Among 10-year-old children born extremely preterm, those who had BPD were at increased risk of cognitive, language, and executive dysfunctions; academic achievement limitations; social skill deficits; and low scores on assessments of health-related quality of life.

Objective: Administration of caffeine citrate (caffeine) has been a central component of the treatment of apnea of prematurity. However, given its multiple pharmacologic effects, caffeine might be expected to produce hemodynamic changes in heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output and vascular resistance.Study Design: In this prospective observational study, we report the hemodynamic effects of intravenous caffeine administration in a population of premature infants who received caffeine to correct or prevent apnea of prematurity.Methods: Hemodynamic effects of caffeine were determined in 31 infants. Stroke volume was measured via echocardiogram, using velocity time integral at the aortic root diameter. Statistically univariate analyses were performed parametrically using paired t-test and nonparametrically (sign test). Multivariate linear regression models were used to identify subgroup covariate effects.Results: After intravenous caffeine, cardiac index increased in 31 of 31 trials, by an average of 14.6 ± 16.3% (s.d.); stroke volume increased in 24 of 31 trials, by 7.8±12.2%; heart rate increased in 28 of 31 trials by 7.7 ± 7.2 beats per min; and blood pressure increased in 25 of 31 trials, by 4.1±5.8 mm Hg (all P<0.001). Multivariate linear regression revealed no significant effect of dose, birth weight, gestational age or postnatal age.Conclusions: Intravenous caffeine consistently increases cardiac output and blood pressure in relatively stable premature infants, when given to treat or prevent apnea of prematurity. We speculate that there may be a role for caffeine in the hemodynamic treatment of hypotensive/ hypoperfused infants.

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The requirement for multiple courses of PN because of persistent feeding intolerance after recovery from NEC and recurrence of "NEC-like illness" may be a manifestation of CMPI in preterm infants.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the timing and dosing of caffeine therapy in relation to the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). METHODS This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study comparing early (days of life 0-2) to late (day of life 3 or greater) caffeine initiation in extremely low birth weight neonates, with a secondary analysis of large (10 mg/kg/day) to small dose (5 mg/kg/day) caffeine. RESULTS There were 138 patients in the primary timing analysis. The early caffeine group had a lower incidence and reduced odds of the composite outcome of BPD or all-cause mortality, compared with the late caffeine group (64% vs. 88%, respectively; adjusted p < 0.05; adjusted OR 0.36 [95% CI 0.13-0.98]). No statistically significant difference was found between dosing groups (p = 0.29) in the primary outcome; however, there was a lower rate of patent ductus arteriosus requiring treatment (p = 0.05) and decreased likelihood of discharging home on oxygen (p = 0.02) in the large-dose group compared with the small-dose group. CONCLUSIONS Early caffeine initiation significantly decreased the incidence of BPD or all-cause mortality in extremely low birth weight neonates. Patients receiving large-dose caffeine had improved secondary outcomes, although no difference in BPD was noted. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal dosing of caffeine.

Our results suggest that when compared with non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks are at significantly greater risk for meconium-stained amniotic fluid and meconium aspiration syndrome but not for meconium aspiration syndrome case fatality.

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