A complicated Glenn procedure: risk factors and association with adverse long-term neurodevelopmental and functional outcomes.

Objectives: To determine potentially modifiable risk factors for a complicated Glenn procedure (cGP) and whether a cGP predicted adverse neurodevelopmental and functional outcomes. A cGP was defined as post-operative death, heart transplant, extracorporeal life support, Glenn takedown, or prolonged ventilation.

Methods: All 169 patients having a Glenn procedure from 2012 to 2017 were included.

Near-fatal pediatric methemoglobinemia secondary to intentional sodium nitrite ingestion.

Methemoglobinemia is the result of inappropriate oxidation of hemoglobin iron groups, leading to a failure of oxygen transport and delivery, resulting in a clinical state of refractory hypoxia. Methemoglobin levels above 70% are often considered fatal. Acquired methemoglobinemia can be caused by a variety of substances, including sodium nitrite, a commercially available food preservative and color fixative.

Setting up a Rescue Extracorporeal Life Support Program.

Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is a high-risk, lifesaving medical treatment that is typically limited to centers that can support a comprehensive ECLS program. Rescue programs can bridge the gap in care between ECLS centers and other tertiary pediatric centers without cardiac surgical and comprehensive ECLS support. We describe how our pediatric center without cardiac surgery successfully partnered with an established ECLS center to develop a Rescue ECLS Cannulation Program.

Antimicrobial efficacy and in vivo toxicity studies of a quaternized biopolymeric flocculant.

This study evaluated the antibacterial spectrum and safety of a chemically modified biopolymeric flocculant (TMB) against waterborne pathogens. The biopolymer previously characterized as polysaccharide with flocculating activity is produced extracellularly by the bacterium Klebsiella terrigena. The amino sugars on the polymer were chemically modified by quaternization, which resulted in N,N,N trimethyl biopolymer (TMB).

Development of a quaternized chitosan with enhanced antibacterial efficacy.

The antibacterial activity of a water-soluble chitosan derivative prepared by chemical modification to quaternary ammonium compound N,N,N-trimethylchitosan (TC) was investigated against four selected waterborne pathogens: Aeromonas hydrophila ATCC 35654, Yersinia enterocolitica ATCC 9610, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19111 and Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 32150. An inactivation of 4 log CFU/ml of all waterborne pathogens was noted for the quaternized chitosan as compared with chitosan over a short contact time (30 min) and low dosage (4.5 ppm) at ambient temperature.