[Steroid therapy in the nephrotic syndrome in children].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Akimoto.
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Measuring aortic distensibility has been shown to be useful in adults as a noninvasive method in the early detection of atherosclerosis. This study had two purposes: to assess the stiffness of the abdominal aorta by using two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) in healthy neonates, children, and adults and to assess aortic distensibility in children with Kawasaki disease in acute and subacute phases. The study comprised 168 healthy subjects and 40 patients with Kawasaki disease. We recorded systolic (Ps) and diastolic (Pd) blood pressure and measured aortic diameter (Dd) at both minimum diastolic pressure and maximum systolic expansion (Ds) by 2DE. These measurements were used to determine (1) aortic strain (S) = (Ds - Dd)/Dd, (2) pressure strain elastic modulus (Ep) = (Ps - Pd)/S, and (3) normalized Ep (Ep*) = Ep/Pd. Significant correlations were found between S and age, Ep and age, and Ep* and age. In Kawasaki disease, Ep and Ep* showed negative correlations to day after onset. The aorta was less distensible in infants, became soft in 12- to 16-year-olds, and then stiffened with increasing age among normal subjects. In Kawasaki disease, aortic stiffness was high at the acute phase and normal at the subacute phase. These tendencies may be related to the biological characteristics of smooth muscle cells.
Between 1981 and 1992 a total of 10 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) were detected by mass screening for heart disease in Tokyo's Adachi Ward. Four were first grade elementary school children and six were first grade junior high school adolescents. Two-dimensional echocardiography at the initial evaluation revealed asymmetric septal hypertrophy in four patients, diffuse hypertrophy of the left ventricle in five, and poor left ventricular contractility with wall thinning in one (dilated phase). Three of the five patients with diffuse hypertrophy progressed to asymmetric septal hypertrophy during the average 4-year follow-up period. The degree of septal thickness and the left ventricular wall thickness index were significantly less than in those of young adult controls (12 +/- 3 versus 21 +/- 9 mm, p < 0.05; and 22 +/- 4 versus 28 +/- 16 mm, p < 0.05, respectively). Right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy specimens obtained from 9 of the 10 patients showed features typical of HCM (e.g., myocyte hypertrophy with myofibril disarray) in five patients and atypical features (mainly interstitial fibrosis with perivascular cell infiltration) in another four. One patient with dilated phase disease died of congestive heart failure 6 months after the initial evaluation. These results indicate that HCM detected during mass screening is a mild form of the disease and may have atypical pathologic features, such as interstitial fibrosis and perivascular cell infiltration, mimicking the sequela of chronic myocarditis.
PURPOSE: Little information is available about the dilatation mechanism in children. This prospective study aimed to (1) evaluate the dilatation mechanism of balloon angioplasty in children with arterial stenosis, and (2) compare the morphological changes seen by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and angiography. METHODS: Twenty consecutive patients, who had undergone a total of 23 procedures, were examined before and immediately after balloon angioplasty with a 4.3 Fr, 30 MHz rotational tip IVUS system. The lesions for IVUS study had resulted from coarctation of the aorta in six patients, pulmonary arterial stenosis in five, Blalock-Taussig shunt stenosis in three, subclavian artery stenosis in two, renal artery stenosis in two, coronary artery stenosis in one and ductus arteriosus in one. RESULTS: Four distinctive morphological types were identified: type I with arterial stretching, type IIa with superficial tearing, type IIb with deep intimal-medial tearing, type III with flap formation, and type IV with dissection. The diameter of the narrowest site before and after balloon angioplasty increased significantly from 2. 1 +/- 1.4 mm to 4.6 +/- 3.4 mm (p < 0.001). Eighteen of the 23 angioplasty procedures (78%) were considered to be successful, with a dilatation ratio of more than 50%. In most patients with successful dilatation, non-stretch mechanisms such as tearing, flap formation, or dissection were found. The positive percent (70%) of non-stretch mechanisms seen by IVUS was significantly higher than the positive findings (39%) by angiography (Chi2 = 6.47, p < 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Non-stretch morphology of the arterial wall may be a common mechanism of dilatation after balloon angioplasty in children with arterial stenosis. IVUS is a useful modality for evaluating the effectiveness of balloon angioplasty and the mechanism of dilatation in individual cases.
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This study of seventeen patients presenting to the emergency room with acute severe asthma determined levels of antidiuretic hormone in serum as well as serum electrolytes and arterial blood gases serially. There was a progressive increase in plasma ADH concentration with severe asthma and ADH levels were substantially higher in those patients with PaCO2's higher than 45 Torr. Patients treated with intravenous aminophylline had a fall in ADH levels while those treated with injectable epinephrine showed an elevation of these levels. As the asthma improved, ADH levels decreased in all patients. In this series of children, sick for not more than 24 hours, serum sodium levels were normal. However, children who have been ill for longer periods than this or who are on prolonged intravenous fluid therapy need close monitoring of serum electrolyte concentrations.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of gap width on bone healing around implants placed into simulated extraction socket defects of varying widths in 10 mongrel dogs. All premolars were removed and the alveolar ridges were reduced to a width of 7 mm. Nine weeks later, a total of 80 implants, 10 mm long by 3.3 mm wide, were placed into osteotomy sites prepared to 3 different diameters in the coronal half, simulating extraction sockets. Three experimental sites, with gap sizes of 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, and 1.4 mm, were created; the control sites had no gap. The depth of each defect was measured at the time of implant placement. All implants were stable at the time of placement. The dogs were euthanized 12 weeks after implant placement, and blocks containing the implants and adjacent bone were submitted for histologic evaluation. Clinically, all control and test sites healed, with complete bone fill in the defect. Percentages of bone-to-implant contact were measured histologically. As the gap widened, the amount of bone-to-implant contact decreased, and the point of the highest bone-to-implant contact shifted apically. These changes were statistically significant (P < .001). No statistically significant differences in bone-to-implant contact were found between the sites when the apical 4 mm of implants were compared. Within the limits of this study, the simulated extraction socket defects healed clinically, with complete bone fill, regardless of the initial gap size. However, the width of the gap at the time of implant placement had a significant impact on the histologic percentage and the height of bone-to-implant contact.
The effects of dietary supplementation of sesamin on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary carcinogenesis in female Sprague-Dawley rats were studied. Experimental diets containing 0.2% sesamin (an equiweight mixture of sesamin and episesamin) or 0.2% alpha-tocopheryl acetate were given to rats starting 1 week before intragastric administration of DMBA (10 mg/rat). Sesamin significantly (p less than 0.05) reduced the cumulative number of palpable mammary cancers by 36% at 12 weeks post-DMBA administration compared with animals on a control diet. Alpha-tocopheryl acetate inhibited both the incidence and the cumulative number of mammary tumors by 20% and 45%, respectively. Concentrations of lipid peroxides in plasma, liver and tumors were all decreased in both sesamin and alpha-tocopheryl acetate groups. The activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) increased in rats fed sesamin (140 to 150% of the control and alpha-tocopheryl acetate groups). Fatty acid compositions of plasma, liver and tumor phosphatidylcholine showed a decreased tendency of the metabolism of linoleic acid to arachidonic acid and hence of the plasma concentration of prostaglandin E2 in the sesamin group. The inhibitory effect of sesamin on DMBA-induced mammary carcinogenesis may be ascribed, at least in part, to immunopotentiation and increased antioxidative activity.
Thirteen asthmatic children were enrolled in a swimming program during five days. Pulmonary function test before and after swimming training was evaluated. Training did not change pulmonary function values, and asthmatic children improved swimming distance and enhanced swimming ability. No side effects were observed during study. After asthma can questionnaires indicated a high degree of enthusiasm and acceptance of the program by children and parents.