Percutaneous drainage of chest abscesses in children

Seven patients ranging in age from 3 to 18 years underwent percutaneous drainage of eight intrathoracic abscesses. Five of the abscesses were mediastinal or paramediastinal and resulted from esophageal perforation or esophageal anastomotic leakage. The abscesses resolved in each case, with a mean catheter drainage time of 28 days and no need for surgical intervention. Three of the abscesses were intrapulmonary, and each lay adjacent to a pleural surface. All three lung abscesses resolved within 19-24 days, without thoracotomy or wedge resection.     

Phenylarsine oxide inhibits phosphate uptake in human ciliary non-pigmented epithelial cells.

Phenylarsine oxide (PAO), a sulfhydryl modifying reagent and a widely used inhibitor for tyrosine phosphatases and endocytosis, was tested on the level of phosphorylation in human nonpigmented ciliary epithelial ocular (HNPE) cells. Pretreatment with (PAO, 10 microM) for 30 min followed by incubation with 32Pi to stimulate endogenous phosphorylation surprisingly resulted in a total reduction in 32Pi labeled proteins. PAO (10-50 microM) dose-dependently inhibited both sodium-dependent and -independent phosphate uptake in cells. p-Hydroxymercuribenzoate (pHMB, 10 microM), another sulfhydryl modifying reagent failed to mimic PAO effects. However, metabolic inhibitors (iodoacetamide (0.1 mM) and 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP, 0.5 mM) also mimicked PAO effects, suggesting that the inhibition of ATP production may be responsible for attenuation of both phosphate uptake mechanisms. However, sodium-dependent phosphate uptake in isolated plasma membrane vesicles pretreated with PAO was also significantly lower than control vesicles treated with dimethlysulfoxide (DMSO), suggesting that PAO may be directly targeting a component of the sodium-dependent cotransporter. It is suggested that PAO is a novel inhibitor of phosphate uptake in HNPE cells that acts indirectly by inhibiting ATP production and directly by inhibiting the Na-dependent cotransporter.     

Inadvertent ligation of the left pulmonary artery

In five patients, aged 4 days to 20 months, the left pulmonary artery was inadvertently ligated at the time of attempted closure of the patent ductus arteriosus. The complication was recognized in these patients between 1 day and 5 years later from findings of chest radiography, two-dimensional echocardiography with spectral analysis of Doppler shifted echoes, and angiography. In three patients, the presence of asymmetric pulmonary blood flow on chest radiographs obtained after surgery initially suggested the diagnosis. In the other two patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, the diagnosis was made by means of two-dimensional echocardiography and Doppler spectra in one and angiography in the other. On angiograms, the left pulmonary artery distal to the ligation was visualized by delayed opacification from aortic collaterals in three patients and by means of pulmonary venous wedge injection in one. Radiographic and echocardiographic examination with Doppler spectra may permit prompt diagnosis and early correction of this complication.     

有机锗化物对豚鼠和家兔心脏电机械效应的影响

有机锗化物(二羧乙基锗三氧化物,dicarboxyethenylgermanium sesquioxide简称DCG)系一人工合成的新型化合物,分子式(GeCH_2CH_2COOH)_2O_3,分子量339.18,其中含纯锗42.8%。锗是生物体内非必需微量元素,在自然界及生物体内分布相当广泛。最近Ninomiya     

Use of spontaneous ventilation to monitor the effects of posterior fossa surgery in the sitting position

We describe the successful excision, guided by spontaneous ventilation, of a cervico-medullary hemangioblastoma in a 22-year-old female in the sitting position. A balanced anesthesia technique comprising an oxygen, nitrous oxide, sevoflurane, fentanyl and vecuronium mixture was used. Apart from routine monitors, electroencephalographic spectral entropy monitoring was used to determine the depth of anesthesia and transesophageal echocardiography for detection of venous air embolism. The patient remained in spontaneous ventilation for 235 min during tumor excision. The intraoperative and postoperative course were uneventful. The patient recovered without any major neurological deficit.     

Differential effects of dehydroepiandrosterone and clofibrate on the binding of 7,12-dimethyl benz(a)anthracene to hepatic DNA in vivo--a preliminary study

The effects of feeding two compounds, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an adrenal steroid, and clofibrate (CLOF) to rats (which are both hypolipidemic, hepatomegaly inducing and hepatic peroxisome proliferating agents) on the binding of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) to hepatic DNA in vivo is compared. Male Sprague Dawley rats (two-three months old) were fed either DHEA or CLOF for 14 days at a dietary level of 0.8%. Control rats were pair fed. An increase in liver weight followed by increases per whole liver in total protein, without much change in DNA content was observed. Subsequently, all the animals were given a single intraperitoneal dose of [3H]DMBA (133 mumol/kg body weight, 102 microCi/rat) in 250 microliters dimethyl sulfoxide. Forty-eight hours later, binding of DMBA to hepatic DNA was determined. The results indicate that DMBA binding to DNA was reduced by 67% in DHEA-fed rats whereas in clofibrate-fed rats it was not significantly different from that of the controls.