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Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) is the most common cause of indicated preterm delivery, but the impact of prenatal steroid exposure on the outcomes of preterm infants born to HDP mothers, who may be at risk for intrauterine hypoxia-ischemia, remains uncertain. The study objective is to evaluate the mortality and morbidities in HDP for very preterm infants (VPIs) exposed to different course of ANS., Methods: This is a prospective cohort study comprising infants with < 32 weeks gestation born to women with HDP only from 1 Jan. 2019 to 31 Dec. 2021 within 40 participating neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Sino-northern network. ANS courses included completed, partial, repeated, and no ANS. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed on administration of ANS and short-term outcomes before discharge., Results: Among 1917 VPIs born to women with HDP only, 987(51.4%) received a complete course of ANS within 48 h to 7 days before birth, 560(29.2%) received partial ANS within 24 h before delivery, 100(5.2%) received repeat ANS and 270 (14.1%) did not receive any ANS. Compared to infants who received complete ANS, infants unexposed to ANS was associated with higher odds of death (AOR 1.85; 95%CI 1.10, 3.14), Severe Neurological Injury (SNI) or death (AOR 1.68; 95%CI 1.29,3.80) and NEC or death (AOR 1.78; 95%CI 1.55, 2.89), the repeated ANS group exhibits a significant negative correlation with the duration of oxygen therapy days (correlation coefficient - 18.3; 95%CI-39.2, -2.1). However, there were no significant differences observed between the full course and partial course groups in terms of outcomes. We can draw similar conclusions in the non-SGA group, while the differences are not significant in the SGA group. From KM curve, it showed that the repeated group had the highest survival rate, but the statistical analysis did not indicate a significant difference., Conclusions: Even partial courses of ANS administered within 24 h before delivery proved to be protective against death and other morbidities. The differences mentioned above are more pronounced in the non-SGA group. Repeat courses demonstrate a trend toward protection, but this still needs to be confirmed by larger samples., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the risk factors for moderate-to-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and focus on discussing its relationship with the duration of initial invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in very preterm neonates less than 32 weeks of gestational age (GA)., Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study involving infants born at 23-31 weeks of GA who were admitted to 47 different neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitals in China from January 2018 to December 2021. Patient data were obtained from the Sina-northern Neonatal Network (SNN) Database., Results: We identified 6538 very preterm infants, of whom 49.5% (3236/6538) received initial IMV support, and 12.6% (823/6538) were diagnosed with moderate-to-severe BPD symptoms. The median duration of initial IMV in the moderate-to-severe BPD group was 26 (17-41) days, while in the no or mild BPD group, it was 6 (3-10) days. The incidence rate of moderate-to-severe BPD and the median duration of initial IMV were quite different across different GAs. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the onset of moderate-to-severe BPD was significantly associated with the duration of initial IMV [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.97; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-2.67], late-onset neonatal sepsis (LONS), and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)., Conclusion: In this multicenter cohort study, the duration of initial IMV was still relatively long in very premature infants, and the longer duration of initial IMV accounts for the increased risk of moderate-to-severe BPD., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The endothelium regulates vascular tone through the release of vasoactive agents that act on the underlying vascular smooth muscle. This endothelial function is impaired in certain cardiovascular conditions including atherosclerosis, and hypercholesterolemia. However, in patients with essential hypertension it is unclear whether endothelium-dependent vasodilation is impaired. Using high-resolution ultrasound, we measured the diameter of the brachial arteries at rest, during reactive hyperaemia (with increase flow causing endothelium-dependent dilatation), and after sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (GTN; causing endothelium-independent dilatation) in 42 subjects, consisted of 21 controls with normal blood pressure [mean(SD) arterial blood pressure, 92+/-7 mmHg] and 21 patients with established essential hypertension (mean arterial blood pressure, 123+/-12 mmHg). The results showed that in patients with essential hypertension, flow-mediated dilatation in arteries was much reduced in comparison with the control group (4.6%+/-2.8% vs. 12.4%+/-2.9%, P<0.001). However, there was no significant difference in response to GTN between the two groups (19.8%+/-6.0% vs. 24.5%+/-10.2%, P=0.186). This indicates that endothelium-dependent vasodilation is impaired in patients with essential hypertension.