Gas exchange abnormality during sleep in non-snoring severe thalassemia children.

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence and associated factors of gas exchange abnormality during sleep in non-snoring severe thalassemia children. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Non-snoring severe thalassemia children aged 6 to 15 years who had been followed up at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital between June 2009 and March 2010 were studied. Overnight pulse oximetry and end-tidal carbon dioxide tension (P(ET)CO2) monitoring as well as pulmonary function tests were evaluated. RESULTS: Fifty-eight non-snoring severe thalassemia children (aged 10.5 +/- 2.6 years, 43% male) were studied. 67.2% showed abnormal gas exchange during sleep. All of them had nocturnal desaturation (nadir SpO2 87 +/- 6.9%; range 65 to 94%). 33.3% of those who had nocturnal desaturation had associated lung function abnormality. Abnormal lung function was found in 32.8% of the present study patients. Of these, 68.4% had associated nocturnal desaturation. Age, gender nutritional status, size of liver and spleen, history of splenectomy, hemoglobin and serum ferritin level, and lung function were not associated with abnormal gas exchange during sleep. CONCLUSION: Nocturnal desaturation was demonstrated in more than a half of non-snoring severe thalassemia children. Normal lung function did not guarantee normal gas exchange during sleep. However, more than a half of those who had lung function abnormality had associated nocturnal desaturation. Evaluation of gas exchange during sleep would be merited in this group of patients.

Multidrug-resistant hospital-associated infections in a pediatric intensive care unit: a cross-sectional survey in a Thai university hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence and associated factors of multidrug-resistant hospital-associated infections (MDR-HAI) in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a university hospital in Thailand. METHOD: A prospective study was performed in the PICU of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital during the period May-December 2005. Children aged < or = 15 years who developed a PICU-related HAI were studied. RESULTS: Forty-four patients (median age 6 months; male:female = 1.4:1) developed 58 episodes of PICU-related HAI. The HAI rate was 28.3 per 1000 patient-days. Thirty episodes (52%) were MDR-HAI. The following were found more frequently in MDR-HAI when compared to non-MDR-HAI: Acinetobacter baumannii (50% vs. 23%, p = 0.04), female sex (60% vs. 29%, p = 0.02), admission to the PICU with a medical condition (90% vs. 64%, p = 0.03), PICU stay longer than 7 days prior to the development of HAI (67% vs. 36%, p = 0.03), and previous use of broad-spectrum antibiotics (83% vs. 43%, p = 0.002). Independent risk factors for MDR-HAI included female sex (OR = 5.5, p = 0.03) and previous use of a broad-spectrum antibiotic (OR = 9.7, p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: The incidence of MDR-HAI was high in the PICU. Female sex and previous use of a broad-spectrum antibiotic were independent risk factors for MDR-HAI.