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Objectives: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is a life support procedure developed to offer cardiorespiratory support when conventional therapies have failed. The purpose of this study is to describe the findings during the first years using venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in pediatric patients after cardiovascular surgery at Christus Muguerza High Specialty Hospital in Monterrey, Mexico. Methods: This is a retrospective, observational, and descriptive study. The files of congenital heart surgery post-operative pediatric patients, who were treated with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation from January 2013 to December 2015, were reviewed. Results: A total of 11 patients were reviewed, of which 7 (63.8%) were neonates and 4 (36.7%) were in pediatric age. The most common diagnoses were transposition of great vessels, pulmonary stenosis, and tetralogy of Fallot. Survival rate was 54.5% and average life span was 6.3 days; the main complications were sepsis (36.3%), acute renal failure (36.3%), and severe cerebral hemorrhage (9.1%). The main causes of death were multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (27.3%) and cerebral hemorrhage (18.2%). Conclusion: The mortality rates found are very similar to those found in a meta-analysis report published in 2013 and the main complication and causes of death are also very similar to the majority of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation reports for these kinds of patients. Although the results are encouraging, early sepsis detection, prevention of cerebral hemorrhage, and renal function monitoring must be improved.

In the development of the foetal immune system, cytokines play an important role in its function. Therefore, we sought to determine whether the mode of delivery affects the expression of leptin, IL-6 and TNF-α in umbilical cord blood in healthy term newborns. We collected 125 samples of umbilical cord blood to analyse leptin, IL-6 y TNF-α levels with multiplex immunoassay (MIA). The samples were classified according to mode of delivery: vaginal delivery (VD) and caesarean section (CS). Leptin and IL-6 had higher concentrations in umbilical cord blood in VD than in CS: 42.55 ng/ml (11.92-104.28) versus 35.20 ng/ml (3.26-9326.76), p  =  0.039; 9.32 pg/ml (1.13-2020.31) versus 3.81 pg/ml (0.52-834.69) p < 0.001, respectively. Also, a weak correlation between TNF-α and IL-6 was found (r = 0.238, p = 0.007). The most important finding in our study was the differential concentrations of leptin and IL-6 according to mode of delivery.

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Objective:The objective of the study was to present a rare clinical case in neonatology, and emphasize the importance of teamwork that involves its clinical care. Effective communication and timely intervention increase patient success and survival rates. Case: Male patient at 37.4 weeks of gestation with a medical record of a mother with a positive rapid HIV test that during her follow-up appointment presented a persistent fetal heart rate above 220 beats/min, with a report of probable atrial fibrillation and restrictive ductus arteriosus. Programming an emergency cesarean section, a newborn was obtained who received electrical cardioversion, presenting a remission of symptoms. Discussion: A timely detection of prenatal atrial fibrillation was made thanks to the perinatologist, and following the recommendations of the literature, electrical cardioversion was performed. If it had not been detected in a timely manner, the patient could have died. Conclusions: It is significant to highlight that the detection of pathologies prenatally is becoming increasingly more important, since many of them require early and multidisciplinary management. It is fundamental, both for its diagnosis and for the success of the treatment, that the entire medical team is aware of the suspected diagnosis, as well as the immediate post-natal confirmation.