Medically dependent severe motor and intellectual disabilities: Time study of medical care.

Background: Improvements in neonatal medicine and pediatric emergency medicine have led to an increasing number of children with severe disabilities requiring medical care, such as tracheal suction, on a daily basis. Most of these children, discharged directly from hospitals to their parents' homes, need home medical support. To provide data for the establishment of appropriate support systems, we analyzed the care for such children in a time study conducted at an institution.

Time study of staff members in an institution for severe motor and intellectual disabilities.

Background: In Japan, improvement in the care for institutionalized patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) has resulted in improved prognosis compared with previous decades, leading to difficulty in entering institutions because of the limited capacity. In recent years, new SMID patients discharged mostly from neonatal intensive care units receive care in their parents' homes rather than in institutions. In order to effect this change, an assessment of patient care in both an institutional and home environment is of utmost importance.

MLC1 mutations in Japanese patients with megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts.

Megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts (MLC) is an autosomal recessive neurological disorder manifesting early onset macrocephaly and delayed-onset neurological deterioration. Characteristic radiological findings revealed by brain magnetic resonance imaging are the most important factors for obtaining a clinical diagnosis. In this study, we analyzed the causative gene, MLC1, in seven unrelated Japanese patients.

Oxidative stress in very low birth weight infants as measured by urinary 8-OHdG.

Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants can be subjected to oxidative stress in the course of intensive care. We measured 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a biomarker of oxidative stress, and estimated the degree of oxidative stress in such infants. We also examined if the administered oxygen was related to oxidative stress.