Exogenous lung surfactant: effect on radiographic appearance in premature infants

At birth, premature infants of 25-29 weeks gestation, at high risk for development of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), were given a single dose (90 mg) of calf lung surfactant extract (CLSE) by intratracheal instillation. The frequency and severity of RDS were assessed with use of a simple radiographic scoring system in which pulmonary parenchymal densities and the prominence of the air-bronchogram effect were used as indicators of widespread atelectasis. Radiographs were obtained in surfactant-treated and control infants within the first 90 minutes of life as part of an initial evaluation of their pulmonary status. Subsequent examinations were performed at less than 24 hours and less than 48 hours of age. Radiographic assessment of lung disease compared consistently with coordinated data on oxygen and mean airway pressure requirements of the infants. Both indicated a significantly decreased frequency and severity of RDS in the infants treated with surfactant. The results provide supporting evidence of the effectiveness of exogenous lung surfactant replacement in mitigating RDS in very premature infants.     

Meniscal injuries: detection using MR imaging

Both retrospective and blinded analyses of thin-section, high-resolution magnetic resonance (MR) images of the knee joint, produced using a solenoid surface coil, indicate that MR imaging is an effective technique for evaluating meniscal injuries. Images of 49 patients were evaluated, and the results were correlated with those of subsequent arthroscopy. A grading scale was developed to rate the index of suspicion of a meniscal tear based on the MR images. Overall, approximately 80% of menisci rated grade 4 (definite tear) or 3 (probable tear) were found to have corresponding tears at arthroscopy. In many other patients with a grade 4 or 3 meniscus in whom a corresponding tear was not found arthroscopically, meniscal tears at other sites or other abnormalities were correctly diagnosed using MR. A majority of the false-positive MR images involved the posterior horns of the menisci, the sites of most false-negative arthroscopic diagnoses. The predictive value of a negative MR image was almost 100%. Even in patients with moderate-to-large effusions, the menisci were accurately evaluated. The results imply that MR imaging is useful in the preoperative evaluation of suspected meniscal tears.     

Body composition in children: proposal for a method for calculating body fat percentage from total body density or skinfold-thickness measurements

A method is presented for assessing childhood obesity in a more objective way than most other routine methods used for diagnosing childhood obesity. The sum of bicipital, tricipital, subscapular, and suprailiacal skinfold thicknesses is related to total body density by use of theoretically defined prediction equations. Total body density is used to estimate total body fat percentage by use of age- and sex-dependent equations on the relation between body fat percentage and body density. These equations are constructed on the basis of published data on changes in the density of fat-free mass with age in children. With the proposed method childhood obesity can be assessed routinely in a more consistent way than with most other routine methods used to diagnose obesity in children. A preliminary validation study indicated that in children aged 7-10 y predicted body density differed on average less than 1% from measured body density. In addition, predicted body density was highly correlated (r greater than 0.7) with measured body density.     

Inconsistent associations among anthropometric measurements in elderly Dutch men and women

In a national survey of 515 apparently healthy Dutch elderly people aged 65 through 79 years, interrelationships among weight, height, weight-for-height indexes (especially the Quetelet index), body fatness (assessed by skinfold measurements), and 24-hour urinary creatinine excretion were investigated in various age groups. Body weight, body height, and 24-hour urinary creatinine excretion (absolute and per kilogram body weight) were lower in older age groups. In men the correlation coefficient between weight and body fatness was .54 for the group aged 65 through 69 years and .33 for the group aged 75 through 79 years. In women the correlation between weight and percentage of body fat varied from .52 to .70 among the age groups. In comparison with results reported for younger adults, a lower correlation between the Quetelet index and body fatness was observed (r = .49 in men, r = .64 in women). The correlation of the Quetelet index with both height and urinary creatinine excretion tended to be higher in the older age groups. We concluded that some of the associations found were inconsistent and that there may be some doubt about the adequacy of the Quetelet index as a measure of body fatness among the elderly. However, no convenient alternative weight-for-height index is presently available. Perhaps circumferences are a better option to choose for elderly people.     

Pulmonary embolism after hip or knee replacement: postoperative changes on pulmonary scintigrams in asymptomatic patients

Serial pulmonary imaging has proved to be effective in the evaluation of patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty. A clinical dilemma arises in asymptomatic patients whose postoperative pulmonary images differ from the preoperative images. The authors prospectively evaluated 403 patients with serial imaging to determine the significance of changed postoperative images in asymptomatic patients undergoing total hip or knee arthroplasty. Twenty-two (5.5%) patients had significant changes on postoperative images. Seventeen were asymptomatic; all but one underwent pulmonary angiography. Documented pulmonary emboli were demonstrated in 100% of patients whose postoperative images changed to indicate a high probability of pulmonary embolism, 71% whose images changed to a moderate probability, and 0% whose images changed to indeterminate probability. Overall, pulmonary emboli occurred in 76% of all asymptomatic patients with significantly change postoperative images. Asymptomatic pulmonary embolism is a significant occurrence after total hip or knee repair, and a changed lung scan with appropriate clinical evaluation is an accurate indicator of pulmonary emboli in asymptomatic postarthroplasty patients.     

Cloning of cDNA coding for connective tissue activating peptide III from a human platelet-derived lambda gt11 expression library

We report here the cloning of the cDNA coding for platelet connective tissue-activating peptide-III (CTAP-III) from a lambda gt11 expression library prepared using messenger RNA (mRNA) isolated from human platelets. The open reading frame of the clone coded for a protein with 128 amino acid residues. Since the precursor of CTAP-III, platelet basic protein (PBP is 94 amino acids long, the 5'-translated region of the cDNA codes for a leader sequence 34 amino acids long. This leader sequence, like the sequence of mature CTAP-III, shows significant homology to the sequence of platelet factor 4 (PF4), the only other platelet specific alpha-granule protein cloned until now, from a human erythroleukemic (HEL) cell line-derived cDNA library. These leader sequences are probably critical for targeting such proteins to the alpha-granule. Northern blot hybridization with platelet and megakaryocyte mRNA shows a single species mRNA of approximately 0.8 kb, suggesting that the corresponding cDNA is full length. The cloning of platelet specific CTAP-III provides additional evidence for the platelet specificity of the cDNA library used.     

Sociodemographic Factors Associated with AIDS Knowledge in a Random Sample of University Students

A telephone survey was used to assess knowledge of the transmission, prevalence, and infectivity of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and the safety of casual contact among 214 randomly selected university students. Males were more knowledgeable than females overall (odds ratio [OR], men/women = 4.8). Although most students understood the dangers of unprotected sex and intravenous needle sharing, up to 30% believed some kinds of casual contact (e.g., shared eating utensils) can transmit AIDS. Older students (greater than or equal to 23 yrs) were more knowledgeable than those 17 to 19 years old about the safety of casual contact (OR = 3.8). Students are in need of education programs that stress the ways AIDS is not transmitted. Since most students identified newspapers and television as their main sources of information, these may be effective vehicles for education efforts.     

Intravenous digital subtraction renal angiography: use in screening for renovascular hypertension

Intravenous digital subtraction renal angiography (DSRA) has been compared with conventional angiography only in small, selected series of hypertensive patients. The authors prospectively examined with intravenous DSRA 94 patients at increased risk for renovascular hypertension and compared these studies with conventional angiography. A stenosis of at least one main renal artery was identified with intravenous DSRA in 22 patients and confirmed in 20 patients. No significant stenoses were seen with conventional angiography in any of the 64 patients in whom lesions were not seen with intravenous DSRA. Since inadequate DSRA studies were considered positive for renal artery stenosis, the sensitivity of intravenous DSRA was 100% (25 of 25); specificity, 93% (64 of 69); positive predictive value, 83% (25 of 30); and negative predictive value, 100% (64 of 64). The authors conclude that intravenous DSRA is a sensitive test for identifying stenosis of the main renal arteries and is appropriate to use as a screening test among patients at increased risk for renovascular hypertension.     

骨髓基质干细胞移植对正常和心肌梗死大鼠心电图及心功能的影响

目的:骨髓基质干细胞移植到心肌梗死的瘢痕心肌组织中可以改善心功能,但以心电图为观察指标的研究不多。实验观察骨髓基质干细胞移植对正常和心肌梗死大鼠心电图及心功能的影响。方法:实验于2004-01/2005-03在哈尔滨医科大学完成。①实验动物:选取4周龄雄性Wistar大鼠80只,随机数字表法分为梗死移植组、正常移植组、梗死非移植组、正常非移植组,20只/组。另选取7d龄Wistar雄鼠30只作为骨髓基质干细胞的来源。②实验方法:采用密度梯度离心法获取鼠骨髓基质干细胞,配成1×109L-1的细胞悬液,使用5-氮胞苷体外诱导培养3～4周,移植前24～48h行Brdu标记。取载有细胞的盖玻片,测定钙释放时将20mmol/L的caffeine快速加在细胞表面。梗死移植组、梗死非移植组大鼠建立心肌梗死模型。造模4周后,梗死移植组将0.25mL诱导的骨髓基质干细胞悬液注射至大鼠心肌梗死后的瘢痕组织,正常移植组同法将骨髓基质干细胞悬液注射至正常心肌组织,梗死非移植组、正常非移植组注射等量不含骨髓基质干细胞的培养液基质。③实验评估:观察骨髓基质干细胞的诱导分化情况及其植入后在瘢痕心肌组织中的生存状态。测定细胞内钙离子浓度。记录术前、冠脉结扎后即刻/细胞移植即刻、术后4周的心电图变化。检测术后4周的超声和血流动力学指标变化。结果:80只大鼠均进入结果分析。①骨髓基质干细胞的诱导分化及其植入后的生存状态:5-氮胞苷诱导3周后,骨髓基质干细胞表达肌钙蛋白Ⅰ和肌凝蛋白重链,细胞内有丰富的肌丝和Z线,细胞器较多。植入4周后在心肌瘢痕组织中分化为心肌细胞。②细胞内钙离子浓度:两组细胞在caffeine刺激下钙离子的释放均呈波峰状,但诱导组应用caffeine后钙离子浓度降低且低于基础状态,钙释放受到抑制,未诱导组不受影响。③心电图观察:与术前比较,梗死移植组QRS波变窄,R波降支出现正常顿挫波,未见显著心律失常。④超声检测及血流动力学分析:术后4周,与梗死非移植组比较,梗死移植组左室收缩末压、左室射血分数和压力变化速率最大值均显著升高(P<0.05或0.01)。结论:骨髓基质干细胞体外诱导后能分化为心肌样细胞,植入到瘢痕心肌组织中生存、增殖良好,可改善心电图及心肌弹性,从而改善心肌梗死大鼠的心功能。     

Ultraviolet-B irradiation of platelets: a preliminary trial of efficacy

Prior studies established that ultraviolet-B light (UVB) irradiation of platelet concentrates (PCs) at appropriate doses can eliminate the mixed lymphocyte culture-stimulating and -responding capacity of lymphocytes in the PCs without adversely affecting in vitro platelet function. The in vivo recovery and survival and in vitro characteristics of UVB-irradiated platelets were investigated in paired studies. PCs were stored for 1 day and then exposed to UVB. Platelet recovery, survival, and function were comparable to those of nonirradiated platelets. Recovery and survival of platelets stored for 5 days before UVB exposure were decreased relative to controls, although they were considered clinically acceptable. Paired transfusion studies were also performed in seven thrombocytopenic patients by using platelets obtained by apheresis. Comparable posttransfusion platelet increments and bleeding time corrections were obtained with both irradiated and control (nonirradiated) platelets. It can be concluded that platelets survive and function relatively normally in vivo after UVB irradiation sufficient to abolish lymphocyte reactivity in mixed lymphocyte culture. Long-term studies of UVB-irradiated PCs are needed to assess their potential in reducing recipient alloimmunization.