[Evaluation of peripherally inserted central catheters in a pediatric population]. / Évaluation des cathéters centraux à insertion périphérique en population pédiatrique.

A peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) is a central venous access mostly used in France in the adult population, whereas it is only rarely used in the pediatric population. The main objective of this study was to analyze a cohort of children treated with PICCs inserted under radiological guidance. We conducted a single-center study in the Radiology department of Nice University Hospital and the Lenval Foundation Children's Hospital. During a 43-month period between November 2008 and June 2012, a total of 67 catheter placement attempts were performed in 57 pediatric patients aged from 7 months to 18 years. We achieved 95.5% technical success with a median procedure duration of 17min. Only 6% of the PICC placements required light intravenous sedation; all the others were performed using a combination of local anesthesia, EMLA cream, and equimolar mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide (EMONO). Subjective scale analysis of pain during catheter insertion showed a median score of 2.1. Catheter life ranged from 1 to 210 days (median, 38.3 days) with the treatment fully completed in 75% of the cases. The overall complication rate was 18.7% (4.9 per 1000 catheter-days), largely dominated by mechanical complications (9.4%) such as accidental removal (6.2%) or catheter obstruction (3.1%). Infectious complications occurred in 7.8% of the patients. The duration of catheterization and the use of tape to secure the catheter significantly affected the occurrence of complications. Peripheral insertion of central catheters was highly feasible in infants and children. It is a simple, safe, and effective alternative to intravenous central devices in the pediatric population. The occurrence of complications, typically mechanical, must be reduced and prevented by strict management of this type of central line by the nursing team.

Simultaneous determination of six triazolic pesticide residues in apple and pear pulps by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet diode array detection.

A method is described for the simultaneous determination of diclobutrazol, flusilazole, flutriafol, hexaconazole, paclobutrazol, and tetraconazole in apple and pear pulps used in baby food at a limit of 0.01 mg/kg. Apple and pear pulp samples are subjected to selective solid-phase microdispersion (SPMD) with SPE-ED Matrix-38 and acetone-cyclohexane, and the extracts are cleaned up on a Florisil cartridge with hexane-cyclohexane-acetone. The extracts are then analyzed by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection, using an octadecylsilane column with a gradient-programmed acetonitrile-water mobile phase. Recoveries were determined by spiking apple and pear pulps with the 6 pesticides under investigation at 0.1, 0.05, 0.03, and 0.01 mg/kg. Six determinations were performed at each level for each pesticide. Recoveries were > or = 70% at the 0.01 mg/kg level.

Determination of daminozide residues in apple pulp using HPLC-DAD-UV.

This paper reports an HPLC-UV method to determine daminozide residues in apple pulps adopting the recently introduced EU limit of 0.01 mg/kg for baby food preparation (Commission Directive 1999/39/CE). The method is based on alkaline hydrolysis of daminozide to N',N'-dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), which is recovered by distillation and subsequently derivatizated with salicyl aldehyde to salicyl aldehyde-N,N-dimethylhydrazone under strongly basic conditions. The resulting solution was cleaned up with Extrelut 20 NT and dichloromethane as eluent, then analyzed by HPLC with a C18 column and a mobile phase programmed from 50:50 AcCN/H(2)O to 100% AcCN. The salicyl aldehyde-N,N-dimethylhydrazone was selectively detected through two diagnostic UV absorption maxima at 295 and 325 nm, which have strong molar absorbivities. Recoveries of daminozide at 0.01 mg/kg were above 80%. The limits of detection (LODs) of salicyl aldehyde-N,N-dimethylhydrazone expressed as daminozide concentration were 100 pg/microL at 295 nm and 150 pg/microL at 325 nm, and the limits of quantitation (LOQs) of daminozide were 0.0013 mg/kg at 295 nm and 0.0022 mg/kg at 325 nm.