Women Reduce the Performance Difference to Men with Increasing Age in Ultra-Marathon Running.

Age and sex are well-known factors influencing ultra-marathon race performance. The fact that women in older age groups are able to achieve a similar performance as men has been documented in swimming. In ultra-marathon running, knowledge is still limited.

An in situ calibration for hearing thresholds.

Quantifying how the sound delivered to the ear canal relates to hearing threshold has historically relied on acoustic calibration in physical assemblies with an input impedance intended to match the human ear (e.g., a Zwislocki coupler).

Clinical applications of photoplethysmography in paediatric intensive care.

Objective: The photoplethysmographic wave is displayed by most pulse oximeters. It may be used as a non-invasive alternative to invasive arterial blood pressure trace analysis for continuous haemodynamic monitoring in selected situations.

Patients And Setting: Four cardiac patients treated in a tertiary neonatal-paediatric intensive care unit.

Congenital prothrombotic disorders in children with peripheral venous and arterial thromboses.

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of congenital prothrombotic disorders in children with peripheral venous and arterial thromboses.

Methods: Deficiencies in antithrombin (AT), proteins C (PC) and S (PS), and increased lipoprotein (a), and the presence of factor V (FV) G1691A, prothrombin G20210A and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) mutations were investigated.

Results: Forty-eight patients (mean age, 3.

Antithrombin activity in children with chylothorax.

Objective: To determine whether increased antithrombin loss is present in children with chylothorax after cardiac surgery.

Methods: Plasma and pleural effusion samples of children with chylous and non-chylous pleural effusion were assayed for antithrombin activity.

Results: Ten children with chylothorax and five children with non-chylous pleural effusion were investigated.

Does critical incident reporting contribute to medication error prevention?

Unlabelled: Medication-related critical incidents (CIs) comprise harmful and potentially harmful events. The aim of CI monitoring is quality improvement through system changes. In a prospective survey, we analysed our drug-related CIs of the year 2001 with an emphasis on how they contributed to system changes.

Early postoperative arrhythmias after cardiac operation in children.

Background: Arrhythmias are a recognized complication of cardiac operations. However, little is known about the incidence, treatment, and risk factors for early postoperative arrhythmias in children after cardiac operations.

Methods: Diagnosis and treatment of early postoperative arrhythmias were prospectively analyzed in an intensive care unit in 100 consecutive children with a median age of 17 months (range, 1 day to 191 months) who had undergone cardiac operation.

Three consecutive outbreaks of Serratia marcescens in a neonatal intensive care unit.

We investigated an outbreak of Serratia marcescens in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the University Hospital of Zurich. S. marcescens infection was detected in 4 children transferred from the NICU to the University Children's Hospital (Zurich).

[Rational utilization of antibiotics in critically ill children].

Background: The high risks associated with untreated infection in critically ill newborns or children lower the threshold for prescription of antibiotic treatment. Inappropriate use of antibiotic therapy promotes the emergence of resistant strains. This study had three aims: to identify sources of inappropriate antibiotic utilisation, to develop revised guidelines and to implement changes.

Can dopamine prevent the renal side effects of indomethacin? A prospective randomized clinical study.

Background: Indomethacin therapy for closure of a patent ductus arteriosus in preterm neonates is responsible for transient renal insufficiency. Dopamine theoretically reduces the renal side effects of indomethacin therapy.

Patients: 33 neonates with a mean gestational age of 28.

Impaired chemical coupling of cerebral blood flow is compatible with intact neurological outcome in neonates with perinatal risk factors.

Early detection of pathophysiological factors associated with permanent brain damage is a major issue in neonatal medicine. The aim of our study was to evaluate the significance of the CO2 reactivity of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in neonates with perinatal risk factors. Fourteen ventilated neonates with perinatal risk factors (pathological cardiotocogramm, low cord pH, postpartal encephalopathy) were enrolled into this prospective study.

Electroencephalogram changes during inhalation with nitric oxide in the pediatric intensive care patient--a preliminary report.

Objectives: Although endogenous nitric oxide (NO) is an excitatory mediator in the central nervous system, inhaled NO is not considered to cause neurologic side effects because of its short half-life. This study was motivated by a recent case report about neurologic symptoms and our own observation of severe electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities during NO inhalation.

Design: Blind, retrospective analyses of EEGs which were registered before, during, and after NO inhalation.

Blockade of acute grade IV skin and eye graft-versus-host disease by anti-interleukin-2 receptor monoclonal antibody in genoidentical bone marrow transplantation setting.

A six-year-old boy with homozygous beta-thalassemia in the favorable class 1 risk group received a bone marrow transplant, from his histocompatible sister. He developed grade IV skin and eye graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following varicella zoster reactivation. Despite the appropriate prophylactic use of cyclosporin A (CsA), methotrexate (MTX), and prompt treatment with high-dose steroids, GVHD progressed resulting in total body epidermal necrolysis.

Severe tick-borne encephalitis following passive immunization.

Unlabelled: We report on a 5-year-old girl with an unusually severe course of tick-borne encephalitis following passive immunization with specific hyperimmune globulin after a tick bite in an endemic area. Serial investigations of the CSF revealed intrathecal production of specific antibodies paralleled by increasing numbers of B-cells after initial T-cell pleocytosis. Focal central lesions were evident on MRI.

Disseminated cat-scratch disease: detection of Rochalimaea henselae in affected tissue.

An immunocompetent 9-year-old boy with disseminated cat scratch disease involving spleen, cervical and abdominal lymph nodes, skull, and one clavicle is reported. Antibodies to Rochalimaea quintana and R. henselae were detected, at increasing, then decreasing concentration.