Risk factors for surgical site infection in children.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the appropriateness of using the indices developed by the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) and the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) project to determine risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) in children and, if not appropriate, to explore the factors related to SSI in children so these factors could be used in a risk index for pediatric patients. DESIGN: Cohort study during more than 4 years. SETTING: La Paz University Hospital, a national reference center that serves Health Area 5 of Madrid, Spain, which has approximately 500,000 inhabitants. PATIENTS: Convenience sample consisting of the 3,646 children admitted for surgery who had a postsurgical stay of more than 2 days. RESULTS: A model with 8 predictive factors (degree of surgical contamination; duration of surgery; type of surgery; use of a peripheral venous catheter, central venous catheter, or urinary catheter; number of diagnoses; and SSI exposition time) was created. Its relation to the SSI rate was better than that of the SENIC or NNIS indices. Its sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve were higher than that of the SENIC index. CONCLUSIONS: The model that we created seems to be more adequate for predicting SSI and evaluating pediatric patients' intrinsic risk than the SENIC and NNIS indices.     

Characteristics of Acute Asthma Patients Attended Frequently Compared with Those Attended Only Occasionally in an Emergency Department

Asthma patients that depend on emergency department (ED) services are generally considered to have extremely poor disease control and prognosis. It is important to identify characteristics related to poor disease control and frequent visits to the ED to apply appropriate clinical management. This study comprised a cross-sectional survey of consecutive patients with asthma exacerbation (age ≥12 years) presenting at the adult ED of a large, tertiary care, university-affiliated hospital over a 2-month period. The frequent visitors (FV) were defined by ≥3 visits to the ED in the preceding year, and the occasional visitors (OV) by ≤2 visits. Eighty-six patients (61 females and 25 males) were included in the study (mean age 38 ± 18 years). Of these patients, 51.2% were FV and 48.8% were OV. Sixty-nine percent had annual income lower than A$3000 and 66.3% had ≤8 years of the formal education. Only 18.6% had used inhaled corticosteroids, 79.1% identified the asthma attack severity, 70.9% increased or initiated inhaled β-agonist, 20.9% increased or initiated steroid therapy, and 55.8% had an asthma action plan for attack. The number of hospital admissions in past year (OR 4.3, P = .02), use of home nebulizer (OR 3.6, P = .05) and the lack of a written asthma action plan (OR 3.3, P = .03) were independently associated with frequent visits to the ED. We conclude that a substantial proportion of the patients that visit the ED are FV. These patients are more likely to have hospital admission in the past year, to use a home nebulizer, and to lack a written asthma action plan. They should be considered the most important target for asthma education.     

Bradycardia related to hypoglycaemia.

Alterations in blood glucose levels are known to be involved in electrocardiogram changes. Various types of arrhythmias have been reported. We present here the case of an 81-year-old woman presenting with transient atrial fibrillation while being treated for hypoglycaemia with dextrose infusion, and finally developing a sinus rhythm. The presence of alterations in glucose blood levels should always be considered as a potential cause of transient atrial fibrillation.     

Evaluation of Class I ART restorations in Brazilian schoolchildren: three-year results

Atraumetic Restorative Treatment (ART) has been adopted around the world to avoid unnecessary extractions, especially in non-industrialized countries The development of specific glass ionomer cements marketed for the ART technique has contributed to the technical success rate. In this study. Ketac-Molar^a (3M ESPE. Dental Medzn Germany) was used to restore 150 Class I cavities in 118 Brazilian public school children, aged from 7–12 years. At baseline and at subsequent recalls. CPI probes with a ball-end of 0.5 millimeters (mm) were used to assess loss of restorative material, and photographic color transparencies of restorations were made. After six months. 83 patients returned for follow-up examinations, with 71.8% of their restorations designated as acceptable. After three years. 49 patients with 57 ART-restorations were evaluated, with 21.0% of these restorations graded as acceptable Another 29.8% of their restorations had been replaced by more permanent materials. The main objective of the ART technique is tooth retention; this was achieved for 94.7% of the restored teeth in a high caries risk population who returned for recalls.     

Laboratory investigation: Effects of propofol on the systemic inflammatory response during aortic surgery

PURPOSE: A laboratory investigation was undertaken to assess the effects of propofol on renal function, through modulation of the systemic inflammatory response, in an in vivo experimental model of aortic surgery in comparison with sevoflurane. METHODS: Twenty young male piglets were anesthetized with either propofol 4 mg.kg(-1).hr(-1) (n = 10) or sevoflurane 1.5% end-tidal concentration (n = 10). Animals were subjected to aorta-aortic bypass with suprarenal aortic clamping for 30 min. At specific intervals (basal -before the start of surgery; reperfusion 15 min after unclamping the aorta; at 24, 48 and 72 hr after surgery, and on the seventh day after surgery) the levels of the following were determined: plasma creatinine, renal myeloperoxidase, tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin 1-ss, and interferon-gamma; kidney superoxide anion and its detoxifying enzyme superoxidase dismutase, kidney malondialdehyde and the activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase. Seven days after surgery, the animals were anesthetized using the described techniques, and after blood withdrawal and kidney sampling they were sacrificed. RESULTS: In comparison with sevoflurane, propofol was associated with a lower concentration of plasma creatinine (P < 0.05) together with lower concentrations of myeloperoxidase, tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin 1-ss, interferon-gamma, superoxide anion and superoxidase dismutase, malondialdehyde and inducible nitric oxide synthase (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In an experimental model of aortic reconstructive surgery, and compared with sevoflurane, propofol anesthesia is associated with less neutrophil infiltration, lower plasma proinflammatory cytokine levels, lower production of oxygen free radicals, less lipid peroxidation, and reduced inducible nitric oxide synthase activity. These observations suggest a possible renal protective effect of propofol in this surgical setting.     

Antioxidant and glutathione-related enzymatic activities in rat sciatic nerve

The present work tries to establish the antioxidant capacity of the peripheral nervous tissue of the rat, in terms of the enzymatic activities present in this tissue that either prevent the formation of activated species as the semiquinone radical (DT-diaphorase), protect against activated oxygen species (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase), conjugate natural toxic products or xenobiotics (glutathione S-transferases, especially the activity conjugating 4-hydroxy-nonenal), or complete the glutathione system metabolism (glutathione disulfide reductase, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase). All the activities studied are lower in this tissue than they are in liver, except for γ-glutamyl transpeptidase. The relevance of the results obtained and its possible relationship with different neuropathies is discussed. It is concluded that the peripheral nervous tissue is by far less protected than the liver against oxidative damage.     

Percutaneous transhepatic stenting by wallstents of portal vein and bile duct stenoses caused by immunoblastic sarcoma in a liver transplantation

Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders are infrequent tumors related to chronic immunosuppressive therapy. We present a liver transplant recipient who developed such a tumor in the porta hepatis that provoked obstruction of the entire portal triad. Treatment consisted of systemic chemotherapy, percutaneous dilatation, and placement of Wallstent endoprostheses across both biliary and portal vein stenoses. The patient died 3 weeks later of pneumonia and sepsis. At necropsy, the tumor was completely necrosed and the prostheses in both the common bile duct and the portal vein were patent.     

Immunization of Adolescents: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the Amerii Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Medical Association

SUMMARY: This report concerning the immunization of adolescents (ie, persons 11–21 years of age, as defined by the American Medical Association [AMA] and the American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP]) is a supplement to previous publications (ie, MMWR 1994;43[No. RR-1] 1–38; the AAP 1994 Red Book: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases; Summary of Policy Recommendations for Periodic Health Examination, August 1996 from the American Academy of Family Physicians [AAFP]; and AMA Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services [GAPS]: Recommendations and Rationale). This report presents a new strategy to improve the delivery of vaccination services to adolescents and to integrate recommendations for vaccination with other preventive services provided to adolescents. This new strategy emphasizes vaccination of adolescents 11–12 years of age by establishing a routine visit to their health-care providers. Specifically, the purposes of this visit are to a) vaccinate adolescents who have not been previously vaccinated with varicella virus vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, or the second dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine; b) provide a booster dose of tetanus and diphtheria toxoids; c) administer other vaccines that may be recommended for certain adolescents; and d) provide other recommended preventive services. The recommendations for vaccination of adolescents are based on new or current information for each vaccine. The most recent recommendations from AC1P, AAP, AAFP, and AMA concerning specific vaccines and delivery of preventive services should be consulted for details.     

Giant splenic metastasis due to lung adenocarcinoma

Lung cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in western countries and most of the patients present at advanced stages, but single splenic metastasis is exceptional instead. We report on a case of a seventy-three-year old male presenting with non-hemoptoic productive cough, constitutional syndrome and pain in the left lower quadrant. Physical examination and complementary radiological and hystologycal procedures revealed the presence of an adenocarcinoma of the left lung with probable splenic metastasis. The patient underwent splenectomy, which confirmed the diagnose of splenic metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma and, secondly, lung resection was performed. Topics about lung cancer metastasis are discussed.