Visualization of haemophilic arthropathy in F8-/- rats by ultrasonography and micro-computed tomography.

INTRODUCTION: A major complication of haemophilia is haemophilic arthropathy (HA), a debilitating disorder with an incompletely defined pathobiology. High-resolution imaging may provide new knowledge about onset and progression of HA, and thereby support identification of new treatment opportunities. Recently, a F8-/- rat model of HA was developed. The size of the rat allows for convenient and high resolution imaging of the joints, which could enable in vivo studies of HA development. AIM: To determine whether HA in the F8-/- rat can be visualized using ultrasonography (US) and micro-computed tomography (µCT). METHODS: Sixty F8-/- and 20 wild-type rats were subjected to a single or two induced knee bleeds. F8-/- rats were treated with either recombinant human FVIII (rhFVIII) or vehicle before the induction of knee bleeds. Haemophilic arthropathy was visualized using in vivo US and ex vivo µCT, and the observations correlated with histological evaluation. RESULTS: US and µCT detected pathologies in the knee related to HA. There was a strong correlation between disease severity determined by µCT and histopathology. rhFVIII treatment reduced the pathology identified with both imaging techniques. CONCLUSION: US and µCT are suitable imaging techniques for detection of blood-induced joint disease in F8-/- rats and may be used for longitudinal studies of disease progression.

Gas chromatographic analysis of volatile sulfur compounds from heated milk using static headspace sampling.

An investigation was conducted to test the feasibility of using gas chromatography with static headspace sampling as an objective tool to measure milk flavor quality. Heated milk off-flavor was chosen for study. Different strategies were tried for increasing the sensitivity of a commercially available headspace method, including salting out with sodium sulfate, cryofocusing during injection, and applying backpressure to the sampling loop. With the aid of a sulfur-specific detector, the resulting system was sufficiently sensitive to detect the sulfur volatiles, H2S and dimethyl sulfide, at the concentrations found in pasteurized skim milk. Milk that was heated to varying degrees was analyzed, and the analytical results were compared with the intensity of heated flavor as determined by a sensory panel. For skim milk, correlations were moderately strong: Spearman's correlation coefficients for H2S and dimethyl sulfide were .75 and .60, respectively. Correlations were weak for whole milk.

[Fever during treatment for bacterial meningitis in children]. / Feber hos børn under behandling for bakteriel meningitis.

Eighty-seven infants and children aged 1 month to 15 years admitted to the Pediatric Department, Randers Central Hospital 1975-1988 with bacterial meningitis were evaluated with special interest in the course of fever and its relation to sequelae. The children were treated with ampicillin (400 mg/kg/day). We found that 94% were afebrile after six days. 10% had persisting fever, 1% prolonged fever and 38% were found to develop secondary fever. Significantly more children infected with H. Influenzae had secondary fever. In most cases, no reason for secondary fever was found (46%). 18% had drug fever and only one case of relapse was found. 23% had severe sequelae. No significant relationships between persistent, prolonged or secondary fever and sequelae were found.