Can levels of interleukins and matrix metalloproteinases in the amniotic fluid predict postnatal bowel function in fetuses with gastroschisis?

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether interleukin or matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) levels in the amniotic fluid can predict the postnatal condition of the bowel in fetuses with gastroschisis (GS).

Methods: Eleven pregnant women with a fetus with GS underwent amniocentesis. Levels of IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6 were measured in 10 of 11 specimens, and MMP-1, MMP-3, and MMP-8 levels were measured in 7 of 11 specimens.

Constipation and intestinal neuronal dysplasia type B: a clinical follow-up study.

Objective: Intestinal neuronal dysplasia type B (IND B) is one of the gastrointestinal motility disorders with a defined malformation of the parasympathetic submucous and myenteric ganglia. The clinical presentation of IND B is variable, ranging from intestinal obstruction in the neonatal period to acute or chronic constipation in childhood.

Methods: Between 1993 and 1996, 105 patients (49 females and 56 males) were treated for constipation, and in all of them an IND type B was confirmed histopathologically.

CT-based virtual tracheobronchoscopy in children--comparison with axial CT and multiplanar reconstruction: preliminary results.

Background: 3D post-processing of spiral-CT (S-CT) data using perspective projection allows the generation of virtual views similar to endoscopy.

Objective: To evaluate whether simultaneous reading of axial S-CT, multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) and virtual tracheobronchoscopy (VTB) is more precise and accurate than reading of axial S-CT and MPR alone in paediatric patients.

Materials And Methods: S-CT studies of 15 symptomatic and 4 normal patients were investigated.