NEONATOLOGY : a practical approach to neonatal diseases

Background

Neonatology is a science in rapid evolution and new information is crucial for the correct and successful care of newborns with grave disorders who had no chance of survival until a few decades ago. New information is essential for avoiding, or at least limiting, tragic disabilities due to prematurity, abnormal delivery and diseases affecting fetuses and newborns. Advances in the care of neonates in the last ten years are matched by few other branches of modern medicine. However, much has yet to be done and obstetricians and pediatricians are continuously facing new challenges. This is why an up-to date textbook of Neonatology for complete and rapid consultation is useful.

Novelty

The novelty of this textbook is that it will create a niche between the textbooks and handbooks already available in the market on the subject of Neonatology offering both a clear overview as well as a practical approach to neonatal diseases. In comparison with other neonatology textbooks, the proposed book will offer more immediate and reliable information for clinical practise and training doctors. The causes and mechanisms underlying neonatal diseases will be explained as a synthesis of current approaches to treatment. Our text pays particular attention to the various diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures for which reliable guidelines are not yet available. This, we believe, will assist students and doctors in making the appropriate decisions in the most critical situations. In this regard, the textbook should  not only act as an up to date source of education for its readers, but it should also provide indications on the most reliable references from trustworthy authors and centers where the reader will find the latest  information on these difficult subjects. To ensure that the information in this book remains current, it would be possible to up to date the edition after the book’s publication electronically by means of CD-Rom.

Content

The textbook deals with various aspects of neonatal pathophysiology. All contributors are universally recognized opinion leaders in their field having published many articles and reviews on their topics. The first chapters will be dedicated to the epidemiology of neonatal mortality and morbidity and to the conditions responsible for neonatal risk. Fetal pathophysiology will be discussed, providing insights into the origins of neonatal diseases. A section will be devoted to organizational problems of hospitals and home services for efficient modern neonatal and infant care. Particular attention will be paid to neonatal care, medico-legal questions, examination of newborns and current availability of laboratory facilities and instrumentation for identification of perinatal abnormalities. Neonatal nutritional problems will also be examined, outlining current knowledge of the needs of sick and healthy babies. Conditions jeopardizing fetal health such as diabetes, maternal drug abuse and smoking will be discussed. New advances in neonatal pharmacology will be extensively examined. Various diseases of the neonate involving lungs, heart, gastrointestinal tract, blood, immune system, endocrine system and kidneys will be expounded in special chapters. Fetal and neonatal infections will be extensively discussed. Fetal and neonatal neurological abnormalities will be discussed by highly specialized authors. There will be chapters on neonatal ophthalmology, dermatology and orthopedics.

Methodology

“Neonatology”  provides an expert selection of relevant information and the approach will be evidence-based. It contains comprehensive, clear and up-to-date descriptions of our present understanding of neonatal diseases, their pathophysiology and treatment. Clinical guidelines and protocols are clearly shown where scientific evidence exists. Figures and diagrams are used to improve understanding of complex problems and references will be chosen to enable in-depth understanding of clinical problems. The book will fill gaps where practice is necessarily built on consensus-based expert opinion and where further research is necessary. Pediatricians, neonatologists, obstetricians, anaesthesiologists and all child caregivers will recognize the book as fundamental for their activity because the information will be schematic and practical with indication of clinical solutions, as it will be written in a clear and easy to follow way by experts who know in depth the difficulties in making the appropriate decision and optimal cure and care for newborns.

Market

The textbook has an extensive market among doctors, midwifes and nurses. In particular, pediatricians, neonatologists, obstetricians, anaesthesiologists and all child caregivers will recognize the book as fundamental for their activity because the information is more schematic and practical with immediate clinical solutions, as it has been written in a clear and easy to follow way by experts who know in depth the difficulties to appropriately cure and care for newborns. Underlying causes and mechanisms of neonatal diseases are presented in a more immediate form than in other books.  Anaesthesiologists will be very interested in this book since in many hospitals the anaesthesiologist is accountable for the neonatal resuscitation and care of newborn.  Additionally, this book will be beneficial to nurses and midwives who work in hospitals and/or  outpatient clinics, as well as midwives in private practice as they are often immediately responsible for the care of the newborn, particularly in the countries where the home delivery is fairly popular. Finally,  doctors involved in forensic medicine will consider this book a very useful tool, where they can easily find the information which will help to solve difficult problems arising from litigation and prosecution against obstetricians and neonatologists. In this regard, it is widely known that the improved survival and outcome of infants, particularly those who are born premature, are due to an ever more  sophisticated perinatal and neonatal medicine, which in some cases may not be performed in an optimized way.