Biomarkers of sepsis in neonates and children

Sepsis, and related complications, is still a common cause of death in hospitalized patients worldwide, especially in critically ill neonates and children. Sepsis is also responsible for significant morbidity, and financial burden. It is very important to recognize sepsis early, since delayed diagnosis is associated with worse outcome. The early detection of sepsis remains a great challenge for clinicians because the use of blood cultures, the gold standard for diagnosis of bacteremia, is fraught with difficulties. The role of different immune and metabolic biomarkers is to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of sepsis. White blood cell count, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin are currently the most widely used biomarkers, but they have limited abilities to distinguish sepsis from other inflammatory conditions or to predict outcome. In this review, these biomarkers will be discussed along with novel diagnostic, prognostic and treatment response biomarkers, including interleukins -6, -8, -18, tumor necrosis factor – alpha, CD11b, CD64 and CD15s. The future of sepsis biomarkers lies in extensive validation studies of all novel biomarkers and their combinations as early predictors of sepsis. Also, research to identify novel sepsis biomarkers and develop specific therapeutic strategies based on biomarker information has to be continued

Associations of Vitamin D Levels with Physical Fitness and Motor Performance; A Cross-Sectional Study in Youth Soccer Players from Southern Croatia

Simple Summary Vitamin D is a fat-soluble prohormone crucial for bone mineralization, muscle contractility, and neurological conductivity. It is theorized that Vitamin D plays an important role in sport performances, especially in young athletes. In this study we examined the associations of levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) with physical fitness and motor-performance achievements in youth soccer players from Southern Croatia. Participants were tested on physical fitness, motor performance and vitamin D at the end of the winter period, when levels of vitamin D are known to be lowest due to low exposure to sunlight. Results showed that deficiency of 25(OH)D was widespread among youth soccer players living in Southern Croatia. Low 25(OH)D levels were associated with lower results in fitness tests (i.e., tests of energetic capacities), but there was no correlation between 25(OH)D levels and the results in motor performance tests (i.e., skill tests). Our results support the theory of the association between vitamin D and energetic capacities of athletes, but there is no evidence on association between vitamin D and skill-based capacities. Vitamin D level is known to be a factor potentially influencing physical fitness, but few studies have examined this phenomenon among youth athletes. We aimed to evaluate the associations of vitamin D levels (as measured by 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations-25(OH)D) with various physical fitness and motor performance tests in youth football (soccer) players. This cross-sectional study included a total of 52 youth soccer players (15.98 +/- 2.26 years old) from Southern Croatia. The participants were evaluated at the end of the winter period and data were collected of anthropometric measures (body mass and body height), vitamin D status (25(OH)D levels), physical fitness tests (sprints of 10 and 20 m, 20 yards test, the countermovement jump, the reactive strength index (RSI)) and motor performance tests (the soccer-specific CODS, the soccer-specific agility, and static balance). Among the studied players, 54% had 25(OH)D insufficiency/deficiency, showing a lack of 25(OH)D is widespread even in youth athletes living at a southern latitude. The 25(OH)D level was correlated with sprint 20 m, 20 yards tests, and RSI, showing a greater role of 25(OH)D in physical fitness tests where energetic capacity is essential than in sport-related motor performance tests where skills are crucial. Our results support the idea that vitamin D can play a determinant role in physical fitness tests with a clear physiological component, but is not crucial in motor performance tests related to specific sports where skills are a key component. Future studies should investigate the effects of vitamin D supplementation on the performance in physical fitness and motor performance tests among youth athletes.This research is partially financed by Croatian Science Foundation (grant numbers: IP2018-01-8330; DOK-2018-09-1940)

Peri-operative red blood cell transfusion in neonates and infants: NEonate and Children audiT of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe: A prospective European multicentre observational study

BACKGROUND: Little is known about current clinical practice concerning peri-operative red blood cell transfusion in neonates and small infants. Guidelines suggest transfusions based on haemoglobin thresholds ranging from 8.5 to 12 g dl-1, distinguishing between children from birth to day 7 (week 1), from day 8 to day 14 (week 2) or from day 15 (≥week 3) onwards. OBJECTIVE: To observe peri-operative red blood cell transfusion practice according to guidelines in relation to patient outcome. DESIGN: A multicentre observational study. SETTING: The NEonate-Children sTudy of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe (NECTARINE) trial recruited patients up to 60 weeks' postmenstrual age undergoing anaesthesia for surgical or diagnostic procedures from 165 centres in 31 European countries between March 2016 and January 2017. PATIENTS: The data included 5609 patients undergoing 6542 procedures. Inclusion criteria was a peri-operative red blood cell transfusion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary endpoint was the haemoglobin level triggering a transfusion for neonates in week 1, week 2 and week 3. Secondary endpoints were transfusion volumes, 'delta haemoglobin' (preprocedure - transfusion-triggering) and 30-day and 90-day morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: Peri-operative red blood cell transfusions were recorded during 447 procedures (6.9%). The median haemoglobin levels triggering a transfusion were 9.6 [IQR 8.7 to 10.9] g dl-1 for neonates in week 1, 9.6 [7.7 to 10.4] g dl-1 in week 2 and 8.0 [7.3 to 9.0] g dl-1 in week 3. The median transfusion volume was 17.1 [11.1 to 26.4] ml kg-1 with a median delta haemoglobin of 1.8 [0.0 to 3.6] g dl-1. Thirty-day morbidity was 47.8% with an overall mortality of 11.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate lower transfusion-triggering haemoglobin thresholds in clinical practice than suggested by current guidelines. The high morbidity and mortality of this NECTARINE sub-cohort calls for investigative action and evidence-based guidelines addressing peri-operative red blood cell transfusions strategies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT02350348

Biomarkers of sepsis in neonates and children

Sepsis, and related complications, is still a common cause of death in hospitalized patients worldwide, especially in critically ill neonates and children. Sepsis is also responsible for significant morbidity, and financial burden. It is very important to recognize sepsis early, since delayed diagnosis is associated with worse outcome. The early detection of sepsis remains a great challenge for clinicians because the use of blood cultures, the gold standard for diagnosis of bacteremia, is fraught with difficulties. The role of different immune and metabolic biomarkers is to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of sepsis. White blood cell count, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin are currently the most widely used biomarkers, but they have limited abilities to distinguish sepsis from other inflammatory conditions or to predict outcome. In this review, these biomarkers will be discussed along with novel diagnostic, prognostic and treatment response biomarkers, including interleukins -6, -8, -18, tumor necrosis factor – alpha, CD11b, CD64 and CD15s. The future of sepsis biomarkers lies in extensive validation studies of all novel biomarkers and their combinations as early predictors of sepsis. Also, research to identify novel sepsis biomarkers and develop specific therapeutic strategies based on biomarker information has to be continued

Promethazine in the treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting: a systematic review

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is among the most important concerns of patients undergoing surgery. The incidence ranges from 30% to 70%. The incidence of PONV correlates with a number of risk factors a patient possesses. Patient-related risk factors in adults are: female gender, history of PONV, duration of surgery > 60 min, nonsmoking status, history of motion sickness, and postoperative use of opioids. Risk factors in children are: duration of surgery 30 minutes, age 3 years, strabismus surgery, and a history of PONV in the patient, parent or sibling. Treatment of PONV includes various classes of medications and none of them is entirely effective. If it is necessary to use combination therapy, then medicines with different sites of activity should be used. Promethazine is a phenothiazine derivate available as a medicine since its introduction in 1946. In this article, a search was performed to identify all published papers and reports evaluating the effectiveness of promethazine for the management of postoperative nausea and vomiting in adults and children. The results of this review support the finding that promethazine is not recommended as a first-line agent in the treatment of PONV, but can be considered for use as a rescue antiemetic

Changes following the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Burden of Hospitalization for Respiratory Syncytial Virus Acute Lower Respiratory Infection in Children under Two Years: A Retrospective Study from Croatia

To understand the changes in RSV hospitalization burden in children younger than two years following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we reviewed hospital records of children with acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) between January 2018 and June 2022 in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. We compared RSV activity, age-specific annualized hospitalization rate, and disease severity between pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods. A total of 942 ALRI hospital admissions were included. RSV activity remained low for the typical RSV epidemic during 2020–2021 winter. An out-of-season RSV resurgence was observed in late spring and summer of 2021. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the annualized hospitalization rate for RSV-associated ALRI was 13.84/1000 (95% CI: 12.11–15.76) and highest among infants under six months. After the resurgence of RSV in the second half of 2021, the annualized hospitalization rate for RSV-associated ALRI in children younger than two years returned to the pre-pandemic levels with similar age distribution but a statistically higher proportion of severe cases. RSV immunization programs targeting protection of infants under six months of age are expected to remain impactful, although the optimal timing of administration would depend on RSV seasonality that has not yet been established in the study setting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic