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World-wide, many fetuses and infants are exposed to methylxanthines via maternal consumption of coffee and other beverages containing these substances. Methylxanthines (caffeine, theophylline and aminophylline) are also commonly used as a medication for apnea of prematurity. The metabolism of methylxanthines is impaired in pregnant women, fetuses and neonates, leading to accumulating levels thereof. Methylxanthines readily passes the placenta barrier and enters all tissues and thus may affect the fetus/newborn at any time during pregnancy or postnatal life, given that the effector systems are mature. At clinically relevant doses, the major effector system for methylxanthines is adenosine receptors. Animal studies suggest that adenosine receptors in the cardiovascular, respiratory and immune system are developed at birth, but that cerebral adenosine receptors are not fully functional. Furthermore animal studies have shown protective positive effects of methylxanthines in situations of hypoxia/ischemia in neonates. Similarly, a positive long-term effect on lung function and CNS development was found in human preterm infants treated with high doses of caffeine for apneas. There is now evidence that the overall benefits from methylxanthine therapy for apnea of prematurity outweigh potential short-term risks. On the other hand it is important to note that experimental studies have indicated that long-term effects of caffeine during pregnancy and postnatally may include altered behavior and altered respiratory control in the offspring, although there is currently no human data to support this. Some epidemiology studies have reported negative effects on pregnancy and perinatal outcomes related to maternal ingestion of high doses of caffeine, but the results are inconclusive. The evidence base for adverse effects of caffeine in first third of pregnancy are stronger than for later parts of pregnancy and there is currently insufficient evidence to advise women to restrict caffeine intake after the first trimester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypertension as a clinical problem in newborn infants was first recognized in the 1970s (1). However, recent advances in our ability to identify, evaluate, and care for prmature infants have lead to an increased awareness of neonatal hypertension, not only in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) but also in the neonatal follow-up clinic. This chapter will focus on the differential diagnosis of hypertension in the neonate, the optimal diagnostic evaluation, and both acute and chronic antihypertensive therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes methods of automatic analysis and classification of biological signals. Polysomnographic (PSG) recordings encompass a set of heterogeneous biological signals (e.g. EEG, EOG, EMG, ECG, PNG) recorded simultaneously. These signals, especially EEG, are very complex and exhibit nonstationarity and stochasticity. Thus their processing represents a challenging multilevel procedure composed of several methods. Used methods are illustrated on examples of PSG recordings of newborns and sleep recordings of adults and can be applied to similar tasks in other problem domains. Analysis was performed using real clinical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]