Monthly Archives: November 2015

The best outcome variable for very preterm newborns?

Posted on 27 November 2015 by Keith Barrington

Death or ‘neurodevelopmental impairment’ (NDI) as a combined outcome has become a sort of de facto standard as the primary outcome for neonatal clinical trials. Because many very preterm infants have developmental delay, intellectual and learning difficulties, and some have … Continue reading →

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An Oldie but a Goodie

Posted on 25 November 2015 by Keith Barrington

I discovered several months ago that one of my older presentations is very difficult to get on-line. It seems that at some point, when this article, Barrington K, Finer N. The natural history of the appearance of apnea of prematurity. Pediatr … Continue reading →

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The last nail in the coffin of permissive hypercapnia?

Posted on 24 November 2015 by Keith Barrington

Thome UH, et al. Permissive hypercapnia in extremely low birthweight infants (PHELBI): a randomised controlled multicentre trial. Lancet Respir Med. 2015;3(7):534-43. This German multi-center trial randomized infants 400 to 1000 g birth weight to 2 different CO2 target ranges. The … Continue reading →

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Diaphragmatic Hernia Updates

Posted on 24 November 2015 by Keith Barrington

There have been many publications recently for this group of our patients: Hagadorn JI, et al. Trends in treatment and in-hospital mortality for neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. J Perinatol. 2015;35(9):748-54. This multi-center cohort study shows, in term babies, that … Continue reading →

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Conflicts of interest are not all financial, but they are conflicts none the less. Name change not required.

Posted on 19 November 2015 by Keith Barrington

Another poorly argued article trying to minimize the reality of conflicts of interest in medical research. Cappola AR, FitzGerald GA. Confluence, not conflict of interest: Name change necessary. JAMA. 2015;314(17):1791-2. If someone stands to have a personal advantage as a result … Continue reading →

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Retinopathy: up or down?

Posted on 17 November 2015 by Keith Barrington

The oxygen saturation targeting trials showed more retinopathy with higher oxygen saturation targets. Will this translate into more retinopathy in actual practice? Many units have increased their saturation targets as a result of those studies. This may indeed lead to … Continue reading →

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Neonatal Updates

Posted on 17 November 2015 by Keith Barrington

Gschließer A, et al. Inter-expert and Intra-expert Agreement on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Retinopathy of Prematurity. American Journal of Ophthalmology. 2015;160(3):553-60.e3. The investigators showed 52 retinal photographs to 7 expert ophthalmologists, and then 8 weeks later showed them to … Continue reading →

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International Prematurity Day

Posted on 17 November 2015 by Keith Barrington

A Quebecois photographer, Red Methot has been taking photos of prematurely born children, each one is holding a photo of themselves as a preterm baby. He has now made a youtube video of his project. And here is his photo of my … Continue reading →

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Endotracheal intubation is hazardous

Posted on 15 November 2015 by Keith Barrington

Which is no surprise, I hope, to any of us. Neil Finer has been a leader in the field of recognizing and quantifying the adverse physiologic effects of endotracheal intubation, and of finding ways to reduce those effects using premedication. … Continue reading →

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