Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is nowadays an essential tool in critical care. Its role seems more important in neonates and children where other monitoring techniques may be unavailable. POCUS Working Group of the European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care (ESPNIC) aimed to provide evidence-based clinical guidelines for the use of POCUS in critically ill neonates and children. Methods: Creation of an international Euro-American panel of paediatric and neonatal intensivists expert in POCUS and systematic review of relevant literature. A literature search was performed, and the level of evidence was assessed according to a GRADE method. Recommendations were developed through discussions managed following a Quaker-based consensus technique and evaluating appropriateness using a modified blind RAND/UCLA voting method. AGREE statement was followed to prepare this document. Results: Panellists agreed on 39 out of 41 recommendations for the use of cardiac, lung, vascular, cerebral and abdominal POCUS in critically ill neonates and children. Recommendations were mostly (28 out of 39) based on moderate quality of evidence (B and C). Conclusions: Evidence-based guidelines for the use of POCUS in critically ill neonates and children are now available. They will be useful to optimise the use of POCUS, training programs and further research, which are urgently needed given the weak quality of evidence available.

Purpose Prospective validation of vasoactive-inotropic score (VIS) and inotrope score (IS) in infants after cardiovascular surgery Methods Prospective observational study of 70 infants (≤90 days of age) undergoing cardiothoracic surgery. VIS and IS were assessed at 24 (VIS24, IS24), 48 (VIS48, IS48), and 72 (VIS72, IS72) hours after surgery. Maximum VIS and IS scores in the first 48 hours were also calculated (VIS48max and IS48max). The primary outcome was length of intubation. Additional outcomes included length of intensive care (ICU) stay and hospitalization, cardiac arrest, mortality, time to negative fluid balance, peak lactate, and change in creatinine. Results Based on Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis, area under the curve (AUC) was highest for VIS48 to identify prolonged intubation time. AUC for the primary outcome was higher for VIS than IS at all time points assessed. On multivariate analysis VIS48 was independently associated with prolonged intubation (OR 22.3, p=0.002), prolonged ICU stay (OR 8.1, p=0.017), and prolonged hospitalization (OR 11.3, p=0.011). VIS48max, IS48max, and IS48 were also associated with prolonged intubation, but not prolonged ICU or hospital stay. None of the scores were associated with time to negative fluid balance, peak lactate, or change in creatinine. Conclusion In neonates and infants, a higher VIS at 48 hours after cardiothoracic surgery is strongly associated with increased length of ventilation, and prolonged ICU and total hospital stay. At all time points assessed, VIS is more predictive of poor short term outcome than IS. VIS may be useful as an independent predictor of outcomes.

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Neonates with congenital cardiac disease face significant barriers to successfully achieving oral feeding on hospital discharge. Enteral feeding guidelines focus on physiological stabilisation and do not always address the developmental milestones necessary to support oral feeding. Future prospective studies are necessary to identify multimodal strategies to optimise early feeding.

In many centers presurgical term neonates with prostaglandin (PGE 1 )-dependent cardiac lesions experience nutritional deficiency due to postponed enteral feeds. We recently adopted early enteral feeding in these infants. This retrospective study reveals feeding tolerance in 33 of 34 neonates fed enterally while receiving PGE 1 , suggesting the safety of this practice.

Wide variations in practices exist in the nutritional care between European PICUs, which reflects the absence of local protocols and scientific society-endorsed guidelines. This is likely to contribute to suboptimal energy delivery in this particularly vulnerable group.

IntroductionLimited evidence suggests that serum alkaline phosphatase activity may decrease after cardiac surgery in adults and children. The importance of this finding is not known. Recent studies, however, have identified a potential role for alkaline phosphatase as modulator of inflammation in multiple settings, including during adult cardiopulmonary bypass. We sought to describe the change in alkaline phosphatase activity after cardiothoracic surgery in infants and to assess for a correlation with intensity and duration of post-operative support, markers of inflammation, and short-term clinical outcomes.MethodsSub-analysis of a prospective observational study on the kinetics of procalcitonin in 70 infants (≤90 days old) undergoing cardiothoracic surgery. Subjects were grouped based on the use of cardiopulmonary bypass and delayed sternal closure. Alkaline phosphatase, procalcitonin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were obtained pre-operation and on post-operative day 1. Mean change in alkaline phosphatase activity was determined in each surgical group. Generalized linear modeling and logistic regression were employed to assess for associations between post-operative alkaline phosphatase activity and post-operative support, inflammation, and short term outcomes. Primary endpoints were vasoactive-inotropic score at 24 hours and length of intubation. Secondary endpoints included procalcitonin/CRP levels on post-operative day 1, length of hospital stay, and cardiac arrest or death.ResultsMean decrease in alkaline phosphatase was 30 U/L (p = 0.01) in the non-bypass group, 114 U/L (p<0.0001) in the bypass group, and 94 U/L (p<0.0001) in the delayed sternal closure group. On multivariate analysis, each 10 U/L decrease in alkaline phosphatase activity on post-operative day 1 was independently associated with an increase in vasoactive-inotropic score by 0.7 (p<0.0001), intubation time by 6% (p<0.05), hospital stay by 5% (p<0.05), and procalcitonin by 14% (P<0.01), with a trend towards increased odds of cardiac arrest or death (OR 1.3; p = 0.06). Post-operative alkaline phosphatase activity was not associated with CRP (p = 0.7).ConclusionsAlkaline phosphatase activity decreases after cardiothoracic surgery in infants. Low post-operative alkaline phosphatase activity is independently associated with increased procalcitonin, increased vasoactive/inotropic support, prolonged intubation time, and prolonged hospital stay. Alkaline phosphatase may serve as a biomarker and potential modulator of post-operative support and inflammation following cardiothoracic surgery in infants.

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