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Biomedical subjects

S Albersheim

Publications and source records attributed to S Albersheim.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Congenital genitourinary tract abnormalities following cocaine exposure in utero.

The purpose of this study was to review the clinical and ultrasound experience of renal tract abnormalities associated with cocaine exposure in utero. We undertook a 3-year chart review of all infants admitted to British Columbia's Children's Hospital neonatal intensive care unit and Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children in order to identify patients with the diagnostic code for maternal drug or substance use. There were 136 neonates with a positive history or urine drug screen. Renal ultrasound scans had been performed on 79 patients. Ultrasound abnormalities were found in 11 patients (14%) and included horseshoe kidney (2), unilateral abnormal small kidney (1), duplex kidney (1), and renal tract dilation (8). Clinical findings were glandular (2) and juxtaglandular (1) hypospadias with chordee. The patients with hypospadias did not have other abnormalities or abnormal renal ultrasound scans. In our population of infants exposed to cocaine in utero we detected an increased incidence of hypospadias and an increased incidence of renal tract abnormalities. We conclude that cocaine exposure in utero may well be a risk factor for renal tract anomalies. However, a larger, longer-term prospective study is necessary before definitive recommendations can be given for routine screening by ultrasound of all infants exposed to cocaine in utero.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1989

Increased compliance in response to salbutamol in premature infants with developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

We compared the effect of salbutamol and placebo in a double-blind study of preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, using a randomized, crossover design with several replicates per subject. Sixty-two tests were performed on 20 ventilator-dependent infants weighing less than 1500 gm. Patients were entered as early as the first week of life and studied for at least 4 weeks or until extubation. Each subject was his own control subject and was randomly assigned to a placebo-salbutamol or salbutamol-placebo sequence administered on 2 consecutive days of each week. Static compliance, expiratory resistance of the respiratory system, and changes in transcutaneous oxygen and carbon dioxide tension were measured. Static compliance improved by 0.240 ml/cm H2O/kg (35.3%) after salbutamol and by 0.010 ml/cm H2O/kg (2.8%) after placebo (p less than 0.0001). The presence of a predetermined decrease in carbon dioxide tension correlated with large changes in static compliance per kilogram and with the need for a high level of fractional inspired oxygen. The magnitude of the clinical and physiologic improvement observed, and the early response suggest that long-term bronchodilator therapy starting as early as the second week of life may be beneficial for very low birth weight infants with early bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Albuterol↗
PubMed1988

Variability in 28-day outcomes for very low birth weight infants: an analysis of 11 neonatal intensive care units.

A retrospective study of all infants weighing 701 to 1,500 g born at 11 neonatal intensive care centers during 1983 and 1984 was performed to determine whether two specific 28-day outcomes, survival and survival without the need for supplemental oxygen, varied among the centers. Survival without the need for supplemental oxygen was chosen as a reflection of infants surviving without chronic lung disease. There were 1,776 live-born infants delivered during the 2-year study period. Of these infants, 85% (1,512) survived 28 days, a range of 80% to 92% at the individual centers. A total of 60% (1,056) of the infants were alive without supplemental oxygen on day 28, a range of 51% to 70% at the individual centers. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that both survival on day 28 (chi 2 = 23.9, P less than .01) and survival without supplemental oxygen on day 28 (chi 2 = 44.2, P less than .0001) varied significantly among centers after the effects of birth weight, gender, and race were taken into account. Female gender, nonwhite race, and increased birth weight were factors associated with improved rates of survival and survival without supplemental oxygen. The magnitude of outcome variation among centers was estimated by using the logistic regression models to predict what the outcomes would be if each center were to treat a standardized population consisting of all 1,776 study infants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1988

Age- and sex-specific pediatric reference intervals for biochemistry analytes as measured with the Ektachem-700 analyzer.

Using the Ektachem-700 multilayer film analyzer, we defined age- and sex-specific reference intervals for 20 analytes in sera from a healthy population of neonates and children ages one to 19 years. Upper and lower normal reference intervals for each analyte were determined by nonparametric methods as the 0.975 and 0.025 fractiles, respectively. Newborns have lower concentrations of total protein and albumin, and higher concentrations of phosphate, bilirubin, and enzymes in serum than older children do. Concentrations of urea, glucose, calcium, phosphate, and bilirubin change rapidly postnatally. Outside the neonatal period, no significant age- or sex-related difference was found for plasma glucose, serum amylase, conjugated or unconjugated bilirubin, or lipase. There was no sex-related difference in reference intervals for albumin, total protein, calcium, phosphate, or urea. However, concentrations of uric acid and creatine kinase are much higher in postpubertal boys than in girls. Alkaline phosphatase values peak later in boys. Except for lactate dehydrogenase and gamma-glutamyltransferase, the reference intervals defined here do not differ strikingly from data derived with use of other analyzers. The age- and sex-related trends are independent of method. However, each laboratory should determine the degree to which these reference ranges can be directly applied to analyses performed with another analyzer.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Effects of CO2 on immediate ventilatory response to O2 in preterm infants.

We wanted to know wheter the paradoxical response to CO2 under various background concentrations of O2 in preterm infants was mediated at the peripheral chemoreceptors. In five preterm infants we estimated peripheral chemoreceptor activity using the immediate change in ventilation (first 30 s) when 15%, 40%, 60%, or 100% O2 was substituted for 21% O2. Potentiation between O2 and CO2 was assessed by comparing the response with and without 4% CO2. CO2 enhanced the immediate hyperventilation with hypoxia (P less than 0.005) and reduced the immediate hypoventilation with hyperoxia (P less than 0.025 for 40% O2). This effect of CO2 increased from .00% to 15% O2 (P less than 0.05). These findings suggest: 1) CO2 interacts with O2 at the peripheral chemoreceptor level, and 2) because this interaction is more pronounced with hypoxia, the flatter CO2 response we observed with hypoxia was probably not mediated through the peripheral chemoreceptors and is likely to be central in origin.

Carbon Dioxide↗