Age is not a good predictor of irreversibility of pulmonary hypertension in congenital cardiac malformations with left-to-right shunt.

Objective: Congenital cardiac malformations with high pulmonary blood flow and pressure due to left-to-right shunts are usually repaired in early infancy for both the benefits of early relief of heart failure and the fear that the concomitant pulmonary hypertension may become irreversible unless these defects are corrected at an early age. Age, however, has been a poor predictor of irreversibility of pulmonary hypertension in our experience, which is presented here.

Design: A retrospective observational study.

Improvement in perioperative care in pediatric cardiac surgery by shifting the primary focus of treatment from cardiac output to perfusion pressure: Are beta stimulants still needed?

Objective: An important aspect of perioperative care in pediatric cardiac surgery is maintenance of optimal hemodynamic status using vasoactive/inotropic agents. Conventionally, this has focused on maintenance of cardiac output rather than perfusion pressure. However, this approach has been abandoned in our center in favor of one focusing primarily on perfusion pressure, which is presented here and compared to the conventional approach.

Therapeutic drug monitoring of cefepime with micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography: Assay improvement, quality assurance, and impact on patient drug levels.

The improvement and performance of a micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography assay for cefepime in human serum and plasma with a 50 μm id fused-silica capillary elongated from 40 to 60 cm is reported. Sample preparation with dodecylsulfate protein precipitation at pH 4.5, the pH 9.

Frequency of Oral Mucositis and Local Virus Reactivation in Herpes Simplex Virus Seropositive Children with Myelosuppressive Therapy.

Background: Oral mucositis (OM) is a common chemo- and radiotherapy adverse effect in oncological pediatric patients. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection can cause a severe clinical course. We hypothesize, that HSV seropositivity is a risk factor for local HSV-1 reactivation and increased frequency of OM in patients with myelosuppressive therapies.