research confirm that children and adolescents in out-of-home care (foster family, residential care) have much greater healthcare needs than their peers. A systematic literature review was conducted to evaluate organizational healthcare models for this vulnerable group. METHODS: A systematic literature search was undertaken of the following databases: Academic Search Elite, CENTRAL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cinahl, DARE, ERIC, HTA, PsycInfo, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, PubMed, SocIndex...

AIM: We collected evidence and safety data for topical tacrolimus in small children with atopic dermatitis (AD) and compared the usage with topical corticosteroid. METHODS: This was an interim analysis of 75 patients (55% female) at one year of an ongoing three-year randomized open-label comparative follow-up study of topical tacrolimus vs. corticosteroid treatment. One- to three-year-old children with moderate-to-severe eczema referred to the Skin and Allergy Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, were enrolled...

Vitamin D deficiency, as measured by 25-hydroxyvitamin D, has been related to obesity and impaired fasting glycaemia (IFG), but the causality is unclear. Obesity-related consequences, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and death, have been associated with low vitamin D in adults. However, it is unclear whether vitamin D plays a direct role in glucose metabolism or if there is an association without direct causality (1). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

AIM: This study assessed the prevalence of wrongly diagnosed non-febrile urinary tract infections in patients who had not been toilet trained and presented with with poor feeding and, or, failure to thrive. The diagnostic value of these signs in predicting non-febrile UTIs was also explored. METHODS: We focused on 59 outpatients (56.7% male) with these criteria, who had positive urine cultures and were referred to our Italian University hospital from January 2017 to January 2019...