[Bacterial pneumopathies of the newborn: diagnostic and therapeutic aspects]. / Pneumopathies bactériennes du nouveau-né: aspects diagnostiques et thérapeutiques.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the diagnosis and therapeutic management of bacterial pneumopathies in a neonatology unit located in a tropical area. METHODS: Transverse and prospective survey over an 18-month period. The diagnosis was based on the comparison of anamnestic features with clinical, biological and radiological features. A research was made in order to determine the causal agent in the blood, in cerebrospinal fluid, in urines, in pleural liquid and skin lesions. A treatment by two antibiotics was administered through parenteral route. RESULTS: Risk factors were found in 61 selected patients. Polypnea was associated with signs of respiratory distress in 53 patients. Blood abnormalities were present in 47, 5% of the cases. All the patients showed a positive C reactive protein and abnormal X-rays. The diagnosis was confirmed bacteriologically in 32, 8% of the cases. The association of a third-generation cephalosporin with an aminoside was prescribed in 44 cases. The initial antibiotic therapy was not relevant in 19, 7% of the cases. The lethality rate was 24, 6%. The scarcity of bacteriological confirmation led us to consider the combination of radiological abnormalities with respiratory distress as significant symptoms of bacterial pneumopathy. Biological and anamnestic features were considered as extra elements. CONCLUSION: The severity of clinical features, the nature of germs and their sensitivity to antibiotics in our local environment led us to recommend a large prescription of third-generation cephalosporins combined to aminoglycosides.

[Reference values of cardiac volume in children and adults of the Ivory Coast]. / Valeurs de référence du volume cardiaque d'enfants et d'adultes ivoiriens.

The cardiac volume in decubitus was measured by Rohrer radiological method in 229 subjects, of which 150 were children of both sexes, aged 4 to 16 and 79 were adult males, 17 to 50 years old. Anthropometric parameters and maximum O2 consumption were also measured. Considering that the size of thorax in Ivory Coast natives is significantly smaller than that of a Caucasian, an eventual influence over the cardiac volume was looked for. Results showed that: -- in the child, the cardiac, volume increased linearly with age: 162 ml at 4 and 680 ml at 16; -- significant positive correlations were found between the cardiac volume, the body-weight andusrface, and the measurements of the thorax; -- when compared to data found in the literature, the cardiac volumes of children and adults of the Ivory Coast in relation with the body weight or surface are lower than the values found in Caucasians; -- children who have been swimming for two years and adults from the national swimming team have a cardiac volume significantly superior to that of Ivory controls; for these subjects, results are equivalent to those of Caucasians; -- there is a highly significant positive correlation between the cardiac volume and the maximum oxygen consumption. To compare values of cardiac volume in different populations, it is necessary that the groups of subjects be very homogeneous and have a comparable level of activity.

Studies on guinea pig skin cell cultures. V. Co-culture of pigmented melanocytes and albino keratinocytes, a model for the study of pigment transfer.

Mixed cultures of melanocytes (M) and keratinocytes (K) are easily obtained from pigmented guinea pig ear skin. They are suitable for the study of pigment transfer from M to K. However, quantitation is difficult because many K are already loaded with pigment prior to cultivation. A technique is presented in which pigment-producing M are co-cultured with K of albino origin. Pigmented guinea pig ear skin is split with trypsin and basal cells including M are harvested. The cell suspension is treated with sodium citrate which prevents the attachment of K (but not of M) to the culture substrate. Ninety per cent pure M cultures are obtained. Five to seven days later, another basal cell suspension is prepared, this time from albino ear skin. This second suspension is seeded on top of the pigment-forming culture of M. The number of contacts between albino K and pigment-forming M increases as a direct function of time. Contrarily, the number of K which become pigmented increases until the fifth day of co-culture and decreases thereafter.