Metabolic acidosis: response to albumin infusion.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to V Kavvadia.
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UNLABELLED: Infants born prematurely who develop chronic lung disease (CLD) have airways obstruction and hence may have low lung volume. The aim of this study was to test that hypothesis and ascertain whether the nature of the comparison control group influenced the results. Sixteen infants who were oxygen dependent for more than 28 days (CLD) and eight infants without CLD had measurements of functional residual capacity (FRC) at 14 and 28 days. The 16 CLD infants consisted of eight less than 27 weeks gestational age (group A) and eight greater than 26 weeks gestational age (group B). The eight infants without CLD (group C) were each matched for gestational age and gender to infants in group B. Group A compared to group C had lower FRCs both at 14 days (median 18 ml/kg vs 27 ml/kg, P < 0.01) and 28 days (median 20 ml/kg vs 26 ml/kg, P < 0.05), but group A differed from group C with respect to both gestational age (P < 0.01) and birth weight (P < 0.01). The FRC results of group B were lower than those of their matched controls (group C) only at 28 days (median 22 vs 26 ml/kg, P < 0.05). Overall, the FRC results at 14 and 28 days correlated significantly with the duration of oxygen and ventilator dependence and weakly with gestational age. CONCLUSION: These results support the hypothesis that FRC results are lower in infants with CLD compared to those without CLD when measured in the neonatal period and emphasize the importance of an appropriate control group. Measurement of lung volume may facilitate assessment of the response to therapies for CLD.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Chylothoraces have been reported rarely after congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) repair, but that is contrary to the authors' experience. The aim of this study was to audit the outcome of antenatally diagnosed CDH cases to determine the incidence, possible risk factors, and morbidity associated with chylothorax in CDH patents. METHODS: Twenty-four of 35 consecutive infants with CDH (69%) underwent surgical repair and survived the immediate postoperative period. RESULTS: Effusions developed in all 22 for whom chest radiographs were available. Six of the eight infants whose effusions required drainage had a chylothorax. Those six infants required a mean of 8 days of thoracentesis, during which a mean total volume of 358 mL/kg of fluid was removed. The infants remained on a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) formula for a mean of 81 days. The six infants with a chylothorax differed from the rest with respect to their duration of oxygen dependence (a median of 28.5 versus 15 days, P < .05) and hospital stay (a median of 5.5 versus 4 weeks, P < .05), but no significant risk factors for the development of a chylothorax were identified. CONCLUSION: Chylothorax is a relatively common cause of effusion after CDH repair and is associated with increased morbidity.
AIM: To determine whether the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is related to ethnic origin in very premature infants (< or = 32 weeks of gestational age and birthweight < or = 2.0 kg). METHOD: A retrospective cohort study was performed to determine the incidence of respiratory disorders in African, Caribbean, and caucasian infants. An African infant was matched with two infants (one of Caribbean and one of caucasian descent) for gestational age and birth order and, if several eligible matching infants were found, for gender and approximate birth date. Fifty African infants (median gestational age 28 weeks, range 23-32) were matched with an infant of Caribbean and one of caucasian descent. RESULTS: Compared with the incidence of RDS in African infants (40%), that in caucasian infants (75%) was significantly higher (p < 0.05), while the incidence in the Caribbean infants (54%) did not differ significantly. Regression analysis showed that ethnic origin was related to the occurrence of RDS independent of gestational age, size for dates, antenatal steroids, hypertension during pregnancy, premature rupture of membranes, maternal smoking, mode of delivery and infant gender. CONCLUSION: The enhanced lung maturation found in certain ethnic groups, even when born prematurely, has implications for clinical management.
AIM: To examine the delivered volume during "high volume strategy" high frequency oscillation, used as rescue treatment in preterm infants; and to identify factors, other than frequency and oscillatory amplitude, influencing the magnitude of volume delivery. METHOD: Twenty infants (median gestational age 29 weeks) were studied on 45 occasions. Two oscillator types were used (SensorMedics and SLE). Delivered volume was measured under clinical conditions with the arterial blood gases within a predetermined range. A specially calibrated pneumotachograph system was used. RESULTS: Overall, the median delivered volume was 2.4 ml/kg (range 1.0 to 3.6 ml/kg); on 32 occasions the delivered volume was greater than 2.0 ml/kg and on seven greater than 3.0 ml/kg. The delivered volume related significantly to disease severity; there was an inverse correlaton between delivered volume and both the oxygenation index (OI) (r = -0.51) and AaDO2 (r = -0.54). CONCLUSION: Delivered volume during HFO may, in certain infants, exceed the anatomical dead space, permitting some direct alveolar ventilation.
Exogenous surfactant administration improves respiratory function. The speed of improvement appears greater if a natural rather than an artificial surfactant is used, our aim was to determine if that effect was explained by differences in fluid balance, evidenced by the timing of the diuresis onset (i.e. output greater than input). Thirty infants (median gestational age 29 weeks), 10 given an artificial surfactant (Exosurf), 10 a natural surfactant (Survanta) and 10 no surfactant (controls) were studied. During the first three days, compliance and functional residual capacity were measured daily, arginine vasopressin (AVP) levels estimated on days 1, 3 and 5 and, in 8-hourly intervals, the median arterial/alveolar ratio was calculated for each individual and urine output and fluid input recorded. Throughout the three-day period, the median arterial/alveolar ratio was always significantly higher in the control compared to the two surfactant groups (p < 0.05). On day 3 the Exosurf-treated babies had lower compliance and functional residual capacity (p < 0.05) than the other two groups. Neither the timing of diuresis onset, timing of the maximum diuresis nor the AVP levels, however, differed significantly between the groups. Only surfactant treatment and type of surfactant, but not the timing of the onset nor of the maximum diuresis, related significantly to changes in lung function. These results do not support the hypothesis that differences in fluid balance explain differences in the lung function improvement rate following natural and artificial surfactant.
The response to three levels (10 ppm, 20 ppm and 40 ppm) of nitric oxide (NO) was assessed in 30 infants, median gestational age 30 (range 24-42) weeks. All the infants required an inspired oxygen concentration of more than 0.5, despite receiving surfactant where appropriate. All but one infant had a positive response to NO (median reduction in the oxygenation index (OI) was 33%, range -9%-90%), but only 20 infants showed a greater than 20% reduction in the OI. There was no obvious relationship of the optimum NO level (i.e. that associated with the maximum reduction in OI) and either diagnosis (congenital diaphragmatic hernia, meconium aspiration syndrome, respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PIE), hydrops and sepsis) or maturity, except that five of six infants with PIE responded best to 40 ppm, as did eight of nine infants less than 28 weeks gestational age. We conclude NO dosage should be individualized and NO levels up to 40 ppm should be considered in very immature infants.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Infants who have congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) have high mortality and morbidity. The aim of this study was to determine the relative ability of the results of serial measurements of compliance of the respiratory system (CRS) and lung volume (functional residual capacity (FRC)) to predict poor outcome: death or oxygen dependency at 28 days. In addition, the authors wished to document the evolution of any lung function abnormalities during the perioperative period. METHODS: Daily measurements of CRS and FRC were made in the first week of life and subsequently during week 2 in 16 infants who had a median gestational age of 38 weeks and birth weight of 3.2 kg. RESULTS: Seven infants had a poor outcome: five died and two others remained oxygen dependent beyond 28 days. The infants who had a poor outcome were characterized on day 1 by a significantly lower CRS, but not FRC (P < .05). In comparison with results from day 1, the median CRS of the infants overall had significantly improved only by week 2 (P < .05), there was no such significant change in FRC with increasing postnatal age. At week 2, only the CRS results differed significantly between those infants who had and who did not have poor outcome (P < .05). CONCLUSION: The results of serial measurements of CRS, rather than FRC are the more useful predictor of outcome in infants who have CDH.