Urinary aldosterone excretion and renal function in extremely-low-birth-weight infants following acute furosemide therapy.

Background: Increased activity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) has been reported in the neonatal period. Until now, it has been demonstrated that the RAAS of healthy neonates responds to acute furosemide challenge while no data concerning the responsiveness of RAAS in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants are available.

Objective: To assess urinary aldosterone excretion (UAE) and renal function in ELBW infants who received diuretics for the purpose of reducing the incidence of chronic lung disease (CLD).

An epidemiological analysis of retinopathy of prematurity over 10 years.

Purpose: To analyze the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in a single neonatal intensive care unit over 10 years to clarify its ROP profile and how it was modified by advances in neonatal care.

Methods: Epidemiological data related to incidence and severity of ROP were collected over 10 years. Premature infants with a birth weight of less than 1,500 g underwent a screening fundus examination and ROP was defined according to the International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Chewing problems and mortality in older adults in home care: results from the Aged in Home Care study.

Objectives: To assess the association between chewing problems and risk of mortality in an older population receiving home care in Europe.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Eleven European countries.

Hepatic hematoma in a neonate with a high level of alpha-fetoprotein.

Hepatic hematomas in neonates are uncommon lesions. When they are large or subcapsular in location, they can rupture with clinical signs of hemoperitoneum. We report a case of subcapsular hepatic hematoma (SHH) associated with a high level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), for which diagnosis was made with conservative management, following up with the reduction in size at ultrasound examination and the reduction of the level of AFP.

Physical activity prevented functional decline among frail community-living elderly subjects in an international observational study.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence of physical activity in a sample of older adults in home care in Europe and to examine the relationship between physical activity and incident disability.

Study Design And Setting: Study population consisted of a random sample of 2,005 subjects aged 65 or older admitted to home care programs in 11 European Home Health Agencies who participated in AgeD in HOme Care project. Participants who reported spending 2 or more hours of physical activities in last 3 days were defined physically active.

Case management and risk of nursing home admission for older adults in home care: results of the AgeD in HOme Care Study.

Objectives: To explore the relationship between a case management approach and the risk of institutionalization in a large European population of frail, old people in home care.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Eleven European countries.

Successful removal of catheter fragment from right atrium in a premature infant.

A premature infant with rupture of percutaneous central catheter and subsequent migration of the fragment in the right atrium was reported. Umbilical venous catheterization was safely used to remove the fragment.

Transumbilical embolization of hepatic arteriovenous malformation in a neonate with heart failure.

A newborn infant presented with severe heart failure due to a large hepatic arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Umbilical artery (UA) access was safely used for immediate diagnosis and for embolization.

Prevalence and predictors of influenza vaccination among frail, community-living elderly patients: an international observational study.

The annual winter outbreak of influenza is one of the major cause of morbidity and mortality among frail elderly people. The aim of the present study was to identify prevalence and predictors of influenza vaccination in a large European population of frail and old people living in community. This was an observational study conducted in 11 European countries.

Risk of drug-induced congenital defects.

Defects attributable to drug therapy represent about 1% of congenital defects of known aetiology. This means that a precautionary attitude and correct use of drugs in fertile, and especially pregnant, women is a feasible form of prevention. Drugs currently in use with proven teratogenic effect number approximately 25, but new pharmaceutical drugs are constantly in preparation.

Is there significant improvement in neonatal outcome after treating pPROM mothers with amnio-infusion?

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of amnio-infusion treatment on fetal and neonatal mortality and neonatal pulmonary development in women with singleton pregnancies and premature rupture of the membranes occurring at a gestational age of <26 weeks and who had severe oligohydramnios. The treated group of 45 consenting women received serial amnio-infusion and was compared with the control group of 44 women who underwent waiting treatment. Our study confirmed a higher number of live births in the treated group, especially in cases with a gestational age at rupture (GAR) of <20 weeks.

Use of intravenous ketorolac in the neonate and premature babies.

Background: Ketorolac is a powerful nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug widely used for pain control in children and adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate its safety and analgesic efficacy in the neonate.

Methods: Ketorolac was used in a group of 18 spontaneously breathing neonates presenting with chronic lung disease, for the control of postsurgical pain and pain from invasive procedures.

Plasma levels of transforming growth factor-beta1 in renal transplant recipients receiving different immunosuppressive regimens.

Experimental and clinical evidence support the role of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-beta(1)), a cytokine with complex immune and nonimmune effects, on the development of chronic renal allograft nephropathy (CAN). We investigated the effects of different immunosuppressive regimens on circulating TGF-beta(1) plasma levels in stable kidney transplant (KTx) recipients. Two hundred ninety-nine TGF-beta(1) plasma levels were measured in 125 kidney transplant (KTX) recipients exhibiting stable renal function, immunosuppressed with cyclosporine (CsA), tacrolimus (TAC), or sirolimus (SIR), and in 18 normal healthy volunteers (C).

Normal neonatal values of ophthalmic and central retinal artery blood flow velocities.

Purpose: To define standard values of blood flow velocities and indices in the ophthalmic and central retinal arteries in the neonatal period.

Methods: Forty-two healthy full-term neonates comprised the study population. A color Doppler with mechanical sector probe was used for measuring blood flow velocity in the ophthalmic and central retinal arteries.

Plasma levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 in preterm neonates evaluated for sepsis.

Unlabelled: In a prospective study, plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 45 premature neonates (25-34 weeks gestational age) with signs and symptoms of suspected sepsis at 0, 12 and 24 h; C-reactive protein (CRP) was measured at 0-24 h after enrolment. Six subjects were excluded due to insufficient blood sampling. The remaining 39 neonates were assigned to one of three groups: 25 newborns with sepsis (blood culture positive), seven with pneumonia (positive results on broncho-alveolar lavage fluid culture and characteristic chest radiography) and seven with necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) (characteristic intestinal and radiological signs according to the criteria of Bell et al.

Gonadotropin-dependent sexual precocity in a boy affected by pseudohypoparathyroidism.

Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) is characterized by hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia due to PTH resistance. PHP type Ia is due to diminished G(s)alpha activity in several tissues, causing resistance to hormones whose action is mediated by cAMP. Only two cases of males with PTH type Ia who paradoxically showed sexual precocity have been described in the literature.

Doppler ultrasound of blood flow velocities in ophthalmic and central retinal arteries during the early neonatal period.

Purpose: To obtain standard values of blood flow velocity in the ophthalmic artery and central retinal artery in the neonatal period and to compare blood flow velocity of orbital vessels with that of the anterior cerebral artery and middle cerebral artery.

Methods: Forty-five healthy neonates (gestational age, 39.2 +/- 1.

Intraneural cyst of the peroneal nerve.

A 15-year-old girl was referred to us because of foot drop. The motor deficit was characterized by a peculiar fluctuating course related to sporting activity: improvement of symptoms during no-sport periods and worsening during sport training. Neurophysiological examination revealed marked global impairment of muscles innervated by the peroneal nerve.

Spontaneous erythroid colony formation as the clue to an underlying myeloproliferative disorder in patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome or portal vein thrombosis.

Budd-Chiari syndrome is a severe disease characterized by occlusion of large hepatic veins leading to death if untreated. Using the classical criteria for the diagnosis of polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF), overt PV was the underlying cause in about 10% of the cases and ET or IMF in only a very few. Using spontaneous endogenous erythroid colony (EEC) formation in vitro and/or bone marrow biopsies, a primary myeloproliferative disorder (PMD) was present in 78% of the patients with apparently idiopathic Budd-Chiari syndrome and in about half of the patients with portal, splenic, and/or mesenteric vein thrombosis.

Resistance of the hippocampus in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) belongs to the group of subacute spongiform encephalopathies of animals and man. Their pathogenesis is certainly related to the formation and deposition in the brain of an amyloid-type specific protein, named PrPres (prion protein-resistant). The neuropathological topography of CJD does generally admit that archicortex is relatively spared, but only a few papers have been devoted to this issue.

Should venous surgery be still proposed or neglected?

Forty-four men aged 20-56 years (mean 42) complaining a venous erectile dysfunction underwent penile venous surgery. Fifteen patients (34.1%) were treated by DDVL, 29 cases (65.

Intra-hospital transport of the anaesthetized patient.

This study evaluated the anaesthetic management of 20 patients, undergoing intra-operative radiation therapy for pancreatic or rectal tumours. Patients with a re-approximated surgical incision were transferred from the operating room to the radiotherapy department while still under anaesthesia. The risks of such transport as well as guidelines for the patient's care during this phase are examined.