Active clinical trials for "Premature Birth"

The overall objective is to identify quickly after birth the preterm infants who will develop respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) for the purpose of treating them as early as possible with surfactant, to reduce, and if possible, to avoid sequelae, including long-term oxygen treatment. We have therefore developed a quick test, which we believe will be ideal for this type of diagnostics, and will now test the method in a preclinical trial.

Our objective is to investigate the predictive value of a panel of biomarkers associated with two biologically plausible pathways of preterm birth: membrane breakdown and cervical remodeling. The investigators will obtain cervical length, cervicovaginal fetal fibronectin, and a panel of novel cervicovaginal biomarkers associated with cervical remodeling in a prospective cohort of symptomatic women with a singleton pregnancy at high risk for preterm birth in an effort to better risk stratify this cohort.

The etiology of parenteral nutrition-associated cholestasis(PNAC)although elusive is thought to be multifactorial, and proposed theories also include problems arising from lipid emulsions, leading us to explore alternative products available elsewhere.So we compare the different fat emulsion, and want to see if the olive oil lipid emulsions can improve hepatic tolerance in preterm infant.

When a child was born too early, it is more likely to develop an alteration of its visual function than in the case of term birth. Significant visual disturbances are found in 3% of children born prematurely, but visual impairment can be very severe, up to the loss of vision in case of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in the most immature infants. The introduction of screening surveillance systems, such as WINROP software, might reduce the need for stressful eye examination in low risk neonates. This retrospective study aimed at validating the WINROP algorithm in a cohort of premature infants, born below 32 weeks of gestation, who had systematic eye examination for ROP screening over 4 year period.

The aims of this study are to: Assess whether ex-preterm infants have a persistently immature immune system, which may decrease their ability to respond to infections, when they reach term-corrected gestational age. Examine whether clinical history, nutrition status, and microbiome composition are linked to the immune composition of term and ex-preterm infants and whether these variables can be used to predict the risk of developing sepsis or having an immunologic disease.

Preterm children have a high risk for neurodevelopmental impairments. The impact on motor functions and neurosensory functions is demonstrated but the incidence of executive functions is not described for preterm infants.

Nutrition is a major issue for premature infants. Inappropriate nutritional intake during the first weeks of life is responsible for postnatal growth restriction and adverse long-term outcomes. This study aimed at evaluating the impact of the introduction of an updated, standardized, nutrition protocol on very premature infants' growth and morbidity, and the care givers' compliance to the new protocol.

This is a non-blinded randomized screening trial of asymptomatic singleton pregnancies without prior spontaneous preterm birth who are randomized to either transvaginal ultrasound cervical length screening program (i.e. intervention group) or no screening (i.e. control group). Women are consented and randomized at the time of their routine anatomy scan between 18 0/7 and 23 6/7 weeks. Women randomized in the transvaginal ultrasound cervical length screening will receive a single transvaginal ultrasound cervical length measurement after the anatomy scan. The cervical length will be measured by operators with certification of competence in the technique.

As extremely low birth weight infants are high-risk patients, the study aimed to compare neonatal care, nutritional strategy and postnatal growth of these infants in two European neonatal units. A retrospective study included extremely low birth weight infants born in Lyon, France or in Stockholm, Sweden. Data on morbidity, treatments, care practices, macro-nutrient intakes and postnatal growth were collected to determine risk factors of extra uterine growth restriction at discharge. By comparing postnatal growth in ELBW infants hospitalized in two European neonatal intensive care units with different nutritional and extra nutritional care,our objective was to evaluate the role of nutrition in this population of preterm infants.

Premature children are particularly vulnerable in terms of infection and vaccinated in a specific, reinforced vaccination schedule. However, the beginning of the vaccination of these children is often postponed and the vaccination schedule little followed.Concerning the vaccination of premature children, the national recommendations of the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) are different from those of the French experts in pediatric vaccinology. The HCSP recommends a vaccination schedule beginning at the age of 8 weeks postnatal, including, as for full-term infants, two injections at 2-month intervals of vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, haemophilus influenzae B type, whooping cough and hepatitis B. Anti-pneumococcal vaccination is recommended at 2, 3 and 4 months of life. The French experts of the Infectious Pediatric Pathology Group (GPIP) of the French Pediatric Society recommend a primary vaccination against whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, Haemophilus Influenzae B (DTPCoqHIB) and hepatitis B at 2, 3 and 4 months for children born before 33 weeks of amenorrhea (WA), and at 2 and 4 months for those born between 33 and 36 weeks + 6 days. Primary anti-pneumococcal vaccination is recommended at 2, 3 and 4 months for all children born prematurely before 37WA. On the other hand, the cocooning vaccination of the parents against whooping cough is recommended in case of birth at term as of premature birth. This cocooning strategy has not been sufficiently applied, justifying a recall in 2008 for all adults who have not received pertussis vaccination during the last ten years. The investigators seek to evaluate the follow-up of the recommended vaccination schedule of premature children leaving Angers University Hospital and the reasons associated with the non-monitoring of the calendar in order to identify possible lines of work to improve immunization compliance.