Foreign Body in the Bronchus Intermedius: Inadvertent Deployment of a Bravo Wireless pH Probe in the Airway.

The Bravo pH probe is a wireless capsule allowing remote quantification of gastroesophageal reflux. A 14-year-old male presented for Bravo probe placement. Following esophagogastroduodenoscopy, attachment of the Bravo probe was attempted.

Postoperative Pain and 14-Day Recovery in Children Undergoing Adenotonsillectomy: Low Thermal Damage Device Versus Electrosurgery.

This was a randomized controlled trial of low thermal damage device versus traditional electrosurgery in children 3 to 17 years old with a clinical diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing, obstructive sleep apnea with adenotonsillar hypertrophy, or recurrent adenotonsillitis. Pain score (Wong-Baker FACES pain scale) was recorded each morning before eating, drinking, or administering pain medication for 14 days postoperatively. Seventy-five children were enrolled.

Adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin compared to observation after curative intent resection of cholangiocarcinoma and muscle invasive gallbladder carcinoma (ACTICCA-1 trial) - a randomized, multidisciplinary, multinational phase III trial.

Background: Despite complete resection, disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is less than 65 % after one year and not more than 35 % after three years. For muscle invasive gallbladder carcinoma (GBCA), prognosis is even worse, with an overall survival (OS) of only 30 % after three years. Thus, evaluation of adjuvant chemotherapy in biliary tract cancer in a large randomized trial is warranted.

The use of veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for perinatal support of an infant with d-transposition of the great arteries, intact atrial and ventricular septa, and flow-restricted ductus arteriosus.

Prenatal assessment of a fetus with D-transposition of the great arteries demonstrated an absence of mixing between systemic and pulmonary circulations, and predicted lethal postnatal hypoxemia. A multidisciplinary meeting evaluated therapeutic options. After cesarean delivery, veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was instituted in preparation for open atrial septectomy.

Brain arteriovenous malformations associated with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: gene-phenotype correlations.

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an autosomal dominant genetic disease with a wide spectrum of vascular malformations (VMs) involving multiple organs. Nine to 16% of patients with HHT harbor brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), which can cause intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). Our objective was to study clinical manifestations of brain AVMs in patients with HHT and correlate these with the specific gene mutated.

The peroxidoxin 2 protein of the human parasite Onchocerca volvulus: recombinant expression, immunolocalization, and demonstration of homologous molecules in other species.

The peroxidoxin protein of the filarial parasite Onchocerca volvulus (OvPXN-2) belongs to a group of highly conserved antioxidant molecules. For a more detailed characterization of this protein and for determination of its expression pattern the OvPXN-2 protein was recombinantly expressed as a His-tagged protein. Under reducing conditions the recombinant protein had an apparent molecular mass of 28 kDa.

Increased expression of proinflammatory chemokines in bronchoalveolar lavage cells of patients with progressing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis.

Background: There is increasing evidence that the proinflammatory chemokines interleukin-8 (IL-8) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha) are involved in the pathogenesis of interstitial lung diseases.

Methods: We investigated the release of TNF-alpha, IL-8, MIP-1 alpha by cultured bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) immune cells of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF, n = 24), sarcoidosis (SAR, n = 24), and controls (n = 20) by ELISA. Furthermore, mRNA expression of these cytokines in BAL cells immediately frozen after bronchoscopy was determined.

Spontaneous and interleukin-2-modulated cytokine release by bronchoalveolar cells in pulmonary malignancy.

In a recent phase I study of inhalative, human natural interleukin-2 (hnIL-2) treatment of pulmonary metastases from previously resected solid tumors (mainly renal carcinoma), we have reported that this treatment resulted in an increased accessory function of alveolar macrophages (AM) [1]. Encouraged by these data, we investigated the influence of hnIL-2 inhalation on proinflammatory cytokines spontaneously released by AM. Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed in four groups, each of four patients, before and after 2 weeks of daily inhalation of 0, 200,000, 600,000 and 1,200,000 IU of hnIL-2, respectively.

Synthesis of the CC-chemokines MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, and RANTES is associated with a type 1 immune response.

Lymphocytes regulate the immune response by secreting cytokines that control the activity and function of effector cells. Chemokine subsets are ideal candidates for recruitment of specific effector cells to inflammatory sites or to other lesions because of their selective chemoattractant activities. Given the Th1-Th2 model of immune regulation and the particular role of leukocyte recruitment for the outcome of the response, we analyzed whether a subset of human chemokines is associated with a specific type of immune response.

Comparison of propofol and thiopental for rapid anesthesia induction in infants.

We compared the hemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and intubation, as well as emergence and recovery times, when propofol or thiopental were used for rapid intravenous induction of anesthesia in 59 infants undergoing repair of inguinal hernia. An intravenous catheter was inserted under N2O analgesia and atropine 0.01 mg/kg was administered to all patients.

Mitogenic activity of high molecular polysaccharide fractions isolated from the cuppressaceae Thuja occidentalis L. enhanced cytokine-production by thyapolysaccharide, g-fraction (TPSg).

Thuja polysaccharide g fraction (TPSg) was shown to be an inducer of the CD4+ fraction of the human peripheral blood T-cell subset (1,2). Furthermore, it could be demonstrated that TPSg is a potent inhibitor of the expression of HIV-1-specific antigens and of the HIV-1-specific reverse transcriptase (3). This report deals with the cytokine pattern induced by TPSg in human peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) and purified monocyte/macrophage cultures.