Sialometric analysis in young patients with chronic renal insufficiency.

The present study aimed to evaluate whether or not quantitative changes occur in the salivary flow of patients with chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) who have been submitted to Hemodialysis. Twenty-nine chronic renal patients, between 4 and 25 years of age, submitted to Hemodialysis at Hospital Pequeno Príncipe in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil participated in this study. The results form this study were compared with those of a group consisting of 29 healthy patients, paired by sex and age, whose parents sought out dental treatment at local health clinic in Campo Magro, Paraná. For Sialometric evaluations, samples were collected at the beginning, during and at the end of Hemodialysis, as well as after the analyses had been performed. Salivary flow was calculated by the Banderas-Tarabay formula (1997). The results revealed that the mean salivary flow values presented no difference between the groups. It could therefore be concluded that CRI did not determine quantitative alterations in salivary fluid.

Efficacy and safety of the Angiotensin receptor blocker valsartan in children with hypertension aged 1 to 5 years.

The efficacy and safety of valsartan were studied in 90 children (mean age: 3.2 years; 60% male; 30% black) with systolic blood pressure (SBP) > or =95th percentile. Nineteen percent received valsartan in addition to previous antihypertensive therapy. Subjects were randomly assigned to low-, medium-, or high-dose valsartan for 2 weeks (phase 1) and then reassigned randomly to placebo or to remain on the same valsartan dose for 2 additional weeks (phase 2). After this, subjects were enrolled into a 52-week, open-label phase during which valsartan was dosed to achieve SBP <95th percentile. Statistically significant reductions in SBP and diastolic blood pressure of approximately 8.5 mm Hg and 5.7 mm Hg, respectively, were observed at the end of phase 1 in all of the valsartan dose groups. SBP and diastolic blood pressure were also significantly lower during phase 2 in valsartan recipients compared with placebo recipients. SBP <95th percentile was achieved in 77.3% of subjects during the open-label phase. Adverse events were minor and occurred at similar frequencies in each of the 3 dose groups in phase 1 and at equal frequencies in the valsartan and placebo arms in phase 2. Serious adverse events and drug-related adverse events occurred infrequently during both the double-blind (2.2% and 5.6%, respectively) and open-label (14.8% and 6.8%, respectively) portions of the study. Valsartan treatment had no demonstrable negative effects on growth and development. In this study, the first trial of an antihypertensive agent conducted in children <6 years of age, valsartan effectively lowered SBP and diastolic blood pressure compared with placebo.