KEY POINTS 1. Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in young infants. These malformations account for approximately 300,000 deaths yearly. 2. Cardiac septal defects…

KEY POINTS 1. Spina bifida is the most common nonlethal birth defect of the central nervous system and occurs when the vertebral column fails to close, resulting in neurologic impacts…

KEY POINTS 1. Seizures are very common in the neonatal period and constitute a neurologic emergency. 2. Specific aspects of the physiology of the developing brain make it highly susceptible…

KEY POINTS 1. Perinatal arterial ischemic stroke most often results from the convergence of multiple stroke risk factors specific to the perinatal period and has a low risk of recurrence….

KEY POINTS 1. Encephalopathy of prematurity reflects white and gray matter injury combined with neuronal-axonal abnormalities impacting preterm infants. 2. Key risk factors include hypotension and the need for inotropes,…

KEY POINTS 1. A healthy fetus has considerable aerobic and anaerobic reserves to successfully adapt to transient or mild hypoxia. Prolonged or repeated severe asphyxia results in failure of adaptation…

KEY POINTS 1. Shock is a clinical condition marked by poor tissue perfusion resulting in inadequate oxygen delivery and tissue hypoxia. 2. Neonates with shock have hypotension or poor tissue…

KEY POINTS 1. The normal cardiac electrical signal travels from the atria to the ventricles through a conduction system comprised of the sinus node, atrioventricular (AV) node, His bundle, and…

KEY POINTS 1. We still need a universally accepted definition of severe hyperbilirubinemia; no particular thresholds of unconjugated or total bilirubin levels have been definitively associated with acute or chronic…

KEY POINTS 1. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a major cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. More than 50% of all infants with HIE will die or have severe neurologic disabilities…