Identification of adrenal insufficiency in pediatric critical illness.

Objective: To determine physicians' beliefs and practices regarding adrenal dysfunction in pediatric critical illness.

Design: Cross-sectional mail survey.

Setting: Canada.

Comparison of antibody- and cell-mediated immune responses after intramuscular hepatitis C immunizations of BALB/c mice.

Current treatments for hepatitis C infection have limited efficacy, and there is no vaccine available. The goal of this study was to compare the immune response to several immunization combinations against hepatitis C virus (HCV). Six groups of mice were immunized at weeks 0, 4, and 8 with different combinations of a candidate HCV vaccine consisting of 100 microg recombinant HCV core/E1/E2 (rHCV) DNA plasmid and/or 25 microg rHCV polyprotein and 50 microL Montanide ISA- 51.

Probiotics in relapsing and chronic diarrhea.

Diarrhea is common in oncology patients; if it becomes chronic and relapsing, it can be debilitating, hinder planned management, and be difficult to treat. The authors describe two patients, one with leukemia who developed recurrent Clostridium difficile colitis and another who developed chronic diarrhea after bone marrow transplantation. In both patients, administration of antibiotics was suspected as the cause.

The conserved TFLK motif of mammary-associated serum amyloid A3 is responsible for up-regulation of intestinal MUC3 mucin expression in vitro.

In various mammalian species, an isoform of serum amyloid A is secreted at high concentrations into colostrum. A conserved four-amino-acid motif (TFLK) is contained within the first eight N-terminal amino acid residues of this mammary-associated serum amyloid A isoform 3 (M-SAA3). Peptides derived from the bovine N-terminal amino acid sequence of M-SAA3 were produced and added to cell culture medium of HT29 cells to study the effects on intestinal mucin gene expression.

'Needle-free' delivery of local anesthesia: a valuable option in pediatrics.

Needleless injection or jet injection of medication has had a rather limited clinical use in children's healthcare beyond mass vaccinations. Medications injected into children with a needle-free system include local anesthetic agents, sedatives (midazolam), and anesthetic induction agents (ketamine). Reports suggest that local discomfort is often negligible and costs are often minimal.

Peripheral blood intracellular cytokine analysis in children newly diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease.

Patterns of cytokine profiles have emerged for different forms of inflammatory bowel disease with a predominance of type 1 cytokines in patients with Crohn disease and type 2 cytokine expression in patients with ulcerative colitis. Most of these studies have involved older patients with long-standing disease or after various therapeutic interventions, and patterns of cytokine expression were hypothesized to be influenced by these factors. To evaluate for these possibilities, we studied 23 patients (15 boys) with newly diagnosed Crohn disease (n = 14) or ulcerative colitis.

Prevention of vomiting after strabismus surgery in children: dexamethasone alone versus dexamethasone plus low-dose ondansetron.

Background: Postoperative vomiting is a common complication after strabismus surgery. The combination of dexamethasone and ondansetron decreases vomiting after strabismus surgery, while dexamethasone alone decreases vomiting after tonsillectomy in children. We compared the effect of dexamethasone alone to ondansetron plus dexamethasone on postoperative vomiting among children undergoing strabismus surgery.

Patent foramen ovale and brain microembolization during scoliosis surgery in adolescents.

Study Design: A case series is reported.

Objective: To improve understanding of the potential mechanisms associated with cerebral microemboli during scoliosis surgery in adolescents.

Summary Of Background Data: Paradoxical cerebral fat microembolization during scoliosis surgery has been associated with right-to-left shunting through an undetected patent foramen ovale.

Classical lissencephaly syndromes: does the face reflect the brain?

Both Miller-Dieker syndrome and isolated lissencephaly sequence are associated with classical lissencephaly. Both have been shown to be associated with deletions and mutations in LIS1 on 17p. Traditionally, the two disorders have been distinguished by the presence of a characteristic facial appearance in Miller-Dieker syndrome.

Cerebral effects in superior vena caval cannula obstruction: the role of brain monitoring.

A pediatric cardiac case of transient obstruction of the superior vena cava by the venous cannula before cardiopulmonary bypass is presented. With venous obstruction and increase in central venous pressure, reduced cerebral blood flow velocities and absence of diastolic Doppler flow were detected. This was followed by regional cerebral venous oxygen desaturation and global electroencephalographic slowing.

Prophylaxis for vomiting by children after tonsillectomy: dexamethasone versus perphenazine.

Unlabelled: The effects of dexamethasone and perphenazine on vomiting after tonsillectomy in children were compared in 226 healthy children aged 2-12 yr. The study was randomized, stratified, blocked, and double-blind. Anesthesia was induced intravenously (I.