Peritoneal fluid concentrations of β-chemokines in endometriosis.

Objective: To examine whether the levels of MCP-1, RANTES and MCP-3 in the peritoneal fluid correlate with endometriosis.

Study Design: Patients with endometriosis were compared with controls.

Setting: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.

Gastrointestinal perforations in neonatal period: experience over 10 years.

Aim: This report describes our experience concerning gastrointestinal perforation due to necrotizing enterocolitis during a 10-year period.

Method: The cases of 27 gastrointestinal perforations, which were treated in our hospital, were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: All patients were neonates and infants up to the age of 2 months.

Quantitative ultrasound measurements in premature infants at 1 year of age: the effects of antenatal administered corticosteroids.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of antenatally administered glucocorticoids on bone status of preterm infants at 1 year corrected age. The study population consisted of 32 preterm infants with a gestational age of 24-34 weeks. The infants were divided into two groups according to antenatal exposure to corticosteroids.

Risk factors for periventricular leukomalacia.

Objective: To identify risk factors implicated in the development of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) and to evaluate the possible association between PVL with neonatal morbidity.

Design: Retrospective case control study.

Setting: Medical records of neonates admitted to a University Hospital between January 2000 and December 2005.

Outcome of toxoplasmosis acquired during pregnancy following treatment in both pregnancy and early infancy.

Objectives: Congenital toxoplasmosis is associated with clinical dilemmas as untreated infants may have a guarded prognosis and as treatment may induce severe side effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome of infants born to mothers with toxoplasmosis acquired during pregnancy, following administration of appropriate regimens both during pregnancy and early infancy.

Study Design: All 35 infants, born to mothers with toxoplasmosis acquired during pregnancy, and referred to the major Neonatal Department in Crete, Greece, during the 7-year period 1997-2003 were included.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis and septic arthritis in neonates: diagnosis and management.

Acute osteomyelitis (AO) in neonates, although rare, represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. A high index of suspicion is necessary to make an early diagnosis, and the observation of clinical signs is crucial. The increasing prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an emerging problem in pediatrics.

Levels of bone collagen markers in preterm infants: relation to antenatal glucocorticoid treatment.

Although the beneficial effects of antenatally administered glucocorticoids are well documented, data on the potential of adverse consequences are limited. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of antenatally administered glucocorticoids on biochemical markers of bone metabolism of 55 preterm infants with a gestational age of 24-34 weeks who were enrolled in the study. Neonates were divided into two groups according to antenatal exposure to corticosteroids.

Serum and urine interleukin-6 and transforming growth factor-beta1 in young infants with pyelonephritis.

Background: Cytokines are involved both in the acute response during pyelonephritis and in the progression to renal scarring. The aim of the present study was to assess the pro-inflammatory interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the anti-inflammatory pro-fibrotic transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta) in very young infants with pyelonephritis.

Methods: Serum and urine concentrations of IL-6 and TGF-beta1 were determined by enzyme immunoassay in infants with acute pyelonephritis before antibiotic treatment and in infants with non-renal fever.

User involvement in the provision of HIV services: some lessons learned from a user group in an HIV treatment centre in London.

In recent years attention has been focused on the greater participation of health service users in the identification of health service need, service design and delivery and service evaluation. This approach attempts to improve communication between health professionals and the health communities they serve in order to deliver more effective services. The establishment of user groups in HIV services has been one approach by which clinicians have attempted to establish ways that service users could help in the improvement of clinical services.

Urine interleukin-8 as a marker of vesicoureteral reflux in infants.

Objective: Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is a common finding in children presenting with urinary tract infection (UTI) and prenatally diagnosed urinary tract dilatation and in relatives of index patients. Children with VUR are at risk for ongoing renal damage with subsequent infections. Detecting VUR and renal scarring currently depends on imaging modalities with associated problems of radiation, invasiveness, and expense.

Invasive non-typhoidal salmonellosis in immunocompetent infants and children.

Objective: To investigate the extraintestinal manifestations of non-typhoidal Salmonellae (NTS) infection in immunocompetent infants and children.

Method: The study took place at the University General Hospital at Heraklion, Crete. Over a 10-year period from 1993-2002 we studied 1087 patients, of whom 443 were children less than 14 years old, with a culture-proven diagnosis of NTS infection.

Interleukin-6 in preterm premature rupture of membranes as an indicator of neonatal outcome.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) can be used as markers of adverse outcome in preterm neonates born after preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM).

Methods: This study involved 109 preterm neonates and their mothers. The PPROM group consisted of 58 neonates who were born after PPROM, and the control group consisted of 51 neonates.

3C syndrome with cryptorchidism and posterior embryotoxon.

We report a case of the 3C (cranio-cerebello-cardiac) syndrome, also known as Ritscher-Schinzel syndrome, a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by craniofacial, cerebellar, and cardiac anomalies. In addition to features previously reported the child had Wormian bones of the skull, intra-abdominal testes, and posterior embryotoxon that have not previously been reported as part of the 3C syndrome.

Incidence of toxoplasmosis in 5532 pregnant women in Crete, Greece: management of 185 cases at risk.

Objectives: To study the incidence of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women in Crete and to test a designed protocol for handling those at risk of delivering congenitally infected infants.

Study Design: Pregnant women were screened serologically over a period of 5 years. Cases with suspected acute toxoplasmosis were treated, peripheral blood (PB), and amniotic fluid (AF) tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture, and fetuses monitored by ultrasonography.

Significance of hypocarbia in the development of periventricular leukomalacia in preterm infants.

Background: Despite rapid advances in the management of preterm infants, periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) remains a considerable problem in neonatal intensive care. The aim of this study was to determine whether hypocarbia is associated with the development of PVL in mechanically ventilated, preterm infants and to emphasize the importance of avoiding this disturbance.

Methods: The authors evaluated 52 mechanically ventilated infants with a gestational age of <34 weeks, who exhibited hypocarbia in the first three postnatal days (lowest carbon dioxide tension being <25 mmHg).

Feeding difficulties in a neonate with primary cricopharyngeal achalasia treated by cricopharyngeal myotomy.

Primary cricopharyngeal achalasia resulting from failure of relaxation of the cricopharyngeus muscle is a rare but significant cause of dysphagia in newborns. Symptoms may be nonspecific. Although surgical management with cricopharyngeal myotomy has been employed successfully for the treatment of this disorder, swallowing difficulties may persist postoperatively, probably due to association with other esophageal abnormalities.

Peroneal nerve palsy: a complication of umbilical artery catheterization in the full-term newborn of a mother with diabetes.

Umbilical artery catheters are an essential aid in the treatment of newborn infants who have cardiopulmonary disease. However, it is well-known that umbilical artery catheterization is associated with complications. The most frequent visible problem in an umbilical line is blanching or cyanosis of part or all of a distal extremity or the buttock area resulting from either vasospasm or a thrombotic or embolic incidence.

Comparative randomized study: administration of natural and synthetic surfactant to premature newborns with respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: The respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature newborns has been etiologically correlated to immature lungs and specifically with surfactant deficiency. Exogenous administration of surfactant is nowadays considered to be the treatment of choice. In this paper we attempt a comparison of clinical results from the administration of natural Alveofact and synthetic Exosurf surfactants in premature newborns with respiratory distress syndrome.