PurposeThis study aimed to assess early development in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants with mild intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) or those without IVH and to identify the perinatal morbidities affecting early neurodevelopmental outcome.MethodsBayley Scales of Infant Development-II was used for assessing neurological development in 49 infants with a birth weight <1,500 g and with low grade IVH (≤grade II) or those without IVH at a corrected age of 12 months.ResultsAmong the 49 infants, 19 infants (38.8%) showed normal development and 14 (28.6%) showed abnormal mental and psychomotor development. Infants with abnormal mental development (n=14) were mostly male and had a longer hospitalization, a higher prevalence of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and were under more frequent postnatal systemic steroid treatment compared with infants with normal mental development (n=35, P<0.05). Infants with abnormal psychomotor development (n=29) had a longer hospitalization and more associated PDA compared to infants with normal psychomotor development (n=20, P<0.05). Infants with abnormal mental and psychomotor development were mostly male and had a longer hospitalization and a higher prevalence of PDA and BPD compared to infants with normal mental and psychomotor development (n=19, P<0.05). Using multiple logistic regression analysis, a longer duration of hospitalization and male gender were found to be significant risk factors.ConclusionApproximately 62% of VLBW infants with low grade IVH or those without IVH had impaired early development.

PurposeTo evaluate the effectiveness of new management policies on the incidence of invasive Candida infectionsMethodsThis observational study involved a retrospective analysis of the patients' medical records. In total, 99 very low birth weight infants, who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at Ajou University Hospital from January 2010 to December 2011, were enrolled for the study. Period I, defined as the period before the revision of management policies, comprised 57 infants; whereas, period II, defined as the period after the implementation of new management policies, comprised 42 infants. The new management policies entailed a reduction in antibiotic and histamine type 2 receptor blocker (H2 blocker) use, duration of central venous catheterization, and duration of endotracheal intubation.ResultsThere was a significant overall decrease in the use of antibiotics including 3rd generation cephalosporin and H2 blockers (P<0.05), and a significantly lower incidence of invasive Candida infections in period II as compared to period I (0/42 vs. 6/57, respectively; P=0.037). Comparison between infants with invasive Candida infections (n=6) and those without (n=93) showed that gestational age (odds ratio [OR], 0.909; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.829 to 0.996; P=0.042) and the duration of 3rd generation cephalosporin use (OR, 1.093; 95% CI, 1.009 to 1.183; P=0.029) were statistically significant risk factors.ConclusionThe new management policies effectively decreased overall use of antibiotics, especially 3rd generation cephalosporin, and H2 blockers, which led to a significantly lower incidence of invasive Candida infections.

Neonatal upper gastrointestinal bleeding is rare in healthy full term infants and is known to be caused by stress ulcer, intracranial hemorrhage, increased intracranial pressure, congenital heart disease, perinatal asphyxia, respiratory distress, hypoglycemia and use of drugs such as steroids. Mallory-Weiss syndrome and hemorrhagic gastritis can cause life threatening upper gastrointestinal bleeding and are rarely reported in neonates and young infants. The authors experienced a case of Mallory-Weiss syndrome in a full term infant without particular perinatal history and a case of acute hemorrhagic gastritis in a preterm infant born at 33 weeks of gestation and 2,260 g of birth weight, both showed life threatening upper gastrointestinal bleeding. We report these two cases with a review of current literature.