The adjustment of post-dialysis dry weight based on non-invasive measurements in children.

Background: The clinical criteria to assess hydration status are not always reliable. Hence, the development of techniques to estimate more accurately post-dialysis dry weight (DW) remains a major challenge. The present study evaluates the value of the inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter, plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), and plasma renin activity (PRA) in determining the DW in chronic haemodialysis children.

Severe acute thinner intoxication.

Thinner which contains aromatic hydrocarbons such as xylene, toluene and N-hexane is widely used in industrial plants manufacturing dyes, plastic, varnishes and glues. Chronic intoxication due to abuse of solvents, including thinner, by workers who inhale the solvent vapor is frequently encountered. Acute intoxication with ingestion of excessive amounts is relatively rare and usually fatal.

Lymphocyte subpopulations in children with vitamin D deficient rickets.

Recent studies have shown 1,25(OH)2D3-mediated modulation of the immune system. We examined lymphocyte subpopulations of 16 children with nutritional rickets. Most of the patients suffered more frequent infection episodes than the control group of 15 healthy children and low serum levels of 25OHD and 1,25(OH)2D, such as 38.

Image-directed and color Doppler ultrasonography in the diagnosis of postbiopsy arteriovenous fistulas of native kidneys.

Using image-directed and color Doppler ultrasonography (ICDUS), we examined 65 patients with single kidney biopsy and diagnosed one arteriovenous fistula (AVF) in each of 8 kidneys. Three of them were associated with pseudoaneurysms. Three of the patients with AVF who presented with macrohematuria underwent angiography.

Intercomparison in cytogenetic dosimetry among five laboratories from Latin America.

As part of a regional International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) collaborative project within Latin America, five countries participated in an intercomparison in cytogenetic dosimetry. Coded slides for chromosomal aberrations and micronucleus analyses were prepared by the coordinator laboratory which organized the exercise and sent to the other participating laboratories. For estimates of dose, each laboratory scored the frequency of dicentrics in metaphases and the frequency of micronuclei in binucleated cells.

Major histocompatibility complex antigens and immune mechanisms in steroid-responsive nephrotic syndrome.

Although the pathogenesis of steroid-responsive nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) is obscure, involvement of an immune mechanism is often suggested. Further evidence of an immune basis for this disorder is an increased frequency of specific major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens. In the first part of this study, the phenotypic frequency of HLA-A, -B, -C, -DR antigens were investigated in 30 children with SRNS and in 630 controls.

Use of single voided urine samples to estimate quantitative proteinuria in children.

Quantitation of protein excretion in urine is used for diagnostic and prognostic purposes and also to assess the effects of therapy in children. The method in common use is to measure urinary protein in a 24-hour urine sample, which may be time consuming and is often inaccurate. The aim of this study was to determine if the urine protein/creatinine ratio in a single-void urine sample had a high correlation with the quantity of protein in a 24-hour urine specimen.

Why do UK-born Pakistani babies have high perinatal and neonatal mortality rates?

A prospective study of 4934 babies of different ethnic groups has confirmed the high perinatal mortality rate for Pakistanis and has shown that this was not due to a reluctance to terminate a fetus who is known to be seriously malformed. The major cause of early mortality was a high rate of lethal malformations, which occurred in about 1 in 100 Pakistani babies and which accounted for about half of their perinatal mortality. Many of these were autosomal recessive and occurred only in the offspring of consanguineous parents.

Pneumadin: a new lung peptide which triggers antidiuresis.

Normal mammalian lungs, including human fetal lungs, contain significant amounts of a decapeptide which releases arginine-vasopressin from the neurophypophysis and therefore has antidiuretic activity. The rat peptide is: Tyr-Gly-Glu-Pro-Lys-Leu-Asp-Ala-Gly-Val-NH2. The peptide from human fetal lungs has Ala instead of Tyr.

Race, consanguinity and social features in Birmingham babies: a basis for prospective study.

Study Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of consanguinity on children's health.

Design: The study is a prospective survey from birth to five years of a cohort of babies born in a multiracial community. This report details the initial findings on consanguinity.

An experimental evaluation of microcapsules for arterial chemoembolization.

Microcapsules, 106 micron (range, 50-350 micron), of different capsular materials (monoglyceride, monodiglyceride, natural wax, cellulose polymer, or lactic acid polymer) with and without floxuridine (2'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine, FUDR) were intraarterially injected into dog kidneys. The drug-release characteristics of the microcapsules, as determined by analysis of renal and systemic venous blood samples over a 6-hour period, were uniphasic or multiphasic depending on the capsular material. Histologic changes of varying degrees were noted in all kidneys embolized except for those subjected to capsules of the cellulose polymer.

Transcatheter thrombolysis in cancer patients.

Arterial thrombolysis was successfully accomplished in 15 of 18 (83%) cancer patients by the continuous intraarterial transcatheter administration of streptokinase (70 units/kg/h or 5000 u/h and/or urokinase (400-500 u/kg/h) over 24-96 h. In 16 of these patients, the arterial thrombosis was a complication of transcatheter infusion of chemotherapeutic agents or embolization therapy. A combination of streptokinase, urokinase and heparin (10,000-25,000 U/day) was utilized without significant side effect and was effective in all 8 patients receiving treatment.

Experimental evaluation of intraarterial occlusion-infusion chemotherapy.

Intraarterial occlusion-infusion of vincristine and Adriamycin was performed in six dogs using balloon infusion catheters. Tissue toxicity was compared with that obtained when the same drugs were administered by simple arterial infusion. Balloon occlusion of the external iliac artery produced reversed blood flow in the deep femoral, caudal femoral, and superficial circumflex iliac arteries, potentially altering the distribution of the drugs.

Middle sacral arteriography: diagnostic and therapeutic implications.

The authors review the anatomy of the middle sacral artery and its relationship to the lower lumbar and internal iliac arteries. Middle sacral arteriography was performed in 8 patients, transcatheter tumor embolization in 6, and infusion chemotherapy in 1. There were no complications.

Alteration in starch microsphere degradation following contrast angiography in the dog kidney.

Six adult mongrel dogs received bilateral sequential renal arterial injections of degradable starch microspheres following preadministration arteriograms. Renal arterial flow was measured using electromagnetic flow probes, and microspheres were administered until flow was blocked completely. One kidney in each dog was subjected to immediate postembolization arteriography, while the contralateral kidney served as a control.

Case report of translumbar renal angiography and embolization.

The translumbar approach was used for renal angiography and transcatheter embolization in a patient whose usual sites of vascular entry were not available because of arteriosclerotic occlusive vascular disease. A description is given of the reasons for embolization and the method used.

Renal cysts in pediatric autopsy material.

In a series of 6,521 consecutive autopsies of infants and children, renal cysts were found in 136 cases (2%). Of these, 71 were females and 65 males; 103 patients had died in their first month of life. The different types of cystic disease represented were as follows: renal cystic dysplasia 65, cortical cysts in syndromes of multiple malformations 42, polycystic disease 16, simple cortical cysts 7, renal cysts in hereditary syndromes 3, and renal medullary cystic disorders 3.

Henoch-Schönlein nephritis: long-term prognosis of unselected patients.

Progressive glomerulonephritis is the most serious feature of Henoch-Schönlein syndrome. In a series of 141 children with Henoch-Schönlein purpura 39 (28%) had abnormal urinary sediment for a duration of more than one month. This subgroup was followed up for 3.