Short stature, abdominal obesity, insulin resistance and alterations in lipid profile in very low-income women living in Maceió, north-eastern Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that short stature is associated with abdominal obesity, insulin resistance and lipid profile changes. METHODS: Anthropometric data were collected from 237 women (18-60 years old), residents of a shantytown in Maceió. Biochemical profiles of 60 individuals drawn from this population were determined. RESULTS: Total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and insulin resistance rose with increasing waist : hip circumference ratio, particularly in women. Short, overweight individuals exhibited larger biochemical alterations than overweight individuals of average stature. CONCLUSION: Short stature, when associated with overweight, is a risk factor for increased insulin resistance and alterations in lipid profile.     

Childhood Malignant Thymoma: Clinical, Therapeutic, and Immunohistochemical Considerations

Malignant thymomas are among the least common mediastinal tumors in the pediatric age group. Thymomas are considered malignant on the basis of macroscopic and microscopic invasiveness. As only 20 well-documented cases involving children have been reported in the literature, the pattern of responsiveness to therapy and the value of prognostic signs is obscure. Two cases of malignant pediatric thymomas are reported with pathognomonic histoimmunological features of aggressive thymoma. One was cured, with a follow-up of 70 months, and one died while on therapy. Analysis of the histological features and the immunoperoxidase staining displays the complexity of pediatric thymomas and the inability to prognosticate the outcome, respectively.     

Fever associated with teething.

A relationship between teething and fever was sought by examining mothers' reports of the 20 days before the eruption of the first tooth in 46 healthy infants. Twenty infants had a fever of greater than 37.5 degrees C on day 0 compared with seven infants (or fewer) from day 19 to day 4. The danger of attributing fever to teething is emphasised.     

Reliability and predictive value of salivary theophylline levels

The reliability and accuracy of salivary theophylline levels as a predictor of serum theophylline levels was investigated in 28 hospitalized chronic asthmatics, free of other chronic diseases, on continuous aminophylline infusion for greater than 24 hours. Twenty paired blood and saliva theophylline levels from 12 patients (group 1) were used to develop a formula for predicting serum theophylline levels from salivary levels. Twenty-one paired blood and saliva theophylline levels from 16 patients (group 2) were used to test the formula obtained. The formula predicted the serum theophylline concentration within 1.51 microgram/mL in 76% of the samples and within 1.88 microgram/mL in 100% of the samples. There was an excellent correlation between the predicted and actual serum theophylline concentrations, r = .93; thus under controlled conditions of steady-state pharmacokinetics in patients free of other diseases, salivary theophylline levels can be used to accurately predict serum levels.     

Evaluation of a safe sputum processing method for detecting tuberculosis.

AIMS--To evaluate a safe sputum processing method for detection of tuberculosis in developing countries. METHODS--A sample processing method was developed in which acid fast bacilli were killed with 1% sodium hypochlorite and concentrated by flotation on a layer of xylene before staining by the Ziehl Neelsen or auramine O methods. RESULTS--Best results were obtained by auramine O staining after flotation. Staining by the Ziehl Neelsen method after flotation gave better results than direct Ziehl Neelsen staining without flotation. CONCLUSIONS--The flotation method with Ziehl Neelsen staining offers advantages for smear preparation in the tuberculosis control programmes of developing countries.