Management von Postintubationsstenosen bei Kindern

Extubation difficulties after long-term endotracheal intubation in neonates and infants require immediate re-intubation with a somewhat thinner endotracheal tube, continuation of long-term intubation for another 7–14 days with antibiotic and antiphlogistic therapy including antireflux treatment as well as a subtile endoscopic examination. A tracheostomy is not indicated before several attempts of extubation have failed. An anterior cricoid split should be indicated with great care and in premature neonates only. In manifest cicatrical stenoses, subtile endoscopic diagnostics are an essential prerequisite for the choice of surgical method and time of surgery. In rather mild stenoses (grade II), laryngotracheal reconstruction (LTR) with anterior wall cartilage grafting is presently regarded as method of choice. For subglottic stenoses of higher degrees (grade III and IV), partial cricotracheal resection (PCTR) is felt to be the most successful procedure. For all scarred stenoses involving the glottic level, LTR with posterior and anterior wall cartilage grafting appears to be the only suitable treatment. LTR with anterior wall grafting only as well as the PCTR can be performed as a single stage procedure with postoperative long-term intubation on an intensive care unit for one or more days. LTR with posterior and anterior wall grafting requires long-term stenting for several weeks or months depending upon the individual condition. For long-term stenting, our so-called double-tube-technique using a modified Montgomery T silicon tube together with a perforated tracheal cannula has proved to be the safest and least irksome technique.     

Unklare peranale Blutabgänge bei einem 21-jährigen Mann

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Regulation des programmierten Zelltod in aggressiven Fibroblasten

Apoptosis is a central physiological mechanism for maintaining cellular stability in tissue. Synovial fibroblasts, which play a central role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), show a resistance to apoptosis. Several molecular mechanisms are involved in such resistance. Thus, soluble Fas can bind Fas ligands (Fas-L) and hinder Fas-L induced apoptosis in fibroblasts. SUMO-1 (a small ubiquitin-like modifier) attaches to proteins post-translationally. This appears to be significantly involved in apoptosis resistance in RA fibroblasts. SUMO-1 levels are substantially increased in synovial fibroblasts from RA patients. A change in the post-translational SUMOlation pattern could represent a new target for changing the stable activation of synovial fibroblasts in RA.     

Meningitis

The most frequent pathogens causing bacterial meningitis in Germany are Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Borrelia burgdorferi, Listeria monocytogenes and staphylococci. Since immunization against Haemophilus influenzae has become a routine vaccination procedure, this pathogen no longer plays a significant role in the etiology of bacterial meningitis. A number of pilot studies have indicated that selected PCR methods most probably represent the future etiological diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. The easiest and most rapid diagnostic method is, however, still a simple gram stain preparation. In fatal cases that ran a peracute course, especially in the Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome, only increased congestion of the surface of the brain is detectable at autopsy. In such cases, there is hardly any histological evidence of an inflammatory reaction of the leptomeninges. In cases of purulent meningitis, in addition to the typical infiltration of the subarachnoid space with abundant granulocytes, after some days of illness there is a wide-spread histomorphological picture of pathological alterations with fibrinoid vessel wall necroses, thromboses, ventriculitis, infarctions as well as venous and arterial vasculitis. The breakdown of the integrity of the blood-brain-barrier in bacterial meningitis is obviously due to a separation of intercellular tight junctions of the endothelium of the capillaries of the leptomeninges. The cause of death in meningitis, depending on the severity and duration of a concomitant sepsis, is an increase in intracranial pressure that leads to a circulus vitiosus (via a reduced central perfusion associated with metabolic acidosis) with cerebral vasodilatation. This is followed by an additional rise of intracranial pressure and finally a reduced cerebral blood supply and central dysregulation. The medico-legal expert is occasionally confronted with this topic against the background of a possible misjudgement of the disease due to insufficient diagnostics or delayed diagnosis and in the light of a posttraumatic or nosocomial origin of the illness.     

Clinical Application and Histological Examination of the FAMI Screw for Skeletal Anchorage—a Pilot Study*

Maximum anchorage often presents a problem that is difficult to solve during orthodontic tooth movement. Stationary, skeletal anchorage can be achieved in a simple, minimally-invasive manner, and unwanted tooth movements in opposite directions can be prevented by using transmucosally-inserted bone screws.Our initial experience using the FAMI screw as an orthodontic micro-implant proved to be clinically and histologically successful.     

Sonographische Messung der Fruchtwassermenge

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Intersexualität

Zusammenfassung Intersexualität bezeichnet eine seltene Störung der somatosexuellen Differenzierung mit einer Inzidenz von etwa 2 pro 10.000 Geburten pro Jahr in Deutschland. Dahinter verbergen sich verschiedene Diagnosen einer vermehrten Virilisierung bei 46,XX-Karyotyp oder deutlich verminderter Virilisierung bei 46,XY-Karyotyp. Manchmal werden diese Störungen erst während der Pubertätsentwicklung entdeckt. Dann ist eine rasche Diagnostik zur Prognosestellung notwendig. Bei allen Jugendlichen mit Intersexualität muss das Management während der Pubertät viele Aspekte von der psychosexuellen Begleitung bis hin zur medizinischen Behandlung mit Hormonsubstitution oder Therapie und der Beratung hinsichtlich chirurgischer Maßnahmen enthalten.     

Role of pylorus in mediating cholecystokinin-stimulated satiety in the Zucker rat

Obese Zucker rats are less responsive than their lean littermates to the effects of cholecystokinin-octapeptide on satiety and pancreatic growth and exocrine function. We hypothesized that the hyperphagia observed in obese Zucker rats may be caused by a decreased pyloric contractile response to cholecystokinin, resulting in an increased rate of gastric emptying, decreased postprandial gastric distention, and thus decreased satiety. Pyloric muscle strips from six obese Zucker rats and six lean littermates were mounted in separate tissue baths and isometric contraction was measured in response to acetylcholine and cholecystokinin-octapeptide. The dose-response curves for acetylcholine-and cholecystokinin-octapeptide-stimulated pyloric muscle contraction were similar for both the obese and the lean rats. (For cholecystokinin, D₅₀ obese=4.0±0.6 nM, D₅₀ lean=3.4±0.2 nM;P=0.16). We conclude that the decreased satiety response to cholecystokinin-octapeptide observed in obese Zucker rats is not secondary to a decreased pyloric responsiveness to cholecystokinin.This work was supported by NIH grant AM28303-03.     

Pseudomonas aeruginosa als Erreger opportunistischer Infektionen

Zusammenfassung Pseudomonas aeruginosa ist ein ubiquitär vorkommender Mikroorganismus, der aber als Bestandteil der endogenen mikrobiellen Flora gesunder Individuen nur selten isoliert wird. Die Hospitalisierung, die Krankenhausverweildauer erhöhen die Kolonisationsrate insbesondere bei immunsupprimierten Patienten signifikant. Eine Antibiotikatherapie oder -prophylaxe wie auch invasive diagnostische Maßnahmen begünstigen ebenfalls eine Besiedlung und Infektion der Patienten mitP. aeruginosa. Immundefekte der Patienten sowie eine negative Interaktion vonP. aeruginosa mit dem Immunsystem wirken infektbahnend. Somit begünstigen eine Vielzahl exogener wie endogener Faktoren und deren Wechselwirkungen das Auftreten vonP. aeruginosa-Infektionen.

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Opportunistic infections caused by pseudomonas aeruginosa

Summary Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in spite of being an ubiquitous microorganism, rarely colonizes healthy individuals. Hospitalization, as well as the length of time spent in hospital, significantly increase the rate of colonization, especially in immunocompromized patients. Antibacterial chemotherapy or prophylaxis together with invasive diagnostic procedures favour colonization and infection withP. aeruginosa. Immune deficiencies and adverse interactions ofP. aeruginosa with the immune system facilitate infection. Thus, a number of exogenous as well as endogenous factors and their interactions favour infection of patients withP. aeruginosa.