Pentoxifylline does not delay bacterially induced preterm delivery in rabbits.

Objective: Our purpose was to determine whether pentoxifylline, a potent cytokine inhibitor, would delay bacterially induced preterm delivery in rabbits.

Study Design: The study was a randomized, blinded, prospective trial. Twenty-seven rabbits underwent laparotomy.

Aneurysm of the right ventricular outflow tract: a complication of aorta-main pulmonary (central) shunt.

The ascending aorta-main pulmonary artery (central) polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Gore-Tex shunt was introduced in 1975 by Gazzaniga and coworker. It is a widely used palliative procedure. We present a case study with an unusual late complication.

Cluster of iniencephaly in Miami.

This report details a cluster of 5 cases of iniencephaly with anencephaly and rachischisis occurring over a 4-month period at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami Medical Center in Miami, Florida. All 5 cases of this rare, lethal, congenital malformation seen in the cluster included diaphragmatic defects with accompanying hernia, omphalocele, small adrenals, renal dysmaturity, gastrointestinal malformations, cleft lip and palate, and hypoplastic lungs. No single causative agent for this cluster was identified.

Congenital syphilis: the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center experience, 1986-1988.

Between January 1, 1986 and July 1, 1988, 56 cases of congenital syphilis were identified at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. The overall rate was 18.4 cases per 10,000 births, with a threefold increase found from 1986 to 1988.

Histopathologic features of the liver in pediatric acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Autopsy and liver biopsy specimens from 30 pediatric patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex (ARC) were retrospectively reviewed. Of 28 cases with histologic abnormalities, the following findings were noted singly or in combination: giant-cell transformation, cytomegalovirus inclusions, Kaposi's sarcoma, diffuse lymphoplasmocytic infiltrate, granulomatous hepatitis, mild portal inflammation, necrosis around central veins, steatosis, and cholestasis. For the most part, abnormalities in the liver were not predictive of those in other organs, but the two children with the diffuse parenchymal lymphoplasmocytic infiltrate also had lymphoid interstitial pneumonitis (LIP).

Congenital syphilis and necrotizing funisitis.

During the past 5 years we encountered 16 cases of necrotizing funisitis, a deeply seated inflammatory process within the matrix of the umbilical cord, and established that all of them were associated with maternal and congenital syphilis. During that time necrotizing funisitis was not found to be associated with any other infection. The relationship was unexpected on the basis of current knowledge of the condition, but we found the older medical literature documents syphilis as the virtually specific cause of deep funisitis with angiophlebitis.

Morphologic alterations in rat brain following systemic and intraventricular methotrexate injection: light and electron microscopic studies.

To determine the morphological substrate of acute methotrexate (MTX) encephalopathy, light and electron microscopic studies were performed on rat brains after short-term intraperitoneal (IP) and intraventricular (IV) injections of MTX. In both models, Alzheimer type II astrocytosis was the initial and major pathologic alteration seen by light microscopy. The neurons, oligodendrocytes, myelin and endothelial cells were relatively spared.

Neonatal hemochromatosis: failure of deferoxamine therapy.

We describe a premature neonate with severe hepatic dysfunction from birth which progressed to fatal hepatic failure at 3 months of age. The diagnosis of a familial disorder, neonatal hemochromatosis, was made, and therapy was attempted with deferoxamine. Features of iron metabolism are presented, and this infant's illness is contrasted with other liver diseases of infancy associated with hepatic iron overload.

Extended survival of MHC-compatible islet grafts from diabetes-resistant donors in spontaneously diabetic BB/W rat.

Transplantation of a large inoculum of incubated islets of MHC-compatible donors led to an extended survival of the grafts to an average of greater than 86 days in 71% of male diabetic BB/W recipients. Identical results were obtained whether the immunologically privileged abdominal testis or the nonimmunologically favored renal subcapsular space was used as the organ site for the injection of the islets. Survival of the islet grafts was also independent of the duration of diabetes in the BB/W rats at the time of transplantation.

Listeriosis as a cause of maternal death: an obstetric complication of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

A case of maternal death due to Listeria monocytogenes bacteremia, with survival of the prematurely delivered infant, is presented. Lymphopenia and a Haitian origin suggest that the fatal outcome was related to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). To our knowledge, this is the first recorded instance of a maternal death due to listeriosis.

Pulsed Doppler echocardiographic findings in total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage to the coronary sinus.

The pulsed doppler echocardiographic (PDE) findings in a premature cyanotic infant with total anomalous pulmonary venous return to the coronary sinus are reported. Features that suggested the diagnosis of total anomalous pulmonary venous return were 1) an area of systolic-diastolic turbulent flow posterior to the apparent left atrial border, which was interpreted as representing the convergence of pulmonary venous return to a common pulmonary vein, and 2) systolic and diastolic turbulent flow within the right atrium suggesting pulmonary venous return through the coronary sinus. We suggest that PDE should be included as part of the evaluation of cyanotic infants in whom the diagnosis of total anomalous pulmonary venous return is considered.

Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia in a neonate associated with a large placental chorioangioma.

The case of an infant born in association with a large chorioangioma of the placenta is presented. The maternal complications of polyhydramnios, preeclampsia, and premature labor are those described in the "syndrome" of a chorioangioma. The immediate neonatal course was unusually complicated by severe microangiopathic anemia with persistent thrombocytopenia and hemolysis which required three exchange blood transfusions.

Cebocephalus associated with trisomy 13-15 mosaicism.

A case of cebocephalus occurred in association with a 10% mosaicism of trisomy 13-15. Both parents of the affected child had normal karyotypes. Cebocephalus has been associated with abnormal chromosomes such as a deletion of the short arm of chromosome 18 as well as the trisomy 13-15.

The association of Wilms' tumor with second primary malignancies.

Medulloblastoma occurs uncommonly in the neonatal period. Metastatic Wilm's tumor in a newborn is extremely rare. The coincidence of these two neoplasms in one infant, and an equally uncommon combination of Wilms' tumor and a cerebellar medulloephithelioma in another child prompted this report.

Metastatic neonatal Wilms' tumor: a case report with review of the literature.

An unusual case of congenital Wilms' tumor is discussed. Although the very existence of neonatal Wilms' has been challenged, this case represents a well documented example, rendered all the more unusual by concurrent metastatic disease and a second primary malignancy in the posterior fossa.