Acta paediatrica Hungarica最新文献

Biochemical and ultrastructural investigations were made in 2 children suffering from mucolipidosis type III. Among the lysosomal hydrolases the activity of beta-galactosidase and alfa-fucosidase diminished in the homogenate of the peripheral leukocytes in case I. The activity of serum and leukocyte arylsulfatase was normal. By electron microscopy typical storage organellums for mucolipidosis were detected in different biopsy materials--liver, skin, conjunctival ones--and in the cytoplasm of the peripheral lymphocytes and leukocytes. Definitive diagnosis was given by the specific electron microscopic investigations detecting the typical storage patterns for mucolipidosis.

The Ca(++)-antagonist nifedipine has been successfully employed in the treatment of non-gravid hypertension, and was found to inhibit uterine contractions in the perimenstrual period, as well as during premature labour in animal models. The use of antihypertensive drugs in pregnancy introduces the possibility of iatrogenic foetal distress. It has been established that nifedipine crosses the placental barrier in the sheep and causes a fall in mean arterial pressure and tachycardia in both the ewe and the foetus. This paper examines the effects of nifedipine on the foetus when administered to the pregnant ewe. Catheters and electrodes were implanted by surgical procedures in 15 ewes and foetal lambs between days 118 and 122 of gestation. The redistribution of foetal blood flow was measured by the radioactive microsphere injection technique. The infusion of nifedipine caused a 9% increase in the combined ventricular output (CVO) from 446 to 509 ml/min/kg in the foetus. Foetal lung blood flow increased from 29 +/- 6 to 69 +/- 14 ml/min/kg while figures for the skeletal muscle flow were 109 +/- 34 and 141 +/- 41.6 ml/min/kg. Heart and brain blood flow, expressed as percentages of CVO showed variations of 4.3 and 5.6 percent, respectively. Blood flow in the gut, placental membranes, skin, kidney and spleen was reduced. The present results show that nifedipine, in addition to its known effects causes a redistribution of the foetal circulation.

A female patient is described with a karyotype 46,XX,del (9) (p22) showing characteristic dysmorphic phenotype: trigonocephaly, prominent forehead, long philtrum, small mouth, high arched palate, low set ears, short neck, widely spaced nipples, long fingers and toes, omphalocele. The first Hungarian case of 9p monosomy syndrome is reported here.

Abdominal cyst was diagnosed in 14 babies by ultrasound examination (9 multicystic dysplastic kidneys, 4 ovarian cysts, 1 bowel duplication). The cysts were followed in 6 patients by ultrasound and marked reduction of multicystic dysplastic kidneys was observed in 2 patients, and 1 ovarian cyst fully disappeared. Their experience in agreement with the literature data suggest that conservative management with sonographic reevaluation is an acceptable alternative to surgical therapy in uncomplicated cases.

Preliminary clinical observations have suggested that low cellular glucocorticoid receptor (GR) levels might have been connected with multidrug resistance in children with acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML). To test this possibility, we have developed glucocorticoid resistant subclones of two recently established human myeloid leukaemic cell lines. The cause of glucocorticoid resistance was GR negativity in these subclones. GR positive parent cell lines or GR negative subclones were incubated for 1 h in the presence of Adriamycin, Cytosine-arabinosid, Etoposide or Vincristine, respectively. After short-term (1 h) incubation in suspension cultures cells were washed and plated in clonogenic agar cultures. Each anticancer drug was more potent against both GR positive parent cell lines than against the GR negative subclones. The results of this study suggest that the absence of GRs is a useful marker of multidrug resistance in childhood AML.

Activities of the specific enzymes of the inherited hyperammonemic syndromes (carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase CPS), ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), arginine-succinate-synthetase (ASS), arginine-succinate-lyase (ASL) and arginase (ASE) were measured in a liver biopsy specimen of a 2 years-old girl suffering from chronic hyperammonemia and in the erythrocyte- and leukocyte-homogenisate of her parents. The activity of OTC in liver homogenisate of the patient was 62.9 percent; in the leukocytes of the parents it was 78.5 percent (in mother) and 102 per cent (in the father) as compared to the controls. Our patient proved to be a symptomatic carrier of OTC deficiency and her mother proved to be an asymptomatic carrier.

Two simple statements can be given which reflect our helplessness with respect to myelodysplasia. MDS are rare in childhood, but features and course of disease resemble those in adults. JCMML should be considered as a pediatric subtype of MDS, but with a worse prognosis than CMML in adult patients.

Reproductive data of 1074 gipsy women between 13 and 52 years with one or more children were obtained by gipsy social workers through anonymous personal interview confirmed by available official documents. Socioeconomic status of five different gipsy communities studied is much lower than the Hungarian average. Their reproductive activity is also different, e.g., first births occur in much younger age. The high endogamy was proved by the gipsy origin of male partners in 90% of couples. The occurrence of first cousin couples was 16 times higher than that of the Hungarian population at large, however, its range was wide from 0% to 21% in different regions studied.

Hypoglycemia in birth asphyxiated infants is attributed to glycogen depletion. We observed three term AGA (Appropriate for Gestational Age) infants with birth asphyxia, who developed hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia postnatally. All had inappropriately high serum insulin concentrations for their blood glucose levels, and needed glucose infusion rates of greater than 8 mg/kg/min for several days to maintain normoglycemia. All infants recovered spontaneously.

Prenatal diagnosis was performed in 92 pregnancies high-risk for cystic fibrosis during six years. Amniotic fluid samples obtained by amniocentesis were examined with regard to their microvillar membrane enzyme activity. Though trehalase, alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes and L-gamma-glutamyltransferase in the amniotic fluid are not specific markers of cystic fibrosis, their activity is significantly lower than in normal pregnancies. By measuring the three enzymes simultaneously, sensitivity, specificity and reliability of the method were found to be over 92%. It is concluded that mid-trimester amniotic fluid diagnosis is indispensable for some heterozygotic couples for cystic fibrosis even in the possession of DNA (desoxyrobonucleic acid) methods.