Early rapid weight gain and current overweight in relation to asthma in adolescents born with very low birth weight

Early catch-up growth and subsequent overweight are suggested to be associated with later cardiovascular diseases and later type II diabetes. However, the impact of early catch-up growth and childhood overweight on the development of asthma has been less studied, particularly in children born with very low birth weight (VLBW). A birth cohort of 74 VLBW children (birth weight < or = 1500 g) was followed from birth and investigated on asthma at 12 yr of age. Early rapid weight gain was in one way defined as an increase of weight > or =1 standard deviation score (SDS) at 6 months of corrected postnatal age. Current overweight was defined by body mass index (BMI) exceeding 21.2 and 21.7 kg/m(2), respectively, for boys and girls at 12 yr of age. Current asthma was diagnosed by a pediatrician, according to asthma ever in combination with a positive response to hypertonic saline bronchial provocation test and/or wheeze at physical examination at 12 yr old. Being overweight at 12 yr of age was associated with an increased risk for current asthma in the VLBW children [crude odds ratio (OR): 5.5, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-22.2]. After adjustment for early weight gain and neonatal risk, the OR of overweight increased nearly three times (adjusted OR: 15.3, 95% CI: 2.5-90.6). Early rapid weight gain seemed to be inversely associated with current asthma (adjusted OR: 0.49 for an increase of weight equal to 1 SDS, 95% CI: 0.23-1.02, p = 0.06). In addition, early rapid weight gain was inversely associated with the magnitude of bronchial responsiveness at 12 yr (coefficient -1.15, p < 0.01). There was a strong and positive association between overweight and asthma at 12 yr of age in the VLBW children. This strong association had been reduced by early rapid weight gain, possibly via the reduction of bronchial responsiveness.     

Operative versus non-operative treatment of recent injuries to the ligaments of the knee. A prospective randomized study

Two hundred consecutively seen patients who had an injury to either the anterior cruciate ligament or the medial collateral ligament, or both, were randomly allocated to treatment by either conservative or a surgical regimen. Injuries to the medial collateral ligament could not be demonstrated to benefit from surgical treatment in any respect--with or without surgery the results were excellent. With injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament, recovery was more rapid without surgery but otherwise the results differed between the groups in only one respect: the pivot-shift test was more often positive after conservative treatment. The results were good in both treatment groups even though most of the patients who had an injury of the anterior cruciate ligament were somewhat less pleased with the outcome after a period of time.     

Occurrence and Distribution of Bone Tumors in Beagle Dogs Exposed to 90Sr

Radiation-induced bone tumors in beagle dogs exposed to ⁹⁰Sr have been evaluated in terms of their incidence, time of appearance, occurrence as multiple tumors, anatomic distribution, and the influence of sex on their development. Among dogs fed ⁹⁰Sr during skeletal development, the incidence of bone tumors was dose dependent. Tumors thus appeared in 10 of 19 dogs receiving average skeletal doses of 130 Gy, 15 of 60 receiving 97 Gy, 5 of 61 receiving 61 Gy, 2 of 65 receiving 26 Gy, and 1 of 40 receiving 1.3 Gy. No tumors appeared among 66 dogs who received 8 Gy, 78 who received 0.3 Gy, and 80 non-irradiated controls, all of which have been observed for life. Among dogs given a single intravenous injection of ⁹⁰Sr in early adulthood, tumor production was somewhat higher than among ⁹⁰Sr-fed dogs at the same radiation dose: bone tumors were present in 6 of 25 dogs who received 62 Gy and 1 of 20 dogs who received 7.5 Gy. Bone tumors appeared sooner and were more often multiple in animals receiving the higher doses. Long bones were the sites of most of the tumors appearing after the highest dose level. Bones of the head, particularly the mandible, were the predominant site of tumors in the next highest dose level group.     

CT scans and lipohaemarthrosis in hip fractures

Computed tomography was performed on 40 patients with recent hip trauma. Radiographs of 25 showed a fracture of the femoral neck with slight displacement; 24 of these had intra-articular fluid and 20 had a lipohaemarthrosis on the CT scan. In 15 patients, radiographs at the time of admission were normal but suspicion of fracture remained. A fracture was later verified in five patients, four of whom had lipohaemarthrosis on admission. In the remaining 10 patients no fracture could be detected; only one patient had a hip joint effusion but no free fat. Thus all 24 patients with lipohaemarthrosis had an intracapsular fracture of the hip. We suggest CT for patients with hip trauma and negative radiographs. The presence of a lipohaemarthrosis of the hip strongly suggests an intra-articular fracture of either the femoral neck or the acetabulum.     

Food intake and patterns of feeding of Norwegian infants

Norway has formed a policy on infant feeding, expressed as dietary allowances and guidelines concerning food intake. In a longitudinal and prospective study of health and development during infancy, the feeding patterns of 217 Norwegian infants were followed in order to evaluate the policy. The findings indicated that prevailing guidelines were largely followed by the parents. Forty-five per cent still got breastmilk at 6 months. Solid foods were usually introduced around 4-5 months, iron-enriched porridge being commonly used. At 10 months 91 per cent were given bread. The nutrient intakes at 10 months were mainly in accordance with the recommendations. The quality of the diet seemed to diminish somewhat when sandwiches replaced porridge. More emphasis should be put upon toddlers' diet in counselling the parents.     

Methylmercury poisoning: Long-term clinical,radiological, toxicological,and pathological studies of an affected family

For 3 months in 1969 a family in the United States that included a pregnant mother consumed pork containing methylmercury. Children, aged 20, 13, and 8 years and a neonate, developed severe neurological signs. Twenty-two years later, the 2 oldest had cortical blindness or constricted visual fields, diminished hand proprioception, choreoathetosis, and atentional deficits. Magnetic resonance images showed tissue loss in the calcarine and parietal cortices and cerebellar folia. The youngest had quadriplegia, blindness, and severe mental retradation until their deaths. The brain of the 8-year-old who died at age 30 showed cortical atrophy, neuronal loss, and gliosis, most pronounced in the paracentral and parietooccipital regions. The total mercury level in formalin-fixed, left occipital cortex was 1,974 ng/gm as measured by atomic absorption. Regional brain mercury levels correlated with extent of brain damage. A control patient had 38.5 ng of mercury/gm in the occipital cortex. Systemic organs in the patient and a control subject had comparable mercury levels. In mercury-intoxicated rats, we found that only 5 to 10% of total brain mercury was lost by formalin fixation. Brain inorganic mercury in the patient ranged from 82 to 100%. Since inorganic mercury crosses the blood-brain barrier poorly, biotransformation of methyl to inorganic mercury may have occurred after methylmercury crossed the blood-brain barrier, accounting for its persistence in brain and causing part of the brain damage.     

A porcine model for sequential assessments of cerebral haemodynamics and metabolism

We present a physiologically stable porcine model designed for sequential assessments of pharmacological effects on mean hemispheric cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen (CMRO2) at sustained normocapnia. The dynamic influence of continuously administered fentanyl (0.040 mg.kg-1.h-1 i.v.), nitrous oxide (70%) and pancuronium (0.30 mg.kg-1.h-1 i.v.) on these variables was studied in eight normoventilated pigs. CBF was reliably assessable at 10-min intervals by clearance of intra-arterially injected 133Xe, monitored by an extracranial scintillation detector. CMRO2 was calculated from CBF and the simultaneously measured cerebral arteriovenous difference in blood oxygen content. The intracerebral distribution of a contrast medium injected into the external and internal carotid arteries was studied by angiography, and the cerebral venous outflow was investigated by measurements of the distribution of an intra-arterially administered non-diffusible tracer, [99mTc]pertechnetate, to the internal and external jugular veins. After a 3-h equilibration period, CBF and CMRO2 were determined on six occasions over a study period lasting 1 h 40 min. The mean ranges of these variables were 56-60 and 1.9-2.0 ml.100 g-1.min-1, respectively. We conclude that the model enables repeated assessments of CBF and CMRO2 under stable physiological background conditions and thus valid cerebral pharmacodynamic investigations of drugs given for anaesthesia.