The incidences of bleeding and thrombosis are high during ECMO support. Laboratory sampling is a major contributor to transfusion during ECMO. Strategies to reduce the daily risk of bleeding and thrombosis, and different thresholds for transfusion, may be appropriate subjects of future trials to improve outcomes of children requiring this supportive therapy.

The Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) and its most recent revision, the GOS-Extended (GOS-E), provide the gold standard for measuring traumatic brain injury (TBI) outcome. The GOS-E exhibits validity when used with adults and some adolescents, but validity with younger children is not established. Because the GOS-E lacks the developmental specificity necessary to evaluate children, toddlers, and infants, we modified the original version to create the GOS-E Pediatric Revision (GOS-E Peds), a developmentally appropriate structured interview, to classify younger patients. The criterion, predictive, and discriminant validity of the GOS-E Peds was measured in 159 subjects following TBI (mild: 36%; moderate: 12%; severe: 50%) at 3 and 6 months after injury. Participants were included from two studies completed at the Pediatric Neurotrauma Center at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. We assessed the relationship among GOS-E Peds, the GOS, and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales as well as other standardized measures of functional, behavioral, intellectual, and neuropsychological outcome. Premorbid function was assessed 24-36 h after injury. The GOS-E Peds showed a strong correlation with the GOS at 3 and 6 month time points. Criterion-related validity was also indicated by GOS-E Peds' association with most measures at both time points and at injury severity levels. The 3 month GOS-E Peds was associated with the 6 month GOS-E Peds, everyday function, behavior, and most cognitive abilities. Discriminant validity is suggested by weak correlations between both 3 and 6 month GOS-E Peds and premorbid measures. The GOS-E Peds is sensitive to severity of injury and is associated with changes in TBI sequelae over time. This pediatric revision provides a valid outcome measure in infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents through age 16. Findings support using the GOS-E Peds as the primary outcome variable in pediatric clinical trials.

Objective Changes in technology and increased reports of successful extracorporeal life support (ECLS) use in patient populations such as influenza, cardiac arrest and adults are leading to expansion of ECLS. Major limitations to ECLS expansion remain bleeding and thrombosis. These complications are the most frequent causes of death and morbidity. As a pilot project to provide baseline data for a detailed evaluation of bleeding and thrombosis in the current era, ECLS patients were analyzed from eight centers in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN). Study design Retrospective analysis of patients (<19 years) reported to the ELSO (Extracorporeal Life Support Organization registry from eight CPCCRN centers between 2005 and 2011. Subjects The study cohort consisted of 2036 patients [13% with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)]. Interventions none Main results In the cohort of non-CDH patients (n=1773), bleeding occurred in 38% of patients while thrombosis was noted in 31%. Bleeding and thrombosis were associated with a decreased survival by 40% (RR: 0.59; 95%CI: 0.53, 0.66) and 33% (OR 0.67; 95%CI: 0.60, 0.74). Longer duration of ECLS and use of venoarterial cannulation were also associated with increased risk of bleeding and/or thrombotic complications and lower survival. The most common bleeding events included surgical site bleeding (17%; n=306), cannulation site bleeding (14%; n=256), and intracranial hemorrhage (11%; n=192). Common thrombotic events were clots in the circuit (15%; n=274) and the oxygenator (12%; n=212), and hemolysis (plasma free hemoglobin>50 mg/dL) (10%; n=177). Among patients with CDH, bleeding and thrombosis occurred in, respectively, 45% (n=118) and 60% (n=159), Bleeding events were associated with reduced survival (RR 0.62; 95%CI: 0.46, 0.86) although thrombotic events were not (RR 0.92; 95%CI: 0.67, 1.26). Conclusions Bleeding and thrombosis remain common complications in patients undergoing ECLS. Further research to reduce or eliminate bleeding and thrombosis is indicated to help improve patient outcome.

These prospective data confirm the significant association of developmental delay with optic nerve hypoplasia and identify corpus callosum hypoplasia and hypothyroidism as strong correlates. A diagnosis of optic nerve hypoplasia warrants neuroradiographic and endocrinologic testing for risk factors of delay and developmental assessments for early intervention planning.