There are tiny, puny infants with great vitality. Their movements are untiring and their crying lusty, for their organs are quite capable of performing their allotted functions. These infants will live, for although their weight is inferior … their sojourn…
The transition from fetal to neonatal life is a dramatic and complex process involving extensive physiologic changes that are most obvious at the time of birth. Individuals who care for newly born infants during these first few minutes of neonatal…
Everything ought to be done to ensure that an infant be born at term, well developed, and in a healthy condition. But in spite of every care, infants are born prematurely. Pierre Budin, The Nursling Identification of the Pregnancy at…
Health care is viewed as a system, a network of interdependent components working together to accomplish a specific aim, which is to meet the needs of patients, families, and communities while constantly improving its performance. The quality of health care…
Key points Early detection followed by rapid initiation of antimicrobial treatment and measures to prevent and treat organ dysfunction are key to optimizing the outcome of sepsis. Due to the non-specific presentation, the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of sepsis, and…
Key points Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) presenting in the newborn period include immune deficiencies affecting cellular and humoral immunity, diseases of immune dysregulation, congenital defects in phagocyte function, defects in intrinsic and innate immunity, and autoinflammatory disorders. There are…
Key points Drug-associated acute kidney injury is common in neonates and has important implications for therapeutic decisions and patient clinical outcomes. This chapter reviews the mechanisms of nephrotoxin-induced acute kidney injury and the various medications that are widely used in…
Key points Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an important comorbidity associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia that increases risk of right ventricular failure and death in premature infants. First-line treatment is aimed at correction of the respiratory status by optimizing lung volumes, oxygenation,…
Key points Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) secondary to maternal use of opioids during pregnancy continues to remain a major problem in neonates. Nonpharmacological measures are the first-line treatment in the management of NAS. Morphine remains the most popular medication in…
Key points Preterm and term infants are at risk of acquiring brain injury with lasting neurodevelopmental sequelae. Mechanisms of brain injury in the developing brain are related to unique vulnerabilities due to the maturational stage of the various types of…