Recent advances in understanding pathophysiology of nonnutritional stunting in very preterm infants.

Very preterm infants (VPIs) often experience extrauterine growth failure. Therefore, aggressive nutritional management of VPIs is recommended with the goal of achieving the postnatal growth of an equivalent fetus. However, VPIs frequently present postnatal length growth restriction at term-corrected age that remains lower than the standard weight and have greater fat mass and lower lean and bone mass than term-born infants.

Inflammation induces stunting by lowering bone mass via GH/IGF-1 inhibition in very preterm infants.

Background: Sustained systemic inflammatory response (SIR) was associated with poor postnatal growth in very preterm infants (VPI). We hypothesize that VPI with sustained SIR will exhibit linear growth retardation related to lower bone mass accrual mediated by GH/IGF-1 axis inhibition at term corrected age (CA).

Methods: C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, anthropometric, nutritional, neonatal and maternal data were collected prospectively in 23 infants <32 weeks gestational age.

Socioeconomic inequalities in low birth weight risk before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina: A cross-sectional study.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have exacerbated existing socioeconomic inequalities in health. In Argentina, public hospitals serve the poorest uninsured segment of the population, while private hospitals serve patients with health insurance. This study aimed to assess whether socioeconomic inequalities in low birth weight (LBW) risk changed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sustained Neonatal Inflammation Is Associated with Poor Growth in Infants Born Very Preterm during the First Year of Life.

Objective: To determine whether a sustained neonatal systemic inflammatory response was associated with poor postnatal growth among infants born very preterm during the first year of life.

Study Design: We studied prospectively 192 infants born preterm (birth weight ≤1.5 kg and gestational age ≤31 weeks).

C-reactive protein, platelets, and patent ductus arteriosus.

The association between inflammation, platelets, and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) has not been studied so far. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether C-reactive protein (CRP) is related to low platelet count and PDA. This was a retrospective study of 88 infants with a birth weight ≤1500 g and a gestational age ≤30 weeks.

IMRT or 3D-CRT in glioblastoma? A dosimetric criterion for patient selection.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is increasingly employed in glioblastoma (GBM) treatment. The present work aimed to assess which clinical-dosimetric scenario could benefit the most from IMRT application, with respect to three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT). The number of organs at risk (OARs) overlapping the planning target volume (PTV) was the parameter describing the clinical-dosimetric pattern.

[Heart rate variability analysis: a new approach in clinical research methodology for neonatal sepsis].

The knowledge on neonatal sepsis has increase significantly, but a clinical or biochemical marker is not available for an early and appropriate diagnosis. This fact results of an inadequate analysis which might be missing important quantum of biological information. A new method of nonlinear analysis have been proposed to investigate time series of physiological data, particularly heart rate variability analysis, that apparently would detect abnormal changes which precedes clinical or biochemical signs of infection by as much as 12-24 hours.

[Efficacy and securyty of therapeutic hypothermia for hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy: a meta-analysis].

Background: Animal and human experimental models suggest that therapeutic hypothermia could reduce neurological disabilities in asphyxiated newborn without adverse events. The objective of this study was review the effectiveness and safety of hypothermia as treatment for hypoxic ischemic encephalophaty.

Methods: MEDLINE, COCHRANE LIBRARY, Academic Google and LILACS databases were searched.

Clinical target volume delineation in glioblastomas: pre-operative versus post-operative/pre-radiotherapy MRI.

Objectives: Delineation of clinical target volume (CTV) is still controversial in glioblastomas. In order to assess the differences in volume and shape of the radiotherapy target, the use of pre-operative vs post-operative/pre-radiotherapy T(1) and T(2) weighted MRI was compared.

Methods: 4 CTVs were delineated in 24 patients pre-operatively and post-operatively using T(1) contrast-enhanced (T1(PRE)CTV and T1(POST)CTV) and T(2) weighted images (T2(PRE)CTV and T2(POST)CTV).

[Brain signaling mechanisms during neonatal sepsis].

The brain and the immune system are the two major adaptive systems of the body. During an immune response the developing neonatal brain and the immune system "cross-talk" and this course of action is essential for maintaining homeostasis. Two pathway are involved in this intercommunication: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS).

Radiation dose saving through the use of cone-beam CT in hearing-impaired patients.

Purpose: Bionic ear implants provide a solution for deafness. Patients treated with these hearing devices are often children who require close follow-up with frequent functional and radiological examinations; in particular, multislice computed tomography (MSCT). Dental volumetric cone-beam CT (CBCT) has been reported as a reliable technique for acquiring images of the temporal bone while delivering low radiation doses and containing costs.

[Information, knowledge, and perception of dengue risk in Argentina: two intervention experiments to generate local control strategies].

With the objectives of dengue prevention, health promotion, and action-based research, two experiments were conducted in pilot areas of Buenos Aires and Vicente López, Argentina. In each area, community, government, and non-governmental references were identified. The study included an entomological survey (with ovitraps), environmental survey (with field observations, interviews, and workshops), and social survey (using questionnaires, interviews, and meetings).

Fetal and neonatal consequences of antenatal exposure to type 1 angiotensin II receptor-antagonists.

Sartans are selective type 1 angiotensin II receptor-antagonists that are used in the treatment of arterial hypertension. Few reports are available concerning the use of sartans during pregnancy. We report two cases of adverse fetal outcome in hypertensive pregnancies exposed to sartans.

Ethical dilemmas in extreme prematurity: recent answers; more questions.

Advances in perinatal care allow survival of more extremely premature infants, but the implementation and continuation of intensive care may itself constitute an ethical dilemma, given the limited chances of intact survival among the patients most at risk. This paper discusses several key issues raised by the options that are under general consideration with reference to births of infants at the threshold of viability, in particular: the implications of making a distinction between extreme prematurity and other general medical situations that may involve decisions on ending support; the concrete nature of the restrictions on therapy in such patients interactions and the need for feedback between parents, medical staff and society.

Primary non-Hodgkin lymphomas of the gastrointestinal tract: analysis of 41 cases.

Forty-one patients suffering from primary non-Hodgkin lymphomas of the digestive tract have been observed over a period of 15 years. The primary sites were: the stomach in 27 cases, the small bowel in 8, the ileocecal region in 5, and the mesentery in 1. Patients were staged according to the modified Ann Arbor staging system proposed by Mushoff (20).

[The role of intra- and extracellular Ca++ in coronary vessel contraction induced in vitro by noradrenaline following a beta-adrenergic block].

Previous studies reported that norepinephrine (NE) induces contraction of the calf isolated coronary arteries after beta-adrenergic blockade with propranolol (PR), and that the effect disappeared after phentolamine. An higher Ca++ concentration increased the response of preparation to NE, whereas the reduction of the concentration reduced the response. In isolated coronary arteries the baseline tone and contractile response to NE after PR were studied as influenced by DA and nicardipine (NI).

External radiotherapy in the treatment of tonsillar carcinomas. Analysis of 183 cases.

A retrospective analysis of 183 consecutive patients with tonsillar carcinoma observed from 1970 through 1984 and treated by external radiotherapy was carried out. The data were analyzed retrospectively to determine the factors affecting prognosis. Tumor size (T) and lymph node involvement (N) were found to be predominant prognostic factors.

Multiple simultaneous bilateral urothelial tumours of the renal pelvis.

Three cases of simultaneous bilateral transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis are reported. In one case the bladder and urethra were also involved. The information provided by radiological studies (particularly renal angiography) and cytology allowed us to define with accuracy not only tumour sites but also the tumour itself and the degree of malignancy.

Dose evaluation to patients irradiated by 60Co beams, by means of direct measurement on the incident and on the exit surfaces.

A method for direct dose measurements on a patient treated with 60Co beams, is described. A home-made multi-probe dosimeter with silicon diodes as detectors is described. Measurements were performed on the entrance as well as on the exit fields, and a correlation was established with the mid-line dose.

Pathogenesis of persistent infertility in men after varicocelectomy.

With a view to investigating the cause of persistent infertility, the authors studied a group of 27 patients who had, previously, undergone surgical ligation of the spermatic vein for varicocele and infertility. Of these subjects, who failed to father after surgery, 12 presented persisting varicocele at the clinical examination. In 6 cases, the seminal fluid was positive for U.