Publications by authors named "A M Smits"
Substance use during pregnancy is associated with adverse outcomes for both mother and child. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use before and during pregnancy in Belgium. An observational study was conducted using data from the longitudinal BELpREG registry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Implementation of enhanced recovery after surgery principles has led to exploration of ambulatory pathways in surgery, including gastrointestinal surgery. However, implementation of ambulatory pathways after colorectal surgery has not been established yet. Previous studies suggest that discharge within 24 h in colorectal surgery is only possible with a clear protocol and careful patient selection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFForeign body giant cells (FBGCs) are crucial in the foreign body reaction at the biomaterial-tissue interface, forming through the fusion of cells from the monocyte/macrophage lineage and performing functions such as material degradation and fibrous encapsulation. Yet, their presence and role in biomaterials research is only slowly unveiled. This review analyzed existing FBGC literature identified through a search string and sources from FBGC articles to evaluate the most commonly used methods and highlight the challenges in establishing a standardized protocol.
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- Global health organizations support breastfeeding, but maternal medication can complicate this due to safety concerns about drug transfer through breast milk.
- A systematic review was conducted to gather and analyze data on human milk intake volume using deuterium oxide dilution, comparing results with existing literature and exploring maternal factors that may affect milk intake.
- The review included 60 studies from 34 countries involving over 5,500 infants, revealing that maternal smoking reduced milk intake, while a logarithmic regression model was developed to better understand milk intake changes based on the infant's postnatal age, highlighting the need for more data on early infancy for improved pharmacokinetic modeling.
Article Synopsis
- * A new cryopreservation method has been developed, allowing for the preparation of LMS from human myocardium at a later time, overcoming the limitations of immediate slice preparation after tissue extraction.
- * Results show that cryopreserved cardiac tissue maintains structural integrity and viability comparable to fresh tissue, enabling longer and more complex experiments in cardiac research.