Classifying Infection Risk Following Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.

Postoperative infections frequently complicate pediatric cardiac surgery, increasing morbidity and cost. If high risk patients could be identified early, preventive measures could mitigate infection risk. In this study, we used structured health data to generate a cohort of pediatric cardiac surgery cases from a single center and used billing codes to assign outcomes for postoperative sepsis, bacteremia, necrotizing enterocolitis, and a composite outcome.

Workload of learners during simulated paediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Introduction: Learner workload during simulated team-based resuscitations is not well understood. In this descriptive study, we measured the workload of learners in different team roles during simulated paediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Methods: Paediatric emergency nurses and paediatric and emergency medicine residents formed teams of four to eight and randomised into roles to participate in simulation-based, paediatric resuscitation.

Incidence and risk factors of bacterial and fungal infection during induction chemotherapy for high-risk neuroblastoma.

Unlabelled: High-risk neuroblastoma is an aggressive childhood cancer with poor outcomes. Treatment begins with an induction phase comprised of intense multi-agent chemotherapy with the goal of maximally reducing tumor bulk. Given the high intensity of induction chemotherapy, neutropenic fever and infectious complications are common; however, the actual incidence is difficult to determine from clinical trial reports.

The effect of citrulline and arginine supplementation on lactic acidemia in MELAS syndrome.

Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome is a mitochondrial disorder in which nitric oxide (NO) deficiency may play a role in the pathogenesis of several complications including stroke-like episodes and lactic acidosis. Supplementing the NO precursors arginine and citrulline restores NO production in MELAS syndrome. In this study we evaluated the effect of arginine or citrulline on lactic acidemia in adults with MELAS syndrome.