Background: Antenatal inflammation is associated with the increasingly severe and negative neurological findings of neonatal ecephalopathy. A reduction in antenatal inflammation reduces neurological damage. The effect of therapeutic hypothermia on inflammation is not clear and remains the subject of research. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the inflammatory cell response in neonatal ecephalopathy cases treated with therapeutic hypothermia. Methods: The study included a total of 102 cases, 51 cases diagnosed with perinatal asphyxia and a control group of 51 healthy newborns. Blood samples were taken before therapeutic hypothermia treatment and at the 24th and 72th hours of treatment in patients with perinatal asphyxia. In the control group, blood samples were taken in the first 6 hours postnatally. Results: In the asphytic group, mean leukocyte (p<0.001), neutrophil (p<0.001), and lymphocyte (p=0. 014) values within the first 6 hours were significantly higher than those of the control group. The specificity for leukocyte, neutrophil and lymphocyte (measured before TH) was 80.4%, 88.2% and 60.8%, and sensitivity was 84.3%, 88.2% and 62.7%, respectively. The mean leukocyte, thrombocyte, and neutrophil values during the first 6 hours after delivery were significantly higher than the mean values at the 24th and 72nd hours after TH (p<0.001), and the mean platelet volume values were significantly lower (p<0.001). Conclusion: High leukocyte, neutrophil and lymphocyte values and low thrombocyte count in the first 6 hours of life may be an early sign of perinatal asphyxia and can be used as a marker to start treatment. It is thought that by decreasing the number of inflammatory cells, therapeutic hypothermia reduces the severity of encephalopathy and potentially negative results.

Abstract Purpose: To assess the accuracy and efficacy of ROPScore scoring system an ancillary method to predict the severity of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in very low birth weight (VLBW) premature infants. Methods: The medical records of 131 premature babies having a birth weight  1500 gram and gestational age (GA) ≤ 30 weeks were included in this study. The ROPScore was calculated for each baby at six weeks of life using an Excel spreadsheet (Microsoft®). Area under curve (AUC) analysis was used in both any stage of ROP and type-1 (severe) ROP to ascertain the cut-off points for the scoring model. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of the scoring system with the calibrated cut-off points were analyzed. Results: The sensitivity of the ROPScore scoring system was 88.5% ( 95% CI 79-94) and 100% (95% CI 82-100) was for predicting any stage and type-1 retinopathy of prematurity, respectively. The PPV and NPV of the models were 62% and 74.1% for any stage of ROP and those of were 50% and 100% for type-1 ROP, respectively. In ROC analysis, the mean AUCs of ROPScore model was statistically significant compared than BW and GA for predicting type -1 ROP (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study indicated that ROPScore scoring model with customized cutoff levels might be a useful method for early prediction of premature retinopathy, particularly in type-1 (severe) ROP. In addition, this model may also reduce the number of eye examinations which are essential for detecting the retinopathy of prematurity

Aim: To investigate the mean thrombocyte volume (MPV) in asymptomatic children infected with COVID-19. Methods: The study included 55 children infected with COVID-19 and 60 healthy children for the comparison of leukocyte and thrombocyte count, MPV, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Demographic data and clinical findings of all the cases were recorded, including age, gender, weight, temperature, cough, shortness of breath and contact history. Results: The MPV values were determined to be statistically significantly high (p<0.001) and the lymphocyte values were significantly low (p:0.002) in the asymptomatic children infected with COVID-19 compared to the healthy control children. No difference was determined between the groups in respect of CRP level, leukocyte and thrombocyte counts (p>0.05). The optimal cutoff point for MPV was determined as 8.74 fl (Area under the curve-AUC:0.932) with 81.82% sensitivity and 95% specificity for the determination of children infected with COVID-19. A cutoff value of <2.12/mm3 for lymphocytes (AUC:0.670) was determined with 49.09% sensitivity and 86.67% specificity for the prediction of COVID-19. Based on the ROC analysis, the sensitivity and specificity of MPV was determined to be higher than that of lymphocyte levels. Conclusion: The results of this study that MPV levels are significantly high in asymptomatic children infected with COVID-19 demonstrate that this is an important predictive value and has better predictive capacity than lymphocyte values. The evaluation of MPV and lymphocyte levels together could increase diagnostic success in asymptomatic COVID-19 cases.