BACKGROUND AND STUDY PURPOSE To assess the incidence of cardiac and metabolic adverse events in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants receiving systematic steroids. PATIENTS AND METHODS Prospective single centre audit in VLBW infants (<1,500 g) at the neonatal intensive care unit at the University Children's Hospital of Saarland, Germany. RESULTS A total of 72 VLBW infants (38 female) were i...

To compare the efficacy and safety of low osmolar oral rehydration salts solution (ORS-75) (mmol/L: Na+ 75, osmolarity 245) with that of World Health Organization-recommended ORS (ORS-90) (mmol/L: Na+ 90, osmolarity 311 ) in the treatment of acute watery diarrhoea in neonates and very young infants, a randomized double-blind, controlled clinical trial was carried out at the Clinical Research an...

Clinical assessment of intravascular volume and laboratory investigations are essential to guide perioperative fluid therapy. Thirst, skin turgor, hydrationofmucousmembranes, core– peripheral temperature gradient, pulse rate and volume, changes in blood pressure in the upright position and urine output are invaluable clues to the state of hydration. However, haemodynamic variables are affected ...

Case 1. She was the tenth-born in her family and weighed 2.75 kg. (6 lb.) at birth. She also was fed on Ostermilk No. 2, reconstituted as follows: 2* measures Ostermilk No. 2+3* measures water+ 1 teaspoonful of sugar, four-hourly. Her initial sodium level was 194 mEq/l., potassium 7.1 mEq/l., and chloride 156 nIEq/l. The carbon dioxide combining power was 17 mEq/l., and the blood urea nitrogen ...

BACKGROUND Hypervolemic hypernatremia is caused by an increase in total exchangeable Na(+) and K(+) in excess of an increment in total body H(2)O (TBW). Unlike patients with hypovolemic or euvolemic hypernatremia, treatment needs to be targeted at correcting not only the elevated plasma Na(+) concentration, but also there is an additional requirement to achieve negative H(2)O balance to correct...

A 14-year-old boy presented to the trauma unit at our tertiary hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to the left eye. Clinical examination showed that he was alert and haemodynamically stable, but blind in the left eye, with no CSF rhinorrhoea. His pubertal status (Tanner stage S3) and height (1·7 m, 75th percentile) were appropriate for his chronological age. Skull radiography and a CT sca...

METr~OX~LtraANE ( 1,1 difluoro, 2,2 diehloro ethyl methyl ether) was first investigated as an anaesthetic in dogs by Van Poznak and Artusio, and, subsequently in 1960, Artusio e t al . ' reported on the clinical use in man. It is estimated that since that time, approximately 15 million methoxyflurane anaesthetics have been administered. The clinical advantages of its u s e have been found in it...

INTRODUCTION Patients with haematological malignancy admitted to intensive care have a high mortality. Adverse prognostic factors include the number of organ failures, invasive mechanical ventilation and previous bone marrow transplantation. Severity-of-illness scores may underestimate the mortality of critically ill patients with haematological malignancy. This study investigates the relations...

This well-established textbook , now in its Third edition, provides an attractive, authorative and integrated review of organ function and systems interactions in the normal body. The authors have two particular aims – to emphasise cellular physiology and to discuss the relevance of normal function to disturbed organ function or patho-physiology. The clear diagrams and coherent text will attrac...

We read with interest the paper by Kaufman et al' on neonatal cholestasis and hypopituitarism. We have been treating a similar patient whose problems were complicated by diabetes insipidus of pituitary origin. She was referred from another hospital at the age of 1 month for assessment of secondary hypothyroidism, cholestatic jaundice, temperature instability, and microcephaly. She was born at 4...