Lipid peroxidation in all-in-one admixtures for preterm neonates: impact of amount of lipid, type of lipid emulsion and delivery condition.

Aim: To evaluate the effect of lipid emulsion composition and delivery condition on lipid peroxidation in typical all-in-one parenteral admixtures for preterm neonates.

Methods: Malonedialdehyde (MDA) concentrations were assessed in different all-in-one admixtures. We evaluated the effects of fat blend (three lipid emulsions) and the amount of lipids, as well as the effects of protecting bags and/or tubing from ambient light and storage for 72 h.

Pemphigus vulgaris antigen mRNA quantification for the staging of sentinel lymph nodes in head and neck cancer.

Background: Molecular diagnosis has been proposed to enhance the intra-operative diagnosis of sentinel lymph node (SLN) invasion in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Although cytokeratin (CK) mRNA quantification with real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (QRT-PCR) has produced encouraging results, the more discriminating markers remain to be identified.

Methods: Pemphigus vulgaris antigen (PVA), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA), and CK17 mRNA were quantified using QRT-PCR, and the results were compared with an extensive histopathological examination of the entire SLNs on 78 SLNs harvested from 22 patients with HNSCC.

[Assessment of inappropriate prescriptions in psychiatric in-patients].

Objective: To evaluate occurrence of the inappropriate prescriptions in a psychiatric department.

Methodology: In this prospective survey over a two-month period, the medical orders were analysed. Inappropriate prescription was defined as any discrepancy with summary of product characteristics (SPC) or our hospital treatment guidelines.

Full-length cytokeratin-19 is released by human tumor cells: a potential role in metastatic progression of breast cancer.

Introduction: We evaluated whether CK19, one of the main cytoskeleton proteins of epithelial cells, is released as full-length protein from viable tumor cells and whether this property is relevant for metastatic progression in breast cancer patients.

Methods: EPISPOT (EPithelial ImmunoSPOT) assays were performed to analyze the release of full-length CK19 by carcinoma cells of various origins, and the sequence of CK19 was analyzed with mass spectrometry. Additional functional experiments with cycloheximide, Brefeldin A, or vincristine were done to analyze the biology of the CK19-release.

Insight and executive functioning in schizophrenia: a multidimensional approach.

Past research suggests that unawareness of illness in schizophrenia is associated with deficits in executive functions; however, the relationships between executive processes and the various dimensions of insight are still unclear. Recent models of executive functioning have proposed that four executive processes - inhibition, updating, shifting and dual task coordination - are moderately related yet separable. In this study, we proposed to investigate and clarify the relationships between insight dimensions and the aforementioned four executive components.

Validation of a neonatal pain scale adapted to the new practices in caring for preterm newborns.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND Neonatal pain assessment generally requires access to facial expression. Improved neonatology practices, such as greater protection against bright lights and non-invasive mask ventilation, have made facial observation more difficult.

Objective: To validate a 'faceless' acute neonatal pain scale (FANS), which does not depend on facial expression.

Flow cytometric assessment of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein: prognostic value of recurrent cardiovascular events after acute coronary syndromes.

Background: Clopidogrel fails to elicit an adequate antiplatelet response in 4-30% of patients. Assessing the phosphorylation of intraplatelet vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) is an easy and reliable method of evaluating biological response to clopidogrel.

Aim: To assess the prognostic value of clopidogrel in patients with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) without persistent ST-segment elevation.

Response of calciotropic hormones and bone turnover to brisk walking according to age and fitness level.

Ageing is associated with a gradual bone loss and physical activity has been suggested as practical strategy for a non-pharmacological prevention of osteoporosis. However, until now, the specific mechanism by which physical activity affects bone tissue is not thoroughly understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of strenuous exercise on bone metabolism as a function of age and fitness level.

Comparison of chlorpromazine versus morphine hydrochloride for treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Aim: To compare the duration of treatment for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) using chlorpromazine versus morphine hydrochloride.

Methods: We compared two case series of term infants with NAS treated with either morphine hydrochloride (MH) or chlorpromazine (CP). Seventeen infants were treated with MH from 1998 to 1999, and 20 infants were managed with CP from 2000 to 2001.

Nasal continuous positive airway pressure decreases respiratory muscles overload in young infants with severe acute viral bronchiolitis.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) on respiratory distress symptoms and respiratory effort in young infants with acute respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: The paediatric intensive care unit of a university hospital.

Continuous-infusion vancomycin therapy for preterm neonates with suspected or documented Gram-positive infections: a new dosage schedule.

Background: Intermittent infusion of vancomycin is widely used to treat late-onset sepsis in neonates. On the other hand, the continuous infusion of vancomycin could improve bactericidal efficacy since its action is time dependent.

Objective: To evaluate a simplified dosage schedule for continuous-infusion vancomycin therapy.

Diagnosis of diffuse and localized arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia by gated blood-pool SPECT.

Unlabelled: This study aimed to assess the ability of global and local systolic parameters measured with gated blood-pool SPECT (GBPS) to diagnose and characterize the severity of diffuse or localized arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD).

Methods: Fifty-nine subjects with symptomatic ventricular arrhythmias were prospectively included in the study. With the International Society and Federation of Cardiology criteria for ARVD as a gold standard, these subjects were classified as subjects without ARVD (21 control subjects) and patients with localized ARVD (16 patients) or diffuse ARVD (22 patients).

Initial endoscopic description of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate initial endoscopic practices at diagnosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in comparison with current recommendations. We wanted to develop a standard model for the endoscopy report which could be used in routine practice.

Patients And Methods: From January 2000 to December 2002, 122 patients were hospitalized for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Mycophenolate mofetil in combination with reduction of calcineurin inhibitors for chronic renal dysfunction after liver transplantation.

Unlabelled: The purpose of the study was to introduce mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in liver transplant recipients with renal dysfunction to decrease calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) dosages without increasing rejection risk. In this prospective, multicenter, randomized study, chronic CNI-related renal dysfunction was defined by an increase in serum creatinine with values >140 micromol/L and <300 micromol/L. Patients were randomized in 2 groups.

[Validation of the french translated Richmond vigilance-agitation scale].

Objective: To test reliability of the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) after French translation.

Study Design: Prospective psychomotor evaluation study.

Patients And Methods: Two bilingual physicians performed the translation from English to French language.

Accuracy and precision of perfusion lung scintigraphy versus 133Xe-radiospirometry for preoperative pulmonary functional assessment of patients with lung cancer.

Purpose: This study sought to determine whether (133)Xe-radiospirometry (XRS) successfully selects patients able to undergo lung resection without postoperative respiratory complications and whether perfusion lung scintigraphy (PLS) is likely to provide a similar selection of patients for certain tumour stages.

Methods: Two hundred and eighty-four patients with resectable lung cancer underwent preoperative assessment of postoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) by XRS and PLS. Correlations, Bland and Altman analysis and contingency tables were used to analyse the difference between the two predictive techniques.

The diagnostic accuracy of reverse transcription-PCR quantification of cytokeratin mRNA in the detection of sentinel lymph node invasion in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a comparison with immunohistochemistry.

Purpose: The main goal of sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas is to limit neck dissections to pN+ cases only. However, intraoperative + diagnosis cannot be routinely done using the current gold standard, serial step sectioning with immunohistochemistry. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) is potentially compatible with intraoperative use, proving highly sensitive in detecting molecular markers.

Impact of systematic evaluation of pain and agitation in an intensive care unit.

Objective: To measure the impact of implementation of the systematic evaluation of pain and agitation by nurses using the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS), the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) for pain, and the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) associated with medical staff education in analgesia and sedation management in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Design: Two-phase, prospective, controlled study.

Setting: Twelve-bed medical-surgical ICU in a university hospital.

Resting energy expenditure and fuel metabolism following laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in severely obese women: relationships with excess weight lost.

Background: Although adjustable gastric banding is increasingly proposed for massively obese patients, little is known about the modifications of resting metabolic rate and substrate oxidation or about metabolic determinants of weight loss following this type of bariatric surgery.

Objectives: To evaluate the relationships between excess weight loss, resting metabolic rate (RMR) and substrate oxidation, and to identify metabolic predictive factors of weight loss after adjustable gastric banding.

Subjects: Seventy-three obese nondiabetic women aged 39.

In vitro evaluation of 2D-digital subtraction angiography versus 3D-time-of-flight in assessment of intracranial cerebral aneurysm filling after endovascular therapy.

Background And Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate 2D-digital subtraction angiographic (DSA) and 3D-time-of-flight (TOF) MR imaging in assessment of aneurysmal residue by using a pulsating silicon aneurysm model. For each imaging system, we studied intra- and interobserver reproducibility and the agreement between interpretations and reference measurements. We also examined how each imaging technique affected the operator's therapeutic decision.

Clonidine added to bupivacaine in neonatal spinal anesthesia: a prospective comparison in 124 preterm and term infants.

Background: Spinal anesthesia (SA) remains the 'gold standard' in neonatal anesthesia for inguinal herniorrhaphy but its short duration impedes its usefulness. We previously demonstrated that clonidine prolongs neonatal SA without immediate side effects.

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of 124 infants undergoing herniorrhaphy under SA with bupivacaine and clonidine.

[C-reactive protein, leukocyte count and D-dimer monitoring after orthopedic surgery: early diagnosis of infectious or thromboembolic complications. Part two: does d-dimer measurement contribute to the diagnosis of postoperative venous thromboembolism?].

Objectives: To determine the modification in postoperative D-dimer level as a function of the surgical act and to assess the relevance of this measure for diagnosing thromboembolism.

Method: A cohort of 179 patients was followed: group 1 comprised 128 patients undergoing lower limb arthroplasty, group 2 comprised 29 patients undergoing lower limb surgery without implant, and group 3 comprised 22 patients undergoing spinal or upper limb surgery. D-dimer level was systematically measured on admission and then once a week for 4 weeks.

[C-reactive protein, leukocyte count and D-dimer monitoring after orthopedic surgery: early diagnosis of infectious or thromboembolic complications. Part one: C-reactive protein and leukocyte count as an aid in diagnosing postoperative infection].

Objectives: To evaluate the usefulness of monitoring C-reactive protein (CRP) level and leukocyte count for early diagnosis of infection following orthopedic surgery.

Method: A cohort of 179 patients was followed: group 1 comprised 128 patients undergoing lower limb arthroplasty, group 2 comprised 29 patients undergoing lower limb surgery without implant, and group 3 comprised 22 patients undergoing spinal or upper limb surgery. CRP level and leukocyte count were systematically measured on admission and then once a week for 4 weeks.