Outcome for children under 5 years hospitalized with severe acute lower respiratory tract infections in Yemen: a 5 year experience

In May 1996, the team working on infantile laparoscopy (GECI) carried out a retrospective study (using questionnaires) to analyse the use of laparoscopy in child postoperative obstructions (involving bands or adhesions). Of the 86 laparoscopic attempts, 66 could have been performed without conversion. Technical difficulties were responsible for the majority of the conversions performed on children aged 3 years younger than the average age in this study (10 years old). Digestive perforation accounts for a fifth of conversions, the perforations either occurring when the operational trocars were introduced (3 cases), or during viscerolysis (2 cases). For 5 children the treatment failed at an early stage (in the month following the operation). Relapses occurred in 3 children, usually at a later date (between 6 months and 3 years). Laparoscopic treatment of bowel obstruction should always be attempted, for as the results of the study show, morbidity is low and mortality is nil and the postoperative phase is quick and painless.     

Methotrexate treatment of idiopathic granulomatous hepatitis

OBJECTIVE: To test the efficacy and safety of low-dose oral pulse methotrexate therapy in patients with idiopathic granulomatous hepatitis who had complications of, did not respond to, or refused glucocorticoid therapy. DESIGN: Prospective case study. SETTING: Academic medical center hospital. PATIENTS: Seven patients with biopsy-proven, idiopathic granulomatous hepatitis who could not tolerate or were unresponsive to glucocorticoid therapy. INTERVENTION: Low-dose oral pulse methotrexate, 15 mg/wk. MEASUREMENTS: Temperature, symptoms, dose of concurrent glucocorticoids, biochemical tests of liver function, side effects of methotrexate, and assessment of liver biopsy specimens. RESULTS: All six febrile patients became afebrile within 3 months of starting methotrexate. Fatigue and anorexia improved in all patients. Glucocorticoid therapy was successfully discontinued within 6 months of starting methotrexate in four patients receiving prednisone at entry. Liver biopsy specimens were obtained again after methotrexate therapy and showed absence of granulomas in four of four patients. The minimum effective dose of methotrexate was 0.20 mg/kg body weight per week. No serious adverse effects and no failures to respond to methotrexate therapy were noted in this group of patients. In three patients, methotrexate therapy has been successfully tapered without signs or symptoms of recurrent disease. CONCLUSIONS: Low-dose oral pulse methotrexate was effective in treating patients with granulomatous hepatitis.     

Relations between cardiac and vascular structure in patients with primary and secondary hypertension

BACKGROUND: Data on cardiac and vascular structure in secondary hypertension are generally scarce, and no data on the interrelations between cardiac mass and structural characteristics of the vessel wall, both in large and in small resistance arteries, are presently available. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between structural changes in subcutaneous small arteries, left ventricular mass and wall thickness of the common carotid artery in patients with primary and secondary hypertension. METHODS: Seventy-four subjects were included in the study: 11 patients with pheochromocytoma, 14 with primary aldosteronism (PA), 19 with renovascular hypertension (RVH), 18 with essential hypertension (EH) and 12 normotensive (NT) control subjects. All subjects were submitted to a biopsy of subcutaneous fat. Morphologic characteristics of subcutaneous small resistance arteries (relaxed diameter <300 microm) were directly evaluated using a micromyographic technique. All subjects were submitted to calculation of left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCIMT), using ultrasound technique. RESULTS: The correlation coefficients between the media to lumen ratio in subcutaneous small arteries (M/L) and LVMI or between M/L and CCIMT were closer in RVH than in pheochromocytoma, EH or NT; in PA the correlation coefficients were slightly less close than those in RVH. An excess prevalence of carotid plaques in RVH was observed. CONCLUSIONS: A close relation between small resistance artery morphology and cardiac or carotid artery structure may be observed in those hypertensive patients in whom the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is activated. In constrast, in NT, EH and pheochromocytoma no significant correlation between M/L and LVMI or CCIMT was observed.     

Sanger DNA-sequencing reactions performed in a solid-phase nanoreactor directly coupled to capillary gel electrophoresis

A miniaturized, solid-phase nanoreactor was developed to prepare Sanger DNA-sequencing ladders which was directly interfaced to a capillary gel electrophoresis system. A biotinylated fragment of the rat brain actin gene (1 kbp) was amplified by PCR and attached to the interior wall of an (aminoalkyl)silane-derivatized fused-silica capillary tube via a biotin/streptavidin/biotin linkage. Coverage of the capillary wall with the biotinylated DNA averaged 77 +/- 10%. Stability of the anchored template under pressure (33 nL/s) and electroosmotic flows (11.3 nL/s) were favorable, requiring rinsing for > 150 h to reduce the surface coverage by only 50%. In addition, the immobilized template was stable toward temperatures required for preparing sequencing ladders, even under cycling conditions. Standard Sanger dideoxynucleotide termination performed in a large-volume (approximately 8 microL) solid-phase reactor using the thermally stable polymerase enzymes Taq and Vent and the polymerases T7 and Bst with off-line slab gel electrophoresis and autoradiographic detection indicated that acceptable fragment generation was achieved only in the case of the thermally stable polymerases. Banding was not apparent for T7 and Bst since all reagents were inserted into the column in a single plug at the beginning of the reaction. A small volume reactor (volume approximately 62 nL) was then used to perform DNA polymerase reactions and was coupled directly to a capillary gel column for separation. The capillary reactor was placed inside a thermocycler to control the temperature during chain extension and was directly connected to the gel column via zero dead volume fused-silica connectors. The complementary DNA fragments generated (C-track only) in the reactor were denatured using heat and directly injected onto the gel-filled capillary for size separation with detection accomplished using near-IR laser-induced fluorescence. Extension and single-base separation resolution of the C-track, which was directly injected onto the gel column, was estimated to be > 450 bases from the primer annealing site with plate numbers ranging from 1 x 10(6) to 2 x 10(6)/m.     

Phonosurgery

Phonosurgery is composed of procedures that are intended to maintain or improve the quality of the voice by correcting defects in laryngeal sound production. These procedures are rooted in a rich medical history that dates back to the early 19th century. There has been a recent convergence of physiologic principles of voice production with surgical technique theory. Recognition of this interdependence has provided a catalyst for collaboration among surgeons, scientists, speech pathologists, vocal pedagogists, and performing artists. We live in a society that is linked to effective communication, and there is a growing population of individuals who have professional voice responsibilities as part of everyday life. This has created a need for the recent developments in phonosurgery and its emergence as a subspecialty of otolaryngology.     

Chronic hepatitis in children after liver transplantation: role of hepatitis C virus and hepatitis G virus infections

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Chronic graft hepatitis occurs in 20-30% adults after liver transplantation but the prevalence and causes in children are not known. In adults, hepatitis C virus infection is prevalent prior to transplantation and recurrent infection is a frequent cause of graft dysfunction. The significance of the recently described hepatitis G virus infection remains unproven. The aim of this study was to examine the role of hepatitis C virus and hepatitis G virus infection in chronic graft hepatitis after paediatric liver transplantation. METHODS: The prevalence of graft hepatitis and the role of hepatitis C virus and hepatitis G virus infections in 80 children after liver transplantation have been studied, with a median follow up of 4.4 years (range 0.4 to 10.7), and the persistence of hepatitis G infection in the presence of immunosuppression has been determined. RESULTS: Chronic graft hepatitis was diagnosed in 19/80 (24%) children and was most frequently seen in children transplanted for cryptogenic cirrhosis (71%). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of chronic hepatitis in those transplanted before or after donor anti-HCV screening. Hepatitis C infection occurred in three children transplanted prior to donor screening but in only one was associated with chronic hepatitis. Hepatitis G infection was found in 22/79 (28%) transplant recipients but was not associated with graft hepatitis. In 17/21 children hepatitis G infection persisted for a median of 5.2 years after transplantation. CONCLUSION: Chronic hepatitis occurred in 24% of children after liver transplantation, a similar prevalence to that in adults. Cryptogenic liver disease predisposed to graft hepatitis, but neither hepatitis C nor hepatitis G infection was associated. Hepatitis G virus caused a frequent and usually persistent infection after transplantation.     

Mast cell activation and migration to lymph nodes during induction of an immune response in mice

The mast cell response in skin and lymph nodes was examined during the sensitization phase of dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB)-induced contact hypersensitivity in mice. Degranulation of 62% of mast cells in DNFB-exposed skin was evident within 30 min of a dual application of DNFB, reaching a peak of 77% at 24 h, and persisting in 42% after 5 d. Abundant expression of macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha and MIP-1beta mRNAs and proteins was observed in keratinocytes, and mast cell degranulation was significantly inhibited after administration of neutralizing antibodies to MIP-1alpha, but not MIP-1beta. During DNFB sensitization, the mast cell density in the skin decreased by half, concurrent with a fivefold expansion of mast cell numbers in draining lymph nodes. Fluorescent-labeled mast cells injected into the skin appeared in draining lymph nodes after application of DNFB, followed by subsequent migration to the spleen. In lymph nodes, mast cells were an abundant and predominant source of MIP-1beta, neutralization of which partially inhibited T lymphocyte recruitment. These results indicate that mast cells contribute to the induction of this primary immune response by activation at and migration from the site of antigen encounter to draining lymph nodes, wherein they mediate T lymphocyte recruitment by production of MIP-1beta.