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People born preterm (<37 weeks’ gestation) have lower peak oxygen consumption (peak VO2), a well-established indicator of long-term health outcomes, compared to term-born peers. However, responses to exercise can vary with exercise mode, which has implications for prognostic assessments.
Since the first description of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), multiple definitions to diagnose BPD and its grading have been published. Several studies have compared the predictive performance of these definitions for long-term outcomes. The objective was to identify the BPD definition with the optimal predictive performance for long-term respiratory and neurological outcomes in preterm infants.
Postnatal intensive care for preterm infants born at 22 to 23 weeks' gestation is increasing, although survival rates remain low. Information on outcomes for multiple countries or regions can be important for research, benchmarking, quality improvement, and parental counseling.
Preterm birth is associated with a 3.3-fold increased likelihood of autism diagnosis, with lower gestational age conferring higher likelihood. In Australia, autism is typically diagnosed at around age four, potentially missing the optimal neuroplasticity window before age two. The Social Attention and Communication Surveillance-Revised (SACS-R) tool identifies early autism signs in children aged 11-30 months, enabling pre-emptive intervention.
The identification of a COPD etiotype associated with preterm birth (COPD-developmental) has expedited calls for intervention strategies that may improve health outcomes for survivors of preterm birth (<37 weeks' gestation). Pulmonary-rehabilitation style training interventions achieve physiological and symptom improvement in older people with COPD, but whether similar training interventions are suitable for young people is unclear. We sought to understand the perceived need and requirements of an exercise training intervention for children, adolescents and adults born preterm.
Increasingly, preterm-born children are entering adulthood as survival at earlier gestational ages improves. However, there is little understanding of the lived experience in preterm-born adults.
Contemporary models of NICU care emphasize the critical role of parents in supporting their infant's development. Fathers play an important, but underutilized, role throughout their infant's NICU journey. This narrative review describes the main direct and indirect mechanisms through which fathers support the development of their NICU infant, and the barriers and facilitators to this support as described in current research.
Many survivors of preterm birth will have abnormal lung development, reduced peak lung function and, potentially, an increased rate of physiological lung function decline, each of which places them at increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease across the lifespan.
The incidence and severity of heatwaves are increasing globally with concomitant health complications. Pregnancy is a critical time in the life course at risk of adverse health outcomes due to heat exposure. Dynamic physiological adaptations, which include altered thermoregulatory pathways, occur in pregnancy.
Perinatal inflammation increases the risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm neonates, but the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain largely unknown. Given their anti-inflammatory and regenerative capacity, multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPC) are a promising cell-based therapy to prevent and/or treat the negative pulmonary consequences of perinatal inflammation in the preterm neonate.