Clean intermittent catheterization in the management of the neurogenic bladder in children

Clean intermittent catheterization has been successful in the management of urinary incontinence and upper tract changes associated with a neurogenic bladder. The results of clean intermittent catheterization controlling urinary incontinence, ureteral reflux, upper tract dilatation and urinary infection in 84 children with a neurogenic bladder were evaluated for up to 3 years of followup. Of the children 41 (49 per cent) were totally incontinent and 14 (17 per cent) were slightly damp. Preexisting ureteral reflux deteriorated in 25 per cent of the patients, ceased in 35 per cent and was unchanged in 40 per cent, while pre-existing upper tract dilatation improved in 12.5 per cent and was unchanged in 87.5 per cent. On clean intermittent catheterization and antibacterial medication 90 per cent of the children had sterile urine and 7.5 per cent had 10(5) or more colonies per ml. Complications occurred on 54 occasions but were minor in nature and were corrected easily. Half of the parents, schools and children found clean intermittent catheterization very acceptable or acceptable but a quarter of the parents and patients found it unacceptable or slightly unacceptable, or were undecided. Initial management of urinary complications associated with neurogenic bladder in children has changed to the clean intermittent catheterization program, with greatly improved results compared to Credé's expression of the bladder, an indwelling urethral catheter or urinary diversion. However, the clean intermittent catheterization regimen was not effective completely, not without complications and not accepted completely by parents, schools and children.     

The relationship of house staff experience to the cost and quality of inpatient care

The inexperience of house staff has been offered as one explanation for the increased cost of care at teaching hospitals, but conclusive evidence for this has been lacking. We studied the relationship of house staff experience to the cost and quality of inpatient care in a large series of internal medicine patients at one teaching hospital. We defined house staff experience by the month of academic year during which the patient received care. Our measures of cost were length of hospital stay and total hospital charges, while our measures of quality were hospital deaths, hospital readmissions, and nursing home placement. Multiple linear regression analysis on 21,679 hospital discharges revealed increasing house staff experience to be associated with a significant decline in length of stay (95% confidence interval for b, -0.006 to -0.066 days per discharge per month of house staff experience) and total hospital charges (95% confidence interval for b, -0.002 to -0.017 log dollars per discharge per month of house staff experience). These findings constitute an estimated average decline of 0.43 days per discharge and +370 per discharge over the academic year. Logistic regression analysis found no relationship of house staff experience to hospital deaths, readmissions, or nursing home placement. These findings suggest that the process of training inexperienced physicians may represent an important source of inefficiency for teaching hospitals struggling in a competitive environment.     

Management of extraperitoneal ruptures of bladder caused by external trauma

We reviewed 105 cases of extraperitoneal bladder rupture admitted to our hospitals from 1959 to 1985. Primary suturing of the rupture was performed in 65 patients, and catheter drainage alone without suturing of the rupture was performed in 34. The incidence of blunt trauma causing the rupture of gross hematuria on admission, and of associated injuries was similar in both groups. There was a higher incidence of women older than sixty years in the group managed by catheter drainage alone, and a higher incidence of laparotomy for associated intra-abdominal injuries and a higher mortality rate in the group treated by primary suturing. There were three early complications in the group treated by suturing (hematuria with clot retention 2, sepsis contributing to death 1) and four early complications in the conservatively treated group (hematuria with clot retention 1, pseudodiverticulum with bone spike in its floor 1, persistent urinary fistula 1, and sepsis contributing to death 1). There were two late complications in 42 patients followed in the group treated by suturing (urethral stricture 1, frequency and dysuria 1), and three late complications in 14 patients followed in the conservatively treated group (hyperreflexic bladder 2, urethral stricture and vesical calculi 1). Catheter drainage alone for extraperitoneal rupture from external trauma was simple, quick to perform, and appealing in the multiple-injured patient. Although the early and late complication rates were higher in the conservatively managed group, there was no statistically significant difference from the group treated by primary suturing.     

Alpha-thalassemia in two Mediterranean populations

We used restriction endonuclease analysis to determine the incidence of alpha-thalassemia in two Mediterranean islands. In a random population sample, the gene frequency of deletion-type alpha-thalassemia-2 (- alpha) was 0.18 in Sardinians and 0.07 in Greek Cypriots. All cases were the rightward crossover type. From these frequencies and the known incidence of hemoglobin-H disease in these populations, we calculated the frequency of the alpha-thalassemia-1 genotype (--) and determined that it was low. We also found that beta-thalassemia homozygotes in sardinia have a higher incidence of alpha-thalassemia than normals and beta thalassemia heterozygotes because a significantly greater number of these homozygotes are also homozygous for the alpha-thalassemia-2 lesion. These findings support the theory that coinheritance of alpha- thalassemia mitigates the severity of beta-thalassemia and suggest that the protection is most pronounced when two alpha-globin genes are deleted.     

Renal trauma found during laparotomy for intra-abdominal injury

Whether renal injury found during a laparotomy for intra-abdominal injury should have surgical or nonsurgical management is controversial. Five hundred twenty-one renal injuries were found during laparotomy for such injury in 513 patients. Blunt external trauma was the cause in 88%. A modified operating room table enabled performance of immediate intravenous pyelogram during the laparotomy. More severe degrees of renal injury (laceration, rupture, pedicle injury) were present in 135 (26%) of the renal injuries. Immediate surgical management of 102 more severe renal injuries resulted in nephrectomies in 37 (36%), delayed renal surgery in one (0.9%), and renal salvage in five of 18 (27%) main renal artery and/or vein injuries. Nonsurgical management of the remaining 23 resulted in nephrectomies in three (13%), delayed renal surgery in six (26%), total renal loss in seven of seven (100%) main renal artery injuries and an overall nephrectomy/total renal loss rate of 39%. With immediate surgical management of the more severe degrees of renal injury there was a slight increase in the salvage of kidneys and a marked decrease in delayed renal surgery and morbidity.     

Consequences of eyelid squeezing on intraocular pressure

We investigated the effect of a forcible eyelid squeeze (two-second squeeze and two-second rest) over one minute, on intraocular pressure in volunteer groups of normal volunteers, ocular hypertensive and glaucoma patients, and those with a family history of glaucoma. The normal volunteers fell into two groups: responders and nonresonders, with the responders showing about a 2-mm Hg decrease and the nonresponders a small increase in intraocular pressure. It was possible to arrange the groups into an order dependent upon the change in intraocular pressure induced by eyelid squeezing; normal responders (-1.98 mm Hg), family history of glaucoma (-0.48 mm Hg), ocular hypertensive patients (-0.07 mm Hg), normal nonresponders (+ 0.04 mm Hg) and glaucoma patients (taking medication) (+ 0.25 mm Hg). Correlation of disease entity with other ocular factors such as intraocular pressure and total outflow facility was poor.     

The long-term effectiveness of generic adult fixed-dose combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected Ugandan children

Background

Access to pediatric antiretroviral formulations is increasing in resource-limited countries, however adult FDCs are still commonly used by antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs.

Objective

To describe long-term effectiveness of using adult FDC of d4T+3TC+NVP (Triomune) in children for HIV treatment.

Methods

Clinical, immunologic, and virologic outcomes of HIV-infected ART-naïve children aged six months to 12 years, were evaluated up to 96 weeks post-ART initiation.

Results

From March 2004 to June 2006, 104 children were followed with a median age of 5.4 years, median CD4 cell percent and HIV-1 RNA were 11.0% (IQR 6.7–13.9) and 348,846copies/mL (IQR 160,941–681,313) respectively at baseline. Using Kaplan-Meir estimates, 75% of children had undetectable viral loads (<400copies/mL) at 96weeks of ART. Children with a baseline CD4 cell percent >15% were 3 times more likely to achieve viral load <400copies/mL than those with baseline CD4 cell percent <5% after adjusting for baseline age {aHR = 3.03 (1.10–8.32), p=0.03}; no difference was found among those with CD4 cell percent >5–14.9% and <5%.

Conclusion

Treatment with generic adult FDC for HIV-infected Ugandan children led to sustained clinical, immunologic and virologic response during 96 weeks of ART. Early initiation of ART is key to achieving virological success.