Long-term changes of hyoid bone and pharyngeal airway size following advancement of the mandible

OBJECTIVE: To determine long-term changes in hyoid bone position and pharyngeal airway size after mandibular advancement, including evaluation of the relationship between length of suprahyoidal musculature and skeletal relapse. STUDY DESIGN: A cephalometric follow-up study (12 years) of 15 patients who underwent mandibular advancement surgery. RESULTS: The final position of the hyoid bone was more posterior than it had been preoperatively. Suprahyoidal musculature continuously lengthened from preoperatively to 12 years postoperatively. Total skeletal relapse at B-point and pogonion correlated significantly with postoperative stretch of suprahyoidal musculature. The upper and middle pharyngeal airways were narrower than their preoperative values. CONCLUSIONS: Mandibular changes influence hyoid bone position during the entire postoperative period, whereas stretching of suprahyoidal musculature seems to contribute to skeletal relapse. Mandibular advancement surgery alone possibly does not achieve a stable increase of pharyngeal airway size over a long-term period of 12 years.     

Long-term dietary potential renal acid load during adolescence is prospectively associated with indices of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in young women

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), frequently already present in young subjects, has been linked to reduced growth hormone levels and signaling. Similar hormonal changes occur during metabolic acidosis (MA), which may thus contribute to an increased NAFLD risk. Because subclinical MA can be diet induced, we aimed to examine whether a higher diet-dependent acid load during adolescence is prospectively associated with several currently used NAFLD surrogates in young adulthood. Dietary acidity during adolescence (boys:10-15 y, girls: 9-14 y) was calculated as potential renal acid load (PRAL) from at least three 3-d weighed dietary records according to a published algorithm considering dietary protein and minerals in 145 healthy participants. Routine measurements derived from blood analysis and anthropometric data in participants' young adulthood (18-25 y) were used to determine the NAFLD surrogates alanine-aminotransferase (ALT), hepatic steatosis index (HSI), and fatty liver index (FLI). Sex-stratified linear regression models, adjusted for dietary fiber, saturated fat, protein, and adolescent BMI SD scores, were run with PRAL as the independent variable. Dietary PRAL during puberty was positively associated with ALT (P = 0.02), HSI (P = 0.002), and FLI (P = 0.005) in adult females but not males. Females with an adolescent dietary acid load in the highest tertile had 3.5, 4.4, and 4.5 higher values of ALT, HSI, and FLI as adults, respectively, compared to females with the lowest PRAL. The present findings suggest that higher dietary acidity in adolescence may be prospectively associated with hepatic lipid accumulation in females. Whether this relationship is due to the higher proton load or rather represents an unhealthy dietary pattern requires further investigation.     

Comparative clearance of two new fat emulsions--Hausmann Lipid 20% and Lipoven?s 20%--versus intralipid 20%

Intravenous fat tolerance tests (IVFTT) were performed in 13 healthy men volunteers once a day during three consecutive days in order to compare three different fat emulsions randomly administered (Intralipid 20%, Hausmann Lipid 20%, Lipoven?s 20%). The amount of fat was 0.1 g/kg of body weight injected within 32 +/- 4 sec and the lipid clearance was determined over 40 min. The fractional removal rates k for the three different emulsions of fat were 5.38 +/- 1.67, 4.95 +/- 2.15, 3.92 +/- 1.31 %/min, respectively (mean +/- SD), and the half-life time of clearance T1/2 were 14.5 +/- 5.8, 16.9 +/- 7.4, 19.2 +/- 5.2 min, respectively. The highest fat particles values were observed 5 min after the bolus and all concentrations remained within the normal range (0-3 g/liter) during the study. In addition, no adverse effects were observed throughout the IVFTT. The nonparametric analysis of variance (Friedman's test) showed no significant differences between groups, even if Lipoven?s 20% tended to be cleared more slowly than Intralipid 20%. These results suggest that the three fat emulsions are similarly eliminated from the blood stream and do not result in acute intolerance. Further studies based on prolonged infusion should be carried out to determine whether the two new emulsions might be alternatively used for intravenous nutritional support.     

Evaluation of an ultrasonic blood volume monitor

Background. Hypotension complicates approximately 30% of all dialysis treatments. Although the genesis of hypotension is multifactorial, hypovolaemia is thought to play a major role as a direct result of decreased blood volume, particularly during ultrafiltration. The described blood volume monitor enables blood volume to be measured continuously by a non-invasive technique. Methods. The blood volume monitor is based on the principle that the total protein concentration, the sum of haemoglobin and plasma proteins in the vascular space, changes during ultrafiltration. Changes of total protein concentration are determined from the velocity of sound waves in blood, measured using a cuvette in the extracorporeal circuit designed for this purpose. The precision of the blood volume monitor was evaluated in 180 dialysis treatments in 49 patients. The relative blood volume obtained by the monitor was compared with a standard reference method involving calculation of relative blood volume from serial measurements of haemoglobin. Results. A very good agreement between the two methods was achieved (SD = 1.70%, r >0.96). The results showed no sensitivity to changes in serum sodium concentration (range 130-145 mmol). The 'noise' introduced in the blood volume signal was low (⩽0.2%, sampling rate 10 s) allowing subtle blood volume changes to be detected with high resolution. In addition the device enabled the measurement of haematocrit (Hct) and haemoglobin (Hb) to be made since this is the largest blood component determining total protein concentration. A comparison with the centrifuge method revealed an accuracy of ± 2.9Hct-%, and a comparison with the photometer an accuracy of ±0.8g Hb/dl. Conclusion. In summary the blood volume monitor allows precise and reliable measurement of relative blood volume. It provides the instrumentation essential for feedback control of relative blood volume during dialysis.