• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.855-861
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• 2007

Purpose : The most common causes of acute viral gastroenteritis in newborn period are rotavirus, astrovirus, norovirus and enteric adenovirus. This study was designed to investigate the clinical characteristics, clinical symptoms, isolation rate and distribution of these viruses in full-term neonates during neonatal period. We also studied the influence on the viral isolation rate by postnatal care place and feeding type. Methods : We evaluated 112 healthy full-term neonates who were admitted to Eulji hospital, presenting with symptoms of acute viral gastroenteritis from September 2004 to August 2005. Epidemiologic, clinical and laboratory data were reviewed. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for rotavirus, astrovirus and norovirus and RT-PCR for enteric adenovirus were performed in study subjects.Results : The mean age at the admission was $11.4{\pm}5.4days$, mean weight loss was $5.9{\pm}5.1%$, mean hospitalization duration was $6.3{\pm}3.4days$. Moderate and severe weight loss were expressed in 51.7% and metabolic acidosis was in 13.4%. The percent of living in postnatal care facility (PCF) was 74.1 % and the percent of mixed feeding was 64.3%. Isolation rate of virus was 33%. The most prevalent virus was rotavirus (59.5%), followed by astrovirus (29.7%) and norovirus (10.8%). There was no differences in virus isolation rate by postnatal care place and by feeding type. The rotavirus was main virus in both home group and PCF group. But astrovirus was more detected in PCF and norovirus was more detected in home (P<0.05). According to monthly distribution of virus, acute viral gastroenteritis in newborn period was concentrated in September to December. Conclusion : The isolation rate of 4 type viruses was 33% and rotavirus was the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis during neonatal period. There was no differences in clinical characteristics on each viral groups.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.893-897
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• 2009

Purpose : Advances in neonatal intensive care have improved the survival rate of low-birth-weight infants, but mild bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) with the accompanying need for prolonged oxygen supplement remains problematic. Maternal chorioamnionitis and neonatal ventilator care affect the development of BPD. This study aimed to examine whether maternal chorioamnionitis or neonatal ventilator care affect the development of BPD dependently or independently. Methods : We performed a retrospective study of 158 newborn infants below 36 weeks of gestational age and 1,500 gm birth weight admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of Daegu Fatima Hospital between January 2000 and December 2006. We analyzed the incidence of BPD according to maternal chorioamnionitis and neonatal ventilator care. Result : Histologic chorioamnionitis was observed in 50 of 158 infants (31.6%). There were no significant differences in the development of BPD (P=0.735) between the chorioamnionitis (+) and chorioamnionitis (-) groups. In the multiple regression analysis, ventilator care (OR=7.409, 95% CI=2.532-21.681) and neonatal sepsis (OR=4.897, 95% CI=1.227-19.539) affected the development of BPD rather than maternal chorioamnionitis (OR=0.461, 95% CI=0.201-1.059). Conclusion : Ventilator care or neonatal sepsis may play a role in the development of BPD rather than maternal chorioamnionitis.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.10
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• pp.1050-1055
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• 2006

Purpose : As a result of advances in neonatal intensive care and perinatal care, neurodevelopmental outcomes of very low birth weight infant(VLBWIS) is expected to lead to improvement. The aim of this study was to report neurodevelopmental outcomes and risk factors of neurologic impairment of very low birth weight infants during the past 10 years. Method : We performed a retrospective study of 447 newborn infants below 1,500 gm admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of Taegu Fatima Hospital between Janury 1996 and December 2004. Infants were subdivided into group 1(Jan. 1996 to Dec. 1998), group 2(Jan. 1999 to Dec. 2001), and group3(Jan. 2002 to Dec. 2004). We analyzed epidemiologic data to study changes of neurodevelopmental outcomes and risk factors of neurologic impairment. Result : The incidence of cerebral palsy and developmental delay decreased significantly in periods 2 and 3(vs period 1; cerebral palsy 10 percent, developmental delay; 18 percent, P<0.05). Periventricular leukomalacia incidence decreased in period 3(vs period 1; 14.5 percent, P<0.05). The overall survival rate of VLBWIS increased significantly in period 2 and 3(vs period 1; 90.0 percent, P<0.05). The risk factors of neurologic impairment are long-term ventilator care(above 1 wk), low Apgar score, low gestational age and low birth weight. Conclusion : In the most recent 10 years, neurologic impairments of VLBWIS significantly decreased, as a result of advances in neonatal intensive care and perinatal care.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.224-239
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• 2000

This descriptive study was conducted to understand the contents and degree of parental stress level in the NICU patients, and to give a baseline data in developing nursing intervention program. Subjects were the 62 mother of hospitalized newborn in NICU of 1 University Hospital in Taejon City from May 1st, 1999 to November 30th, 1999, who agreed to take part in this study. The instrument used in this study were Parental Stressor Scales : NICU(PSS:NICU) developed by Miles et al. and validated by 3 NICU practitioners and 3 child health nursing faculties. The questionnaire has 4 dimensions and 45 items; sight and sounds of NICU(5 items), babies' appearance and behavior(19 items), parental role alteration and relationship with their baby(10 items), communication with health team(11 items). The questionnaire asks parents to rate each item on a five-point Likert type scale that ranges from (1) to (5). Total scores representing overall stress from the NICU environment are calculated by summing response to each item. A high score indicates high stress. A subscale score is calculated by summing the responses to each item in the subscale. Cronbach's α coefficients were .93. The data was analyzed as average, Frequency, Standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient by use of SPSS/PC+. The results of this study is summarized as follows ; 1. The total perceived stress level score of mothers was slightly high(3.6±.7). The highest scored dimension was 'appearance and behavior of the baby'(3.9±1.5), and next were 'relationship with their baby and parental role change'(3.5±1.4), 'communication with health team'(3.4±.9), 'sight and sounds of NICU'(3.2±.8). 2. Two variables were statistically significant with PSS:NICU total scale ; mother's perceived severity of the baby's condition (r=.482, P=.002) and mother's religious attendance(t=2.83, P=.01). The more the mother perceive their baby's condition severe, the higher the total stress score. There were high stress score noted in the mother of no religious attendance. 3. Four variables were statistically significant with NICU environment subscale ; mother's educational background(F=3.45, P=.04), religious attendance(t=2.28, P=.04), sex of the baby(t=2.83, P=.01) and NICU patients' hospital day(r=.359, P=.004). That is mother with high educational background and girl baby were high NICU environment subscale score. 4. Four variables were statistically significant with appearance and behavior of the baby subscale ; when first saw baby(F=3.52, P=.04), incubator care(t=2.83, P=.01), mother's perceived severity of the baby's condition(r=.303, P=.017), number of NICU visit(r=.441, P=.002). That is, seeing the baby first in the NICU and recieved incubator care was very stressful. Also, the more the mother perceive their baby's condition severe and more NICU visit, the higher the appearance and behavior of the baby subscale stress score. 5. Four variables were statistically significant with relationship with their baby and parental role change subscale ; when first saw baby(F=3.37, P=.04), sex of the baby(t=2.36, P=.03), incubator care(t=5.60, P=.00), mother's perceived severity of the baby's condition(r=.401, P=.001). That is, seeing the baby first in the NICU and girl baby was very stressful. Also, the more the mother perceive their baby's condition severe, the higher the relationship with their baby and parental role change subscale stress score. 6. Three variables were statistically significant with communication with health team subscale ; mother's educational background (F=3.63, P=.04), incubator care(t=4.24, P=.00), gestational age(r=-.394, P=.047), and birth weight(r=-.460, P=.004). That is, mother with high educational background and receiving incubator care were high communication with health team subscale score. Also, the shorter the gestational age and smaller the baby's birth weight, the higher the communication with health team subscale score. In conclusion, information about physical environment of NICU, the mother's perceived severity of baby's illness state, maternal role change related variables and the knowledge of characteristics of NICU patients must be included in nursing intervention program of mother's of NICU patients in reducing the maternal stress and anxiety level.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.399-403
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• 2011

Brain abscesses in neonates are extremely rare and usually occur in patients with certain risk factors. A 1-month-old boy presented at the hospital with fever and irritability. As a result of preterm delivery and low birth weight, he had a history of admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Neuroimaging revealed a large, space-occupying lesion in both frontal lobes, which was suspected to be an abscess with the midline shifting to the right. With a single aspiration and abscess drainage along with concurrent prolonged parenteral antibiotic therapy, the patient showed an excellent treatment outcome with normal development. The focus will be placed on minimally invasive surgical management as well as positive outcomes.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.409-411
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• 2011

In Korea, pulmonary surfactant (PS) replacement therapy in respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) was started in 1991 since when Surfacten$^{(R)}$ was imported from Japan. At the present time, Surfacten$^{(R)}$, Newfactan$^{(R)}$, Curosurf$^{(R)}$, and Infasurf$^{(R)}$ are available in Korea. The governmental health insurance covers the expense for multiple dose treatment since 2002 and the early prophylactic treatment (BW: <1,250 g or GP: <30 wks) since 2011. We undertook a multi-institutional collective study to evaluate the outcomes of PS over past 20 years in Korea (Period-I; 1990/91, P-II; 1996, P-III; 2002, and P-IV; 2007, P-V; 2010). There were 60 RDS neonates with PS treatment in P-I (16 hospitals), 1,179 in P-II (64), 1,595 in P-III (62), 1,921 in P-IV (57), and 3,160 in P-V (72). Decreased mortality rate, defined as the percentage of neonates who died within 28 days of birth, was seen between periods, P-V vs P-I, II, III, and IV (mortality rate: 10.1% vs. 40.0%, 30.0%, 18.7%, and 14.3%). We conclude that PS therapy contributed to improve remarkable outcome in RDS neonates over the last 20 years in Korea. However, more efforts should be made to optimize PS therapy for better outcome. Multiple PS doses for relapse and poor response, early prophylactic use, and better supportive care for pre-term infants are mandatory.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.52-63
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• 1987

Il-primigravidas who visited antenatal clinic and their husbands were taught lamaze childbirth education by the investigator in the third trimester of pregnancy. Lamaze childbirth educational course consisted of six weekly class totaling twelve hours of instruction. A questionnaire was adminstered to subjects for the evaluation of Lamaze educational Program. 21-questions were rated on a Likert-type scale containing five responses and subjects described the advantages, the disadvantage, and the difficulties of lamaze childbirth education course. The results of the study were as follows; 1. The core contents of lamaze childbirth educational Program were Process of labor, anatomy and physiology of the female body, the care of newborn, maternal-infant attachment, breathing patterns to be used at the appropriate stage of labor, techniques for conscious relaxation of muscles during labor and delivery, and exercise to limber and prepare the body for the work of labor and delivery. All couples understood the above core contents very well and there were not significant differences between the understanding scores of wives and those of husbands (p>0.05). 2. 81.8% of couples Practiced breathing pattern to be used at the appropriate stages of labor one or three times a day and 72.7% of couples practiced conscious relaxation of muscles one or three times a day. 3. The contents of Lamaze childbirth educational program were easy for the couples to understand, and the total length, the amounts and the structures of 6-classes were appropriate. 4. Lamaze childbirth educational program was very useful, necessary, interesting, and successful to achieve the couples' objectives. 5. The couples expressed that they had positive attitude and high self-esteem, and reduced their anxiety on the pregnancy and labor.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.10-16
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• 2017

Purpose: Although procalcitonin (PCT) level is useful for the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis, PCT reliability is inconsistent because of the varied conditions encountered in neonatal intensive care units. This study aimed to investigate PCT levels and factors influencing increased PCT levelin newborns without bacterial infection during the first week of life. Methods: In newborns hospitalized between March 2013 and October 2015, PCT levels were measured on the first, third, and seventh days after birth. Newborns with proven bacterial (blood culture positive for bacteria) or suspicious infection (presence of C-reactive protein expression or leukocytosis/leukopenia) were excluded. Various neonatal conditions were analyzed to identify the factors influencing increased PCT level. Results: Among 292 newborns with a gestational age of $35.2{\pm}3.0$ weeks and a birth weight of $2,428{\pm}643g$, preterm newborns (n=212) had higher PCT levels than term newborns (n=80). Of the newborns, 7.9% had increased PCT level (23 of 292) on the firstday; 28.3% (81 of 286), on the third day; and 3.3% (7 of 121), on the seventh day after birth. The increased PCT level was significantly associated with prenatal disuse of antibiotics (P=0.004) and surfactant administration (P<0.001) on the first day after birth, postnatal use of antibiotics (P=0.001) and ventilator application (P=0.001) on the third day after birth, and very low birth weight (P=0.042) on the seventh day after birth. Conclusion: In newborns without bacterial infection, increased PCT level was significantly associated with lower gestational age and respiratory difficulty during the first week of life. Further studies are needed for clinical applications.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.557-560
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• 2005

Congenital laryngeal atresia is a rare cause of airway obstruction that is almost always lethal within a few minutes after birth. Therefore congenital laryngeal atresia should be diagnosed in the prenatal period. If not, it should be considered in newborn infant with life-threatening symptoms at birth such as cyanosis and dyspnea that need emergent procedures like a tracheotomy. We report a case of congenital laryngeal atresia with single umbilical artery diagnosed in a one-day-old neonate who required a tracheotomy and ventilator care after intubation failure.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.139-142
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• 2013

X-linked recessive myotubular myopathy (XLMTM) is a severe congenital muscle disorder caused by mutations in the MTM1 gene and characterized by severe hypotonia and generalized muscle weakness in affected males. It is generally a fatal disorder during the neonatal period and early infancy. The diagnosis is based on typical histopathological findings on muscle biopsy, combined with suggestive clinical features. We experienced a case of a newborn who required intubation and ventilator care because of profound hypotonia and respiratory difficulty. The preliminary diagnosis at the time of request for retrieval was hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, but the infant was clinically reevaluated for generalized weakness and muscle atrophy. Muscle biopsies showed variability in fiber size and centrally located nuclei in nearly all the fibers. We detected an MTM1 gene mutation of c.1261-1C>A in the intron 10 region, and diagnosed the neonate with myotubular myopathy. The same mutation was detected in his mother.