Airway and feeding problems in infants with Fairbairn-Robin triad deformities.

Background: The majority of patients with Pierre Robin sequence in the subdivision Fairbairn- Robin triad (FRT), are born with glossoptosis, retro-/micrognathia and cleft or agenesis of the palate leading to feeding difficulties and airway obstruction. There is limited literature on these problems, and on methods used to address them.

Objectives: Community nurses in the Facial Cleft Deformity Clinic evaluate associated airway obstruction and feeding problems and devise nursing interactions to address these.

BRCA1 mutations in South African breast and/or ovarian cancer families: evidence of a novel founder mutation in Afrikaner families.

Germ-line mutations within BRCA1 are responsible for different proportions of inherited susceptibility to breast/ovarian cancer, and the spectrum of mutations within this gene is often unique to certain populations. At this time, there have been no reports regarding the role of BRCA1 in South African breast and/or ovarian cancer families. We therefore screened 90 South African breast/ovarian cancer families for BRCA1 mutations by means of PCR-based mutation detection assays.