• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 1976

Serum levels of human placental lactogen have been measured by hemagglutination-inhibition reaction in 67 normal pregnant state and in 15 postpartum 24 hour state, HAIR is less sensitive and reliable method than radioimmunoassay, but simple, rapid, less expensive and fairly accurate, so it is more helpful in screening of large antenatal population with or without high risk complications. 1) Sensitivity of HPL-HAIR test kit was $0.1{\mu}g$/ml of H.P.L. serum level and had no cross reaction to HCG or male serum or non-pregenant female or newborn infant, 2) H.P.L. value was around $2{\mu}g$/ml until 24th week of pregnancy and rose to $6{\sim}8$ ${\mu}g$/ml continuously until about 36th week of pregnancy and then slightly decreased or stationary. 3) H.P.L. value in postpartum 24 hour state was undetectable. 4) There was poor correlation between maternal serum H.P.L. value at term and baby weight.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.56 no.8
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• pp.332-337
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• 2013

Purpose: To identify the frequency of bacterial isolates in early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) and their antimicrobial resistance pattern. Methods: A retrospective study of EONS was conducted at the Beni Suef University Hospital from September 2008 to September 2012. A case of EONS was defined as an infant who had clinical signs of infection or who was born to a mother with risk factors for infection, and in whom blood culture obtained within 72 hours of life grew a bacterial pathogen. Results: Of 673 neonates screened, there were 138 positive blood cultures (20.5%) (confirmed EONS). Of the recovered isolates, 86.2% were gram-negative pathogens. Klebsiella pneumoniae (42.8%), Enterobacter cloacae (22.5%), and Escherichia coli (13.8%) were the commonest isolated organisms. The most common gram-positive microorganism was Staphylococcus aureus accounting for only 12 isolates (8.7%). All Klebsiella isolates and 93% of Enterobacter isolates were resistant to ampicillin. Gram-negative pathogens had the maximum overall sensitivity to imipenem, cefepime, and ciprofloxacin; whereas, gram-positive isolates were most susceptible to vancomycin, imipenem, and piperacillin. Conclusion: K. pneumoniae was the predominant causative bacteria of EONS followed by E. cloacae and E. coli. There was a high resistance to ampicillin. Imipenem had the maximum overall activity against the causative bacteria. Continuous surveillance is needed to monitor the changing epidemiology of pathogens and antibiotic sensitivity.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.55-60
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acoustic characteristics of crying infants according to the communication intents such as hunger and pain in terms of acoustic differences in the fundamental frequency ($F_0$), jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio(NHR), habitual pitch, and intensity. The subjects were 20 healthy, normal infants, less than seven days old, from the city of Seoul and were born after 38 to 42 weeks(full term) of pregnancy. The sound of crying was recorded for three minutes. The crying due to pain was induced by means of the inborn metabolism error test, whereas the crying due to hunger was verified by means of the rooting reflex by waiting for the designated eating time. The results were as follows: (1) the fundamental frequency, noise-to-harmonic ratio(NHR), and intensity of the infants' crying due to pain was higher than that by hunger, showing a significant difference between the mean values. (2) the infants' crying due to hunger and that by pain did not have a significant difference in the mean jitter and shimmer values but both of them were largely outside of the normal threshold values(jitter by 1.04% and shimmer by 3.81%). This study was significant in the sense that it showed the acoustic characteristics of infants' crying from hunger and pain were very different from each other according to the communication intents in terms of the six acoustic parameters.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.363-367
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• 2011

Central venous catheters (CVCs) are regularly used in intensive care units, and catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) remains a leading cause of healthcare-associated infections, particularly in preterm infants. Increased survival rate of extremely-low-birth-weight infants can be partly attributed to routine practice of CVC placement. The most common types of CVCs used in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) include umbilical venous catheters, peripherally inserted central catheters, and tunneled catheters. CRBSI is defined as a laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection (BSI) with either a positive catheter tip culture or a positive blood culture drawn from the CVC. BSIs most frequently result from pathogens such as gram-positive cocci, coagulase-negative staphylococci, and sometimes gram-negative organisms. CRBSIs are usually associated with several risk factors, including prolonged catheter placement, femoral access, low birth weight, and young gestational age. Most NICUs have a strategy for catheter insertion and maintenance designed to decrease CRBSIs. Specific interventions slightly differ between NICUs, particularly with regard to the types of disinfectants used for hand hygiene and appropriate skin care for the infant. In conclusion, infection rates can be reduced by the application of strict protocols for the placement and maintenance of CVCs and the education of NICU physicians and nurses.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.155-161
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• 2019

Following the first successful trial of surfactant replacement therapy for preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) by Fujiwara in 1980, several animal-derived natural surfactants and synthetic surfactants have been developed. Synthetic surfactants were designed to overcome limitations of natural surfactants such as cost, immune reactions, and infections elicited by animal proteins contained in natural surfactants. However, first-generation synthetic surfactants that are protein-free have failed to prove their superiority over natural surfactants because they lack surfactant protein (SP). Lucinactant, a second-generation synthetic surfactant containing the SP-B analog, was better or at least as effective as the natural surfactant, suggesting that lucinactant could act an alternative to natural surfactants. Lucinactant was approved by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2012 as the fifth surfactant to treat neonatal RDS. CHF5633, a second-generation synthetic surfactant containing SP-B and SP-C analogs, was effective and safe in a human multicenter cohort study for preterm infants. Many comparative studies of natural surfactants used worldwide have reported different efficacies for different preparations. However, these differences are believed to due to site variations, not actual differences. The more important thing than the composition of the surfactant in improving outcome is the timing and mode of administration of the surfactant. Novel synthetic surfactants containing synthetic phospholipid incorporated with SP-B and SP-C analogs will potentially represent alternatives to natural surfactants in the future, while improvement of treatment modalities with less-invasive or noninvasive methods of surfactant administration will be the most important task to be resolved.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2009

Neurodevelopmental outcomes of very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) and extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWI) in Korea on 14 reports from 1984 to 2008 were analyzed. Follow-up rates were varied from 42.9% to 90.2%. Duration of follow-up ranged from 4 months to 5 years. The prevalence of cerebral palsy (CP) of VLBWI was as follows: 4.3-5.3% in 1980s, 7.1-9.1 % in 1990s and 3.6-15.6% in 2000s. CP was noted in 8.2-30.8% of ELBWI on studies reported in 2000s. Delayed Mental development was diagnosed in 2.0-17.9% of VLBWI and in 20.4-30.8% of ELBWI. Sensory impairments such as hearing loss or visual deficit were reported in 3.1-3.6% of VLBWI and 0.0-10.0% of ELBWI. Seizure disorder was reported in 5.3% of VLBWI by one report. No reports for minor neurodevelopmental dysfunctions in VLBWI and ELBWI were found from 1984 to 2008. It is necessary to establish basic protocols and nationwide systems for long-term follow-up study to obtain valuable data.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.251-256
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• 2014

Severe intraventricular hemorrhaging (IVH) in premature infants and subsequent posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH) causes significant mortality and life-long neurological complications, including seizures, cerebral palsy, and developmental retardation. However, there are currently no effective therapies for neonatal IVH. The pathogenesis of PHH has been mainly explained by inflammation within the subarachnoid spaces due to the hemolysis of extravasated blood after IVH. Obliterative arachnoiditis, induced by inflammatory responses, impairs cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) resorption and subsequently leads to the development of PHH with ensuing brain damage. Increasing evidence has demonstrated potent immunomodulating abilities of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in various brain injury models. Recent reports of MSC transplantation in an IVH model of newborn rats demonstrated that intraventricular transplantation of MSCs downregulated the inflammatory cytokines in CSF and attenuated progressive PHH. In addition, MSC transplantation mitigated the brain damages that ensue after IVH and PHH, including reactive gliosis, cell death, delayed myelination, and impaired behavioral functions. These findings suggest that MSCs are promising therapeutic agents for neuroprotection in preterm infants with severe IVH.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.436-443
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• 2007

Purpose: An exploratory study was done to examine the validity of the new Ballard scale with extended scoring system(eNBS) in estimating gestational age(AG) in full-term newborns. Method: The eNBS scoring system was extended to include all numbers of total score of NBS and GA to allow a 3-days variation in GA estimatio compared to the original scale which has a 2-week variation due to the application of a 5-score interval for the total NBS score and only even numbers for GA. GA by eNBS(GA-eNBS) was compared with GA by LMP(GA-LMP) and GA by standard NBS(GA-sNBS) in 133 full-term newborns. Difference between GA-LMP and GA-eNBS was analyzed for each GA. Results: Positive correlations were observed in GA-sNBS and GA-eNBS with GA-LMP. There was no difference between GA-LMP and GA-eNBS at 39GA and 40GA. At 37GA and 38GA, GA-eNBS overestimated GA-LMP up to 1 week, while underestimating up to 1 week at 41GA. Conclusions: The accuracy of eNBS was validated within 3 days of variation in GA estimation at 39-40GA. Overestimation by eNBS suggests the possible acceleration of fetal maturity in premature newborns, while underestimation, of the deceleration of fetal maturity in postterm newborns.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.391-394
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• 2011

Neonatal lupus erythematosus (NLE) is a rare disease characterized by typical clinical features and the transplacental passage of maternal autoantibodies, particularly anti-SSA/Ro. The major clinical manifestations are cutaneous lupus lesions, congenital heart block, hematological disorders, and hepatobiliary diseases. We report a case of NLE presenting with multiple round and oval target-like erythematous skin lesions and abnormal liver function, born to a clinically asymptomatic mother whose diagnosis was made retrospectively only after her newborn's diagnosis. Both the infant and the mother were positive for the anti-SSA/Ro and anti-SSB/La antibodies.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.443-450
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• 2022

This study developed a three-dimensional helmet mold design software that can design helmets for treating the infant plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome) using three-dimensional head scan data. For this, the three-dimensional head data of sixth SizeKorea body measurement project as well as the data produced by a head modeling software were used to prepare the head shape data of plagiocephaly patients. A total of 14 landmarks and 10 dimensions of heads required for helmet mold shape design and plagiocephaly diagnosis were automatically measured using an anthropometric analysis software. Using the software developed in this study, plagiocephaly can be diagnosed not only visually by three-dimensional head data visualization but also quantitatively by calculating the medically defined indices such as cranial index, which measures the proportions of the head, and the cranial vault asymmetry index, which measures the asymmetry of the head. The basic shape of the helmet mold was automatically generated based on the head scan data. Additionally, it is possible to fine tune the shape of the mold to reflect individual characteristics by using a free form deformation technique. Finally, the designed helmet mold was converted into the data that can be printed on a three-dimensional printer for generating the actual prototype.