Kaposiform Hemangioendothelioma Presenting as Hydrops Fetalis

We describe the case of a 33‐week preterm infant who developed nonimmune hydrops fetalis secondary to a kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE). The tumor was successfully treated with vincristine, prednisone, ticlopidine, and aspirin. KHE can be an unusual cause of hydrops fetalis; in such cases, diagnosis can be challenging since generalized edema can obscure KHE.     

Influence of a Gluten-free,Casein-free Diet on Behavioral Disturbances in Children and Adolescents Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A 3-month Follow-up Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Diet and dietary interventions have drawn considerable attention in the literature as etiopathogenic factors and therapeutic approaches to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), respectively. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of a gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) diet on the alterations of behavior in children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD. We also aim to explore the possible association between ASD symptoms and urinary concentrations of beta-casomorphin.

Methods: A total of 28 patients were recruited for this crossover clinical trial. Patients followed a normal diet (including gluten and casein) for three months and a GFCF diet for another three months. The order of the intervention —i.e., beginning with normal diet or with GFCF diet— was determined at random. The subjects were evaluated at three time points: at the onset of the study, after the first diet, and after the second diet. Each evaluation entailed three questionnaires on behavior and autism, a food frequency questionnaire (to determine adherence to the diet) and a determination of concentrations of beta-casomorphin in urine using chromatographic techniques.

Results: No significant behavioral changes were found after a GFCF diet. No association was found between ASD symptoms and urinary concentrations of beta-casomorphin.

Conclusion: A GFCF diet followed for three months do neither show significant changes in behavioral symptoms of autism nor in urine concentrations of beta-casomorphin using chromatographic detection. However, we need further studies including elements of placebo and double-blindness and more sophisticated beta-casomorphin detection techniques to better define subjects who might benefit from these diets.     

Non-fluoroscopic electroanatomical mapping (CARTO system) in the ablation of atrial tachycardias

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The recent introduction of navigation systems has made substantial improvements in cardiac electrophysiological mapping. We present our experience with non-fluoroscopic electroanatomical mapping in patients with atrial tachycardias. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We studied 24 consecutive patients with atrial tachycardias (10 of whom had undergone previous radiofrequency ablation which failed). In all patients we performed electroanatomical mapping of the atria with the CARTO system, which combines electrophysiological and spatial information and allows visualization of atrial activation in a three-dimensional anatomical reconstruction of the atrial cavity. Mapping was performed during tachycardia (22 patients) or in sinus rhythm (2 patients), using a left atrial approach in 12 patients. Cooled-tip ablation was performed in 3 patients. RESULTS: Three-dimensional mapping distinguished clearly and rapidly between reentrant (9 patients) and focal mechanisms (15 patients). Radiofrequency catheter ablation was aimed at the critical isthmus of conduction (voltage maps) in patients with macroreentrant tachycardias. For focal tachycardias the catheter was re-navigated within the target area (activation maps) to the earliest focus of ectopic impulses. Acute success was obtained in 19 patients (79.2%), with early recurrence in 2 of them. Fluoroscopy time was 60 (21 min). CONCLUSIONS: Visualization of atrial activation in a three-dimensional reconstruction of the atria with the CARTO electroanatomical mapping system facilitated the integration of electrophysiological and anatomical information in patients with atrial tachycardias. This technique is potentially helpful in ensuring successful treatment of the substrate of tachycardia in this selected group of patients.     

Short‐ and long‐term results of a programme for the prevention of readmissions and mortality in patients with heart failure: Are effects maintained after stopping the programme?

The objective of the study was to evaluate whether improvements obtained during an intervention programme were maintained after the programme was stopped. 153 patients discharged with a diagnosis of heart failure (HF) were randomized to either usual care or an intervention programme, which included patient education, consultation with the cardiologist and monitoring in the Heart Failure Unit. After an average period of 16+/-8 months, the intervention programme was stopped. One year later, all the patients were re-examined to assess HF readmissions, all-cause mortality, quality of life, and prescribed medical treatment. During the 16+/-8-month treatment period, patients in the intervention group had a lower rate of HF readmissions (17% vs. 51%, p<0.01), less all-cause mortality (13% vs. 27%, p=0.03), improvement in quality of life (1.5+/-0.8 vs. 1.9+/-1, p=0.03) and optimisation of medical treatment was achieved. One year after stopping the intervention, there was no difference in HF readmissions (28% vs. 25%, p=0.72), all-cause mortality (14% vs. 17%, p=0.64) and quality of life (1.7+/-0.9 vs. 1.8+/-1, p=0.24) between the groups. Survival and the probability of not being readmitted due to HF were similar in both groups. There was also a reduction in the use of beta-blockers and spironolactone in the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS: The positive effects of an intervention programme are clearly reduced when it is stopped, due to less strict control of the patients and a decrease in the use of drugs with proven efficacy in HF.     

Gender differences in cardiovascular response to dementia caregiving

PURPOSE: This study examined gender differences in cardiovascular responses to laboratory-based stress, as well as in ambulatory hemodynamic (i.e., blood pressure and heart rate) functioning among caregivers of persons with dementia. DESIGN & METHODS: Participants were 25 men and 25 women caregivers, matched on age, type of care recipient's dementia, and relationship to the care recipient. After cardiovascular reactivity to a laboratory-based caregiving stressor was assessed, the ambulatory hemodynamic functioning levels of caregivers were measured in caregivers' natural environments. RESULTS: Female caregivers displayed greater systolic and diastolic blood pressure reactivity to a laboratory-based stress task (i.e., discussing caregiving difficulties) compared with male caregivers (p < or =.01). In contrast, no gender differences were found for ambulatory hemodynamic functioning when aggregated overall or when in the presence of the care recipient. IMPLICATIONS: Laboratory-based findings suggest that female caregivers experience greater blood pressure reactivity to caregiving-related stress than do male caregivers. However, these laboratory-based gender differences may not generalize to differences in hemodynamic functioning in caregivers' daily lives.     

Partial left atriectomy in the treatment of atrial fibrillation associated with mitral valve disease]

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation is frequently observed under conditions associated with atrial dilatation. Atrial size is a factor related to the genesis and maintenance of atrial fibrillation. Predictive parameters of persistence of atrial fibrillation after maze procedure are atrial size and long duration of atrial fibrillation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of surgical left atrial reduction in chronic atrial fibrillation by mitral valvulopathy. PATIENTS AND METHOD: nineteen patients with chronic atrial fibrillation and dilated left atrium undergoing mitral valve procedures were included in this prospective study: group I with left atrial reduction (10 patients) and group II including control (9 patients). Both groups were with similar preoperative characteristics. RESULTS: At the mean follow-up of 12 months, all the patients in group II had chronic atrial fibrillation, and 7 patients in group I showed in atrial rhythm (p < 0.003). The patients in whom atrial fibrillation continued after surgery showed left atrial area of 33.8 +/- 12.3 cm2 and a volume of 98.5 +/- 53.9 ml; and the patients with normal rhythm had a left atrial area of 24.5 +/- 5.3 cm2 and a volume 60.3 +/- 21.2 ml. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary results indicate that surgical left atrial reduction in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation may be a mechanism implicated in the elimination of arrhythmia after surgery.     

The mediating effects of situational control on social support and mood following a stressor: a prospective study of dementia caregivers in their natural environments

OBJECTIVES: The present study examined, prospectively and within the context of stress experienced in the natural environment, whether situational control served as a mediator between perceived social support and caregiver's mood. METHODS: Data came from baseline assessments of individuals participating in health promotion interventions for women caregivers. Participants were 49 female caregivers of dementia patients who monitored their own acute psychological states during the day. RESULTS: Results revealed that although the occurrence of a situational stressor increased negative mood, greater perceived support reduced the detrimental impact of a stressor on negative mood. Moreover, path analyses revealed that changes in situational control partially mediated the relationship between perceived support and stress-induced negative mood changes. However, changes in control did not serve as a mediator in analyses focused on happiness. DISCUSSION: Results suggest that caregivers with greater perceived support were less emotionally reactive to stress occurring in their natural environments because of, in part, sustained or increased situational control.     

Epidemiologic background and long-term course of disease in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected blood donors identified before routine laboratory screening. Transfusion Safety Study Group

BACKGROUND: The long-term course of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-related disease among seropositive blood donors has not been described. The enrollment and epidemiologic background of HIV-1- infected donors in the Transfusion Safety Study and their immunologic and clinical progression are described. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Through the testing of approximately 200,000 sera from donations made in late 1984 and early 1985, 146 anti-HIV-1-positive donors and 151 uninfected matched donors were enrolled. These two cohorts were followed with 6-month interval histories and laboratory testing. RESULTS: Seropositive donors detected before the institution of routine anti-HIV-1 screening disproportionately were first-time donors and men with exclusively male sexual contacts. The actuarial probability of a person's developing AIDS within 7 years after donation was 40 percent; the probability of a person's dying of AIDS was 28 percent. AIDS developed more often when the donor was p24 antigen-positive at donation. Over a 3-year period, significant decreases occurred in CD4+, CD2+CD26+, CD4+CD29+, and CD20+CD21+ counts, but not in CD8+ subsets, CD20+, or CD14+. CONCLUSION: The high proportions of first-time donations and exclusively homosexual men among seropositive donors suggest that test-seeking may have contributed to the high HIV-1 prevalence in the repository. Implementation of alternative test sites when routine donor screening began in 1985 may have averted many high- risk donations. The disease course in HIV-1-infected donors had the same wide spectrum of immunologic and clinical manifestations as were reported for other cohorts.     

Rare detection of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus genomes by polymerase chain reaction in seronegative donors with elevated alanine aminotransferase

BACKGROUND: Since screening for antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV) was introduced in 1990, posttransfusion hepatitis has been reduced to nearly background levels. This has led to reconsideration of the value of testing donated blood for elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The contribution of ALT testing in detecting seronegative infection was evaluated by the performance of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for hepatitis B virus (HBV) or HCV in plasma from ALT-elevated blood units. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Testing was performed on 375 units of plasma, derived from an equivalent of 47,500 blood donations, with a highly sensitive hemi-nested PCR procedure. Using a triplet of primers directed at the conserved regions of HBV DNA and 5'-noncoding regions of HCV RNA, the hemi-nested PCR assay can reliably amplify 10 viral molecules to levels detectable in ethidium bromide-stained agarose gels. Pools of plasma from groups of four donors were screened with hemi-nested PCR. For any reactive pools, the plasma from individual donors was retested twice on different aliquots. RESULTS: Two of 375 units, both with midrange ALT elevation, were repeatedly reactive in hemi-nested PCR (one each for HBV DNA and HCV RNA). However, samples from the two suspect donors tested 9 and 5 months later revealed no seroconversion, elevated ALT, or viral genomes in hemi-nested PCR. CONCLUSION: The lack of confirmed HBV or HCV infection in this study representing an estimated 47,500 voluntary blood donations suggests that routine ALT testing for further prevention of posttransfusion hepatitis after exclusion of HBV- and/or HCV-seropositive blood may be superfluous.     

Improved survival of children with sepsis and purpura: effects of age,gender, and era

Background  

To gain insight into factors that might affect results of future case-control studies, we performed an analysis of children with sepsis and purpura admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital (Rotterdam, The Netherlands).