Respiratory outcomes and atopy in school-age children who were preterm at birth, with and without bronchopulmonary dysplasia

OBJECTIVE: To assess pulmonary function and the prevalence of atopy in school-age children who were very low birth weight as infants and to compare those who had bronchopulmonary dysplasia to those who did not. METHOD: We studied 85 (39 male and 46 female) at a mean age of 84 (range, 62 to 107) months who were very low birth weight infants. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia was defined as oxygen dependency at 36 weeks gestational age. We excluded 8 patients (4 for cerebral palsy and 4 for no collaboration). Detailed perinatal and clinical data were collected. Lung function was evaluated using conventional spirometry. Atopy (assessed by the allergy skin-prick test) was considered when at least one positive skin test occurred in a panel of the most common environmental allergens in the local region. Comparisons between the bronchopulmonary dysplasia and no bronchopulmonary dysplasia groups were performed using the Mann-Whitney, x2 and Fisher's exact tests. RESULTS: We compared the bronchopulmonary dysplasia (n = 13) and no bronchopulmonary dysplasia (n = 64) groups. Atopy was observed in 4 (30.8 percent) of the bronchopulmonary dysplasia patients and in 17 (26.6 percent) of the no bronchopulmonary dysplasia patients (p = 0.742). Two (15.4 percent) patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia had a family history of atopy vs. 17 (26.6 percent) in the no bronchopulmonary dysplasia group (p = 0.5). Lung function tests showed airway obstruction in 2 (15.4 percent) of the bronchopulmonary dysplasia patients and in 10 (15.6 percent) of the no bronchopulmonary dysplasia patients (p = 1.0). Four (33.3 percent) of the bronchopulmonary dysplasia patients had small airway obstruction vs. 14 (22.2 percent) of the no bronchopulmonary dysplasia patients (p = 0.466). CONCLUSION: Our data showed no significant differences in lung function between bronchopulmonary dysplasia and no bronchopulmonary dysplasia patients at school age and no evidence of an association between atopy and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Análise da textura de músculos peitorais submetidos à fixação e conservação em álcool / Tenderness analysis of muscles fixed and kept in alcohol

A textura, ou maciez, pode ser avaliada pela mensuração da força necessária para ocorrer o cisalhamento das fibras musculares. Objetivou-se, nesse trabalho, a análise da textura de músculos submetidos à fixação e conservação em álcool, ao longo de um ano, mediante uso de um aparelho analisador de textura. Foram utilizados 48 peitos de frangos jovens, pesados, fixados e conservados em álcool etílico 96° GL. As análises foram realizadas após 15, 30, 90, 180 e 360 dias de conservação, além do grupo controle de músculos frescos. Os valores da força de cisalhamento dos diferentes grupos aumentaram progressivamente de 3,38 (grupo controle) até 15,31 Kgf (180 dias), caindo para 9,53 Kgf após 360 dias. Concluiu-se que quando músculos são submetidos à fixação e conservação em álcool 96° GL, ocorre diminuição da maciez, tornando-os quase cinco vezes mais rígidos ao corte após seis meses, e três vezes mais rígidos após um ano. Sugere-se que a dissecção de peças anatômicas musculares ocorra até 90 dias após fixação e conservação em álcool 96° GL ou ao redor de um ano nesse agente conservante, pois há menor rigidez tissular nesses períodos. Embora se tenha estudado o efeito do álcool na textura de tecido muscular de aves, acredita-se que, devido à grande homogeneidade tissular neste caso, tais dados possam ser extrapolados ou servir de base para estudos similares em outras espécies.

Texture, or tenderness, may be evaluated by measuring the force necessary to cause rupture of muscle fibers. The aim of this paper was to analyze the texture of muscles fixed and kept in alcohol, throughout a year, by using a texture analyzer. Forty eight poultry breasts were weighted, fixed and kept in a 96° GL ethylic alcohol solution. Analyses were performed at 15, 30, 90, 180 and 360 days of conservation, besides the one of the control group of fresh breasts. Values of shear forces of different groups increased progressively from 3.38 (control group) to 15.31 Kgf (180 days), decreasing to 9.53Kgf after 360 days. It was concluded that when muscles are fixed and kept in ethylic alcohol 96° GL the tenderness is decreased, becoming almost five times harder during the first six months and three times harder after a year. It is suggested that muscle anatomic pieces dissection occurs up to 90 days after fixation and conservation in 96° GL alcohol or around 1 year on this conservation product because there is smaller muscle stiffness in these times. Although the alcohol effect in texture of poultry muscle tissue has being studied in this paper, it is believed that, due this great tissue homogeneity, these data might be taken or being basis to similar studies in other species.