Pulmonology
Neonatology
General Pediatrics
Cardiology
Patrick McNamara, MD
Division Chief, Neonatal Medicine
Pediatrics
University of Iowa
Iowa city, Iowa, United States
Survival rates for extremely low birth weight infants have improved dramatically over the past 10-15 years. These advances are likely to be multifactorial and relate to increased appreciation of developmental organ vulnerability, improved understanding of disease mechanisms and contributing factors, enhanced diagnostic precision and therapeutic options. Unfortunately, enhanced survival does not guarantee avoidance of neonatal morbidity or adverse long-term health care outcomes. The traditional focus of outcomes research relates to neurodevelopment and cognitive functioning. Recent evidence highlights the relationship between prematurity and increased risk of adverse cardiopulmonary health during early adulthood, even in healthy and more mature premature infants. Unfortunately, data are limited regarding the relationship of heart function or other cardiovascular illness during the perinatal period and these outcomes. There is a critical need to increase awareness of these adverse health care outcomes and establish research teams to investigate risk factors and develop preventative approaches. In this symposium, we will review the developmental vulnerability of the premature infant; discuss the impact of prematurity of right/left ventricular function and vascular performance in the pulmonary/systemic beds and highlight areas for innovation and future research that may provide mechanistic insight and guide prevention and treatment approaches.
Presenter: Patrick McNamara, MD – University of Iowa
Presenter: Philip Levy, MD – Boston Childrens Hospital
Presenter: Kara N. Goss, MD – University of Texas Southwestern
Presenter: Anne Monique Nuyt, MD – CHU SAINTE-JUSTINE/Department of Pediatrics/Université de Montreal
Presenter: Adam Lewandowski, DPhil – University of Oxford
Presenter: Melissa Bates, PhD – University of Iowa
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