title: Oxygen Supplementation to Stabilize Preterm Infants in the Fetal to Neonatal Transition: No Satisfactory Answer.
abstract: Fetal life elapses in a relatively low oxygen environment. Immediately after birth with the initiation of breathing, the lung expands and oxygen availability to tissue rises by twofold, generating a physiologic oxidative stress. However, both lung anatomy and function and the antioxidant defense system do not mature until late in gestation, and therefore, very preterm infants often need respiratory support and oxygen supplementation in the delivery room to achieve postnatal stabilization. Notably, interventions in the first minutes of life can have long-lasting consequences. Recent trials have aimed to assess what initial inspiratory fraction of oxygen and what oxygen targets during this transitional period are best for extremely preterm infants based on the available nomogram. However, oxygen saturation nomogram informs only of term and late preterm infants but not on extremely preterm infants. Therefore, the solution to this conundrum may still have to wait before a satisfactory answer is available.
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Research Group, Health Research Institute La Fe , Valencia , Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Torres-Cuevas
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Research Group, Health Research Institute La Fe , Valencia , Spain.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cernada
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Research Group, Health Research Institute La Fe , Valencia , Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nuñez
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Research Group, Health Research Institute La Fe , Valencia , Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Escobar
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Research Group, Health Research Institute La Fe , Valencia , Spain.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuligowski
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Research Group, Health Research Institute La Fe , Valencia , Spain.
authors.forename: Consuelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chafer-Pericas
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Research Group, Health Research Institute La Fe, Valencia, Spain; Division of Neonatology, University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe, Valencia, Spain; Spanish Maternal, Infant and Developmental Network (Red SAMID), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Maximo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vento
keywords: biomarkers; free radicals; oxidative stress; oxygen; oxygen saturation; prematurity; pulse oximetry