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Biomedical subjects

Z Barzilay

Publications and source records attributed to Z Barzilay.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Pneumatic rupture of the esophagus caused by carbonated drinks.

Pneumatic rupture of the esophagus occurs when gas under pressure is accidentally delivered into the oral cavity. To the 4 cases previously described we add 2 pediatric patients and in both the source of the offending gas was a bottle of carbonated drink. The mild initial symptoms were followed in both by physical and radiographic findings suggesting pharyngoesophageal perforation. Early radiologic findings included free subcutaneous and mediastinal air, followed later by hydropneumothorax and mediastinal widening as well as leak of contrast material on gastrografin swallow. CT findings contributed to patient evaluation and management.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Computed tomography in children with esophageal and airway trauma.

Computed tomography (CT) was used in five children, four with esophageal and one with airway trauma. The examination contributed valuable information that aided in planning and evaluating therapy: (1) it assessed mediastinal and pleural cavity involvement prior to surgery or drainage; (2) it evaluated the efficacy of drainage; (3) it gave excellent information about the position of chest tubes; and (4) it demonstrated unsuspected pneumothoraces, pleural effusion, pulmonary infiltrates, and lung perforation by a chest tube. In the postoperative assessment of laryngotracheal fracture, neck radiographs were useless since the airways were obliterated by hematomas and edema. In this situation, CT showed the position and state of the laryngeal cartilages. However, CT findings were not pathognomonic for esophageal tears or airway fractures. The primary diagnosis was still made by conventional radiography. Esophageal tears were accurately demonstrated by gastrografin swallow and the tracheolaryngeal fracture was diagnosed by a lateral neck radiograph--the state of the child permitting no lengthy workup. CT and conventional radiography with contrast studies play a complementary role in esophageal and airway trauma in children.

Child↗
PubMed1988

Foreign body aspiration in childhood.

We studied 149 children aged seven months to 13 years (mean age 2.9 +/- 0.2 years) who had aspirated foreign bodies for age, sex, and type of foreign body. Symptoms, physical findings, chest x-ray, and fluoroscopy were compared with different sites of enlodgement. Positive history was obtained in 135 (91%). In 133 children, the diagnosis was made on admission. Frequent symptoms were cough (80%) and cyanosis (27%) following aspiration, while prevalent emergency department symptoms were cough (33%) and dyspnea (30%). Common physical findings on admission were decreased breath sounds (65%), tachypnea (43%), and fever (36%). Admission chest radiographs revealed emphysema (43%) and infiltrates or atelectasis (29%). Forty-one children (27%) were asymptomatic, and 43 children had normal chest x-ray. Fluoroscopy showed inspiratory mediastinal shift in 57%. Bronchoscopy performed within 48 hours of admission was successful in removing the foreign material in 88% of the children. Food particles were the most common type of foreign body. Hoarseness and stridor were significantly more common in upper airway enlodgement (P less than 0.01). Decreased breath sounds were significantly more common among children with lower airway enlodgement (P less than 0.001). A delay in diagnosis of longer than three weeks was associated with equivocal history of aspiration (P less than 0.05), and with significantly more wheezing (P less than 0.02) and atelectasis (P less than 0.01). Our study reemphasizes the importance of integrating various diagnostic tools in order to accurately evaluate and manage these children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

The diagnosis and management of acid-base imbalance.

The ability to obtain an arterial blood gas analysis within a few minutes in most medical facilities enables the clinician to rapidly evaluate the acid-base status of his or her critically ill patients and to treat disorders as they appear. Although acid-base charts, graphs, and nomograms are available and can help to establish a diagnosis of acid-base disorders, the common practice is that most emergency and critical care clinicians tend to interpret acid-base data rapidly, usually without using any of these tools. The intent of this discussion is to provide the clinician with the pathophysiologic background of acid-base imbalance, the diagnostic criteria for acid-base disturbances, and the clinical approach to management. The standard arterial blood gas analysis, serum and urine electrolytes, and clinical assessment of the alveolar ventilation are the only data upon which this discussion is based.

Acid-Base Imbalance↗
PubMed1988

Pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation outcome.

In order to identify factors that influence the outcome from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in children, we studied 69 children (mean age 2.5 +/- 0.4 years) who were apneic and pulseless prior to resuscitation, and treated in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) following CPR. Immediate success (restoration of spontaneous circulation and normal sinus rhythm) was noted in 54 (78%) patients. Forty-one (59%) were short-term survivors (greater than 24 h), and ten (14.5%) became long-term survivors (five recovered well, three moderately disabled, and two severely disabled). Fifty-nine (85%) died. Outcome was positively influenced by: 1) CPR duration; when less than five min., 54% were long-term survivors compared to 5% of patients resuscitated for more than five min (p less than 0.001). 2) Number of epinephrine doses: 38% of 24 patients receiving one dose became long-term survivors versus 0% of 26 receiving more than one dose (p less than 0.001). 3) Location of arrest; Fifty percent of patients resuscitated in the operation suite or catherization laboratory survived long-term compared to only 8% resuscitated in the PICU (p less than 0.03). Age, sex, cardiac rhythm, as well as metabolic and acid-base variables during resuscitation, did not significantly affect the outcome. Overall good neurologic survival was rare.

Acid-Base Imbalance↗
PubMed1988

Diabetes insipidus in severely brain damaged children.

Nineteen children aged four months to 15 years with diabetes insipidus (DI) secondary to severe brain insults were studied. The main primary brain insult was severe head injury in 12, anoxic ischemic brain damage in four, encephalitis in two, Reye's syndrome in one. Sixteen children died, and three survived. The time from insult to onset of polyuria varied from several hours to one month, and was significantly shorter in head trauma patients, 1.8 +/- 0.9 vs. 9.3 +/- 1.9 days for patients with anoxic ischemic brain damage (p less than 0.03). Twelve of the 19 patients met the criteria for brain death at onset of DI. Treatment by appropriate fluids and vasopressin resulted in resolution of polyuria and increase in urine osmolality. Ten patients developed DI while being treated with dopamine for hemodynamic support. In two of these patients, the cessation of dopamine was time-related to the resolution of DI. Our results indicate that as many as 15% of children with DI (with 95% confidence) following severe brain injury may survive. Hence, despite the overall poor prognosis, its occurrence does not necessarily indicate brain death.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Life-threatening cryptosporidiosis in immunocompetent infants.

Cryptosporidium infection in immunocompetent patients has been described as a mild self-limiting diarrhoea. We describe two immunocompetent infants presented with life-threatening protracted diarrhoea. These two cases expand on the clinical spectrum of cryptosporidiosis in normal hosts.

Cryptosporidiosis↗
PubMed1985

Assessment of intestinal and cardiorespiratory function in children with congenital heart disease on high-caloric formulas.

Fourteen infants with congenital heart disease were investigated for failure to thrive. Assessment of intestinal function revealed minor absorptive abnormalities (mild steatorrhea in three patients, bile salt loss in four patients), delayed gastric emptying, and abnormal triglyceride loading tests. Low caloric intake (88.3 +/- 19.3 kcal/kg/day) seemed the main reason for failure to gain weight. Weight accession and cardiorespiratory rates were monitored daily during voluntary intake, a high-caloric diet by mouth, and nasogastric tube feeding. Providing 169 +/- 29 kcal/kg/day by tube resulted in weight gain with mild and transient elevation of respiratory rate at the end of the meal and increased heart rate 90 min after the meal. This regimen is a metabolically inexpensive and efficient method of supporting weight gain in children with congenital heart disease.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1985

Diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in previously treated children.

We reviewed the charts of 115 children with the clinical diagnosis of bacterial meningitis admitted to our hospital over a period of eight years. Of these, 47 patients had received antimicrobial agents before hospitalization and eight (17%) of them had negative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures. These eight children, however, had CSF features suggestive of bacterial meningitis. We conclude that prior antimicrobial therapy does not alter the chemical properties of CSF, the response to pharmacologic agents, or the ultimate outcome, even though previously treated children may have lower rates of positive CSF and blood cultures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Interaction of CO2 and ammonia on cerebral blood flow and O2 consumption in dogs.

Studies of acutely induced hyperammonemia and chronic hyperammonemia associated with liver dysfunction suggest that cerebral blood flow (CBF) and O2 consumption (CMRO2) become uncoupled and that CMRo2 may depend on arterial CO2 tension (PaCO2). We examined CBF (radiolabeled microspheres) and CMRO2 during hypercapnia (PaCO2 congruent to 74 Torr) and hypocapnia (PaCO2 congruent to 21 Torr) both before and during intravenous ammonium acetate infusion in pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs. Continuous infusion over 120 min produced stable increases of arterial ammonia levels (1,400 mumol/l) by 30 min, whereas CBF, CMRO2, and O2 extraction (measured at sagittal sinus) remained unchanged when PaCO2 was held constant (congruent to 35 Torr). Acute hyperammonemia attenuated the increase in CBF during hypercapnia by 44% and abolished the decrease in CBF during hypercapnia. Regional blood flow to pons and midbrain increased under normocapnic conditions, and midbrain blood flow increased further during hypocapnia. Sodium acetate infusion did not affect CBF responses to CO2. Thus we failed to observe an uncoupling of global CBF and CMRO2 during normocapnic hyperammonemia, or an interaction of CO2 and ammonia on CMRO2, although the increased pons and midbrain blood flow may reflect regional effects of ammonia on reticular activating system metabolism. On the basis of the literature, we suggest that the attenuated hypercapnic CBF response may arise from impaired glial regulation of extracellular potassium and bicarbonate concentrations and that lactic acid production, enhanced by combined alkalosis and hyperammonemia, may contribute to the abolition of hypocapnic vasoconstriction.

Acetates↗
PubMed1984

Permanent cardiac pacing in congenital heart disease: a follow-up study of 20 patients.

Sinus nodal dysfunction (SND) and complete heart block (CHB) in congenital heart disease (CHD) are commonly associated with congestive heart failure, syncopal attacks, and sudden death. Permanent cardiac pacing (PCP) is required to avoid these manifestations which are frequently associated with a high rate of complications, particularly in the younger age group. Twenty patients with CHD aged 4 months to 46 years underwent pacemaker implantation. Twelve (60%) were less than 20 years of age. CHB was present in 15 patients: in 10 it developed 1 week to 11 years following surgery, in two it was congenital, and in three patients it developed spontaneously with previous conduction disturbances. SND was present in 5 patients: it was congenital in two patients and developed post-operatively in three. Seventeen patients are alive and no syncopal attacks or bradyarrhythmias were recorded 2.5 to 12.5 years following the initiation of PCP. Improvement in the cardiac output was noted in most patients with heart failure. The three patients who died had adequately functioning pacemakers. Only nine re-implantations were needed, seven of them in adult patients after closure of an atrial septal defect. Our experience indicates a favourable outcome for patients with CHD needing PCP.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Kinetics of intravenous phenytoin in children.

Single-dose intravenous phenytoin (9.4-21.3 mg/kg) effectively eradicated seizures within 3 minutes in 12 out of 13 patients in status epilepticus. Eleven additional patients were treated prophylactically. No adverse effects were observed and neurological status was unaltered in all 24 cases. Phenytoin volume of distribution was found to decline significantly with age from 1.6 L/kg at 1 year to 0.6 at 10 years (P less than 0.01). Estimates of Vmax, the maximal rate of phenytoin metabolism, were obtainable in 8/24 patients and were in the expected range (10.6 +/- 4.2 mg/kg/day) for their age (6.6 +/- 2.8 years). Therapeutic serum concentrations (initial post distribution values 17.9 +/- 9.0 micrograms/ml) were maintained for more than 10 hours in 15/24 patients. Single-dose intravenous phenytoin is both effective and safe in the treatment and prevention of epileptic seizures in pediatric patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Errors in computing drug doses.

The 85 members of the pediatric and neonatal divisions of a medical centre were tested for their ability to calculate the appropriate volumes of drugs commonly administered to pediatric patients. Of a total of 680 computations 43 (6.3%) were wrong. Half the errors would have led to either a 10-fold overdose or a dose a 10th of that prescribed. Significantly more of the errors (p less than 0.01) were made by the nurses in the neonatal division (11.5%) than by those in the pediatric division (3.4%). A deficiency in the in-service training of the nurses in the neonatal division appeared to contribute to the higher proportion of errors in this group. There was also a trend towards a greater chance of error as the length of professional experience increased. All medical personnel involved in the ordering and administration of drugs should be taught computing skills and be evaluated routinely.

Humans↗
PubMed1983

Corticosteroid treatment of laryngotracheitis v spasmodic croup in children.

We compared the efficacy of high-dose dexamethasone sodium phosphate (0.6 mg/kg) in laryngotracheitis (LT) v spasmodic croup (SC) in 72 children (age range, 8 months to 8 years) using a double-blind randomized protocol that measured the individual change in respirations as an objective variable to evaluate the outcome. Administration of dexamethasone did not change the respirations in the patients with LT and significantly decreased the respirations in the patients with SC, compared with the placebo group. Since, in most cases, the pediatrician will be able to differentiate between LT and SC at admission by history and clinical signs, it seems that steroid treatment should be avoided in cases of LT and may be of benefit in some cases of SC.

Acute Disease↗