Improving neonatal intubation safety: A journey of a thousand miles

Neonatal intubation is one of the most common procedures performed by neonatologists, however, the procedure is difficult and high risk. Neonates who endure the procedure often experience adverse events, including bradycardia and severe oxygen desaturations. Because of low first attempt success rates, neonates are often subjected to multiple intubation attempts before the endotracheal tube is successfully placed. These factors conspire to make intubation one of the most dangerous procedures in neonatal medicine. In this commentary we review key elements in the journey to improve neonatal intubation safety. We begin with a review of intubation success rates and complications. Then, we discuss the importance of intubation training. Next, we examine quality improvement efforts and patient safety research to improve neonatal intubation safety. Finally, we evaluate new tools which may improve success rates, and decrease complications during neonatal intubation.

Resuscitation practices for infants in the NICU, PICU and CICU: results of a national survey

OBJECTIVE

Infants requiring resuscitation at birth are resuscitated using neonatal resuscitation guidelines. Sometime after birth, resuscitation practice must transition to pediatric guidelines. There is no evidence on when this transition should occur. The objective of this study was to describe infant resuscitation practices in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) and Cardiac Intensive Care Units (CICUs).

STUDY DESIGN

An electronic survey was sent to medical directors of NICUs, PICUs and CICUs in the U.S. The survey examined resuscitation practices, and preference for use of neonatal or pediatric guidelines, for different postnatal ages, clinical scenarios and etiologies of arrest.

RESULTS

A total of 152 responses were received, including 118 NICUs, 19 PICUs and 15 CICUs. The majority of NICU responders used greater than 28 days as the time to change from neonatal to pediatric guidelines. The majority of PICU and CICU transitioned to pediatric guidelines immediately after birth. Pediatric guidelines were preferred in the PICU and CICU regardless of the arrest etiology. NICU responders favored pediatric guidelines only if the arrest was cardiac.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that infants are resuscitated using neonatal guidelines in the NICU and pediatric guidelines in the PICU and CICU, even if they are the same age and have the same etiology of arrest. There is no agreement on the time to change from neonatal to pediatric guidelines. Further research comparing the outcomes of infants resuscitated in these different units could inform future guideline refinement.

Neonatal-perinatal medicine fellow procedural experience and competency determination: results of a national survey

OBJECTIVE

Ensuring that neonatal-perinatal medicine (NPM) fellows attain competency in performing neonatal procedures is a requirement of training-competent neonatologists.

STUDY DESIGN

A survey of NPM fellows was performed to determine the procedural experience of current fellows, investigate techniques used to track procedural experience and examine the methods programs use to verify procedural competency.

RESULTS

One hundred and sixty-three fellows in 57 accredited training programs responded to the survey. Reported number of procedures provide contemporary normative data on procedural experience during training. The majority of fellows reported using an online reporting system to track experience. The most common technique to verify procedural competency was supervised practice until an arbitrary number of procedures had been performed.

CONCLUSIONS

NPM fellow procedural experience increases significantly for most, but not all, procedures duration training. We speculate that supplemental simulation training for rare neonatal procedures would help ensure the competency of graduating NPM fellows. Experience alone is insufficient to verify competency. Further work on the accurate tracking of experience and verification of procedural competency is needed.

Porous diaphragm syndrome: haemothorax secondary to haemoperitoneum following laparoscopic hysterectomy

The porous diaphragm syndrome is associated with the presence of diaphragmatic fenestrations creating peritoneopleural communications. Such defects may occur in conditions associated with a rise on intra-abdominal pressure including laparoscopic surgery. Thoracic complications of laparoscopic surgery may occur as a result. A 48-year-old woman underwent a total laparoscopic hysterectomy for heavy menstrual bleeding. The postoperative period was complicated by haemoperitoneum resulting in haemothorax secondary to porous diaphragm syndrome. Surgeons and anaesthetists should be aware of the possibility of serious thoracic complications related to laparoscopic surgery.

Uptake of a cholesterol-rich emulsion by neoplastic ovarian tissues

OBJECTIVE

Previously, it was shown that a lipidic emulsion (LDE) composed of phospholipids and cholesterol esters which binds to low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors may concentrate in acute myeloid leukemia cells. In this study, we aimed to verify whether LDE also has the ability to concentrate in malignant ovarian cancer after being injected into the blood circulation of the patients.

METHODS

Three groups of women scheduled for surgery were included in the survey: 13 bearing malignant tumors, 9 with benign ovarian tumors, and 13 without ovarian tumor who were scheduled to undergo oophorectomy due to malignant disease of the uterine cervix or endometrium. On the day prior to surgery they were injected with LDE labeled with [(14)C]cholesteryl oleate. Specimens of tumors and normal ovaries excised during surgery were lipid extracted and analyzed for radioactivity counting. Results were expressed in radioactive count (cpm) per gram of tissue.

RESULTS

The mean of the uptakes of the emulsion radioactivity by the malignant tumors was roughly eightfold greater when compared with that of the contralateral normal ovaries (2261 +/- 1444 and 275 +/- 137 cpm/g, respectively, P < 0.012), benign tumors, and normal ovaries of the patients without ovarian tumors.

CONCLUSION

LDE has the ability to concentrate in malignant ovarian tumor tissue. Therefore, it can be used as a vehicle to direct cytotoxic drugs against malignant ovarian tumors, thus diminishing the side effects of chemotherapy.

Treatment of carcinoma in situ of the cervix experience at the Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo

The authors studied a total of 334 cases of carcinoma in situ of the cervix (1975-1990). The patients were 19 to 61 years old (mean age, 36.6 years). The following procedures were performed: cervical amputation in 54.5% of cases, cervical enlarged amputation with resection of the adjacent vaginal mucosa in 23.3%, abdominal hysterectomy in 15.3%, electrocauterization in 3.6%, simple conization in 2.4%, and vaginal hysterectomy in 0.9%. Recurrence rates were: 9.8% after cervical amputation, 1.3% after cervical enlarged amputation, 25% after simple conization, 5.8% after abdominal hysterectomy, and 33% after electrocauterization. Recurrences were detected before the 18th month after treatment and none of them was of the invasive type. The treatment procedure with the highest rate of complications was cervical enlarged amputation (16%), followed by simple conization (12%), total abdominal hysterectomy (3.9%), and cervical amputation (2.9%). The authors conclude that, although cervical enlarged amputation was followed by the lowest recurrence rate, it was also the treatment followed by the largest number of complications. On this basis, they recommend cervical amputation or hysterectomy. For young women who wish to have children, simple conization is recommended.

Chlamydia trachomatis infection in late pregnancy: a prospective study

During a 1-year period, 3309 women were screened in pregnancy for Chlamydia trachomatis infection. A cervical swab was taken and chlamydial antigen was detected, using a monoclonal antibody ELISA technique, in 198 women (6%). The prevalence of chlamydial infection was high in women under 20 years (14.5%), single women (14.2%) and black women (16.8%). Binomial regression of these data estimates a relative risk of 2.9 for women under 20 years compared with women aged 25 and over. There was an interaction between race and marital status with a high risk in single white and single asian women (2.3, 4.5 respectively) but a similar risk in black single and black married women (3.0, 4.0 respectively). Parity and social class did not effect the prevalence of antigen carriage. There was no demonstrable effect of maternal antigen carriage on outcome of pregnancy, gestation or admission to neonatal unit. Infants of 174 antigen-positive mothers were followed-up. Tissue culture for Chlamydia trachomatis was positive in 43 (24%) infants. Complications occurred in 23 (53%): 17 had conjunctivitis, three had lower respiratory tract infection and three both complications. Amongst 131 chlamydia-negative infants, complications occurred in 21 (16%). Since this infection, in infants, responds promptly to erythromycin therapy, screening and treatment in pregnancy will convey little benefit in prevention of perinatal morbidity or perinatal mortality.

Early acquisition of cytomegalovirus infection

Two hundred and fifty three infants were screened for cytomegalovirus (CMV) in the urine at birth and were followed up at regular intervals for one year. Twelve per cent (of 249) were excreting virus at 3 months, and 20% (of 234) at 12 months. In all cases infection was subclinical. The major factors determining risk of acquiring infection were the mother's serological state and whether the infant was breast fed. There was no association with social class, mother's age, or whether the child had been in a special care baby unit or a postnatal ward. By one year 33% (of 123) of infants of seropositive mothers had acquired CMV infection compared with 4% (of 123) born to seronegative mothers. Twenty per cent (17) of seropositive women who breast fed had virus isolated from their breast milk on at least one occasion, and 76% (13) of their infants became infected. In four mother-infant pairs comparison of CMV isolates from the mother's milk and the child's urine was made by restriction endonuclease digestion; in each pair infection had apparently occurred with the same strain of virus. All 13 infected infants followed up for three years were still shedding virus. Infection with CMV is common in infancy, and virus shedding persists for years. Congenital infection cannot be distinguished from acquired infection unless the presence of CMV in the urine is identified within three or four weeks after birth, even when clinical problems suggestive of congenital infection are present.

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection: predisposing maternal factors

In a prospective study of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in pregnancy 69 congenitally infected infants were identified. The age, race, marital status, social class, and parity of the mothers of congenital CMV infants were compared with those of the screened population of women with non-infected infants. These factors were all individually strongly associated with the prevalence of congenital CMV. However, once age, marital status, and race were accounted for, neither social class nor parity had any additional effect. The overall congenital CMV rate was 3 per 1000 livebirths, ranging from 25/1000 for single black women under 20 to 1.6/1000 in married or cohabitating white women over 25.

Neurodevelopmental assessment after congenital cytomegalovirus infection

The neurodevelopmental state of 41 children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection and their controls was assessed at 2 years using the Griffiths scale. The scores achieved by children with congenital cytomegalovirus but with no associated neurological abnormality (asymptomatic) were similar to those of the control children, whereas the mean score of the five children with congenital infection and neurological impairment (symptomatic) was significantly lower. This study, which has the statistical power to detect differences in developmental quotient as small as five points, gave no evidence that at 2 years cytomegalovirus infection was associated with mental retardation in the absence of other neurological impairment. Thus 90% of children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection at 2 years are neurologically and developmentally normal.

Employment status and psychological well-being: a longitudinal study of 16-year-old school leavers

The relationship between employment status and psychological well-being is investigated in a longitudinal study of 16-year-old school leavers. Significant differences between employed, unemployed and government training scheme groups on a number of measures of well-being were found, these differences persisting after adjustment for individual differences and for other factors known to affect mental health. Implications for clinical practice and public health are considered and possible explanations for the poorer psychological health of the unemployed group are discussed.

Lung cancer mortality in a cohort of English foundry workers

A cohort of males who started work between 1946 and 1965 inclusive in nine English steel foundries and who worked in these foundries at least one year has been followed prospectively until 1978. Mortality from lung cancer was significantly raised among workers employed in the foundry and fettling shop areas (standardized mortality ratios 142 and 173, respectively). Most occupational categories in these two areas had more lung cancer deaths than expected, but the standardized mortality ratios were the largest for the furnace bricklayers, fettlers, and heat treatment furnacemen. There was some evidence of risk increasing with length of employment. There were marked differences in the standardized mortality ratio for lung cancer between study foundries. By year of entry the lung cancer risk was fairly constant, in contrast to the improvement in mortality from diseases of the respiratory system over the same period.

Oocyte overripeness relation to multiple pregnancy. An epidemiologic study

A total of 116 cases of multiple pregnancy has been observed in a 5-year period. MZ twin pregnancies appear to be significantly increased in the maternal age group 31-35. Also significant is the higher frequency of abnormal cycles in MZ twin pregnancies. Family incidence of twins is more significant in mothers of DZ as compared to MZ twins.