Group B Streptococcus colonization status and antibiotic use during labour - a single-centre observational study.

Objectives: Group B streptococcus (GBS) colonization among pregnant women is the leading cause of neonatal infection. Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) is the most effective method to reduce the incidents of neonatal sepsis. We describe compliance with GBS management and the implementation of IAP in the context of the long-term effect of antibiotics.

Changing perspectives of medical staff after Human Milk Bank opening. A single-center retrospective study of a tertiary neonatal unit.

Background: Breast milk is an exceptional source of nutrients for neonates, delivering a unique composition of bioactive ingredients such as immunoglobulins, hormones and oligosaccharides. Our research aimed to understand the attitude of medical staff towards milk donation and its use in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and to determine the influence the milk bank has had on the feeding practices of our patients after the introduction of local Human Milk Bank (HMB).

Methods: Twelve closed-question questionnaires were distributed among employees from the Department of Neonatology and Obstetrics before and after (identical set of questions) the implementation of the HMB.

Prematurity and Low Birth Weight and Their Impact on Childhood Growth Patterns and the Risk of Long-Term Cardiovascular Sequelae.

Preterm birth (before 37 completed weeks of gestation) is a global health problem, remaining the main reason for neonatal mortality and morbidity. Improvements in perinatal and neonatal care in recent decades have been associated with a higher survival rate of extremely preterm infants, leading to a higher risk of long-term sequelae in this population throughout life. Numerous surveillance programs for formerly premature infants continue to focus on neurodevelopmental disorders, while long-term assessment of the impact of preterm birth and low birth weight on child growth and the associated risk of cardiovascular disease in young adults is equally necessary.

Children with corpus callosum anomalies: clinical characteristics and developmental outcomes.

Introduction: Corpus callosum abnormalities are complex, aetiologically diverse, and clinically heterogeneous conditions. Counselling parents regarding their causes and associated syndromes, and predicting the neurodevelopmental and seizure risk prognosis, is challenging.

Material And Methods: We describe the clinical characteristics, associated anomalies, and neurodevelopmental outcomes of children with agenesis of corpus callosum (ACC).

Contributors to Preterm Birth: Data from a Single Polish Perinatal Center.

Preterm birth may result from overlapping causes including maternal age, health, previous obstetric history and a variety of social factors. We aimed to identify factors contributing to preterm birth in respect to new social and environmental changes in the reproductive patterns. Our cross-sectional study included 495 mother-infant pairs and was based on maternal self-reporting in an originally developed questionnaire.

Prospective surveillance for cholangiocarcinoma in unselected individuals with primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Background & Aims: The evidence for hepatobiliary tumour surveillance in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is scarce. In this study, we aimed to prospectively evaluate cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) surveillance with yearly MRI with cholangiopancreatography (MRI/MRCP) in a nationwide cohort.

Methods: In total, 512 patients with PSC from 11 Swedish hospitals were recruited.

Development and validation of a method for the simultaneous analysis of fatty acid ethyl esters, ethyl sulfate and ethyl glucuronide in neonatal meconium: application in two cases of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy constitutes one of the leading preventable causes of birth defects and neurodevelopmental disorders in the exposed children. Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs), ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate (EtS) have been studied as potential biomarkers of alcohol consumption. However, most analytical approaches proposed for their analysis in meconium samples consist of separated extraction procedures requiring the use of two meconium aliquots, which is costly in terms of both time and materials.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders - diagnostic difficulties in the neonatal period and new diagnostic approaches.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is a group of disorders that can occur in children whose mothers consumed alcohol in pregnancy. Diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome is based on the appearance of growth deficiency, the presence of the three key features of facial dysmorphism (short palpebral fissures, thin upper lip, smooth or flattend philtrum) and/or disorders in the central nervous system (minimum 3) and prenatal exposure to alcohol (confirmed if possible). Early diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome - after birth or in infancy - is very often impossible or very difficult due to the incomplete manifestation of the key dysmorphic features.

Agreement and reproducibility of radiological signs in NEC using The Duke Abdominal Assessment Scale (DAAS).

Purpose: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Abdominal radiography is currently an imaging modality of choice in NEC. Recently, a numeric scale of radiological signs in NEC-The Duke Abdominal Assessment (DAAS) was introduced.

Naïve T cells correlate with mucosal healing in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: In previous studies, adaptive immune responses involving T-helper cells have been shown to play an important role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs).

Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate any correlation between the degree of mucosal inflammation and the phenotype of gut-infiltrating T-helper cells. Biopsies from intestinal mucosa were obtained and intestinal T cells were analyzed with regard to activity and maturation markers.

Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI for the assessment of liver function and volume in liver cirrhosis.

Objective: The aims of this study were to use dynamic hepatocyte-specific contrast-enhanced MRI to evaluate liver volume and function in liver cirrhosis, correlate the results with standard scoring models and explore the inhomogeneous distribution of liver function in cirrhotic livers.

Methods: 10 patients with liver cirrhosis and 20 healthy volunteers, serving as controls, were included. Hepatic extraction fraction (HEF), input relative blood flow and mean transit time were calculated on a voxel-by-voxel basis using deconvolutional analysis.

HLA-DR(hi) and CCR9 Define a Pro-Inflammatory Monocyte Subset in IBD.

Objectives: It has been demonstrated that circulating monocytes relocate to the intestinal mucosa during intestinal inflammation, but the phenotype and inflammatory mechanisms of these monocytes remain poorly understood. Here, we have investigated blood monocytes expressing high levels of HLA-DR and CCR9 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: Fifty-one patients with mild to severe ulcerative colitis (UC; n=31; UC-DAI 3-12) or Crohn's disease (CD; n=20; Harvey-Bradshaw indices (HBI) 2-16) were included together with 14 controls, during IBD therapy for four consecutive weeks.

Altered immunoregulatory profile during anti-tumour necrosis factor treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be treated effectively by anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy. We set out to investigate the unclear immunoregulatory mechanisms of the treatment. Thirty-four patients with IBD treated with anti-TNF were included.

Clinical application of the multigene analysis test in discriminating between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease: a retrospective study.

Methods: The newly described--multigene analysis test (DiBiCol) identifying 7 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-specific genes in colonic mucosal biopsy differentiating between ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) with active inflammation--is a new addition to existing methods with a higher stated sensitivity and specificity. Method biopsy material from 78 patients with a complicated course diagnosed as most probably UC in 38, CD in 18 and inflammatory bowel disease unclassified (IBDU) in 22 were investigated by DiBiCol.

Results: DiBiCol showed a pattern consistent with CD in 13 patients with UC and led to change of diagnosis in 3 patients and a strong suggestion of CD in 8 patients.

Crohn's disease after gastric bypass surgery.

Bariatric surgery for the treatment of severe obesity has increased dramatically in recent years in the USA and parts of Western Europe. The most commonly used technique is the Roux-en Y gastric bypass (RYGBP). Several nutritional and gastrointestinal complications after bariatric surgery have been described during the last 10 years.

Ten-year follow-up after autologous stem cell transplantation of a patient with immunoglobulin light-chain (AL) amyloidosis with deposits in the heart, liver and gastrointestinal tract.

The prognosis in amyloid light chain (AL)-amyloidosis and multiorgan involvement is poor, with a high-treatment-related mortality after high-dose melphalan and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDM/SCT). Some patients, however, might benefit from the therapy. We report a case of cardiac AL-amyloidosis with multiorgan involvement where the progressive cardiomyopathy was halted after successful treatment with HDM/SCT in 2001.

Spina bifida--a follow-up study of neonates born from 1991 to 2001.

Aims: To follow the development of children born with myelomeningocoele.

Methods: We followed 54 infants born with myelomeningocele between 1991 and 2001 in the Obstetrical Department of the Medical University of Gdansk, Poland.

Results: The mortality rate for live births was 40.

Primary AL-amyloidosis, ulcerative colitis and collagenous colitis in a 57-year-old woman: a case study.

A 57-year-old woman with AL-amyloid deposits in the heart, gastrointestinal tract and the liver developed ulcerative colitis, which was treated with glucocorticosteroids and 5-aminosalicylic acid, with good response. The AL-amyloidosis was successfully treated with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem-cell transplantation. The patient was in good clinical condition for 18 months after treatment, until she developed diarrhea, which was found to be due to collagenous colitis.

Infliximab in inflammatory bowel disease: clinical outcome in a population based cohort from Stockholm County.

Background: Several placebo controlled studies have demonstrated the efficacy of infliximab in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but the potential toxicity of this new biological compound has been less studied.

Aim: To assess the use of infliximab in IBD in a population based cohort, with special emphasis on the occurrence of severe adverse events and mortality.

Patients: All patients with IBD treated with infliximab between 1999 and 2001 in Stockholm County were evaluated.

Effect of CYP2C19 polymorphism on serum levels of vitamin B12 in patients on long-term omeprazole treatment.

Background: The S-mephenytoin hydroxylase is a polymorphic cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme, identified as CYP2C19, which catalyses the metabolism of omeprazole and some other drugs.

Aim: To determine whether long-term treatment with omeprazole affects serum vitamin B12 levels, and if so to what extent it depends on CYP2C19 activity.

Methods: Serum vitamin B12 levels (pmol/L) were assessed in 179 patients.

Comparison of the effect of lansoprazole and omeprazole on intragastric acidity and gastroesophageal reflux in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Background: Lansoprazole (LAN) and omeprazole (OME) heal esophagitis effectively and to similar extents, but LAN has a faster effect on the relief of symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux. However, no strict comparison of the two proton pump inhibitors' effect on acid reflux and gastric acidity has been published. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of LAN and OME on gastroesophageal reflux with simultaneous measurements of gastric acidity in patients with established gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and esophagitis.