Sex‐related Disparity in Surgical Mortality among Pediatric Patients

Background. It has been reported that gender differences in cardiovascular outcomes found in adults also are present in children who undergo surgical repair for congenital heart disease. Methods. California statewide hospital discharge data 1989–99 were used to study outcomes in children <18 years undergoing cardiac surgery. Hospital discharge data were linked to death registry data to study postdischarge death within 30 days of discharge. We used logistic regression to evaluate the effect of gender on mortality controlling for age, race and ethnicity, type of insurance, household income, date and month of surgery, type of admission, hospital case volume, and various types of procedures. Results. There were 25 402 cardiac surgery cases with 1505 in‐hospital deaths (mortality rate of 5.92%). An additional 37 deaths occurred within 30 days after hospital discharge. Crude mortality rates for males (5.99%) and females (5.84%) were not significantly different. However, fewer neonates were female and females underwent a higher proportion of low‐risk procedures than males. Logistic regression revealed that females, compared with males, had a significantly higher odds ratio (OR) for in‐hospital mortality (OR = 1.18, P < .01) and overall (up to 30 days post discharge) mortality (OR = 1.18, P < .01). The risk‐adjusted length of hospital stay was similar between females and males while charges per hospital day were slightly higher in females than males. The prevalence of Down syndrome, pulmonary hypertension, and failure to thrive were higher in females. Conclusions. Female gender is associated with an 18% higher in‐hospital and 30‐day postdischarge mortality as compared with male gender. There was no difference in length of hospital stay between males and females. The mechanism by which female gender acts as a risk factor requires further investigation.     

Sources of Variability in the Detection of Cerebral Emboli with Transcranial Doppler During Cardiac Surgery

OBJECTIVE: The application of intensity thresholds for embolus detection with transcranial Doppler (TCD) can exclude from analysis an unrecognized proportion of high-intensity transient signals (HITS))whose intensities are below the threshold. The lack of consistent threshold criteria between clinical trials may explain part of the discrepancy in the reported HITS counts. We investigated the effect of choosing different thresholds on the sensitivity and specificity of detecting HITS during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). METHODS: Two observers independently analyzed TCD recordings from 8 patients under CPB. Doppler signals were classified as true HITS, equivocal HITS, artifacts, and Doppler speckles according to preestablished criteria. The relative intensity of Doppler signals was measured by two different methods (TCD software vs manual). Receiver Operating Characteristic curves determined the optimal threshold for each of the two intensity methods. RESULTS: Reviewers achieved agreement in 96% of 2190 Doppler signals (kappa = 0.90). Relative intensities calculated with the TCD-software method were 3 dB (95% CI: 3.0-3.4) higher than the manual method. The optimal threshold was found at 10 dB (sensitivity: 99%; specificity: 90.8%) with the software method and at 7 dB with the manual method (sensitivity: 96%; specificity: 83%). The use of an intensity threshold 2 dB higher than the optimal increased the rejection of true HITS by 8% and 14%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Using intensity thresholds higher than the optimal for embolus detection decreases HITS counts. Choosing a threshold depends on the type of method used for measuring the signal intensity. Uniform threshold criteria and comparative studies between different Doppler devices are necessary for making clinical trials more comparable.     

Reevaluation of procarbazine for the treatment of recurrent malignant central nervous system tumors

Ninety-nine patients with primary recurrent malignant tumors of the central nervous system were treated with procarbazine as a single agent. Procarbazine was not given as a specified protocol, but for patients who were ineligible or refused other protocols. All patients had been treated previously with radiotherapy and 96 patients had also received previous chemotherapy. Twenty-five patients were treated at the first progression of their tumor, 47 were treated at the second progression, and 27 were treated at the third progression of their tumor. For the aggregate, the response plus stabilization rate was 27% for glioblastoma multiforme with median time to tumor progression of 30 weeks, and 28% for other anaplastic gliomas with a median time to tumor progression of 49 weeks. With respect to the percent of patients who responded or stabilized to treatment, these results are inferior to those reported previously for patients treated with procarbazine at recurrence. With respect to duration of response and stabilization, the data are comparable.     

1-乙基-6-氟-1,4-二氢-4-氧代-7-(4-芳酰硫代氨甲酰基-1-哌嗪基)-3-喹啉羧酸的合成及抗菌作用

Thirteen new 1-ethyl-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-7-(4-aroyl-thiocarbamoyl- 1 piperazinyl)-3-quinoline carboxylic acids were prepared, Their structures were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, HNMR and MS spectra.Preliminary pharmacological tests indicated that some of compounds Ia～m possess strong inhibiting activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Proteus at concentration of 100 μg/ml.     

Direct effect of acute metabolic and respiratory acidosis on parathyroid hormone secretion in the dog.

Because both metabolic (Met Acid) and respiratory acidosis (Resp Acid) have diverse effects on mineral metabolism, it has been difficult to establish whether acidosis directly affects parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion. Our goal was to determine whether acute Met Acid and Resp Acid directly affected PTH secretion. Three groups of dogs were studied: control, acute Met Acid induced by HCl infusion, and acute Resp Acid induced by hypoventilation. EDTA was infused to prevent acidosis-induced increases in ionized calcium, but more EDTA was needed in Met Acid than in Resp Acid. The PTH response to EDTA-induced hypocalcemia was evaluated also. Magnesium needed to be infused in groups receiving EDTA to prevent hypomagnesemia. The half-life of intact PTH (iPTH) was determined during hypocalcemia when PTH was measured after parathyroidectomy. During normocalcemia, PTH values were greater (p < 0.05) in Met Acid (92 +/- 19 pg/ml) and Resp Acid (77 +/- 22 pg/ml) than in controls (27 +/- 5 pg/ml); the respective pH values were 7.23 +/- 0.01, 7.24 +/- 0.01, and 7.39 +/- 0.02. The maximal PTH response to hypocalcemia was greater (p < 0.05) in Met Acid (443 +/- 54 pg/ml) than in Resp Acid (267 +/- 37 pg/ml) and controls (262 +/- 48 pg/ml). The half-life of PTH was greater (p < 0.05) in Met Acid than in controls, but the PTH secretion rate also was greater (p < 0.05) in Met Acid than in the other two groups. In conclusion, (1) both acute Met Acid and Resp Acid increase PTH secretion when the ionized calcium concentration is normal; (2) acute Met Acid may increase the bone efflux of calcium more than Resp Acid; (3) acute Met Acid acts as a secretogogue for PTH secretion because it enhances the maximal PTH response to hypocalcemia.     

Erythroleukemia with high fetal hemoglobin after therapy for ovarian carcinoma

The authors report the association of erythroleukemia (FAB M6) and fetal hemoglobin (HbF) level of at least 65% after therapy for ovarian carcinoma. The patient's erythrocytes had many signs of reversion to fetal-like erythropoiesis including: elevated HbF with a fetal G gamma/A gamma (gly/ala) of 3/1, low hemoglobin A2 (HbA2), macrocytosis, and increased i antigen. These data and data from other case reports suggest that elevation of HbF to greater than 25% with reversion to fetal-like erythropoiesis is useful in differentiating erythroleukemia from other preleukemic disorders.     

Immunologic and pharmacologic concepts of monoclonal antibodies

While monoclonal antibodies have solved many of the difficulties of using immunologic reagents for radioimmunodiagnosis and therapy, in the 13 years since their introduction a number of persistent problems remain, most notably a low yield of antibody-producing cells from the fusion process, difficulty in obtaining high-affinity antibodies, and the potential immunogenicity of murine immunoglobulins (Igs). Several solutions are under development, including fusion techniques that enrich for cells producing desired antibodies, production of human-mouse chimeric antibodies by recombinant DNA technology, and the generation of human monoclonal antibodies by promising new approaches. Until these upcoming methodologies are established, and to better direct their development and application, a sound understanding of the pharmacology of presently available native and modified monoclonal antibodies is crucial. Although much has been already determined in this area, a great deal of further clarification remains necessary.