Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Yonsei Med J 2019 Jan;60(1):106-114

Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Purpose: Previous studies have shown that neurologic symptoms are dominant in patients with mitochondrial diseases, and most of these patients have seizure-related disorders. The epileptic classification of these patients as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is as high as 25%. This study aimed to investigate the clinical manifestations, diagnoses, treatments, and epilepsy in LGS, which is associated with mitochondrial disease. Read More

BJOG 2018 Dec 16. Epub 2018 Dec 16.

Thomas Jefferson University, 130 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA.

Objective: To describe the association of maternal anaemia with maternal, foetal and neonatal outcomes.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Rural India and Pakistan. Read More

Eur J Pediatr 2018 Dec 15. Epub 2018 Dec 15.

Telethon Kids Institute, Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 855, West Perth, Western Australia, 6872, Australia.

The largest group of recipients of pediatric gastrostomy have neurological impairment with intellectual disability (ID). This study investigated trends in first gastrostomy insertion according to markers of disadvantage and ID etiology. Linked administrative and health data collected over a 32-year study period (1983-2014) for children with ID born between 1983 and 2009 in Western Australia were examined. Read More

Forensic Sci Med Pathol 2018 Dec 15. Epub 2018 Dec 15.

Department of Legal Medicine, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan.

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) generally has a good prognosis unless complicated by heart failure (HF). We report a case of sudden infant death because of clinically undiagnosed VSD in a seemingly healthy 16-day-old boy. Although a cardiac murmur was auscultated at birth, detailed clinical examination was not performed. Read More

Early Hum Dev 2018 Dec 13;128:69-76. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Department of Family and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America.

Background: While use of prescription opioids and medication assisted therapy (MAT) for opioid use disorder in pregnancy, as well as the incidence of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) continue to rise, little is known about outcomes for children with NOWS beyond the newborn period.

Methods: We examined 1) prenatal MAT exposure vs. unexposed healthy controls [HC]; and 2) treatment for NOWS and NOWS severity on infant neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes at 5-8 months of age in 78 maternal-infant pairs from the ENRICH prospective cohort study. Read More

Theriogenology 2018 Nov 28;126:177-186. Epub 2018 Nov 28.

Institute for Anatomy, University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173, Hanover, Germany. Electronic address:

Knowledge about reproductive parameters in male harbour porpoises such as testicular histology and germ cell maturation as well as seasonal changes in spermatogenesis is scarce. Thus, the aim of the present study was to report changes in the histological appearance of the testicular morphology of neonatal and juvenile harbour porpoises during maturation, to identify stages of spermatogenesis in adult males and to detect seasonal modifications. The identification of these stages can be used to assess the developmental profile of gene expression during spermatogenesis and to identify defects in spermatogenesis arising in pathological conditions. Read More

Exp Cell Res 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Laboratory of Medical Pharmaceutics, Kobe Pharmaceutical University, Kobe 658-8558, Japan. Electronic address:

Here, we developed a novel in vitro co-culture model, in which process-bearing astrocytes and isolated cerebral microvessels from mice were co-cultured. Astrocytes formed contacts with microvessels from both adult and neonatal mice. However, concentrated localization of the immunofluorescence signal for aquaporin-4 (AQP4) at contact sites between perivascular endfoot processes and blood vessels was only detected with neonatal mouse microvessels. Read More

Physiol Behav 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Behavior & Welfare Group, Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Breeding sows are regularly exposed to on-farm stressors throughout the duration of their production period. The impact of such stressors may differ for primi- and multiparous sows, as sows could learn to cope with stressors as they gain experience with them. If parity affects stress in sows, it may also impact their prenatal offspring through differential maternal stress. Read More

J Mol Cell Cardiol 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Disease, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China. Electronic address:

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in the regulation of genes involved in cell proliferation. We have previously sought to more globally understand the differences of lncRNA expression between human fetal heart and adult heart to identify some functional lncRNAs which involve in the process of heart repair. We found that a highly conserved NR_045363 was mainly expressed in cardiomyocytes and rarely in non-cardiomyocytes. Read More

Ann Pathol 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Service de pathologie, hôpital universitaire Robert-Debré, AP-HP, 48, boulevard Sérurier, 75019 Paris, France; Université Diderot Paris 7 - SPC, 16, rue Huchard, 75018 Paris, France.

Pulmonary glial heterotopia is an extremely rare entity whose pathophysiology remains unclear. We report for the first time one case of pulmonary glial heterotopia occured in a one-month baby free from any malformation. She has the particularity of being born from monozygotic monochorionic twin pregnancy where her anencephalic exencephalic sister suffered a medical termination of pregnancy. Read More

Ann Pathol 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Service d'anatomopathologie, hôpital Necker Enfants-malades, 149, rue de Sèvres, 75015 Paris, France.

J Pediatr 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Mental Retardation and Birth Defect Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address:

Objective: To evaluate the soluble form of lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (sLOX-1) as a biomarker of severity staging and prognosis in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

Study Design: We performed an observational study enrolling 27 infants with HIE and 45 control infants of gestational age ≥36 weeks and birth weight ≥1800 g. The HIE criteria were pH ≤7. Read More

Am J Perinatol 2018 Dec 15. Epub 2018 Dec 15.

Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York.

Objective:  To evaluate outcomes with expectant management of preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PROM) until 35 weeks versus immediate delivery at ≥34 weeks.

Study Design:  This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study of singletons with preterm PROM at >20 weeks from 2011 through 2017. Groups were defined as expectant management until 35 weeks versus immediate delivery at ≥34 weeks. Read More

Am J Perinatol 2018 Dec 15. Epub 2018 Dec 15.

Department of Pediatrics, Neonatal Division, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Objective:  To determine the rate of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) use, current practices, and long-term follow-up.

Study Design:  Prospective cross-sectional national survey with 19 questions related to the assessment of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and TH practices. An online questionnaire was made available to health care professionals working in neonatal care in Brazil. Read More

Comput Med Imaging Graph 2018 Dec 6;71:79-89. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

DTIC, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.

In the field of multi-atlas segmentation, patch-based approaches have shown promising results in the segmentation of biomedical images. In the most common approach, registration is used to warp the atlases to the target space and then the warped atlas labelmaps are fused into a consensus segmentation based on local appearance information encoded in form of patches. The registration step establishes spatial correspondence, which is important to obtain anatomical priors. Read More

Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2018 Dec 5;233:30-37. Epub 2018 Dec 5.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.

Objectives: Preterm premature rupture of fetal membranes (PPROM) exposes the fetus to preterm birth, and optimal timing for delivery is controversial. The aim of this study was to compare intentional early delivery ("active management") with expectant management in very preterm birth (28-32 weeks).

Study Design: We conducted a prospective randomized controlled trial with intent-to-treat analysis, at 19 tertiary-care hospitals in France and 1 in Geneva, Switzerland. Read More

Soc Sci Med 2018 Dec 6;221:9-18. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Institute for Global Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

Cash transfer programmes form an integral part of nutrition, health, and social protection policies worldwide, but the mechanisms through which they achieve their health and nutritional impacts are incompletely understood. We present results from a process evaluation of a combined participatory women's groups and cash transfer programme to improve low birth weight in rural Nepal. We explored the ways in which context, implementation, and mechanism of the intervention affected beneficiary women's agency over cash transfers. Read More

Neuroimage 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Department of Health Sciences and Technology, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, 06351, South Korea; Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, 06351, South Korea; Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Suwon, South Korea; Animal Research and Molecular Imaging, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, 06351, South Korea; Department of Global Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Neuroplasticity is considered essential for recovery from brain injury in developing brains. Recent studies indicate that it is especially effective during early postnatal development and during the critical period. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and local field potential (LFP) electrophysiological recordings in rats that experienced neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injury during the critical period to demonstrate that physical exercise (PE) can improve cortical plasticity even when performed during adulthood, after the critical period. Read More

Neuroimage 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Fetal Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. Electronic address:

Accurate parcellation and labeling of primary cortical sulci in the human fetal brain is useful for regional analysis of brain development. However, human fetal brains show large spatio-temporal changes in brain size, cortical folding patterns, and relative position/size of cortical regions, making accurate automatic sulcal labeling challenging. Here, we introduce a novel sulcal labeling method for the fetal brain using spatio-temporal gyrification information from multiple fetal templates. Read More

Urology 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Urology department, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, affiliated to Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Objective: To assess uroflowmetry in the long-term follow-up of symptomatic meatal stenosis patients prior to and following meatotomy. Severity of symptoms and treatment success have been defined by patient history, physical examination and witnessed voiding. Uroflowmetry might add objective parameters for the assessment, however long term data is lacking. Read More

J Pediatr (Rio J) 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Santa Casa de São Paulo, Unidade de Doenças Infecciosas Pediátricas, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Objective: Respiratory syncytial virus is a pathogen frequently involved in nosocomial outbreaks. Although several studies have reported nosocomial outbreaks in neonatal intensive care units, molecular epidemiology data are scarce. Here, the authors describe two consecutive respiratory syncytial virus outbreaks caused by genotypes ON-1 and NA-2 in a neonatal intensive care unit in São Paulo, Brazil. Read More

Eur J Hum Genet 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

CHRU Montpellier, Laboratoire de Génétique moléculaire, Montpellier, France.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) gene-panel-based analyses constitute diagnosis strategies which are adapted to the genetic heterogeneity within the field of myopathies, including more than 200 implicated genes to date. Nonetheless, important inter-laboratory diversity of gene panels exists at national and international levels, complicating the exchange of data and the visibility of the diagnostic offers available for referring neurologists. To address this issue, we here describe the initiative of the genetic diagnosis section of the French National Network for Rare Neuromuscular Diseases (Filière Nationale des Maladies Rares Neuromusculaires, FILNEMUS), which led to set up a consensual nationwide diagnostic strategy among the nine French genetic diagnosis laboratories using NGS for myopathies. Read More

J Perinatol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Radiology, Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.

Objective: To identify the temporal trends, risk factors and outcomes of cystic white matter injury (WMI) detected by ultrasound in a population-based cohort of very preterm infants (VPI) with a minimal risk of selection bias.

Study Design: All live-born VPIs between 22 and < 31 weeks gestational age born in Nova Scotia, Canada from 1993 to 2013.

Results: Cystic WMI was identified in 87 (7%) out of 1184 eligible infants. Read More

BMJ Open 2018 Dec 14;8(12):e023752. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana.

Objective: To examine the association between early Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination and neonatal mortality in northern Ghana.

Methods: This ecological study used vaccination and mortality data from the Navrongo Health and Demographic Surveillance System. First, we assessed and compared changes in neonatal mortality rates (NMRs) and median BCG vaccination age from 1996 to 2012. Read More

Arch Dis Child 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.

To improve the postdischarge growth of exclusively breastfed preterm infants, born weighing ≤1.8 kg, by using breast milk fortifier (BMF) supplements postdischarge until 48 weeks' gestational age. A quality improvement (QI) project involving plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles. Read More

Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Paediatric Medicine, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.

Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain.

Pulmonary surfactant (PS) is a lipid-protein complex essential to stabilise the delicate structure of mammalian alveoli along with successive compression-expansion respiratory cycles. To do so, surfactant reduces dramatically surface tension at the air-liquid interface, an activity that depends critically on a proper lipid composition and the presence of some specific surfactant proteins. Lack or dysfunction of this system is associated with severe respiratory pathologies, which are in some cases treated by supplementation with exogenous surfactant materials. Read More

EBioMedicine 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA. Electronic address:

Background: In winter in Mongolia, 80% of adults have 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations <25 nmol/l (<10 ng/ml) and 99% have <50 nmol/l (<20 ng/ml). The vitamin D dose to avert deficiency during pregnancy in this population is unknown.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, controlled, double-blind trial of daily 600, 2000, or 4000 IU vitamin D for pregnant women in Mongolia (Clinicaltrials. Read More

Malar J 2018 Dec 14;17(1):470. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Unit of Parasitology, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Piazza Sant'Onofrio 4, 00165, Rome, Italy.

Background: Congenital malaria is usually defined as the detection of asexual forms of Plasmodium spp. in a blood sample of a neonate during perinatal age if there is no possibility of postpartum infection by a mosquito bite. The incidence of congenital malaria is highly variable and seems related to several factors, such as different diagnostic methods for Plasmodium spp. Read More

Biomed Pharmacother 2019 Jan 6;109:1016-1023. Epub 2018 Nov 6.

First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, China. Electronic address:

Cardiac hypertrophy are the major health challenges in the whole world. Ginsenoside Rd is an important component of cell growth and tumorigenesis, but the role and mechanism of ginsenoside Rd in pressure overload induced cardiac dysfunction and remodeling are still not fully illuminated. Here, cardiac hypertrophic remodeling and dysfunction were induced by pressure overload in mice. Read More

Am J Perinatol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Neonatal Medicine, Osaka Women's and Children's Hospital, Izumi, Osaka, Japan.

Objective:  To assess effects of neonatal transport on transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN) in outborn term neonates.

Study Design:  This retrospective cohort study included 66 term neonates diagnosed with TTN and transported to the Osaka Women's and Children's Hospital neonatal intensive care unit between January 2003 and March 2018. A multivariate logistic regression analysis identified perinatal and neonatal transport factors associated with adverse short-term outcomes defined as mechanical ventilation >48 hours, continuous positive airway pressure >72 hours, pulmonary hemorrhage, and requirement for inhaled nitric oxide, thoracentesis, or surfactant replacement therapy. Read More

Am J Perinatol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Division of Public Health, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.

Objective:  Sound breastfeeding (BF) knowledge among health professionals is vital for proper institutional support of BF mothers. This study aims to measure both BF knowledge and self-efficacy (SE) of pediatric nurses in supporting BF and to determine their associated factors.

Study Design:  A cross-sectional study was conducted in Mansoura University Children's Hospital and Mansoura New General Hospital during the period from January to March 2017. Read More

Am J Perinatol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.

Objective:  We sought to examine pathogen distribution and clinical presentation of late-onset sepsis (LOS) at an urban tertiary care center.

Study Design:  We performed a retrospective review of all culture-confirmed cases of LOS presenting to our institution from 2013 to 2017. Medical records were evaluated for demographic information, sepsis risk factors, encounter location, and clinical outcome. Read More

Am J Perinatol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, CHU de Québec, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.

Background:  Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) occurs in 10% of neonatal respiratory insufficiency. To selectively reduce pulmonary vascular resistance, several treatments have been tried. Inhaled epoprostenol (iPGI) has been used for 12 years in our institution for the management of refractory PPHN despite the gaps in the literature to support this use. Read More

Mol Cell Endocrinol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Instituto de Salud y Ambiente del Litoral (ISAL), Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina. Electronic address:

The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of oral and subcutaneous exposure to a glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) on the female reproductive system, specifically in the ovaries and uterus of prepubertal lambs. To this end, ewe lambs were exposed to a s.c. Read More

Antiviral Res 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

VIDO-InterVac, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E3, Canada; Microbiology & Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E3, Canada. Electronic address:

Human parainfluenza virus 3 (PIV3) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are major causative agents of serious respiratory tract illness in newborns and infants. Maternal vaccination could be a promising approach to provide immediate protection against severe PIV3 and RSV infection in young infants. Previously, we demonstrated that maternal immunization with a subunit vaccine consisting of the RSV fusion (F) protein formulated with TriAdj, an adjuvant consisting of poly(I:C), immune defense regulatory peptide and polyphosphazene, protects newborn lambs from RSV. Read More

Cell 2018 Dec;175(7):1827-1841.e17

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address:

Newborn mice emit signals that promote parenting from mothers and fathers but trigger aggressive responses from virgin males. Although pup-directed attacks by males require vomeronasal function, the specific infant cues that elicit this behavior are unknown. We developed a behavioral paradigm based on reconstituted pup cues and showed that discrete infant morphological features combined with salivary chemosignals elicit robust male aggression. Read More

Dev Comp Immunol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Laboratory of Translational Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Electronic address:

Neonatal mammals have increased disease susceptibility and sub-optimal vaccine responses. This raises problems in both humans and farm animals. The high prevalence of paratuberculosis in goats and the lack of an effective vaccine against it have a strong impact on the dairy sector, and calls for vaccines optimized for the neonatal immune system. Read More

J Pediatr (Rio J) 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Hospital São Lucas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Pediatria e Saúde da Criança, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

Objective: To assess the prevalence, mortality and risk factors associated with the birth of very low birth weight preterm infants over a period of 33 years.

Methods: Four cross-sectional studies were analyzed, using data from perinatal interviews of birth cohorts in the city of Pelotas collected in 1982, 1993, 2004, and 2015. Based on perinatal questionnaires, anthropometric measurements of newborns and death certificates were analyzed to obtain the prevalence rate, neonatal mortality, and risk factors (maternal age, income and type of delivery) for very low birth weight. Read More

J Pediatr (Rio J) 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Palo Alto, United States. Electronic address:

J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

PLoS Biol 2018 Dec 14;16(12):e2006649. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Cell-surface transferrin receptor (CD71+) erythroid cells are abundant in newborns with immunomodulatory properties. Here, we show that neonatal CD71+ erythroid cells express significant levels of V-domain Immunoglobulin (Ig) Suppressor of T Cell Activation (VISTA) and, via constitutive production of transforming growth factor (TGF)- β, play a pivotal role in promotion of naïve CD4+ T cells into regulatory T cells (Tregs). Interestingly, we discovered that CD71+VISTA+ erythroid cells produce significantly higher levels of TGF-β compared to CD71+VISTA- erythroid cells and CD71+ erythroid cells from the VISTA knock-out (KO) mice. Read More

Pediatr Infect Dis J 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch-Institute, Germany.

Background: In August 2015 seventeen neonates with Enterobacter (E.) cloacae colonisation were identified in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Germany. Two developed severe brain abscesses. Read More

Anesthesiology 2019 Jan;130(1):151

J Med Econ 2018 Dec 14:1-5. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

a McGill University Reproductive Center , 888 Boulevard de Maisonneuve East , Montréal , QC H2L 4S8 , Quebec , Canada.

In recent years, the prevalence of infertility has increased due to delayed child bearing and increase in the rate of male infertility. Given the high cost of fertility treatment, this option is not valid for families with low income, and those who can afford it usually choose to have multiple embryo transfers, which has led to an increase in multiple birth rates and increase in the cost of perinatal care. Due to the expected increase in infertility and decrease in the national live birth rate, the United States should set a plan to fund infertility treatment and lead a policy for single embryo transfer. Read More

Pediatr Pulmonol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

CHOP Newborn Care at Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Objective: This study compared CO clearance in a premature infant lung model connected to a high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) system supplied with oscillatory versus non-oscillatory flow.

Design/methods: The lung model was set to compliance 1.0 mL/cmH O, RR 60 breaths/min, and 6 mL tidal volume. Read More

Am J Med Genet A 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Waardenburg syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder characterized by hearing loss and pigmentary abnormalities with variable penetrance. Though heterozygous mutations in MITF are a major cause for Waardenburg syndrome type 2 (WS2), homozygous mutations in this gene and the associated phenotype have been rarely characterized. In this study, we identified a novel p. Read More

Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

BCNatal. Barcelona Center for Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Deu), Institut Clínic de Ginecologia, Obstetricia i Neonatologia Fetal i+D Fetal Medicine Research Center, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Objective: To establish the added value of chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) above normal karyotyping to assess the genetic causes of stillbirth.

Methods: A systematic search was performed to identify relevant studies published in English and Spanish using PubMed, SCOPUS and ISI Web of Knowledge databases, The Cochrane Library and PROSPERO database for meta-analysis, without publication time restrictions. Case-series of fetal losses ≥ 20 weeks of gestation, assessed by CMA with at least 5 subjects analyzed. Read More

Health Econ 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Department of Business Administration and Health Care Management, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.

Dishonest behavior significantly increases the cost of medical care provision. Upcoding of patients is a common form of fraud to attract higher reimbursements. Imposing audit mechanisms including fines to curtail upcoding is widely discussed among health care policy-makers. Read More

Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.

Objectives: Cervical cerclage when performed in twin gestation has been reported to be associated with poor outcome. However, the role of first-trimester history-indicated cerclage among women with twin pregnancy and a prior history of preterm birth has not been studied. We aimed to assess pregnancy outcomes among women with twin pregnancy who underwent first-trimester history-indicated cervical cerclage compared to expectant management. Read More