To assess the prevalence of femicides in Italy over the last three years and the potential long lasting effects of these traumatic events for the children of a woman who dies a violent death. The data used in this study come from an internet search for the number of femicides occurring in Italy between 1st January, 2012 and 31st October, 2014. The total number of femicides was 319; the average age of murdered women was 47.50 ± 19.26. Cold arms in the form of sharp object -mostly knives- have caused the death of 102/319 women; firearms were used in 87/319 cases; asphyxiation was the chosen method in 52/319 cases. About the place where the femicides occurred, 209/319 were committed inside the victim’s house. Children of women who died a violent death were 417 with a total of 180 minors in less than three years. A total of 52/417 children were witness to the killing and, among these 30/52 were minors; in 18/417 cases, children were murdered together with their mother and among these 9/18 were minors. Long-term studies are needed to ascertain what happens to these children, to understand what are the most appropriate psychological treatments, the best decisions about the contact with their father and the best placement for these children.

The development of artificial intelligence methods has impacted therapeutics, personalized diagnostics, drug discovery, and medical imaging. Although, in many situations, AI clinical decision-support tools may seem superior to rule-based tools, their use may result in additional challenges. Examples include the paucity of large datasets and the presence of unbalanced data (i.e., due to the low occurrence of adverse outcomes), as often seen in neonatal medicine. The most recent and impactful applications of AI in neonatal medicine are discussed in this review, highlighting future research directions relating to the neonatal population. Current AI applications tested in neonatology include tools for vital signs monitoring, disease prediction (respiratory distress syndrome, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, apnea of prematurity) and risk stratification (retinopathy of prematurity, intestinal perforation, jaundice), neurological diagnostic and prognostic support (electroencephalograms, sleep stage classification, neuroimaging), and novel image recognition technologies, which are particularly useful for prompt recognition of infections. To have these kinds of tools helping neonatologists in daily clinical practice could be something extremely revolutionary in the next future. On the other hand, it is important to recognize the limitations of AI to ensure the proper use of this technology.

Background: Respiratory problems are frequent in newborns, and are mainly studied with chest X-rays, whereas CT scans are usually needed for the evaluation of rare malformations and diseases. Lung ultrasound (LUS] has been proposed as an alternative method of diagnosing a variety of respiratory conditions. In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in LUS studies, thanks to the ability of LUS to rapidly exclude complications and significantly reduce radiation exposure in this fragile population. We aimed to summarize the current knowledge about LUS. Methods: A literature search was conducted on the Medline and Cochrane databases using appropriate terms. The inclusion criteria were: English language and human species. Exclusion criteria were: non-English language, animal species, case reports, case series, non-systematic reviews, and editorials. Results: The search returned 360 results. No Cochrane reviews were found. Titles and abstracts were screened, and 37 were finally considered. Studies concerning the use of lung ultrasound for the following conditions were presented: neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, transient tachypnea of the newborn, pneumothorax, pulmonary hemorrhage, pneumonia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and prediction of extubation success. Conclusions: We discussed the utility of LUS for the diagnosis and treatment of neonatal diseases according to the most recent literature.

In the last decades, advances in neonatal care have improved the survival of preterm infants, but these newborns remain more susceptible to a wide range of short and long term complications. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)- or chronic lung disease-, is the most frequent morbidity among surviving preterm infants and is associated with long term pulmonary and neurodevelopmental impairments. In this narrative review, we aimed to synthesize the existing literature on long term respiratory outcomes of preterm infants, from discharge to adult life, with or without BPD. Preterm infants and/or those diagnosed with BPD have an increased risk of respiratory infections in the first two years of life and are also more likely to require hospitalization. Preterm infants also have an elevated risk of SIDS; nevertheless, this risk seems to be related to prematurity itself rather than the presence of BPD. In the long term, it has been observed that these children more commonly experience sleep disturbances, reduced physical exercise capacity, wheezing, asthma, as well as changes in some echocardiographic parameters and respiratory function tests. In summary, premature patients, particularly those survivors of moderate-severe BPD, present a series of chronic pulmonary and extrapulmonary comorbidities that make their management complex, even in the phases following discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit and in preadolescence. Children, adolescents, and adults with this condition require comprehensive, multidisciplinary management and close follow up to address the burden of comorbidities associated with prematurity and chronic lung disease. Randomized therapeutic studies, in addition to longitudinal evaluation, remain essential to optimize care.