Background: The laryngeal mask airway (LMA^TM, Laryngeal Mask Co. Ltd, Jersey, UK) is a supraglottic device used to administer positive pressure ventilation (PPV) in adults, pediatric and neonatal patients. Objectives: To avoid endotracheal intubation, we evaluated the feasibility and practicality of administering surfactant via the LMA^TM in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Methods: Infants less than 72 h old with a gestational age of ≤35 weeks and a birth weight of >800 g, treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP, 5 cm H₂O) for RDS were eligible for inclusion in the study if the arterial-to-alveolar oxygen tension ratio (a/APO₂) was <0.20 over a period of >60 min. Results: Eight preterm infants, median gestational age 31 (range 28–35) weeks; birth weight 1,700 (880–2,520) g, treated with nasal CPAP for RDS were enrolled. Three hours after surfactant instillation, the mean a/APO₂ was significantly increased (0.13 ± 0.04 to 0.34 ± 0.11; p < 0.01) without complications. Conclusions: The LMA^TM may be a useful and noninvasive conduit for the administration of surfactant therapy. A large randomized comparative clinical trial will be required to confirm the efficacy of this technique.

The knowledge gained by pediatric residents participating in the NRP course was very high, but was only partially retained over time. In particular, it was different among the four steps of neonatal resuscitation suggesting further studies on teaching resuscitation.

In this short-term physiological study the neonatal helmet CPAP appears to be as good as the golden standard for managing preterm infants needing continuous distending pressure, with enhanced tolerability. Further evaluation in a randomized clinical trial is needed to confirm these findings.

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Neonatal transfers and inborn neonates with pneumothorax have different clinical characteristics and outcome. This information could be useful for all persons involved in the interhospital care of perinatal patients.

Aim: To examine the degree of agreement between the paediatrician's assessment and parental reporting of infants’development using a postal questionnaire. Methods: The developmental status of 241 infants in the charge of 9 community paediatricians or discharged from one Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was assessed by their parents 18 mo after delivery, using a postal questionnaire regarding child's height, weight, respiratory, hearing and vision problems, and items taken mainly from the Griffiths’Developmental Scales. At this age, infants were seen by the community or NICU paediatricians, for a complete physical and neurodevelopmental examination. Results: The mean agreement on items regarding developmental areas between parents and paediatricians was 93.0%. In general, parents and professionals agreed on items describing gross motor behaviour (k from 0.39 to 0.83) and disagreed on individual questions describing language/ relational behaviour (k from 0 to 0.38). A 97.9% level of agreement was found for hearing status (k= 0), and 96.2% for assessment of vision (k= 0.29), whereas the level of agreement ranged from 43.2% to 86.2% (k from 0 to 0.15) for the three questions describing respiratory problems. The mean weight and height assessments by paediatricians and parents of infants at 18 mo of age were similar. Conclusions: Further improvement of the questionnaire is needed, but our findings suggest that this methodology can be considered for use in comparing large cohorts of infants included in randomized clinical trials.

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The trend of the knowledge attainment of both Sudanese and Italian pediatric residents was similar after NRP course participation. An NRP is effective in teaching neonatal resuscitation in developing countries.