Comparison of demographic and cord blood data between newborns in the less severe hyperbilirubinemic group and the five newborns who developed severe hyperbilirubinemia despite having a low cord blood hydorgen peroxide level.

<p>Abbreviations: GA, gestational age; BW, body weight.</p><p>BW loss: physiological body weight loss = (birth weight−lowest body weight)/birth weight.</p><p>↓ or ↑: beyond mean ±1 standard deviation when compared with the less severe icteric group.</p><p>↑*: bilirubin concentration beyond mean ±0.5 standard deviation when compared with the less severe hyperbilirubinemic group.</p

Bilirubin concentrations and hydrogen peroxide levels increased similarly during the first few days.

<p>The correlation between these two variables was 0.454, <i>P</i><0.001. The left y-axis is the bilirubin concentration, whereas the right y-axis is the H₂O₂ (luminol) signal. The y-axis scale is logarithmic because of the high luminal signal values.</p

Clinical characteristics of the study population.

<p>Data are presented as mean±SD or numbers of infants (%). The age was the birth year.</p>a<p>In those <3 years, i.e. born after Jan. 2005, the body weight at first HBV vaccination was >2000 g. For those born before 2005, the first dose was given at body weight >2,200 g.</p

Maternal hepatitis B carrier status of the study population.

a<p>The percentage was all calculated by case number divided with total number (n = 155).</p>b<p>Maternal HBsAg (+): maternal positive HBsAg tested during pregnancy; Maternal HBeAg (+): maternal positive HBeAg tested during pregnancy;</p

A scatter plot figure with bilirubin (on the X-axis) and the corresponding hydrogen peroxide levels with Logarithmic transformation (on the Y-axis) was presented.

<p>There is a linear relationship between these 2 values. The regression equation is H₂O₂ signal = 3.371+0.108*Bilirubin. The P value is <0.0001.</p

The different cut-off values of H₂O₂ signal for predicting severe hyperbilirubinemia were compared between the severe hyperbilirubinemic group and the less severe hyperbilirubinemic group.

*<p>Comparison was performed by chi-square test.</p

Enrollment of the study population.

<p>Enrollment of the study population.</p

The results of hepatitis B virus serology of the study population.

a<p>Anti-HBs seropositivity: defined as serum level >10 mIU/ml.</p><p>GMT: geometric mean titer.</p

Preeclampsia and the Risk of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in VLBW Infants: A Population Based Study

<div><p>Background</p><p>Preeclampsia remains a leading cause of maternal mortality and preterm delivery. Both preeclampsia and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) of prematurity are associated with impaired angiogenesis. However, the relationship between maternal preeclampsia and BPD remains controversial. This study aims to test whether or not preeclampsia is associated with development of BPD in a cohort of premature infants.</p> <p>Materials and Methods</p><p>We conducted a retrospective cohort study assessing the association between preeclampsia and the risk of developing BPD in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants registered in the Premature Baby Foundation of Taiwan from 1997 through 2006. All 21 neonatal departments in Taiwan participated in the data collection. A total of 8,653 VLBW infants were registered in the database. The exclusion criteria included congenital anomalies, chromosome anomalies, infants that died before 36 weeks post-conceptual (PCA), and those whose BPD status were unavailable. BPD was defined as oxygen dependence at 36 weeks postmenstrual age. The association between maternal preeclampsia and BPD was assessed using a multivariate-adjusted logistic regression model.</p> <p>Results</p><p>In the end, a total of 5,753 cases were enrolled in this study. The incidence of preeclampsia was 14.7% (<i>n</i>=847) and the overall incidence of BPD was 34.9%. Infants with maternal preeclampsia had a higher gestational age, higher incidence of cesarean section and being small for their gestational age, lower incidence of respiratory distress syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus, and sepsis. BPD occurred significantly less frequently in the maternal preeclampsia group (24.1% vs. 36.7%; adjusted odds ratio: 0.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.62–0.98). Subgroup analysis showed that the association between preeclampsia and BPD was significant only in those VLBW infants with a gestational age between 31–34 weeks.</p> <p>Conclusion</p><p>This data supports the association between fetal exposure to maternal preeclampsia and a reduced risk of BPD in relatively mature VLBW infants.</p> </div

Subgroup analyses for the association between preeclampsia and BPD.

<p>Odds ratios were adjusted for sex, GA (asa continuous variable), RDS, and SGA, except for the stratifying variables.</p