Cross-reaction of an anti-Cryptosporidium monoclonal antibody with sporocysts of Monocystis species.

The non-specific cross-reaction of a fluorescently labelled anti-Cryptosporidium monoclonal antibody was observed microscopically when testing faecal specimens from small mammals. The reactive particles were identified as sporocysts of the Gregarine family Monocystidae, and indicate that considerable care should be taken so that false positives are not recorded.

Impact of new treatments for neonatal pulmonary hypertension on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use and outcome.

Objective: To determine the impact of new treatment modalities, including high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) and inhaled nitric oxide (INO), on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) use and outcome of neonatal patients with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn.

Study Design: We reviewed the medical records of neonatal patients meeting established ECMO criteria from 1988 to 1995. Clinical data were gathered from this retrospective chart review.

Longitudinal follow-up of a cohort of newborn infants treated with inhaled nitric oxide for persistent pulmonary hypertension.

Objective: To describe the outcome of a group of term newborn infants treated with inhaled nitric oxide for severe persistent pulmonary hypertension.

Study Design: We performed a prospective longitudinal medical and neurodevelopmental follow-up of 51 infants treated as neonates for persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn with inhaled nitric oxide. The original number of treated infants was 87, of whom 25 died in the neonatal period; of 62 infants who survived, 51 were seen at 1 year of age and 33 completed a 2-year evaluation.

Reduction in humidity as a method of controlling mites and mite allergens: the use of mechanical ventilation in British domestic dwellings.

Background: Low humidity is an important limiting factor for mite population growth. Reducing humidity can therefore be used as a method to control mites within the home.

Objective: This study investigated the effect of mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) units on house dust mites and mite allergen Der p 1 in typical homes in the North-West of England.

Adaptation of an ECMO team in the era of successful alternative therapies for neonatal pulmonary failure.

Neonates with persistent pulmonary hypertension show severe hypoxemia that requires a variety of therapeutic modalities. When patients do not respond to conventional medical management that includes hyperventilation, inotropic support, and vasodilating agents, treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) may be used. More recently, high-frequency oscillatory ventilation and nitric oxide inhalation have been used in these infants and have impacted the need for ECMO.

Portable dehumidifiers in the control of house dust mites and mite allergens.

Humidity is a decisive limiting factor for house dust mite (HDM) population growth and decreasing humidity may be the control method of choice. This study investigates the effects of portable dehumidifiers on the mite counts and concentration of the HDM allergen Der p I in the homes in northwest England. Mite counts and Der p I were measured in the paired dust samples collected by vacuuming a 1 m2 area of bedroom carpet, living room carpet, mattress and sofa for 2 min in six houses supplied with the dehumidifier and six control houses, before and 1, 2 and 3 months after the installment of dehumidifier.

A prospective randomized trial of delayed versus immediate repair of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

From March 1990 to January 1993, a randomized prospective study was performed to determine the optimal timing of surgery for infants with high-risk congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Thirty-two CDH patients who presented with respiratory distress within 12 hours after birth were randomly divided into two groups: Group A had early repair (within 6 hours), and group B had delayed repair (at 96+ hours). Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was initiated in both groups as necessary.

Eicosanoids decrease with successful extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy in neonatal pulmonary hypertension.

Elevated concentrations of eicosanoids have been reported in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and blood of infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), thereby indicating their potential role in its pathophysiology. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has improved the outcome in selected infants with PPHN. We hypothesized that ECMO, by alleviating lung injury, would be associated with decreased eicosanoid production and clinical improvement.

Elevated immunoreactive endothelin-1 levels in newborn infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension.

To study the potential role of endothelin-1, a potent endothelium-derived vasoconstrictor peptide, in the pathophysiology of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), we measured arterial concentrations of immunoreactive endothelin-1 (irET-1) in 24 neonates with PPHN. Secondary diagnoses included meconium aspiration syndrome (13 patients), sepsis (2), congenital diaphragmatic hernia (1), asphyxia (1), pulmonary hemorrhage (1), aspiration of blood (1), and respiratory distress syndrome (1). Compared with irET-1 levels in umbilical cord blood in normal infants (15.

Severe granulomatous arthritis due to spinous injury by a "sea mouse" annelid worm.

A case of destructive arthritis and soft tissue granulomatous inflammation occurred in a 25 year old man who had injured his right index finger while snorkelling in the Mediterranean. It was initially thought that he had fallen on a sea-urchin. He removed some spines at the time of injury but the finger became stiff, swollen, and painful, and after eight months with no symptomatic improvement amputation through the proximal phalanx was performed.

Uptake of amino acids and ammonia at mid-gestation by the fetal lamb.

Fetal uptakes of amino acids and ammonia via the umbilical circulation were measured in single pregnant ewes at mid-gestation (range 66-81 days). There were significant net fluxes from placenta to fetus of ammonia and twelve amino acids (in decreasing order: glutamine, glycine, alanine, proline, lysine, arginine, threonine, valine, leucine, tyrosine, asparagine, isoleucine) and net fluxes from fetus to placenta of glutamate and serine. The estimated serine flux was 139 mumol day-1 (g fetal dry wt)-1.

Ontogenetic changes in the rates of protein synthesis and leucine oxidation during fetal life.

Studies of fetal leucine metabolism and protein synthetic rate, using L-(1-14)leucine as tracer, were carried out in 12 pregnant ewes at midgestation and compared with similar studies in late gestation. The disposal rate of fetal plasma leucine ranged between 3.07 and 9.

Nutrition of the fetus and newborn.

Both the successful development of healthy, long-term animal models to study fetal nutrition and metabolism and the improved survival of low-birth-weight, preterm infants have focused interest and research on fetal and neonatal nutrition and metabolism. Such a focus is important, given the recent emphasis on promoting neonatal growth in preterm infants at "normal" in utero growth rates. Estimates of nutrient requirements for growth in a human fetus remain ill defined, however.

Metabolic and circulatory studies of fetal lamb at midgestation.

Uterine and umbilical blood flows, the placental clearance of 3H2O, uterine and umbilical uptakes of oxygen, glucose, and lactate were measured in conscious, pregnant sheep at 71-81 days gestation. Fetal weight was 210 +/- 20 g and less than half placental weight. In relation to fetal weight, umbilical flow was 468 +/- 57 ml X min-1 X kg-1, more than double normal values for the mature fetus.

The effect of dilution during culture on detection of low concentrations of bacteria in blood.

The standard procedure for culturing blood is to inoculate 5 ml of blood into 50 ml of broth, resulting in a blood-broth ratio of 1:10. In infants, where only 0.5 to 1.

Reciprocal translocation 14q;21q in a patient with the Brachmann-de Lange syndrome.

A patient with the Brachmann-de Lange syndrome was found to have an apparently balanced de novo translocation 14q; 21q. The relationship between this uncommon translocation and the patient's phenotype is unclear. Although most patients with the Brachmann-de Lange syndrome have normal chromosomes, the possibility of aetiological heterogeneity, including some rare chromosomal abnormalities, cannot be dismissed.

Agenesis of the corpus callosum in two brothers.

Two brothers with developmental delay and unusual cranial configurations were found to have agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) by CT scan. Six published families in which ACC occurred in the absence of extracranial malformations are reviewed. No single mode of inheritance can account for all of these familial cases.

Magnetic bones in human sinuses.

Studies on the interaction of magnetic fields and biological organisms have centred on the influence of applied magnetic fields on the physiology and behaviour of organisms, including humans, and a search for magnetic sources within the organisms themselves. Evidence continues to accumulate that a wide range of organisms, from bacteria to vertebrates, can detect and orient to ambient magnetic fields (for examples see refs 2-4). Since the discovery that magnetic orientation by bacteria was due to the presence within the organism of magnetic particles of the ferric/ferrous oxide, magnetite, the search has begun for other biogenic deposits of inorganic magnetic material and ways in which the possession of such material might confer on the organism the ability to orient to ambient magnetic fields.

Overlap syndrome of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Two children with an overlap syndrome of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are described. Both developed SLE years after presenting with typical JRA.