Rectal-skin temperature difference in septicaemic newborn infants

Article Abstract:

Septicemia is a condition characterized by a bacterial infection in the bloodstream. Fever is one of the typical signs of infection, but it has been suggested that premature infants may not develop a fever in response to infection. Repeated skin (sole of the foot) and rectal temperature measurements were taken from 81 5- to 12-day-old infants to learn if septic infants have any regulatory mechanism to compensate for sepsis, and if regular temperature measurements could help to diagnose sepsis. There were 55 healthy (group A) and 26 septicemic (group B) infants. The latter were arranged into three different groups: group B1 included eight feverish infants; group B2 included 11 non-feverish infants in fairly good condition; and group B3 included seven non-feverish infants who were in poor condition. Group A had normal rectal temperatures (less than 37.8 degrees Celsius, or C) and the average difference between the sole and rectal temperatures was 2.5 degrees C. The feverish group (group B1) had the highest rectal temperatures and the lowest skin temperatures and, consequently, the greatest temperature difference (6.9 degrees C). The temperature differences in the other groups, B2 and B3, were 4.7 and 1.1 degrees C, respectively. The authors concluded that adequate temperature regulation occurs in septicemic infants who are not critically ill, and this regulation is reflected by an increased rectal/sole temperature difference. This difference may be a strong indicator of the presence of septicemia in the newborn infant, and the infant should be carefully evaluated. Babies who are critically ill with septicemia become unable to regulate body temperature adequately. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Diagnosis, Bacterial infections, Temperature measurements, Temperature measurement, Septicemia

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Light transmission measurements and phototherapy eyepatches

Article Abstract:

Newborns often develop transient jaundice, due to reduced ability of the immature liver to metabolize bilirubin, a breakdown product of hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells). The excess bilirubin in newborns can be removed by the body when the infants are treated with phototherapy. However, the type and intensity of light used in phototherapy may be associated with damage to the retina in the eye, and newborns are usually protected with eye patches. Several studies have evaluated the protective effect of these eye patches, but may not have appropriately duplicated the clinical situation. In this study, the type and amount of light transmitted by (allowed through) three types of eye patches was evaluated. Two of the patches were commercially available while the third was homemade, of two layers of green cloth. In this study, both direct and scattered light transmitted through the patches were measured. All three patches transmitted less than 10 percent of the light, and the cloth and one patch transmitted less than 1 percent throughout the spectrum of light. The results suggest that there is little effective difference among the patches. However, since patches may slip, the ease with which a patch may be secured may be as important a consideration as its tendency to transmit light. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Evaluation, Product/Service Evaluation, Complications and side effects, Protection and preservation, Eye, Olympic Medical Bilimask (Medical instrument), Opticlude (Medical instrument)

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Is phototherapy in neonates a risk factor for malignant melanoma development? A preliminary case-control study

Article Abstract:

Light therapy in the treatment of hyperbilirubinemia in newborns does not appear to increase the risk of malignant melanoma in the first 18 years of life. Phototherapy, or light therapy, can be used to treat elevated blood bilirubin in newborn babies. Researchers in Sweden compared 30 children with malignant melanoma skin cancer and 120 healthy children. None of the cancer patients had received phototherapy. Eleven of the children without cancer had received light treatment. Phototherapy may not be a factor in the development of malignant melanoma.

Risk factors, Melanoma

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