The molecular, lifetime and global impact of oxygen for newborn infants

Monday, May 1, 2023

8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET

Location: Convention Center: 146 C

CE: Live CME: 1.50

Selected By: Neonatal

Chair(s)

Julee Oei, MBBS FRACP MD (she/her/hers)

PROFESSOR
Newborn Care
Royal Hospital for Women
Randwick, New South Wales, Australia

Disclosure(s):

JULEE OEI, MBBS FRACP MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Session

Description: Oxygen is one of the 479 medicines that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers essential for human health but it is also one of the most under-appreciated and least equitably available treatments. Children are the first to suffer from the consequences of both not enough (hypoxia) or too much (hyperoxia) oxygen. Lack of access to appropriate amounts of oxygen and lack of knowledge and ability to recognize inappropriate oxygenation are estimated to cost >1 million child lives per year.

An understanding of a child’s oxygen needs on the backdrop of rapidly changing physiology, is essential to provide safest care. This is especially important for the most vulnerable children, the very preterm and children in lower resourced countries where both oxygen or oxygen monitoring may be unavailable.

This session considers oxygen needs for children as a continuum rather than as a siloed treatment. We offer therapeutic and research solutions and review the impact of oxygen at all life stages. Starting from consideration of oxygen as a molecule, we move on to the infant’s oxygen needs before birth (i.e. before the umbilical cord is clamped), to the repercussions of inappropriate oxygenation within the first 5 minutes of life, to the consequences of intermittent hypoxemic spells in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and then to the evolving oxygen requirements in the convalescing infant with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Finally we consider the tragic plight of children with respiratory infections in lower resourced countries where sufficient oxygen remains, for many, an unattainable goal.

Learning Objectives:

Understand that oxygen is continuously important for all newborn infants, especially the sickest ones who are premature or infected
Every infant with respiratory problems must have access to the appropriate amount of oxygen and for the amount of oxygen needed to be monitored
Oxygen is not only important for the NICU but is crucial at the molecular as well as at the global level

Presentations:

8:00 AM – 8:12 AM ET

Introduction
Speaker: Julee Oei, MBBS FRACP MD (she/her/hers) – Royal Hospital for Women
8:12 AM – 8:24 AM ET

At the molecular level: How do preterm cells respond to oxygen?
Speaker: Larissa Shimoda, PhD (she/her/hers) – Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
8:24 AM – 8:36 AM ET

Before birth: Does oxygen matter before the umbilical cord is clamped?
Speaker: Anup Katheria, MD – Sharp Mary Birch Neoanatal Research Institute, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
8:36 AM – 8:48 AM ET

At birth: How much oxygen does a baby need in the 1st 5 minutes of life?
Speaker: Georg Schmolzer, MD, PhD – University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
8:48 AM – 9:00 AM ET

In the NICU: Are we chasing our tail with intermittent hypoxemia?
Speaker: Juliann Di Fiore, BS (she/her/hers) – Case Western Reserve University
9:00 AM – 9:12 AM ET

After birth: How much oxygen does a baby with bronchopulmonary dysplasia need in and outside of the NICU?
Speaker: Steve Abman, MD (he/him/his) – University of Colorado School of Medicine
9:12 AM – 9:24 AM ET

The global picture: Achieving equity for access and monitoring for oxygen for sick infants around the world.
Speaker: Yasir Bin Nisar, MMED, MPH, PhD (he/him/his) – World Health Organization