American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition and American Dietetic Association: Standards of Practice and Standards of Professional Performance for Registered Dietitians (Generalist, Specialty, and Advanced) in Nutrition Support

The Standards of Practice for Registered Dietitians in Nutrition Support and the Standards of Professional Performance for the Registered Dietitian in Nutrition Support are key resources for RDs at all knowledge and performance levels. These standards can and should be used by RDs in daily practice to consistently improve and appropriately demonstrate competency and value as providers of safe and effective nutrition support therapy. The standards development and evaluation process is dynamic—these standards will be reviewed at least every 5 years for applicability to practice. Current and future initiatives of A.S.P.E.N. and ADA will provide information that will be used in these updates and in further clarifying and documenting the specific roles and responsibilities of practitioners at each level. As a quality initiative of A.S.P.E.N., its Dietetics Practice Section, ADA, and their DNS DPG, the standards themselves are an application of continuous quality improvement concepts and represent another very important collaborative endeavor.     

Tuberous sclerosis complex and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

This report highlights the association between tuberous sclerosis and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Ten patients with concurrent diagnoses of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and tuberous sclerosis were identified. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome presented early in life, nine cases being diagnosed in the first year. Eight of the 10 cases were male. In eight cases, the syndrome was associated with supraventricular tachycardias, and in nine with cardiac rhabdomyomata. One child died from cardiac failure secondary to obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract by a rhabdomyoma. Five of nine survivors showed resolution of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome on follow up. The accessory pathway was localised in nine patients from surface electrocardiograms: six children had left sided pathways and three had right sided pathways.     

Cardiac rhabdomyomas and their association with tuberous sclerosis

A search for children presenting with signs or symptoms of cardiac rhabdomyomas was made through members of the paediatric section of the British Cardiac Society in order to establish their birth incidence, presenting features, clinical course, and the frequency of a concurrent diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis. Fifteen children were identified and 12 had tuberous sclerosis (80%). Heart failure was the presentation in six, five of whom died; six presented because of a murmur and three because of arrhythmias. The prevalence of echocardiographic evidence of cardiac rhabdomyomas in a population of patients with tuberous sclerosis was established. Twenty individuals had echocardiography and eight had echodensities consistent with cardiac rhabdomyomas. It is concluded that the minimum birth incidence for children presenting because of the effects of cardiac rhabdomyomas is 1/326,000 and a minimum of 80% have tuberous sclerosis. In a population of patients with tuberous sclerosis a minimum of 60% under 18 years have cardiac rhabdomyomas.     

Muscular sufficiency, serum protein, enzymes and bioenergetic studies (31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy) in chronic malnutrition

Muscle sufficiency was significantly lower in 1336 children with chronic malnutrition of moderate to severe degree. Eighteen children with a chronic moderate degree of malnutrition and 8 well-nourished, age-matched controls were selected for biochemical and 31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31 -P MRS) studies. The results showed that: (a) serum total protein, albumin, iron, calcium and inorganic phosphate were similar in both groups; (b) serum enzyme levels were significantly increased in the malnourished group; (c) 31-P MRS showed significantly higher means for total ATP, β-ATP, a-ATP and inorganic phosphate for the malnourished compared to the control group. In chronic malnutrition, proteins are maintained by degradation in muscle resulting in release of amino acids and enzymes. 31-P MRS studies showing increases in total ATP, β-ATP and inorganic phosphate and a decrease in phosphocreatine suggest that ATP is maintained at the cost of phosphocreatine.     

A review of computerized tomography in blunt abdominal trauma at Christchurch Hospital

A review was undertaken of computerized tomography (CT) of the abdomen, performed between March 1993 and December 1994 for blunt abdominal trauma at Christchurch Hospital. CT findings were correlated with the clinical outcome. The outcome was either recovery from an abdominal point of view with or without laparotomy, or postmortem. A total of 116 CTs were reviewed, of which 76 were abnormal. CT was highly sensitive and specific for a variety of abdominal traumatic lesions. There were 1 false positive and 4 false negatives (only 2 of these significant). There was 1 non-therapeutic laparotomy based on CT findings. There was only 1 case of delayed treatment based on CT results. Three patients had unexplained findings of pneumoperitoneum. Care should be taken when interpreting the presence of free intraperitoneal air on CT scan. The possibility of missed bowel perforation should be considered, especially in the presence of free intra-abdominal fluid and no solid organ injury to account for it. CT scans are useful in the conservative management of solid organ injuries.