Validation in the sheep of an ultrasound velocity dilution technique for haemodialysis graft flow

BACKGROUND: A simple, rapid, inexpensive method for measuring the flow in a patient's vascular access would permit routine monitoring during haemodialysis, and hence provide information of access graft deterioration sufficiently early to increase the success of minimally invasive remedial procedures. This paper reports the validation of such a method in animals. METHODS: A PTFE graft was implanted in sheep between the carotid artery and the jugular vein. While the sheep was under general anaesthesia and on an haemodialysis circuit, ultrasound velocity in its blood was perturbed by the injection of a 5-10 ml bolus of isotonic NaCl. The pump tubing flow was measured by a transit-time blood flow meter. This flow was combined with the areas of perturbation generated by the injection before and after mixing in the access flow to estimate graft flow. The calculated graft flow was compared to flow measured directly by a transit-time probe on the same carotid artery. RESULTS: Over a 10-fold range, 120-1260 ml/min, graft flow measured by ultrasound velocity dilution agreed well with graft flow measured directly with a scatter of 76 ml/min about the regression line. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound velocity dilution provides a method for measuring flow in the graft accurate enough for clinical evaluation of patients on dialysis.      

‘How Do You Remember You Ate…?’: A Delphi Technique Study to Identify Retrieval Categories From Fourth-Grade Children

Objective To develop and validate a consensus set of retrieval categories for how children remember what they have eaten, and to relate retrieval categories to accuracy of reporting items eaten during school lunch.Design A Delphi technique study was conducted using 10 psychologists. The subject matter consisted of responses transcribed from interviews conducted with 89 randomly selected fourth graders within 90 minutes of eating. Retrieval categories were evaluated for accuracy by comparing students’ self-reported lunch intake with observation.Statistical analyses For round 1, a centroid hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify common sets of rating pairs to propose categories for reaching consensus. For rounds 2 and 3, percent of agreement was calculated. Accuracy was tabulated across meal items and student use by retrieval category.Results After round 3, we found that 23 “near-consensus”categories were used by at least eight raters. Six categories were used 60% of the time, 4 were used 20% of the time, and 5 were used 15% of the time. Less frequently used categories were combined with similar, more frequently used categories for a total of 16 categories. Students used a large variety of retrieval categories when accurately reporting consumption. Of the 16 categories, 12 were used similarly by both accurate and inaccurate students. Where there were differences in accuracy by retrieval category, the more accurate students used “taste/smell/texture”and “visual”in deference to “order items consumed”and “oral cue still present.”Applications These categories provide insight into the broad range of retrieval categories that children use and provide direction for researchers to design and study specific cues to enhance the accuracy of children's self-reports of diet. J Am Diet Assoc. 1997;97:31–36.     

Culturally Sensitive Prenatal Care for Southeast Asians

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the success of the Southeast Asian Health Project in terms of client satisfaction with the prenatal care and other services. To obtain additional data about Southeast Asian women's health practices regarding childbearing. DESIGN: Survey through questionnaires administered as interviews. SETTING: In clients' homes or via telephone. PARTICIPANTS: 119 women from SEAHP's case files of recently delivered clients. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Interviews were conducted by four community workers fluent in Cambodian or Lao. The majority of women were satisfied with SEAHP, particularly the interpretation and education in native languages. Women were also satisfied with SEAHP, encouraging others to seek care. CONCLUSIONS: SEAHP appears to meet prenatal care needs of Southeast Asian women in Long Beach, California. More objective outcome data await analyses, but the program's approach may ensure access to and use of health services.     

Decreased interstitial glucose and transmural gradient in lactate during ischemia

Summary The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effects of ischemia and reperfusion on the transmural levels of glucose and lactate in the interstitium in 11 open-chest swine. Microdialysis probes were used to estimate changes in interstitial metabolities across the ventricular wall. Probes were placed in the subepicardium and the subendocardium of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery perfusion bed and in the midmyocardium of the circumflex (CFX) perfusion bed. The LAD coronary artery was cannulated and perfused with blood from the femoral artery through an extracorporal perfusion circuit. Ischemia was induced in the LAD perfusion bed by reducing the flow of the LAD perfusion pump by 60% for 50 min, and was followed by 30 min of reperfusion. Regional myocardial blood flow was assessed with fluorescent microspheres. Ischemia resulted in a transmural gradient in blood flow, with the most severe reduction in flow occurring in the subendocardium (p<0.05). We found a significant reduction in interstitial glucose in both the LAD subepicardium (1.26±0.24 mM) (p=0.0009) and subendocardium (0.89±0.21 mM) (p=0.0001) during ischemia compared to the aerobic (non-ischemic) period (1.97±0.25 mM, 2.03±0.29 mM for the subepicardium and subendocardium, respectively). This coincided with a significant reduction in glucose delivery (LAD pump flow^* arterial glucose) to the LAD perfusion bed during ischemia (54.5±8.5 mol/min) compared to aerobic values (182.1±25.3 mol/min) (p<0.05). Interstitial lactate levels were significantly increased during ischemia in the LAD subendocardium (3.39±0.46 mM) compared to the aerobic values (1.73±0.46 mM) (p<0.0029). A transmural gradient in interstitial lactate levels was observed during ischemia: this gradient was not seen during the aerobic period and was negated upon reperfusion. In conclusion, ischemia resulted in a decrease in interstitial glucose in both the LAD subepicardium and subendocardium, and an increase in interstitial lactate in the LAD subendocardium. Further, a transmural gradient in interstitial lactate levels was observed during ischemia, with the highest lactate values appearing in the subendocardium.