Early Postinterventional Stent Stenosis of a Ductus Stent Implanted for Palliation in a Newborn with Pulmonary Atresia with Intact Ventricular Septum: Successful Management with Bailout Stenting

A newborn with pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PA-IVS) was treated with radiofrequency current perforation of the atretic pulmonary valve. As the right ventricle was hypoplastic (z-value of the tricuspid valve: —4) the arterial duct was stented with a Gianturco-Roubin GR II stent. Early postinterventionally, the patient became cyunotic and compromised blood flow across the stented ductus arteriosus despite adequate stent position was detected echographically. The newborn was treated successfully with the implantation of a Palmaz stent (Johnson & Johnson Interventional Systems, Warren, NJ, USA) into the obstructed Gianturco-Roubin GR II stent. The Gianturco-Roubin GR II stents might be associated with the risk of early stent stenosis after implantation in actively contracting tissues like the ductus arteriosus. In patients with early stent stenosis after ductal stenting, bailout implantation of a subsequent stent can be performed. Transcatheter procedures can be effective means for therapy of PA-IVS . (J Interven Cardiol 2000;13:39–44)     

脊髓全横断大鼠神经生长因子和脑源性神经营养因子表达及三七皂苷的干预效应

目的:神经生长因子和脑源性神经营养因子同属神经营养素家族,在神经系统发育及维持正常神经元功能中有重要作用。实验拟证实脊髓全横断损伤三七皂苷对大鼠神经生长因子及脑源性神经营养因子蛋白水平的表达变化产生了影响。方法:实验于2005-06/09在昆明医学院神经科学研究所完成。①实验材料:清洁级健康雌性SD大鼠72只,质量(200±20)g;三七皂苷由云南植物药业提供。②分组及实验过程:大鼠被随机分为4组:假手术组、单纯脊髓全横断损伤组、脊髓全横断损伤 生理盐水(0.5mL/次)组、脊髓全横断损伤 三七皂苷(100mg/kg/次)组,每组18只。于T10水平横断大鼠脊髓,假手术组仅剪开硬脊膜而不损伤脊髓。后2组于术后30min,4,24,48,72h腹腔注射给药各1次。③实验评估:各组于术后3,7及21d分别取6只大鼠L1～2段脊髓制作冰冻切片,采用免疫组织化学ABC法染色。观察并计数脊髓腹角神经生长因子、脑源性神经营养因子蛋白的表达变化;常规苏木精伊红染色观察脊髓的组织病理变化。结果:72只大鼠全部进入结果分析:①脊髓全横断损伤后脊髓出现明显的神经变性坏死、炎性浸润等病理变化,三七皂苷可减轻这些变化。②神经生长因子蛋白主要分布于灰质神经元胞浆及胶质细胞胞核中。在正常脊髓有少量表达,脊髓损伤后7d表达明显升高,直到伤后21d仍高于假手术组(P<0.05);三七皂苷可明显促进其表达,伤后3,7d均明显高于其他各组(P<0.05),在21d时下降但仍高于假手术组(P<0.05)。③脑源性神经营养因子蛋白主要分布于腹角的运动神经元胞浆中,胶质细胞未见着色。在正常脊髓有少量表达,脊髓损伤后7d表达明显升高(P<0.05),伤后21d已下降,同假手术组相比差异无显著性(P>0.05);三七皂苷可明显促进其表达,伤后3,7,21d均明显高于所有对照组(P<0.05)。结论:三七皂苷可减轻脊髓横断性损伤后继发损害,增加神经生长因子、脑源性神经营养因子表达量及提前神经生长因子、脑源性神经营养因子表达时间,提示其可以促进脊髓损伤早期修复。     

The value of 2-D Doppler echocardiography in the evaluation of asymptomatic patients with Mustard operation for transposition of the great arteries

2-D Doppler echocardiography was used to assess the occurrenceof haemodynamic abnormalities in 45 asymptomatic patients, aged4 to 16 years (median 7·4) after a Mustard operationfor transposition of the great arteries. The findings were comparedwith those derived from cardiac catheterization. Thirty-fivecardiac lesions were correctly diagnosed by 2-D Doppler echocardiographyin 23 patients, but on six occasions, minor abnormalities weremissed. 2-D Doppler echocardiography demonstrated systemic venouspathway obstruction of more than 3 mmHg at cardiac catheterizationin nine patients, and in five of the six patients with pulmonaryvenous channel obstruction. A left ventricular outflow tractobstruction (pressure difference > 15 mmHg) was diagnosedcorrectly by Doppler echocardiography in seven patients. Baffleleakage was found in two patients with a left to right shuntof 25% or more of pulmonary bloodflow, but was missed in fiveout of nine patients with small shunts. Tricuspid regurgitationwas well defined in eight patients, The absence of symptomsand a routine examination after a Mustard operation do not ruleout haemodynamic abnormalities. However, these, with the possibleexception of minor baffle leakage, can be detected by 2-D Dopplerechocardiography.     

Therapy in a subtropical climate for children with cerebral palsy. Evidence of physical and psychosocial effects?

Aim: To assess a possible therapeutic effect in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy of a habilitation programme in a warm sunny climate.
Methods: Fifty-seven children and adolescents with cerebral palsy, all integrated with normal functioning children through mainstream schooling, received an individualized four-week habilitation programme at a habilitation centre in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. They were clinically assessed before and after treatment, and again after three and six months. The clinical tests included gross motor function measure (GMFM) and the paediatric evaluation of disability inventory (PEDI). Mental health and self-esteem were assessed by using the youth self report (YSR), the child behaviour checklist (CBCL) and the Harter's self-perception profile. We also used focus-group interviews on all 57 parents by the end of the treatment period.
Results: The study revealed some improvements in the level of physical performance. The most striking finding, however, was the lasting effect on behavioural and emotional parameters and the children's self-esteem.
Conclusion: Training in a warm climate may explain some of this positive effect. However, based on the focus-group interviews and its quantitative findings a more plausible explanation may be the interaction in a social setting with others in a similar situation.     

Autologous bone marrow transplantation in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

We report 25 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with purged autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) at a single center. Two children with high-risk ALL were transplanted in first remission and 23 with relapsing ALL were transplanted in second (n = 21) or third (n = 2) remission. There was no procedure-related mortality. The median time to engraftment (i.e. to reach a polymorphonuclear cell count of 0.5 x 10(9)/l) was 25 days (range 16-45 days). Seven children relapsed, four within five months after ABMT: 18 of 25 children (72%) are in continuous complete remission after a median follow-up period of 50 months (range 5-71 months). The predicted long-term disease-free survival is 65% in the whole group and 61% in those transplanted after relapse. Relapse-free children returned to normal activities within three months after ABMT. The major side effects were development of cataract and gonadal insufficiency. We consider the results promising, but our data do not allow comparison with results reported from treatment with chemotherapy alone, since some of our patients were referred from other centers and represent a selected patient group. Long-term follow-up of well-defined patient populations is necessary to evaluate the effect of ABMT.     

A community based study of failure to thrive in Israel

OBJECTIVE: To examine the characteristics of infants suffering from failure to thrive in a community based cohort in Israel and to ascertain the effect of failure to thrive on their cognitive development. METHODS: By review of records maintained at maternal and child health clinics in Jerusalem and the two of Beit Shemesh, epidemiological data were obtained at age 15 months on a cohort of all babies born in 1991. For each case of failure to thrive, a matched control was selected from the same maternal and child health clinic. At age 20 months, cognitive development was measured, and at 25 months a home visit was carried out to assess maternal psychiatric status by questionnaire, and the HOME assessment was performed to assess the home environment. RESULTS: 3.9% of infants were found to have fallen below the third centile in weight for at least three months during the first year of life. Infants with failure to thrive did not differ from the general population in terms of obstetric or neonatal complications, birth order, or parents' ethnic origin, age, or years of education. The infants with failure to thrive did have lower birthweights and marginally smaller head circumferences at birth. Developmental assessment at 20 months of age showed a DQ of 99.7 v 107.2 in the matched controls, with 11.5% having a DQ below 80, as opposed to only 4.6% of the controls. No differences were found in maternal psychiatric problems as measured by a self report questionnaire. There were, however, significant differences in subscales of the HOME scale. CONCLUSIONS: (1) Infants who suffered from failure to thrive had some physiological predispositions that put them at risk; (2) failure to thrive may be an early marker of families providing suboptimal developmental stimulation.     

Focal epithelial hyperplasia of the oral mucosa

Two negro siblings with focal epithelial hyperplasia ofthe oral mucosa are described. A review ofthe literature is presented.