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Background: Premature birth is often associated with neurodevelopmental difficulties throughout childhood. In the first three years of life, the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (Bayley-III) constitute one of the most used tools for assessing child development. Since Bayley-III original norms are based on United States (US) population, it remains uncertain whether their use in other countries (e.g., European) is appropriate., Aims: This research aimed to examine neurodevelopment of preterm infants and full-term infants, using Bayley-III US norms in comparison to Italian (IT) norms. Patterns of developmental outcomes for both infant groups were also explored., Methods: 104 preterm and 58 full-term infants were included in the study. Bayley-III was used for neurodevelopmental assessment at 1year of corrected age, considering both IT and US norms for scores computation., Results: Comparing scores obtained with IT vs US norms, differences in means were all significant across five subscales (p<0.05 at least) for preterm infants, whereas for full-term peers significant differences were found only for Receptive Language and Fine Motor subscales (p<0.001). Effect size (η 2 ) ranged from 0.22 to 0.94. Within each group, significant discrepancies across subscales were found. Moreover, Italian preterm infants had significantly lower performances than full-term peers, excepting for Expressive Language and Gross Motor subscales., Conclusions: As regards to Italian 1-year children, our study seems to provide evidence for the tendency of Bayley-III US norms to overestimate development compared to IT norms. These findings emphasize the need to early detect children at risk for developmental delay and to plan early intervention., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Although great efforts have been made to improve neonatal nutrition in very low birthweight (VLBW) infants, many do not receive adequate nutrient intake and thus develop extrauterine growth restriction. In order to minimize the interruption of nutrients that occurs at birth, an "aggressive" nutritional approach has been proposed. Parenteral nutrition, which allows the infant's requirements for growth and development to be met, is indicated in infants for whom feeding via the enteral route is impossible, inadequate, or hazardous. In the last few years, great attention has been given to high amino acid supply in VLBW infants from the first day of life in order to avoid catabolism, establish anabolism, achieve in utero protein accretion rates, and promote linear growth. Whenever possible, enteral feeding should commence with human milk, which is the preferred feeding method for all infants, including those born preterm. In order to meet the unique nutritional requirements of VLBW infants and preserve the singular benefit of breastfeeding, human milk should be fortified to allow adequate growth and bone mineralization. When feeding of preterm infants with human milk is impossible or extremely limited, cow-milk-based formulas for preterm infants must be used., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) measurement is widely used as screening for neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia., Aims: To prospectively validate TcB measurement using hour-specific nomogram in identifying newborn infants not at risk for severe hyperbilirubinaemia., Study Design: prospective, observational, multicenter., Subjects: 2167 term and late preterm infants born in 5 neonatal units in the Lazio region of Italy., Methods: All neonates had simultaneous TcB and total serum bilirubin (TSB) measurements, when jaundice appeared and/or before hospital discharge. TcB and TSB values were plotted on a percentile-based hour-specific transcutaneous nomogram previously developed, to identify the safe percentile able to predict subsequent significant hyperbilirubinaemia defined as serum bilirubin >17 mg/dL or need for phototherapy., Results: Fifty-five babies (2.5%) developed significant hyperbilirubinaemia. The 50th percentile of our nomogram was able to identify all babies who were at risk of significant hyperbilirubinaemia, but with a high false positive rate. Using the 75th percentile, two false negatives reduced sensitivity in the first 48 hours but we were able to detect all babies at risk after the 48th hour of age., Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the 75th percentile of our TcB nomogram is able to exclude any subsequent severe hyperbilirubinaemia from 48 h of life ahead., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)