ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The relationship between chest X-ray findings and respiratory indices, including the arterial-alveolar oxygen partial pressure ratio(a/APO2) and the ventilatory index(VI), indicators of the clinical respiratory status in neonates with respiratory distress syndrome(RDS), was examined in the present study. METHODS: The records of 50 neonates, randomly chosen from 174 neonates treated with pulmonary surfactant(PS) in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Kyunghee University Hospital from 1996 to 2000 were analyzed retrospectively. Chest radiographs taken at the time after birth were classified into four groups according to Bomsel's classification. The a/APO2 and VI values were calculated and compared with the corresponding chest radiographs. RESULTS: Among the 50 cases of RDS examined, three cases were classified into grade I(6%), eight cases into grade II(16%), 20 cases into grade III(40%), and 19 cases into grade IV(38%). The mean a/APO2 of the cases classified into grades I or II was 0.32 and the mean a/APO2 of those classified into grades III and IV was 0.18 and 0.09, respectively. The mean VI was 0.049 for the cases classified into grades I or II and 0.076 and 0.161 for those classified into grades III and IV, respectively. CONCLUSION: The severity of RDS according to chest X-ray findings correlate to the values of respiratory indices, a/APO2 and VI.
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant, Newborn , Classification , Intensive Care, Neonatal , Oxygen , Partial Pressure , Parturition , Radiography, Thoracic , Retrospective Studies , ThoraxABSTRACT
The congenital nasal piriform aperture stenosis (CNPAS) is a rare cause of neonatal airway obstruction and could be easily mistaken as the choanal stenosis or atresia. The piriform aperture is a term used to refer to the anterior nasal openings. The nasal airway obstruction in the neonate can result in respiratory difficulties and may be going to life threatening consequences. Computed tomography demonstrates in detail the underlying anatomic abnormalities which allows differentiation of the CNPAS from other upper airway abnormalities. We reported a case of CNPAS, a 1-month-old male infant presented with respiratory difficulties. Shortly after birth, he had mild respiratory difficulties and there was difficulty passing a nasal catheter intranasally. But he was improved through only conservative management and discharged at the age of 5 days. At the age of 1 month, CT scan revealed bilateral CNPAS.
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Airway Obstruction , Catheters , Constriction, Pathologic , Nasal Obstruction , Parturition , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The authors carried out this study to determine the relationship between vigabatrin (VGB) and visual field defect. METHODS: Seventy eight patients older than 8 years who had epilepsy which had developed and been diagnosed, and were receiving add-on therapy, were the subjects of this study. If suspicious results were obtained from the initial test with the Humphrey automatic perimeter, the patient was tested again with the Goldman perimeter. Follow-up examinations were performed on these patients after 6 months. RESULTS: In this study, five of the 78 patients had suspicious primary test results, but upon the second examination they were all found to be normal. Thus there were no patients with visual field defects. CONCLUSIONS: VGB is a drug which may cause visual field defects, but in this study no patients presented with this symptom. Instead of limiting the use of VGB due to the adverse effect of visual field defect in the initial treatment of partial seizure and infantile spasm untreatable with other medication, if used with care it may not cause serious problems. Screening for visual defect is recommended, and in patients taking VGB regular examination is necessary.
Subject(s)
Child , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Epilepsy , Follow-Up Studies , Mass Screening , Seizures , Spasms, Infantile , Vigabatrin , Visual FieldsABSTRACT
No abstract available.