Cross-sectional internal diameters of radial, thoracodorsal, and dorsalis pedis arteries in children: relationship to subject sex, age, and body size.

The purpose of this study was to determine the average diameter of the radial, thoracodorsal, and dorsalis pedis arteries in a pediatric population and to evaluate the relationship of these measurements to the subject's age, sex, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI). The internal diameters of the radial, thoracodorsal, and dorsalis pedis arteries were non-invasively studied in 45 normotensive, presumed normal children of various ages (4 to 14 years) with the use of a Doppler system. The average diameters of the radial, thoracodorsal, and dorsalis pedis arteries in females and males were as follows: radial artery 1.39 (SD +/- 0.18) mm and 1.57 (SD +/- 0.18) mm; thoracodorsal artery 1.27 (SD +/- 0.11) mm and 1.36 (SD +/- 0.2) mm; and dorsalis pedis artery 1.22 (SD +/- 0.08) mm and 1.34 (SD +/- 0.12) mm. These were correlated with the age, height, weight, and BMI. Gender had a strong influence on the diameter of these arteries. In a linear regression model, weight was found to be statistically the best independent variable for predicting radial and dorsalis pedis diameters, whereas age was the best predictor for the diameter of the thoracodorsal artery. The diameters of these three arteries in an age group of 4 to 14 years ranged between 1 to 2 mm. The age and weight of the children predicted the diameters of the peripheral arteries.

Retinal nerve fibre layer measurements are reduced in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

PURPOSE: To determine the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) in order to investigate the possibility of detecting early signs of glaucoma in this population. METHODS: A total of 66 consecutive patients admitted for polysomnographic evaluation of suspected OSAS. Patients underwent an overnight sleep study in an effort to diagnose and determine the severity of OSAS. Patients who had the disease were classified as having mild and severe OSAS, while patients who did not have the disease were classified as controls. All patients received physical, neurological, and ophthalmological evaluation including visual acuity, slit-lamp examination, Goldmann applanation tonometry, gonioscopy with a three mirror contact lens, and fundus examination. After these examinations, patients with glaucoma and patients who had ophthalmological and/or systemic disease known to affect RNFL thickness were excluded from the study. The RNFL thickness was assessed with a scanning laser polarimeter (Nerve Fiber Analyzer GDx, Laser Diagnostic Technologies Inc., San Diego, CA, USA). RESULTS: A total of 34 patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (19 mild, 15 severe) and 20 age-matched controls were included in the study. The thickness of RNFL was reduced in patients with OSAS compared to controls. The decrease in RNFL was found to be correlated with the severity of sleep apnoea (r=0.78, P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The sleep apnoea syndrome is correlated with a proportional decrease in the RNFL. Decreased ocular perfusion related to hypoxia and vasospasm associated with OSAS may cause RNFL thinning, which may precede clinically detectable glaucoma.

Efficacy of calcium dobesilate in treating acute attacks of hemorrhoidal disease.

PURPOSE: A randomized, double-blind, controlled study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of oral calcium dobesilate therapy in treating acute attacks of internal hemorrhoids. METHODS: Twenty-nine well-documented adult patients with first- or second-degree internal hemorrhoids were treated with calcium dobesilate for two weeks, while16 patients received only a high-fiber diet to serve as control. Both symptoms and anoscopic inflammation were scored on a scale from 0 to 2 before (T0) and two weeks after treatment (T2). RESULTS: A success rate of 86.21 percent with cessation of bleeding plus lack of severe anitis anoscopically at two weeks were achieved with calcium dobesilate. The pretreatment symptom score of 2 fell significantly to 0.45 +/- 0.13, and the pretreatment anitis score of 1.69 +/- 0.09 fell to 0.55 +/- 0.12 at T2 (P = 0.0001 for both comparisons). The symptom and anoscopic inflammation scores obtained with calcium dobesilate treatment were also significantly better than those with diet only (P = 0.0017 and P = 0.0013, respectively). CONCLUSION: Together with recommendations about diet and bowel discipline, oral calcium dobesilate treatment provides an efficient, fast, and safe symptomatic relief from acute symptoms of hemorrhoidal disease. This symptomatic healing is associated with a significant improvement in the anoscopically observed inflammation.

The effect of pentoxifylline on the healing of intestinal anastomosis in rats with experimental obstructive jaundice.

The aims of this study were (1) to investigate the effect of experimental obstructive jaundice on the healing of intestinal anastomosis, and (2) to investigate the effect of pentoxifylline on the healing of intestinal anastomosis in rats with obstructive jaundice. Obstructive jaundice was induced in rats by the ligation and division of the common bile duct. Four days after this operation, either pentoxifylline or isotonic saline solution was administered intraperitoneally to these jaundiced rats and controls, and then intestinal anastomosis was performed. The concentrations of serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and serum triglyceride of jaundiced and nonjaundiced rats were measured, and the quality of healing was evaluated by measuring the bursting pressure and hydroxyproline content of the anastomoses on the fifth and tenth days of anastomotic healing. Obstructive jaundice resulted in an impaired wound healing of the intestinal anastomosis in the rats. The administration of pentoxifylline to the jaundiced rats resulted in better anastomotic wound healing. The beneficial effects of pentoxifylline on anastomotic healing in rats with obstructive jaundice was attributed to its inhibitor effect on the endotoxin-induced TNF-alpha release from macrophages and monocytes, and the stabilizing effect on the neutrophils.

Etiological and demographical characteristics of acute adult poisoning in Ankara, Turkey.

1. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate etiological and demographical characteristics of acute adult poisoning patients during 1 year at a university hospital in Ankara, Turkey. 2. Two-hundred and twenty-eight adults (of which 180 were suicidal poisoning cases) were admitted to the emergency center with acute poisonings. This was 0.7% of all emergency admissions. The female-to-male ratio was 3:1, and the majority of patients (63.6%) were below the age of 25 years. 3. Drugs were the major cause in 75. 9% of the cases, followed by inhalation of gases (17.6%), food (2. 6%), corrosives (2.2%), pesticides (0.9%), and alcohol (0.9%). Analgesics were the most common cause of drug poisoning (29.7% of all substances). There were no fatalities. 4. It is important to realize that this study is a hospital-based study, and hence it may be considered difficult to draw conclusions for the whole population of Turkey. However, we consider that the reason for such a high ratio of analgesic poisoning is probably due to the habit of extensive analgesic prescribing in Ankara, which is the capital of Turkey.