Author Archives: Keith Barrington

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About Keith Barrington

I am a neonatologist and clinical researcher at Sainte Justine University Health Center in Montréal

How do we make decisions for the most immature babies, with their families?

Posted on 10 January 2022 by Keith Barrington

Although babies under 25 weeks account for a tiny proportion of births, and a small proportion of NICU admissions, the importance of the question asked in the title can be seen by the ongoing number of publications, below are just … Continue reading →

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Should we treat electrographic seizures?

Posted on 6 January 2022 by Keith Barrington

In order to answer the question posed in the title you would need to take babies at risk of seizures, but not yet having clinically diagnosed convulsions, randomize them to have routine continuous EEG monitoring or not and then treat … Continue reading →

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Was OPTIMIST too optimistic?

Posted on 5 January 2022 by Keith Barrington

One of the trials we have been waiting for has just been published Dargaville PA, et al. Effect of Minimally Invasive Surfactant Therapy vs Sham Treatment on Death or Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Infants With Respiratory Distress Syndrome: The OPTIMIST-A … Continue reading →

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Caring for the most profoundly immature babies; what works?

Posted on 4 January 2022 by Keith Barrington

The upcoming issue of “Seminars in Perinatology” is about the controversies in caring for the babies <25 weeks gestation. Babies born at 24, 23, 22 or even now 21 weeks gestation are so physiologically immature that we can’t just assume … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged | 2 Comments

Outcomes of very preterm infants: what matters to parents?

Posted on 3 January 2022 by Keith Barrington

Neonatologists can be said to have invented “Outcomes Research”, the systematic evaluation of patients after an acute-care event. It is a field of research which has now been extended from early infancy into the adult period and provided enormous insights … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | 5 Comments

Recently my heart betrayed me…

Posted on 22 October 2021 by Keith Barrington

Recently my heart betrayed me, after more than 60 years of excellent service it decided to beat far too quickly. My atria started to beat at nearly 300 times per minute, and my ventricles, unable to beat that fast, responded … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | 10 Comments

How often does Whole Genome Sequencing really help the baby? Or their family?

Posted on 21 October 2021 by Keith Barrington

It is a long time since I have written anything on this blog about the above issue, I have an article in submission to the real scientific literature with some illustrious co-authors, but I was prompted to write this blog … Continue reading →

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Neonatal Updates

Posted on 18 October 2021 by Keith Barrington

It’s a long time since I did one of these, but there were several publications that I thought warranted a quick comment. Abbey NV, et al. Electrocardiogram for heart rate evaluation during preterm resuscitation at birth: a randomized trial. Pediatr … Continue reading →

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Delivering better CPAP in the delivery room, can we avoid intubation in the most immature babies?

Posted on 7 October 2021 by Keith Barrington

Randomized trials have shown that trying to prevent intubation in the DR leads to less severe lung injury. The Cochrane review of prophylactic CPAP compared to immediate intubation included 3 trials (SUPPORT, COIN and DR Management study), that review found … Continue reading →

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Babies feel pain, and they remember it!

Posted on 6 October 2021 by Keith Barrington

I usually don’t post about studies of painful procedures where there was no analgesic prophylaxis in some of the the subjects, except to criticize them, and if they are recent, to call for their retraction. So when I first saw … Continue reading →

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