The challenges in scoring hypopneas in children: is pulse wave amplitude drop the answer?

BackgroundIdentifying electroencephalogram (EEG) cortical arousals are crucial in scoring hypopneas and respiratory efforts related arousals (RERAs) during a polysomnogram. As children have high arousal threshold, many of the flow limited breaths or hypopneas may not be associated with visual EEG arousals, hence this may lead to potential underestimation of the degree of sleep disordered breathing. Pulse wave amplitude (PWA) is a signal obtained from finger photoplethysmography which correlates directly to finger blood flow. The drop in PWA has been shown to be a sensitive marker for subcortical/autonomic and cortical arousals. Our aim was to use the drop in PWA as a surrogate for arousals to guide scoring of respiratory events in pediatric patients.MethodsTen polysomnograms for patients between the ages of 5–15 years who had obstructive apnea-hypopnea indices between 1 and 5 events/hour were identified. Patients with syndromes were excluded. A drop in PWA signal of at least 30% that lasted for 3 s was needed to identify subcortical/autonomic arousals. Arousals were rescored based on this criteria and subsequently respiratory events were rescored. Paired t-tests were employed to compare PSG indices scored with or without PWA incorporation.ResultsThe sample of 10 children included 2 females, and the average age was 9.8 ± 3.1 years. Overall, polysomnography revealed an average total sleep time of 464.1 ± 25 min, sleep efficiency of 92% +/−4.2, sleep latency of 19.6 ± 17.0 min, rapid eye movement (REM) latency 143 ± 66 min, N1 3.9% +/−2.0, N2 50.3% +/−12.0, N3 28.2% +/−9.1, REM 16.7% +/−4.0, and wakefulness after sleep onset (WASO) 18.1 ± 7.5 min. Including arousals from PWA changes, respiratory indices significantly increased including total AHI (2.3 ± 0.7 vs 5.7 ± 2.1, p < 0.001), obstructive AHI (1.45 ± 0.7 vs 4.8 ± 1.8, p < 0.001), and RDI (2.36 ± 0.7 vs 7.6 ± 2.0, p < 0.001). Likewise, total arousal index was significantly higher (8.7 ± 2.3 vs 29.4 ± 6.5, p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe drop in pulse wave amplitude signal is a useful marker to guide scoring arousals that are not otherwise easily identified in pediatric polysomnography and subsequently helped in scoring respiratory events that otherwise would not be scored. Further studies are needed to delineate if such methodology would affect clinical outcome.     

Exploring the impacts of organisational structure,policy and practice on the health inequalities of marginalised communities: Illustrative cases from the UK healthcare system

This paper explores how organisational structure, policies and practices in healthcare can inadvertently disadvantage marginalised populations (e.g. individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds) and reinforce health inequalities. We draw upon three diverse UK healthcare settings (long term care institutions, high security hospitals and community pharmacies) to illustrate how systemic injustices negatively impact on access to care, treatment and health outcomes. The first case study considers the care of older people within nursing homes; specifically the disempowering effects of this service structure and impacts of choice reduction upon health and their access to health provision. The second case study explores the impact of security restrictions upon patients within high security hospitals, focusing particularly on the maintenance of relationships and support networks outside of the hospital. The third and final case study, draws upon a national community pharmacy medicine management service to illustrate ways in which policies and guidelines inadvertently obstruct patients' engagement with the service within a community setting. We draw upon these settings to highlight inequalities within different contexts and to illustrate the ways in which well intended services can inadvertently disadvantage marginalised communities in multiple ways.     

产前分娩预演对初产妇自然分娩成功率及产后并发症的影响

[目的]探讨产前分娩预演对初产妇自然分娩成功率和产后并发症的影响.[方法]收集2016年9月至2018年10月在本院妇产科分娩的初产妇86例,按产前分娩教育方式分为观察组(n=42)和对照组(n=44).对照组孕妇产前接受常规产前健康教育课程培训,观察组在对照组的基础上进行分娩预演实践.比较两组自我效能感量表(GSES)、抑郁自评量表(SDS)和焦虑自评量表(SAS)评分及自然分娩成功率和产后并发症发生率等.[结果]与对照组相比,观察组分娩总产程和第一、二、三明显缩短;新生儿窒息率和产后SDS、SAS评分均明显降低;自然分娩成功率、GSES评分均明显提高,其差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05).观察组产后出血、感染、尿潴留、乳汁淤积发生率及总并发症发生率均低于对照组(P<0.05).[结论]采用常规产前健康教育培训结合产前分娩预演实践的产前管理方式,可有效提高初产妇自然分娩成功率,缩短产程,减少产后并发症的发生,值得临床推广应用.     

Sex Disparities in Risk of Mortality Among Children With ESRD

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Extubación ultra fast-track vs. convencional tras cirugía cardiaca en un centro de referencia cardiovascular en Colombia. Estudio longitudinal

Introduction

The fast track / ultra-fast-track protocols are techniques used to optimise the patient care process and a quick recovery after cardiac surgery. They are one of the mainstays of efficient practice. With their use, the length of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stays are reduced, with a direct impact on costs and the quality of the health service.

Clinical equivalence assessment of T2 synthesized pediatric brain magnetic resonance imaging

Background and purposeAutomated synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides qualitative, weighted image contrasts as well as quantitative information from one scan and is well-suited for various applications such as analysis of white matter disorders. However, the synthesized contrasts have been poorly evaluated in pediatric applications. The purpose of this study was to compare the image quality of synthetic T2 to conventional turbo spin-echo (TSE) T2 in pediatric brain MRI.Materials and methodsThis was a mono-center prospective study. Synthetic and conventional MRI acquisitions at 1.5 Tesla were performed for each patient during the same session using a prototype accelerated T2 mapping sequence package (TA_synthetic = 3:07 min, TA_conventional = 2:33 min). Image sets were blindly and randomly analyzed by pediatric neuroradiologists. Global image quality, morphologic legibility of standard structures and artifacts were assessed using a 4-point Likert scale. Inter-observer kappa agreements were calculated. The capability of the synthesized contrasts and conventional TSE T2 to discern normal and pathologic cases was evaluated.ResultsSixty patients were included. The overall diagnostic quality of the synthesized contrasts was non-inferior to conventional imaging scale (P = 0.06). There was no significant difference in the legibility of normal and pathological anatomic structures of synthetized and conventional TSE T2 (all P > 0.05) as well as for artifacts except for phase encoding (P = 0.008). Inter-observer agreement was good to almost perfect (kappa between 0.66 and 1).ConclusionsT2 synthesized contrasts, which also provides quantitative T2 information that could be useful, could be suggested as an equivalent technique in pediatric neuro-imaging, compared to conventional TSE T2.