The effect of body positioning on gastroesophageal reflux in premature infants: evaluation by combined impedance and pH monitoring.

Objective: To evaluate the pattern of acid and nonacid gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in different body positions in preterm infants with reflux symptoms by a combined multichannel intraluminal impedance (MII)-pH monitoring, which identifies both acid and nonacid GER.

Study Design: Premature infants with frequent regurgitation and postprandial desaturation (n = 22) underwent a 24-hour recording of MII-pH. In a within-subjects design, reflux indexes were analyzed with the infants in 4 different positions: supine (S), prone (P), on the right side (RS), and on the left side (LS).

11- to 15-Year-old children of women who danced during their pregnancy.

Aim: To determine whether high levels of maternal physical activity (dancing during pregnancy), influenced the offspring.

Materials And Methods: Sixty-four women (32 of whom had continued to dance for at least 2 months after the beginning of pregnancy) filled in a questionnaire to assess the health and behavior of their offspring, now 11-15 years of age.

Results: More children born from women who had continued to dance during pregnancy needed to be rocked to sleep during their first year (p < 0.

Red blood cell involvement in fetal/neonatal hypoxia.

Free radical release plays an important role in the development of brain injury following hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. It causes endothelial cell damage and anomalies in NMDA receptors, synaptosome structure and astrocyte function. Mitochondrial dysfunctions caused by asphyxia, reperfusion after ischemia, arachidonic acid cascade, catecholamine metabolism and phagocyte activation are known sources of reactive oxygen species, particularly the superoxide anion (O2(-)).

Free radicals and brain damage in the newborn.

Newborns and particularly preterm infants are at high risk of oxidative stress and they are very susceptible to free radical oxidative damage. Indeed, there is evidence of an imbalance between antioxidant- and oxidant-generating systems which causes oxidative damage. The brain may be especially at risk of free radical-mediated injury because neuronal membranes are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and because the human newborn has a relative deficiency of brain superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase.

Hypoplastic or absent mandibular frenulum: a new predictive sign of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis.

Among 25 patients with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, a hypoplastic or absent mandibular frenulum was noted in 92%, compared with 1.6% of 319 control infants (P <.001).

Total hydroperoxide and advanced oxidation protein products in preterm hypoxic babies.

Previous studies have shown that plasma lipoproteins are a common target of free radical-induced oxidative stress in hypoxic newborn infants. In contrast to lipids, the reaction of proteins with various oxidants during hypoxia has not been extensively studied. We tested the hypothesis that tissue hypoxia results in increased production of protein oxidation in cord blood of preterm newborns.

Hypoxic response of synaptosomal proteins in term guinea pig fetuses.

Early events in the hypoxia-induced response trigger tyrosine phosphorylation cascades involving a large number of enzymes and substrates. The resolving power of advanced two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, followed by immunoblotting with specific antibodies to phosphotyrosine, has been used to analyze hypoxia-induced modifications in guinea pig brain synaptosomes. These procedures, in conjunction with computer-aided image analysis, are useful in the differential display of gene products, providing comparison at the level of posttranslationally modified products.

Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung associated with esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula.

Bronchopulmonary malformations associated with esophageal atresia (EA) and tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) are extremely rare. The authors describe a case of type II congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM) of the right lower lobe associated with EA and TEF (Vogt-Gross type C) in a full-term female infant. The CCAM presented as an incidental radiologic finding, and a contralateral tension pneumothorax developed shortly after surgical repair of the EA.

A two-dimensional protein map of human amniotic fluid at 17 weeks' gestation.

Using updated technical procedures (immobilized pH gradients for isoelectric focusing followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: IPG/SDS-PAGE) we provide a two-dimensional (2-D) map of amniotic fluid (AF) proteins. This map comprises over 800 silver-stained spots. Over 150 spots have been identified by matching on the net with human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid maps available from SWISS 2DPAGE database; several additional spots were assigned by immunoblotting and/or microanalytical techniques.