Gentil Gomes da Fonseca Filho

A comparison between preterm and full-term infants' preference for faces

OBJECTIVE Visual preference for faces at birth is the product of a multimodal sensory experience experienced by the fetus even during the gestational period. The ability to recognize faces allows an ecologically advantageous interaction with the social environment. However, perinatal events such as premature birth, may adversely affect the adequate development of this capacity. In this study, we evaluated the preference for facial stimuli in preterm infants within the first few hours after birth. METHODS This is a cross-sectional observational study of 59 newborns, 28 preterm and 31 full-term infants. The babies were assessed in the first hours of life, with two white boards in the shape of a head and neck: one with the drawing of a face similar to the human face (natural face), and one with the drawing of misaligned eyes, mouth and nose (distorted face). After the newborn fixated the eyes on the presented stimulus, it was slowly moved along the visual field. The recognition of the stimulus was considered present when the baby had eye or head movements toward the stimulus. RESULTS The preterm infants, in addition to showing a lower occurrence of orientation movements for both stimuli, on average (1.8±1.1 to natural faces and 2.0±1.2 for distorted ones) also showed no preference for any of them (p=0.35). Full-term newborns showed a different behavior, in which they showed a preference for natural faces (p=0.002) and a higher number of orientations for the stimulus, for both natural (3.2±0.8) and distorted faces (2.5±0.9). CONCLUSION Preterm newborns recognize facial stimuli and disclose no preference for natural faces, different from full-term newborns.

Thermal and cardiorespiratory newborn adaptations during hot tub bath

Objective: To evaluate thermal and cardiorespiratory adaptation during hot tub bath and shower in healthy newborns in the first hours of life. Study design: This is a randomized blind controlled trial, registered in ReBEC (No. RBR-4z26f3) with 184 newborns divided into hot tub group (n=84) and shower (n=100). Newborns from intervention group were immersed in a hot tub with warm water up to the neck, without exposure to air flow, and control group received traditional shower. Heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature were measured before and immediately after bath by an investigator blinded to the type of bath. Results: Groups were similar in gender, gestational age, birth weight, Apgar score at 5th minute and hours of life, p => 0.05. To analyze thermal and cardiorespiratory adjustments, difference between post-bath variables and pre-bath was calculated. In this analysis, it was found statistically significant difference between two types of bath regarding heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature. Hot tub bath decreases heart and respiratory rates and increases temperature, whereas shower provides the opposite effect (0.0001). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that hot tub baths and shower, in healthy newborns, promote thermal and cardiorespiratory adaptations, reflecting thermal, cardiac and respiratory positive reactions after hot tub bath.

Neonatal peripheral facial paralysis’ evaluation with photogrammetry: A case report

Facial paralysis in newborns can leave functional sequelae. Determining the evolution and amount of functional losses requires consistent evaluation methods that measure, quantitatively, the evolution of clinical functionality. This paper reports an innovative method of facial assessment for the case of a child 28 days of age with unilateral facial paralysis. The child had difficulty breast feeding, and quickly responded to the physical therapy treatment.