Background:The rate of preterm births in Romania is one of the highest among European countries. However, there is little information regarding the ways in which premature birth affects the outcome in Romanian preterm infants.Aims:To investigate the effects of early developmental intervention after discharge from the hospital on motor and cognitive development in preterm infants.Study Design:Longitudinal observational study.Methods:We performed the Amiel-Tison neurologic evaluation at discharge and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development from 3 to 24 months. Based on these evaluations, an outcome score was formulated.Results:Between 2007 and 2010, 1157 of 2793 premature infants were included into the study. There was a negative correlation between the number of evaluations and the risk of developing neurologic sequelae (p<0.001). The correlation analysis demonstrated a significant association between the final category of risk at the end of the follow up program and the degree of compliance (p<0.01). At 24 months evaluation, there was a correlation between the low gestational age and the risk of developing severe neurologic sequelae (p<0.001).Conclusion:This study shows the importance of follow up program in decreasing the risk of developing neurologic sequelae in preterm infants.
(1) Background: The identification of patients at risk for hepatitis B and C viral infection is a challenge for the clinicians and public health specialists. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the predictive performances of four machine learning-based models for the prediction of HBV and HCV status. (2) Methods: This prospective cohort screening study evaluated adults from the North-Eastern and South-Eastern regions of Romania between January 2022 and November 2022 who underwent viral hepatitis screening in their family physician’s offices. The patients’ clinical characteristics were extracted from a structured survey and were included in four machine learning-based models: support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), naïve Bayes (NB), and K nearest neighbors (KNN), and their predictive performance was assessed. (3) Results: All evaluated models performed better when used to predict HCV status. The highest predictive performance was achieved by KNN algorithm (accuracy: 98.1%), followed by SVM and RF with equal accuracies (97.6%) and NB (95.7%). The predictive performance of these models was modest for HBV status, with accuracies ranging from 78.2% to 97.6%. (4) Conclusions: The machine learning-based models could be useful tools for HCV infection prediction and for the risk stratification process of adult patients who undergo a viral hepatitis screening program.
(1) Background: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and recurrent implantation failure (RIF) have in common a deficient maternal adaptation to the semi-allogeneic fetus, in which killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) family expressed by natural killer (NK) cells play an important role. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of maternal KIR haplotype on the reproductive outcomes after single embryo transfer in IVF cycles in patients with RPL and RIF. (2) Methods: Patients with RIF and RPL who presented at Origyn Fertility Center from Iasi, Romania, were prospectively enrolled between January 2020 and December 2022. Clinical and paraclinical data was examined. Descriptive statistics and a conditional logistic regression model were used to analyze our data. (3) Results: Patients with a KIR AA haplotype had significantly more chances of miscarriage if they underwent an IVF procedure (aOR: 4.15, 95% CI: 1.39–6.50, p = 0.032) compared with those who spontaneously achieved a pregnancy. Moreover, it appeared that the same haplotype increased the chances of obtaining a pregnancy for patients who underwent an IVF procedure (aOR: 2.57, 95% CI: 0.85–6.75, p = 0.023). (4) Conclusions: Determination of KIR haplotype could be beneficial for patients with RPL or RIF in order to offer an individualized management.
Romanian physicians are uniformly reluctant to withhold or withdraw intensive care for infants, even those with very poor prognosis. In addition, physicians are very uncomfortable talking with parents about limiting or stopping support and talking about the death of an infant. Educational programs targeting the communication of difficult topics with parents have the potential to decrease the discomfort experienced by physicians in conversing with parents about their child's poor prognosis or death.
The incomplete ossification of the spinal processes allows the ultrasonographic evaluation of the spinal cord and the adjacent structures in neonates and small infants. The paper describes the ultrasonographic examination of the spinal structures and the normal appearance of the spinal cord, the structures within the spinal canal, and the bony and muscular adjacent structures. Sagittal and axial sections at cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral levels are described. There are also mentioned findings in the M mode and Doppler examinations.
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