Effects of theophylline on renal function in premature infants.

Xanthines are frequently being used in the management of premature babies. Studies in adult subjects have demonstrated a diuretic effect of aminophylline due to the inhibition of solute reabsorption in various segments of the nephron. We evaluated the effects of aminophylline on the developing kidney.

IgA and IgG immune complexes increase human macrophage C3 biosynthesis.

We have studied the effect of IgA- and IgG-containing immune complexes on the production of complement proteins C3, factor B and C2 by human monocyte-derived macrophages, using biosynthetic labelling, immunoprecipitation, sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel (SDS-PAGE) and autoradiography. There was a consistent increase in C3 production and secretion with both IgA and IgG immune complexes. This increase appeared after a 24-hr incubation period of the macrophages in the presence of immune complexes.

Early neonatal renal venous thrombosis: long-term outcome.

Renal venous thrombosis was diagnosed in the first week of life in 6 of 30,101 live infant births born at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Israel from 1984 to 1989. The thrombosis was unilateral in 5 neonates and bilateral in 1. Predisposing maternal risk factors included 2 cases of maternal diabetes and 1 case of maternal hypertension with associated intrauterine growth retardation.

Renal pyelectasis in pregnancy: correlative evaluation of fetal and maternal collecting systems.

Objective: The current study is aimed at assessing the possibility of a statistical relationship between fetal and maternal collecting system dilatation during pregnancy.

Study Design: Two hundred thirty consecutive pregnant women and their fetuses (20 to 40 weeks' gestation) were simultaneously examined by ultrasonography. The renal collecting systems were measured, and the frequency of dilatation was subjected to chi 2 analysis.

Vesicoureteral reflux in boys: review of 196 cases.

To determine the frequency of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in boys, the authors retrospectively studied 724 boys who underwent voiding cystourethrography for the first time. VUR was identified in 196 of these patients (27.0%).

Urolithiasis in children: current medical management.

The mechanism of stone formation in the urinary tract is reviewed. Diet, urinary tract infection and metabolic disorders account for the different epidemiological patterns of stone formation. The diagnosis and management of renal tract calculi are discussed.

The natural history of reflux in the lower pole of duplicated collecting systems: a controlled study.

Thirty two children with reflux into the lower pole of duplicated collecting systems, followed non-operatively for one to five years, were compared to a carefully selected control group of similar children who had reflux into a single collecting system. There were no significant differences between the two groups, either in the outcome of reflux or in the incidence of new renal scars. We conclude that reflux into the lower pole of a duplex kidney does not in itself constitute an indication for early surgical treatment.

Primary hypomagnesemia with a probable double magnesium transport defect.

We describe a boy with a neonatally diagnosed primary nonfamilial hypomagnesemia. Oral supplementation of large quantities of magnesium salts was required to maintain low normal serum magnesium levels. Lately, a further increase in the oral supplementation had to be administered in order to avoid seizures.

The diagnosis and management of acid-base imbalance.

The ability to obtain an arterial blood gas analysis within a few minutes in most medical facilities enables the clinician to rapidly evaluate the acid-base status of his or her critically ill patients and to treat disorders as they appear. Although acid-base charts, graphs, and nomograms are available and can help to establish a diagnosis of acid-base disorders, the common practice is that most emergency and critical care clinicians tend to interpret acid-base data rapidly, usually without using any of these tools. The intent of this discussion is to provide the clinician with the pathophysiologic background of acid-base imbalance, the diagnostic criteria for acid-base disturbances, and the clinical approach to management.

Cyclophosphamide in treatment of minimal change nephrotic syndrome.

Nineteen children with the minimal change form of nephrotic syndrome were divided according to their pattern of response to prednisone: steroid-dependent and frequent relapsers. All patients received cyclophosphamide for 56 days in a single daily dose of 2.5 mg/kg (total 140 mg/kg), in order to prolong the length of remission.

Variables affecting outcome from severe brain injury in children.

This study evaluates the outcome of 56 severely brain injured children (mean age 6.2 +/- 2.1 years) and relates the Initial Glasgow Coma Scale (IGCS), initial intracranial pressure (ICP int), maximal intracranial pressure (ICP max) and minimal cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP min) to quality of survival.

Pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation outcome.

In order to identify factors that influence the outcome from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in children, we studied 69 children (mean age 2.5 +/- 0.4 years) who were apneic and pulseless prior to resuscitation, and treated in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) following CPR.

Familial vesicoureteral reflux: a study of 16 families.

Siblings of patients with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) are reported to have an increased incidence of reflux. We present 16 families with 33 affected children out of a total of 493 patients with VUR. Twenty-seven had urinary tract infection and 6 were asymptomatic and were examined because a sibling had VUR.

Urinary calcium/creatinine ratio following calcium deprivation and calcium loading in an Israeli population.

The urinary calcium/creatinine ratio, during a low-calcium diet and after an oral calcium load, was determined in 128 members of 29 families. No differences were observed between subjects of different sexes, ages and ethnic origins. Our data allow characterization of hypercalciuria in Israeli patients with urolithiasis.

Examination of the urinary potential of hyperuricosuric patients to retard calcium oxalate precipitation.

In the present study it has been found that hyperuricosuric calcium oxalate (CaOx) stone formers do not differ from idiopathic CaOx stone formers in their urines' potential to retard in vitro precipitation of CaOx. On the other hand, urines of hyperuricosuric patients with no history of CaOx stone formation have the same potential to inhibit CaOx precipitation as those of normal controls. Reduction of urinary uric acid concentrations by either incubation of specimens with sodium urate or by treatment of hyperuricosuric patients with allopurinol had no effect on the urines' potential to retard CaOx precipitation.

The chest radiograph in the diagnosis of atypical nephritis due to infectious mononucleosis.

A four-year-old boy developed oliguria, proteinuria and hypocomplementemia, without hematuria, in the course of proven infectious mononucleosis. A chest radiograph revealed a mild cardiomegaly, prominent pulmonary vasculature and pleural fluid. These abnormalities were compatible with acute glomerulonephritis and were in support of this clinical diagnosis in spite of the absence of hematuria.

Ampicillin-resistant Hemophilus influenzae type B infections in hospitalized pediatric patients.

Thirty-two pediatric patients with invasive Hemophilus influenzae type B (HITB) infections were evaluated according to the frequency of resistant strains and the clinical profile. The incidence of resistant strains was 28% (9/32), all of them due to beta-lactamase-producing bacteria. The rate of ampicillin resistance was significantly higher among patients who had received beta-lactam antibiotics.

Transient renovascular hypertension in childhood.

Two children aged 18 and 30 months presented with severe renovascular hypertension. Initially, surgical intervention was postponed because of the patients' young age. Adequate control of the hypertension and reversal of its sequelae were achieved with aggressive medical management.