As management of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) advances, clinicians must continually revise their current practice. We report the fourth update of “European Guidelines for the Management of RDS” by a European panel of experienced neonatologists and an expert perinatal obstetrician based on available literature up to the end of 2018. Optimising outcome for babies with RDS includes prediction of risk of preterm delivery, need for appropriate maternal transfer to a perinatal centre and timely use of antenatal steroids. Delivery room management has become more evidence-based, and protocols for lung protection including initiation of CPAP and titration of oxygen should be implemented immediately after birth. Surfactant replacement therapy is a crucial part of management of RDS, and newer protocols for its use recommend early administration and avoidance of mechanical ventilation. Methods of maintaining babies on non-invasive respiratory support have been further developed and may cause less distress and reduce chronic lung disease. As technology for delivering mechanical ventilation improves, the risk of causing lung injury should decrease, although minimising time spent on mechanical ventilation using caffeine and, if necessary, postnatal steroids are also important considerations. Protocols for optimising general care of infants with RDS are also essential with good temperature control, careful fluid and nutritional management, maintenance of perfusion and judicious use of antibiotics all being important determinants of best outcome.

Objectives. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6 n-3) and arachidonic acid (AA; 20:4 n-6) are important for development of the central nervous system in mammals. There is a growth spurt in the human brain during the last trimester of pregnancy and the first postnatal months, with a large increase in the cerebral content of AA and DHA. The fetus and the newborn infant depend on maternal supply of DHA and AA. Our hypothesis was that maternal intake of DHA during pregnancy and lactation is marginal and that high intake of this fatty acid would benefit the child. We examined the effect of supplementing pregnant and lactating women with very-long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs; cod liver oil) on mental development of the children, compared with maternal supplementation with long-chain n-6 PUFAs (corn oil). Methods. The study was randomized and double-blinded. Pregnant women were recruited in week 18 of pregnancy to take 10 mL of cod liver oil or corn oil until 3 months after delivery. The cod liver oil contained 1183 mg/10 mL DHA, 803 mg/10 mL eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n-3), and a total of 2494 mg/10 mL ∑ n-3 PUFAs. The corn oil contained 4747 mg/10 mL linoleic acid (18:2 n-6) and 92 mg/10 mL α-linolenic acid (18:3 n-3). The amount of fat-soluble vitamins was identical in the 2 oils (117 μg/mL vitamin A, 1 μg/mL vitamin D, and 1.4 mg/mL dl-α-tocopherol). A total of 590 pregnant women were recruited to the study, and 341 mothers took part in the study until giving birth. All infants of these women were scheduled for assessment of cognitive function at 6 and 9 months of age, and 262 complied with the request. As part of the protocol, 135 subjects from this population were invited for intelligence testing with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) at 4 years of age. Of the 135 invited children, 90 came for assessment. Six children did not complete the examination. The K-ABC is a measure of intelligence and achievement designed for children aged 2.5 years through 12.5 years. This multisubtest battery comprises 4 scales: Sequential Processing, Simultaneous Processing, Achievement (not used in the present study), and Nonverbal Abilities. The Sequential Processing and Simultaneous Processing scales are hypothesized to reflect the child’s style of problem solving and information processing. Scores from these 2 scales are combined to form a Mental Processing Composite, which serves as the measure of intelligence in the K-ABC. Results. We received dietary information from 76 infants (41 in the cod liver oil group and 35 in the corn oil group), documenting that all of them were breastfed at 3 months of age. Children who were born to mothers who had taken cod liver oil (n = 48) during pregnancy and lactation scored higher on the Mental Processing Composite of the K-ABC at 4 years of age as compared with children whose mothers had taken corn oil (n = 36; 106.4 [7.4] vs 102.3 [11.3]). The Mental Processing Composite score correlated significantly with head circumference at birth (r = 0.23), but no relation was found with birth weight or gestational length. The children’s mental processing scores at 4 years of age correlated significantly with maternal intake of DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid during pregnancy. In a multiple regression model, maternal intake of DHA during pregnancy was the only variable of statistical significance for the children’s mental processing scores at 4 years of age. Conclusion. Maternal intake of very-long-chain n-3 PUFAs during pregnancy and lactation may be favorable for later mental development of children.

Worldwide, approximately 2.65 million stillbirths occurred in 2008, most of which were in low- and middle-income countries.¹ Stillbirths account for a large part of all perinatal deaths.¹ In addition, an estimated 3.6 million neonatal deaths occur each year.² Several studies have suggested that greater maternal body mass index (BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) before or during early pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of fetal death,^3-6 stillbirth,^4,6,7 perinatal death,^5,6,8,9 neonatal death,^6-8,10 and infant death (Box).^6,10 However, not all studies found a significant association,^11-14 some possibly due to a low sample size or a low number of deaths.^11-14 The optimal prepregnancy BMI to prevent fetal and infant death has not been established. Some studies have reported J-shaped associations with a small increase in risk among women with low or moderate BMI (although not statistically significant),^6,7,12,14 while other studies reported a linear association.^3-5,8,9 Determining whether there are any threshold effects between maternal BMI and fetal and infant death could be important with regard to public health recommendations for women who plan pregnancies. To clarify the association between maternal BMI and risk of fetal death, stillbirth, and infant death, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available evidence from published cohort studies. This study specifically determined the strength of the association, the shape of the dose-response relationship, potential confounding, and potential sources of heterogeneity in the results (including the definition of stillbirth and perinatal death).⁴

Advances in the management of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) ensure that clinicians must continue to revise current practice. We report the third update of the European Guidelines for the Management of RDS by a European panel of expert neonatologists including input from an expert perinatal obstetrician based on available literature up to the beginning of 2016. Optimizing the outcome for babies with RDS includes consideration of when to use antenatal steroids, and good obstetric practice includes methods of predicting the risk of preterm delivery and also consideration of whether transfer to a perinatal centre is necessary and safe. Methods for optimal delivery room management have become more evidence based, and protocols for lung protection, including initiation of continuous positive airway pressure and titration of oxygen, should be implemented from soon after birth. Surfactant replacement therapy is a crucial part of the management of RDS, and newer protocols for surfactant administration are aimed at avoiding exposure to mechanical ventilation, and there is more evidence of differences among various surfactants in clinical use. Newer methods of maintaining babies on non-invasive respiratory support have been developed and offer potential for greater comfort and less chronic lung disease. As technology for delivering mechanical ventilation improves, the risk of causing lung injury should decrease although minimizing the time spent on mechanical ventilation using caffeine and if necessary postnatal steroids are also important considerations. Protocols for optimizing the general care of infants with RDS are also essential with good temperature control, careful fluid and nutritional management, maintenance of perfusion and judicious use of antibiotics all being important determinants of best outcome.

Despite recent advances in the perinatal management of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), controversies still exist. We report updated recommendations of a European Panel of expert neonatologists who developed consensus guidelines after critical examination of the most up-to-date evidence in 2007 and 2010. This second update of the guidelines is based upon published evidence up to the end of 2012. Strong evidence exists for the role of antenatal steroids in RDS prevention, but it is still not clear if the benefit of repeated courses on respiratory outcomes outweighs the risk of adverse outcomes in the short and long term. Many practices involved in preterm neonatal stabilization at birth are not evidence based, including oxygen administration and positive pressure lung inflation, and they may at times be harmful. Surfactant replacement therapy is crucial in the management of RDS but the best preparation, optimal dose and timing of administration at different gestations is not completely clear. In addition, use of very early continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has altered the indications for prophylactic surfactant administration. Respiratory support in the form of mechanical ventilation may be lifesaving but can cause lung injury, and protocols should be directed at avoiding mechanical ventilation where possible by using non-invasive respiratory support such as CPAP. For babies with RDS to have best outcomes, it is essential that they have optimal supportive care, including maintenance of normal body temperature, proper fluid management, good nutritional support, appropriate management of the ductus arteriosus and support of the circulation to maintain adequate tissue perfusion.

Objective. Birth asphyxia represents a serious problem worldwide, resulting in ∼1 million deaths and an equal number of serious sequelae annually. It is therefore important to develop new and better ways to treat asphyxia. Resuscitation after birth asphyxia traditionally has been carried out with 100% oxygen, and most guidelines and textbooks recommend this; however, the scientific background for this has never been established. On the contrary, theoretic considerations indicate that resuscitation with high oxygen concentrations could have detrimental effects. We have performed a series of animal studies as well as one pilot study indicating that resuscitation can be performed with room air just as efficiently as with 100% oxygen. To test this more thoroughly, we organized a multicenter study and hypothesized that room air is superior to 100% oxygen when asphyxiated newborn infants are resuscitated. Methodology. In a prospective, international, controlled multicenter study including 11 centers from six countries, asphyxiated newborn infants with birth weight >999 g were allocated to resuscitation with either room air or 100% oxygen. The study was not blinded, and the patients were allocated to one of the two treatment groups according to date of birth. Those born on even dates were resuscitated with room air and those born on odd dates with 100% oxygen. Informed consent was not obtained until after the initial resuscitation, an arrangement in agreement with the new proposal of the US Food and Drug Administration9s rules governing investigational drugs and medical devices to permit clinical research on emergency care without the consent of subjects. The protocol was approved by the ethical committees at each participating center. Entry criterion was apnea or gasping with heart rate <80 beats per minute at birth necessitating resuscitation. Exclusion criteria were birth weight <1000 g, lethal anomalies, hydrops, cyanotic congenital heart defects, and stillbirths. Primary outcome measures were death within 1 week and/or presence of hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy, grade II or III, according to a modification of Sarnat and Sarnat. Secondary outcome measures were Apgar score at 5 minutes, heart rate at 90 seconds, time to first breath, time to first cry, duration of resuscitation, arterial blood gases and acid base status at 10 and 30 minutes of age, and abnormal neurologic examination at 4 weeks. The existing routines for resuscitation in each participating unit were followed, and the ventilation techniques described by the American Heart Association were used as guidelines aiming at a frequency of manual ventilation of 40 to 60 breaths per minute. Results. Forms for 703 enrolled infants from 11 centers were received by the steering committee. All 94 patients from one of the centers were excluded because of violation of the inclusion criteria in 86 of these. Therefore, the final number of infants enrolled in the study was 609 (from 10 centers), with 288 in the room air group and 321 in the oxygen group. Median (5 to 95 percentile) gestational ages were 38 (32.0 to 42.0) and 38 (31.1 to 41.5) weeks (NS), and birth weights were 2600 (1320 to 4078) g and 2560 (1303 to 3900) g (NS) in the room air and oxygen groups, respectively. There were 46% girls in the room air and 41% in the oxygen group (NS). Mortality in the first 7 days of life was 12.2% and 15.0% in the room air and oxygen groups, respectively; adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.82 with 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 0.50–1.35. Neonatal mortality was 13.9% and 19.0%; adjusted OR = 0.72 with 95% CI = 0.45–1.15. Death within 7 days of life and/or moderate or severe hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (primary outcome measure) was seen in 21.2% in the room air group and in 23.7% in the oxygen group; OR = 0.94 with 95% CI = 0.63–1.40. Heart rates did not differ between the two groups at any time point and were (mean ± SD) 90 ± 31 versus 93 ± 33 beats per minute at 1 minute and 110 ± 27 versus 113 ± 30 beats per minute at 90 seconds in the room air and oxygen groups, respectively. Apgar scores at 1 minute (median and 5 to 95 percentiles) were significantly higher in the room air group (5 [1 to 6.7]) than in the oxygen group (4 [1 to 7]); however, at 5 minutes there were no significant differences, with 8 (4 to 9) versus 7 (3 to 9). There were significantly more infants with very low 1-minute Apgar scores (<4) in the oxygen group (44.4%) than in the room air group (32.3%). There also were significantly more infants with 5-minute Apgar score <7 in the oxygen group (31.8%) than in the room air group (24.8%). There were no differences in acid base status or Sao₂during the observation period between the two groups. Mean (SD) Pao₂ was 31 (17) versus 30 (22) mm Hg in cord blood in the room air and oxygen groups, respectively (NS). At 10 minutes Pao₂ was 76 (32) versus 87 (49) mm Hg (NS), and at 30 minutes, the values were 74 (29) versus 89 (42) mm Hg in the room air and oxygen groups, respectively. Median (95% CI) time to first breath was 1.1 (1.0–1.2) minutes in the room air group versus 1.5 (1.4 to 1.6) minutes in the oxygen group. Time to the first cry also was in mean 0.4 minute shorter in the room air group compared with the oxygen group. In the room air group, there were 25.7% so-called resuscitation failures (bradycardia and/or central cyanosis after 90 seconds) that were switched to 100% oxygen after 90 seconds. The percentage of resuscitation failures in the oxygen group was 29.8%. Conclusions. This study with patients enrolled primarily from developing countries indicates that asphyxiated newborn infants can be resuscitated with room air as efficiently as with pure oxygen. In fact, time to first breath and first cry was significantly shorter in room air- versus oxygen-resuscitated infants. Resuscitation with 100% oxygen may depress ventilation and therefore delay the first breath. More studies are needed confirming these results before resuscitation guidelines are changed.