The Incubator's Journal Club

The Incubator
The Incubator
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The Incubator’s Journal Club is a weekly podcast dedicated to reviewing the latest evidence published in peer-reviewed journals in neonatology and perinatal medicine. Each episode breaks down important studies in newborn and perinatal care, with a clear focus on methodology, key findings, and real-world clinical impact. Designed for clinicians, nurses, and trainees, this series highlights research that meaningfully informs bedside practice and clinical decision-making. It is an efficient and reliable way to stay current with the most relevant and practice-changing evidence in neonatal care.

  1. 22h ago

    #462 - [Journal Club] - 📌 After LISA Does CPAP Perform as Well as NIMV Below 30 Weeks?

    Most trials comparing CPAP and NIMV leave a lingering doubt about whether surfactant explained the difference. This one does not. Ben brings a multicenter noninferiority trial from JAMA Network Open in infants born between 24 and 29 weeks, randomized to nasal CPAP or NIMV with every baby receiving less invasive surfactant administration. The trial stopped early for futility after 312 infants. Noninvasive ventilation failure within 72 hours was 26 percent on CPAP versus 13 percent on NIMV. Ben and Daphna talk through what happens when surfactant is off the table, the unexpected NEC signal, and where the guidelines may need revisiting. ---- Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure vs Nasal Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation in Preterm Infants With Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Zhang H, Zhang Y, Zeng L, Tong X, Piao M, He H, Zhao C, Xie H, Zheng Z, Cui Q, Lai Y, Wang H, Wang L, Liu H, Tian X, Wu H, Kang L, Han T.JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Jun 1;9(6):e2619785. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.19785. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

  2. Aug 14

    #458 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Can the respiratory severity score show us where a baby is heading?

    The respiratory severity score is one multiplication most of us already do in our heads, mean airway pressure times FiO2. This week Dr. Dinushan Kaluarachchi joins Journal Club to walk through three papers built on it, RSS trajectories across gestational age in the PROP cohort, an RSS based grading of BPD at 36 weeks, and RSS after 40 weeks as a predictor of tracheostomy. He also talks about writing that last paper with his son, a high school junior, and why a brief communication is a realistic on-ramp for students. Plus a preview of two upcoming trials, including surfactant given through a supraglottic airway. https://www.nature.com/collections/ejaffajdhi ---- Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Definition Based on Respiratory Severity Score. Kaluarachchi DC, Peebles PJ, Lasarev MR, Guthrie SO, Laughon MM.Pediatr Pulmonol. 2026 Jul;61(7):e71750. doi: 10.1002/ppul.71750.PMID: 42478108 Free PMC article. No abstract available. Respiratory severity score patterns by birth gestational age among a cohort of extremely preterm infants. Peebles PJ, Lasarev MR, Guthrie SO, Laughon MM, Keller RL, Kaluarachchi DC.J Perinatol. 2026 Jun 29. doi: 10.1038/s41372-026-02778-8. Online ahead of print.PMID: 42374145 No abstract available. Respiratory severity score as a predictor for need for tracheostomy in infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Kaluarachchi NM, Afah Annah S, Lasarev MR, Peebles PJ, Kaluarachchi DC.J Perinatol. 2026 Jun 25. doi: 10.1038/s41372-026-02720-y. Online ahead of print.PMID: 42350618 No abstract available. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

  3. Aug 13

    #458 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Could a handheld light probe detect NEC before the X-ray does?

    NEC still tends to announce itself on an X-ray, usually later than we want. This week Daphna reviews the first-in-human study of broadband optical spectroscopy, a handheld transcutaneous probe out of Lurie Children's that reads reflected light from 350 to 2500 nanometers to look at bowel beneath the skin. Just under 100 preterm infants, more than 11,000 scans, and a machine learning model that separated NEC from non-NEC scans with 100% sensitivity and a 100% negative predictive value, though the positive predictive value sat at 24%. Ben and Daphna work through what the curves actually show and what would have to come next. ---- First-in-human pilot study of broadband optical spectroscopy (BOS) as noninvasive surveillance for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Dodd AC, Lehane AJ, Lee A, Hurlock A, Su Y, Ilahi I, Lautz TB, Backman V, Goldstein SD.J Pediatr Surg. 2026 May;61(5):162978. doi: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2026.162978. Epub 2026 Feb 3.PMID: 41643767 Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

  4. Aug 12

    #458 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Is this the trial that brings probiotics back to the NICU?

    Probiotics left US NICUs after the FDA reclassified them, and NEC rates went up. This week Ben reviews the Connection Study, a 2,158 infant phase 3 trial of IBP-9414, a live biotherapeutic product containing Limosilactobacillus reuteri, run under an IND with the regulatory rigor probiotics never had. Neither primary endpoint reached significance, but all cause mortality fell 27%, and surgically confirmed NEC favored treatment after 14 days of dosing. The discussion may be the real story, including a kappa of 0.36 between radiologists reading the same NEC films. Ben and Daphna talk through what a regulated probiotic would mean for the babies waiting now. ---- Live biotherapeutic product IBP-9414 (L. reuteri) in very low birth weight infants: the Connection Study. Neu J, Del Moral T, Guthrie SO, Hudak ML, Indrio F, Kim JH, Kronström A, Martin CR, Modi N, Rastad J, Schnitzer TJ, Singh R, Strömberg S, Szajewska H, Thuresson M, Caplan M.Pediatr Res. 2026 Feb 20. doi: 10.1038/s41390-026-04826-7. Online ahead of print.PMID: 41721054 Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

  5. Aug 11

    #458 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Does holding during cooling change NICU outcomes in HIE?

    Parents of babies undergoing therapeutic hypothermia often wait days before they can hold their child, and many never get the chance during cooling at all. This week on Journal Club, Daphna reviews a new Journal of Perinatology retrospective cohort from two level IV NICUs, 379 infants with HIE, where 28% were held during cooling. Held infants reached full oral feeds sooner, were more likely to go home on breast milk, and had shorter stays, but they were also less sick to begin with. Ben pushes on confounding, on the exclusion of infants who died, and on what equipment would make holding routine. ---- Association of parental holding during therapeutic hypothermia and NICU outcomes for infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Nguyen TT, Glass HC, Chan N, Taketa E, Pineda R, Cornet MC, Miller MJ.J Perinatol. 2026 Jun 22. doi: 10.1038/s41372-026-02753-3. Online ahead of print.PMID: 42332041 Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

  6. Aug 10

    #458 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Should late preterm infants born by cesarean receive prophylactic CPAP?

    Late preterm babies born by cesarean fill our NICUs, and most of them are there for respiratory distress that resolves in a day or two. Could 20 minutes of CPAP in the operating room keep them out? This week on Journal Club, Ben and Daphna break down the PLaNT trial, a five center randomized pilot of prophylactic CPAP at 5 to 6 cm of water in spontaneously breathing infants born at 34 to 36 weeks by cesarean. They then sit down with senior author Dr. Edgardo Szyld to talk pneumothorax risk, the 35 to 36 week subgroup, consenting families, and what PLaNT 2 must prove. ---- Prophylactic CPAP at Cesarean Birth in Late-Preterm Newborns: A Multicenter RCT. Shah BA, DeShea L, Schmölzer GM, Josephsen JB, Fabres J, Wetzel EA, Rykovich H, Thomas A, Law B, Garrido C, Szyld E.Pediatrics. 2026 Aug 1;158(2):e2025070998. doi: 10.1542/peds.2025-070998.PMID: 42457181 Clinical Trial. Association Between Delivery Room Continuous Positive Airway Pressure and Neonatal Outcomes in Late Preterm and Term Infants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Chin Y, Hill M, Sett A, Thomas N, Razak A.J Paediatr Child Health. 2026 Jul 28. doi: 10.1111/jpc.70516. Online ahead of print.PMID: 42517258 Review. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

  7. Jul 30

    #456 - [Journal Club] - 🫀 From The Heart - Do These Newborns Have Diastolic Dysfunction, or Just Different Physiology?

    In this prospective study, Adrianne and Nim dig into an area with almost no normative pediatric data: right ventricular diastolic function. Comparing 57 infants with RV pressure overload after intervention for pulmonic stenosis or tetralogy of Fallot to 134 healthy controls, the authors found a consistent pattern, reduced beat-to-beat variability, a higher atrial contribution to filling, and an E/A ratio inversion that was nearly universal in the CHD group versus about half of controls. It's one of the first real attempts to define what a right-sided diastolic pattern actually looks like in this population. But without a comparison against cardiac catheterization, the hosts agree the findings are hypothesis-generating at best, a starting point for a multi-parametric approach, not a reason to skip an invasive workup. ---- Echocardiographic Markers of Right Ventricle Diastolic Dysfunction in Neonates and Infants with Congenital Heart Disease. Cantinotti M, Capponi G, Scalese M, Palladino E, Giordano R, Franchi E, Viacava C, Corana G, Marchese P, Pizzuto A, Assanta N, Santoro G. J Clin Med. 2025 Dec 23;15(1):98. doi: 10.3390/jcm15010098. PMID: 41517351 Free PMC article. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

  8. Jul 29

    #456 - [Journal Club] - 🫀 From The Heart - Why Does a Sicker Mom Sometimes Mean a Stronger Neonatal Heart?

    In this small prospective pilot study, Adrianne and Nim explore a domain rarely discussed on rounds, how a mother's cardiovascular function in preeclampsia shapes her newborn's circulatory transition. Using maternal echo and neonatal electrical cardiometry across 13 mother-baby dyads, the authors found an inverse relationship: the worse the mother's cardiac function, the higher the neonate's cardiac output, though vascular tone barely budged. It's a compelling hypothesis about placental strain and fetal adaptation. But Nim pushes back hard on the methodology, pairing this paper with a companion study showing electrical cardiometry consistently overestimates cardiac output in neonates, and questioning why daily echoes were performed on these babies but the results never reported. ---- Linking maternal and neonatal circulation in preeclampsia. Piani F, Annesi L, Degli Esposti D, Vincenzi S, De Crescenzo S, Della Gatta AN, Simonazzi G, Corvaglia L, Martini S.Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2026 Mar 1;330(3):H708-H716. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00945.2025. Epub 2026 Jan 12.PMID: 41525138 Free article. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

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About

The Incubator’s Journal Club is a weekly podcast dedicated to reviewing the latest evidence published in peer-reviewed journals in neonatology and perinatal medicine. Each episode breaks down important studies in newborn and perinatal care, with a clear focus on methodology, key findings, and real-world clinical impact. Designed for clinicians, nurses, and trainees, this series highlights research that meaningfully informs bedside practice and clinical decision-making. It is an efficient and reliable way to stay current with the most relevant and practice-changing evidence in neonatal care.

Information

  • Channel
    The Incubator
  • Creator
    Ben Courchia MD & Daphna Yasova Barbeau MD
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    176
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Incubator's Journal Club
  • Show Website
    The Incubator's Journal Club
  • Provider
    ENSO NEONATAL INNOVATION LLC

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