Serum Hsp70 antigen: Early diagnosis marker in perinatal asphyxia

BACKGROUND: Perinatal asphyxia is an important cause of mortality and permanent neurological and developmental deficit. Early and accurate diagnosis would help to establish the likely prognosis and may also help in determining the most appropriate treatment. Studies in experimental animal models suggest that a protein called Hsp70 may be a good and potentially useful marker of cellular stress that may be clinically useful in determining the presence of neonatal asphyxia. OBJECTIVES: Regarding the importance of early and accurate diagnosis of asphyxia, we conducted this study, which is the first investigation of the comparison of the serum Hsp70 antigen level between asphyxiated and healthy infants. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this observational study, the serum concentrations of Hsp70 antigen were compared between neonates suffering from perinatal asphyxia (n = 50) and normal neonates (n = 51). The inclusion criteria for the cases were neonates who had reached term and had at least two clinical criteria of asphyxia. Exclusion criteria were babies with gestational age < 37 weeks, infants with congenital abnormalities or positive blood culture. Exclusion criteria in this group were the requirement to hospital stay during first week of the life or babies whose mothers had difficulties during pregnancy or delivery. Term neonates without major anomalies who had asphyxia during delivery were enrolled in the first six hours after delivery, and control group consisted of healthy term neonates without problems and normal delivery process in the first week of life. The cord blood was taken during labor to measure Hsp70 antigen level by using an in-house ELISA (The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). RESULTS: The median values of serum anti Hsp70 titers were significantly higher in asphyxiated neonates compared with non-asphyxiated neonates (0.36 [0.04 - 1.14] vs 0.24 [0.01 - 0.63]). At cutoff point = 0.3125 ng/mL, sensitivity was 58% and specificity 76% based on ROC curve. CONCLUSIONS: A significant difference between the serum concentrations of Hsp70 of the control and patient group was observed in this study. It is inferred serum concentrations of Hsp70 antigen may be a useful marker for the early diagnosis of that prenatal hypoxia

Complications of Neonatal Jaundice and the Predisposing Factors in ‎Newborns

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Hyperbilirubinemia is one of the most common problems during the neonatal period. Despite the severe complications of jaundice, no reliable data is available regarding the prevalence of acute and chronic complications of jaundice and the predisposing factors in our community. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the complications of neonatal jaundice and the predisposing factors in neonates. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on icteric, term newborns with bilirubin level higher than 20 mg/dl, referring to Ghaem Hospital during 2003-2013. After history taking and physical examinations, developmental status of infants was followed within six and twelve months after birth, using Denver Developmental Screening Test-II. The newborns were divided into two groups, based on the occurrence or non-occurrence of complications (e.g., acute or chronic kernicterus, auditory disorders and developmental disorders). Afterwards, predisposing factors for these complications were evaluated.  FINDINGS Complications of jaundice were reported in 143 (13.37%) out of 1069 neonates. The two groups were not significantly different in terms of variables such as neonatal age and gender or maternal age. However, there was a significant difference between the children with and withod complication regarding treatment modality and mean total serum bilirubin level (27 mg/dl vs. 32 mg/dl) (p<0.05). The predisposing factors for neonatal complications were as follows: idiopathic jaundice (30%), ABO incompatibility (18%), Rh incompatibility (14.8%), G6PD deficiency (12.6%) and sepsis (3.3%). CONCLUSION: Our findings showed that ABO incompatibility, Rh incompatibility and G6PD deficiency were the most common risk factors for jaundice, followed by idiopathic jaundice

Effect of Ear Protector on Heart Rate and Pain Due to Intravenous Sampling in Premature Infants

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Noise is the most common environmental stressor source for premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Venous sampling is one of the most painful-causing actions in newborns. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of voice loss using ear protector on pain caused by intravenous sampling and heart rate of premature infants. METHODS: This randomized clinical trial study was performed on 112 premature infants aged between 36 and 28 weeks who were randomly divided into two groups of intervention (56 subjects) and control (n=56). The ear protector was used for the intervention group when the baby was subjected to intravenous sampling. Neonatal pain was measured by PIPP instrument (premature infant pain measuring instrument) in five steps (2 minutes before the needle penetration), (moment of needle penetration), (pump time), (moment of needle withdrawal) and (5 minutes after needle withdrawal). Heart rate was measured with a pulse oximeter (8 times every 30 minutes during 4 hours after using the ear protector) and compared. (IRCT: 2015210828925N1). FINDINGS: The mean changes in PIPP score were in the intervention and control groups (1.6±5.6 and 4.6±1.6), second (12.1±3.3, and 12.6±2.8), third (13.5±2.7 and 13.4±2.9), fourth (6.4±2.6 and 8.5±2.8), and fifth (5.1±4.2) and 1.6±6.2) respectively. Scores in all states except for the second and third stages were statistically significant in both groups (p<0.05). In addition, the mean of heart rate in the fifth stage in the intervention group (145.8 ± 16.6) was significantly higher than the control group (138.1±21.1) (p=0.03). CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that the ear protector used for premature infants is effective in reducing pain during venipuncture

Hyperbilirubinemia and Neonatal Infection

Introduction: Hyperbilirubinemia is a relatively common disorder among infants in Iran. Bacterial infection and jaundice may be associated with higher morbidity. Previous studies have reported that jaundice may be one of the signs of infection. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence rate, presentation time, severity of jaundice, signs and complications of infection within neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.   Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted between 2003 and 2011, at Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad- Iran. We prospectively evaluated 1763 jaundiced newborns. We finally found 434 neonates who were categorized into two groups.131 neonates as case group (Blood or/and Urine culture positive or sign of pneumonia) and 303 neonates with idiopathic jaundice as control group. Demographic data including prenatal, intrapartum, postnatal events and risk factors were collected by questionnaire. Biochemical markers including bilirubin level, urine and blood cultures were determined at the request of the clinicians.   Results: Jaundice presentation time, age on admission, serum bilirubin value and hospitalization period were reported significantly higher among case group in comparison with control group (

Neonatal hypernatremia and dehydration in infants receiving inadequate breastfeeding

INTRODUCTION Neonatal hypernatermic dehydration (NHD) is a potentially very serious condition, which has been reported to occur in infants who have breast feeding problems in the first week of the life. This study looked at the incidence, risk factors, clinical symptoms and complications of NHD in healthy breastfed term neonates. METHODS A prospective case-control study was conducted on 53 neonates with serum sodium concentrations of >or=150 mmol/L (as the case group) who were recruited between June 2006 and June 2007 from the Ghaem hospital (Mashhad, Iran) to investigate the relationship between NHD and breastfeeding. Fifty-three healthy breastfed full-term neonates (serum sodium<150 mmol/L) from the same hospital were also recruited as the control group. RESULT The results showed an average weight loss of 1.6% in the healthy neonates vs. 16.2% in infants with NHD (p<0.001). The frequency of feeds received per day was 10.2 for the healthy neonates vs. 7.6 in the NHD group (p<0.001). The NHD group had mothers who had a higher frequency of breast problems (23 vs. 7, p<0.001). Mean serum sodium concentration was significantly lower in the control group compared with the cases (137.80 vs.160.06 mmol/L, p<0.001). The main presenting features of the infants with NHD were fever, lethargy and jaundice. CONCLUSION Breastfeeding problems are associated with the presence of NHD. Therefore, more breast examination during prenatal and postnatal periods and careful neonatal weight watch during the first week of life could decrease the incidence of NHD