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Children
Special Issues
Follow-Up of High-Risk Infants After NICU Admission
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Follow-Up of High-Risk Infants After NICU Admission

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Neonatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2026) | Viewed by 1120

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Julia Charlton

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2. Neonatal Program, British Columbia Women’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Interests: neonatal neurology; neurocritical care; pain assessment and treatment; neurodevelopment; congenital anomalies; multi-disciplinary care

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are very pleased to share our plans to publish a Special Issue titled “Follow-Up of High-Risk Infants After NICU Admission”. Newborn infants may be admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for many different reasons, including prematurity; complications arising from the maternal–fetal environment; difficulties with transition at birth; congenital anomalies that require surgical management; or illnesses arising early in postnatal life. Each of these contributing factors, as well as exposure to treatment interventions, increases the risk of longer-term physical and neurodevelopmental sequelae, in addition to psychological impacts on the child and their family. Teams caring for high-risk infants and their families describe challenges in the broader recognition of these risks, as well as access to appropriate assessment and intervention.

This Special Issue aims to highlight and disseminate research conducted internationally, which aims to bridge gaps in knowledge regarding opportunities to support follow-up in high-risk infants. Your contribution as an expert in the field will be highly valued.

Dr. Julia Charlton
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • neonate
  • neurodevelopment
  • follow-up
  • families
  • high-risk infant

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 593 KB  
Article
Resource Use and Costs of Nurse Navigator Support for Parents of High-Risk Infants After Discharge from a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
by Vercancy Wu, Myla E. Moretti, Kayla Esser, Natasha Henriques, Jennifer D. Zwicker, Julia Orkin, Eyal Cohen, Nathalie Major and Wendy J. Ungar
Children 2026, 13(5), 665; https://doi.org/10.3390/children13050665 (registering DOI) - 9 May 2026
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Abstract
Background: Infants discharged home from a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) often have multiple ongoing medical needs. The Coached, Coordinated, Enhanced Neonatal Transition (CCENT) program provides nurse navigator-led support for caregivers of high-risk infants through their first year after transitioning from the NICU [...] Read more.
Background: Infants discharged home from a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) often have multiple ongoing medical needs. The Coached, Coordinated, Enhanced Neonatal Transition (CCENT) program provides nurse navigator-led support for caregivers of high-risk infants through their first year after transitioning from the NICU to home. The objective was to compare health care resource use and costs between CCENT and standard care control groups post-discharge. Methods: Resource use and costs were collected at 4 months and 12 months post-discharge from families enrolled in the CCENT randomized controlled trial across Canada. Infant healthcare utilization and parent mental health service use and costs were analyzed from public health care system and family payer perspectives and were compared statistically between groups and within groups over time. Results: A total of 97 and 105 infants were randomized to the intervention and control groups, respectively. Significant reductions in use of medications and equipment were observed over time in both groups while use of allied health professionals decreased and emergency department (ED) visits increased for CCENT. Annual total healthcare costs per child to the public payer were $4135 (95% CI $2825, $5709) for the CCENT group and $4578 (95% CI $2246, $8356) for controls. The cost of delivering CCENT was $669 per family (SD $362). The average annual out-of-pocket cost per family was $724 (95% CI $467, $1024) for CCENT and $728 (95% CI $479, $1007) for controls. Conclusions: This study indicates the importance of considering patterns of healthcare utilization, program costs and costs to families when implementing NICU to home care interventions. Excluding the cost of a nurse navigator, costs to the healthcare system were not increased in the intervention group. Such a program may help families access appropriate care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Follow-Up of High-Risk Infants After NICU Admission)
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15 pages, 762 KB  
Systematic Review
Sodium Values During the First 10 Postnatal Days in Extremely-Low-Birth-Weight Infants and Long-Term Neurocognitive Outcomes: A Systematic Review
by Sara Beyen, Karel Allegaert, Thomas Salaets and Anke Raaijmakers
Children 2026, 13(2), 287; https://doi.org/10.3390/children13020287 - 19 Feb 2026
Viewed by 471
Abstract
Purpose: To synthesize all existing literature on the association between sodium disturbances during the first 10 days of life in Extremely-Low-Birth-Weight (ELBW) infants and the risk of developing severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH > grade 1) or long-term neurodevelopmental impairment. Methods: Applying systematic review [...] Read more.
Purpose: To synthesize all existing literature on the association between sodium disturbances during the first 10 days of life in Extremely-Low-Birth-Weight (ELBW) infants and the risk of developing severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH > grade 1) or long-term neurodevelopmental impairment. Methods: Applying systematic review (ID CDR42024622933) principles, five major databases were explored. Any study was included if it reported on ELBW infants, on serum sodium values within the first 10 postnatal days, or was related these to neurocognitive or neurodevelopmental outcomes. Results: Ten studies (13,276 infants) met inclusion criteria. Six studies evaluated the association between hypernatremia (>145 or >150 mmol/L) and severe IVH, and two reported a significant association. Among two studies studying hyponatremia (ranging <130 or <120 mmol/L), one found a significant association with severe IVH. Evidence regarding sodium fluctuations (difference between the maximum and minimum serum sodium values) identified fluctuations >13 mmol/L as a strong risk factor for severe IVH, while another study showed that glucose-corrected sodium fluctuations were independently associated with severe IVH. Long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes were reported in four studies; hyponatremia was significantly associated with hearing loss in one study (OR 5.6 (95% CI 1.1–27.8)), while another study reported that glucose-corrected sodium fluctuations were associated with neurodevelopmental impairment at 18–21 months, although significance disappeared after adjustment for confounding factors. Conclusion: Considering the limitations related to heterogeneity in study design, threshold sodium values and cohort size, this systematic review suggests a possible association between early sodium disturbances and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in ELBW infants, emphasizing the need for further high-quality, prospective studies, especially since sodium management can be modulated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Follow-Up of High-Risk Infants After NICU Admission)
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