The relationship between the temporal indicators of the acoustic reflex in infants

Acoustic reflexometry is included in the list of complex mandatory screening of newborns in many countries of the world. But, despite this, no more than 65% of doctors include the result in the diagnostic protocol, of which 33% record only the ipsilateral value, and 6% record only the contralateral value. The purpose of this article is to attract attention of children’s audiologists and otorhinolaryngologists to acoustic reflexometry as a method of audiological examination in the objective assessment of auditory function in children. The article addresses the concepts of acoustic reflex, its physiology as well as modern data on the age-related features of such reflex parameters as threshold of acoustic reflex, amplitude of acoustic reflex, and latency of acoustic reflex. Clinical aspects of application of acoustic reflexometry in adults are described, so are available data in the world literature, at the present time, peculiarities of performance and interpretation of stapedial reflex indices in children of the first year of life.

In the field of auditory neuroscience, acoustic reflex is a useful clinical test for hearing diagnosis and site of lesion assessment. Nevertheless, the latency measurement of acoustic reflex has not been widely studied and more research efforts are warranted. The present study aimed to determine the influences age, gender and stimulus frequency on acoustic reflex latency (ARL) among healthy adults. Seventy-two Malaysian adults (35 males and 37 females) participated in this prospective comparative study. They were categorized into three age groups: young adults (n = 30, mean age of 26.6 ± 4.3 years), middle-aged adults (n = 21, mean age of 45.8 ± 5.7 years) and older adults (n = 21, mean age of 58.2 ± 1.2 years). They underwent the standard ipsilateral acoustic reflex testing and ARL results were analyzed at 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz. The mean ARL values obtained are in line with the previous reports. While no significant influences of gender and stimulus frequency were found on ARL results, the mean ARL values were statistically higher in the older adults than in the other age groups. To conclude, a notable effect of age was found on the latency of acoustic reflex. In contrast, the ARL results do not appear to be influenced by either gender or stimulus frequency. The age-specific normative data for ARL gathered from the present study (n = 144) are useful for clinical and future research applications, particularly among Malaysian population.

RSV prevention in infancy and asthma in later life

Intrauterine repair of spina bifida: preoperative predictors of shunt-dependent hydrocephalus

Objective To test the hypothesis that consuming Mediterranean diet and using olive oil for cooking/dressing salads during pregnancy might be associated with less wheezing during the first year of the offspring's life. Methods A study was conducted in 1,409 infants (mean age, 16.6 ± 2.5 months) attending healthy infant clinics in Spain. Dietary data of mothers' intake during pregnancy was collected by means of a parental food frequency questionnaire. Demographic information and data on wheezing during the first year of the offspring's life were also recorded. Infants were stratified according to any wheezing (42.2%) during the first year of life. Results In the univariate analysis, adherence to a Mediterranean diet and using olive oil for cooking/dressing salads during pregnancy were both significantly associated with less wheezing during the first year of life. However, after multivariate analysis, only olive oil consumption during pregnancy remained associated with less wheezing in the studied period (aOR = 0.57 [95% CI = 0.4–0.9]); whereas male gender (1.8 [1.4–2.3]), day care attendance (2.15 [1.5–3.1]), maternal asthma (2.16 [1.3–3.6]), maternal smoking during pregnancy (1.83 [1.3–2.2]), infant eczema (1.95 [1.3–2.9]), and mould stains on the household walls (1.72 [1.2–2.5]) remained associated with wheezing. Conclusion Our findings suggest a protective effect (primary prevention) of olive oil use during pregnancy on wheezing during the first year of the offspring's life. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2010; 45:395–402. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A Candidate Gene for a Biological Marker of Schizophrenia in Mice

Effective monitoring throughout pregnancy and the first year of life is a crucial factor in achieving lower rates of maternal and infant mortality. Currently, research on socioeconomic factors that influence the lack of adherence to preventive and control measures during pregnancy and the first year of life is limited. The objective of this review is to examine the available evidence on social determinants that influence participation in health promotion and preventive activities throughout the pregnancy journey and in infants during their first year of life. We performed a systematic review of the literature searching in the major scientific databases (PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, WOS, and Cochrane Library) for articles from February 2017 to May 2023 containing information on health inequities that impact participation in health promotion and preventive measures from pregnancy through the first year of an infant's life. A total of 12 studies were selected; these studies were performed in ten different countries on five different continents. The selected studies cover preventive measures during maternal care, vaccination, and immunization during pregnancy and the first year of life, newborn screening, and follow-up of the first 12 months of life. The social factors associated with low adherence to health promotion activities during pregnancy and the first year of life include education, income, ethnicity, place of residence, and family characteristics. Despite the diverse geographical distribution, it is observed that there are common social factors linked to a decrease in the adherence to preventive measures during pregnancy and in the early years of life.

Objective This study examined hospitalisations and associated in-patient costs for babies during the first year of life following spontaneous labour, compared with labour induction or prelabour Caesarean section, at each gestational age. Methods Birth data for singleton liveborn babies from 33 weeks gestation in New South Wales from 2005 to 2014 were linked to hospital and death data. Generalised linear models were used to examine the association between the type of labour and the length of hospitalisations and hospital costs. Results From 2005 to 2014, 598640 women gave birth to 1187451 liveborn singleton babies. The mean total length of hospitalisations and costs of hospitalisations for babies in the first year of life decreased significantly as week of gestational age increased to 39 weeks, then plateaued. Overall, the total length of hospitalisations and hospital costs were significantly (P<0.001) lower for babies born after spontaneous labour (5.6 days and A$8405 respectively) than for babies born following labour induction (6.1 days and A$9452 respectively) or prelabour Caesarean section (8.2 days and A$12320 respectively). Conclusions Babies born following spontaneous labour spend less time in hospital and have lower hospital costs than those born following labour induction or prelabour Caesarean section. Hospitalisations and costs decrease with each week of gestational age until 39 weeks. What is known about the topic? It is known that induction of labour and prelabour Caesarean sections are increasing, and this increase has changed the distribution of gestational age towards birth at earlier ages. It is also known that babies born before 39 weeks of gestation are at increased risk of mortality and morbidity. What does this paper add? This study shows that babies born following spontaneous labour spend the least amount of time in hospital and subsequently have the lowest hospital costs at each week of gestation compared with babies born following labour induction or prelabour Caesarean section. This study also shows a small but significant economic advantage of labour induction compared with prelabour Caesarean delivery. This study quantifies the mean time babies spend in hospital in their first year of life, by week of gestational age and mode of birth. What are the implications for practitioners? The findings from this study can assist clinicians in judicious decision making when balancing the risks and benefits of early planned births. Clinicians can use the results of this study to inform women who are intending to have a planned birth of risks they may not have anticipated, such as the increased risk of rehospitalisation. The finding that hospitalisations and costs continue to decline until 39 weeks gestation can be used to reinforce the importance of continuing the pregnancy beyond 37 weeks if safe to do so, even though 37 weeks is considered term.

OBJETIVO: Investigar o efeito inibitório da via eferente auditiva na variação do limiar e da latência do reflexo acústico ipsilateral com estimulação contralateral. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados 17 pacientes entre 18 e 30 anos, com audição dentro dos padrões de normalidade submetidos à pesquisa de limiar e de latência do reflexo acústico, com e sem estimulação contralateral. RESULTADOS: Foram observadas médias de latência sem ruído contralateral para as freqüências de 500, 1000 e 2000 Hz respectivamente em 234,48, 214,96 e 236,71 milissegundos. Os valores de latência com ruído nas mesmas freqüências foram 230,74, 214,00 e 232,15 milissegundos. CONCLUSÃO: Houve diminuição da latência e aumento dos limiares do reflexo acústico quando apresentado estímulo supressor na orelha contralateral.

Events Within the First Year of Life, but Not the Neonatal Period, Affect Risk for Later Development of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Community-acquired diarrhoea in a world with rotavirus vaccine: a glimpse into the future.

Aim of the study is to investigate the frequency of and predictors for rehospitalization within the first 2 years of life among preterm infants. All children born before 32 weeks of gestation in Northern Tyrol between January 2003 and July 2008 were prospectively enrolled. Data on rehospitalizations were obtained from hospital admission records. The association between candidate risk factors and readmission was analysed by means of logistic regression analysis. In the first and second years of life, 151 and 93 of 377 children (40.1% and 24.7%), respectively, were readmitted to one of the hospitals in Northern Tyrol. The most common causes of rehospitalization were respiratory disorders, accounting for 42.1% and 47.4% of total readmissions in the first and second years of life. Chronic lung disease (CLD), male sex and smoking in pregnancy were risk conditions relevant to readmission in the first year of life, but only CLD in the second year. Infants born before 32 weeks of gestation have a high risk of rehospitalization with respiratory illness significantly contributing to postdischarge morbidity. Neonatal intensive care should aim to further improve respiratory health in preterm infants, and adequate follow-up services must be offered.

The goal of this study was to describe hospitalizations of infants during the first year of life according to week of gestational age (GA). We hypothesized that odds of any hospitalization would generally decrease with increasing GA, with late preterm infants experiencing additional increased risk of specific hospitalizations, such as hyperbilirubinemia. Birth certificates for > 6.6 million infants born in California hospitals between 1993 and 2005 and surviving to discharge were linked to hospital discharge records during the first year of life. Odds of any hospitalization and any hospitalization for specific diagnoses during the first year of life were determined for infants 23 to 44 weeks' GA. Further analysis determined odds of any hospitalization within 14, 30, and 90 days of birth discharge, and observed odds were compared with expected odds obtained through quadratic modeling. Odds of any hospitalization within the first year of life decreased with advancing GA, but observed odds of any hospitalization exceeded expected odds for 35-, 36-, and 37-week GA infants for all time periods after discharge. Odds of any hospitalization for hyperbilirubinemia were greatest for infants 33 to 38 weeks' GA (peak odds ratio at 36 weeks' GA: 2.86 [95% confidence interval: 2.73-3.00]), and a relative peak in odds of any hospitalization for specific infections was observed among infants 33 to 36 weeks' GA. Odds of any hospitalization during the first year of life exceeded expected odds of hospitalization for 35-, 36-, and 37-week GA infants. GAs at risk overlapped with, but were not identical to, GAs identified as late preterm infants.

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To register the acoustic reflex in children of the first year of life, to identify a full-fledged acoustic reflex at various frequencies and to analyze the dependence of its appearance on the timing of gestation. The study included 420 children (840 ears). The children are distributed relative to the gestation period at birth and age at the time of examination. After determining the normal auditory function, the initial and final acoustic reflex latency was studied in all children. The acoustic reflex was taken into account only when registering the initial and final latency, otherwise an acoustic reaction was recorded. It has been shown that the registration of an acoustic reflex depends on both the age and gestation period, as well as on the frequency of the stimulating tone. Acoustic reflex is not registered even by the age of 12 months in all children of the first year of life, which must be taken into account when conducting acoustic reflexometry.