Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0243026 (sepsis)
 52,417 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Liver transplantation of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients has been associated with high morbidity and mortality secondary to hepatitis B (HB) recurrence in the graft. Eight patients of the Queensland Liver Transplant Service were HBsAg positive pretransplant. Six acquired HB infection of the graft, one developed serological recurrence of HB before early death from sepsis, and one HB e antigen-negative patient permanently cleared the virus. HB-infected grafts showed early expression of viral antigen, acute hepatitis, fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, cirrhosis, or minimal changes associated with a carrier state. Only in the latter case was HB mild and nonprogressive. Cases of fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis progressed rapidly to liver failure; they showed fibrosis and plates of ductular epithelium extending from portal tracts into lobules, cholestasis, ballooning of hepatocytes, and prominent hepatocyte expression of viral antigens. Perioperative HB immunoglobulin proved ineffective in preventing HB recurrence. One other patient became HBsAg positive for the first time after retransplantation; he developed severe acute hepatitis, then chronic active hepatitis. Our biopsy findings support the view that, in liver allografts, the HB virus may be directly cytopathic.
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PMID:Hepatitis B virus infection in liver allografts. 831 8

Nutrition assessment and therapy in end-stage liver disease has become increasingly important with the advent of orthotopic liver transplantation. Reduced lean body mass, increased risk of sepsis, and altered metabolism of carbohydrates, protein, and fat are characteristic of patients with liver dysfunction. This study assesses the prevalence of protein-calorie malnutrition and the relative utility of various parameters used to define protein-calorie malnutrition in 104 patients before liver transplantation. Five subgroups were identified for analysis: primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC, n = 21), sclerosing cholangitis (SC, n = 12), chronic active hepatitis (CAH,n = 34), acute hepatitis (AH,n = 11), and other liver diseases (OD,n = 26). Clinical characteristics, anthropometric measurements, secretory protein levels, 24-h urinary creatinine and urea nitrogen, and immunological studies were assessed. Significant differences between groups were noted in age, height, weight, and percentage ideal body weight (IBW), but no differences were noted with respect to triceps skin fold (TSF) and arm muscle circumference (AMC), where uniform depletion of fat and protein stores was found. Overall percentage IBW was significantly elevated (112 +/- 20, mean +/- SD, p < 0.001), whereas TSF and AMC percentage standards were 71 +/- 33 and 89 +/- 11% (respective p < 0.001). With the < 5th percentile of TSF and AMC as markers of malnutrition, 33 and 43% of patients were malnourished, respectively. Hepatic synthetic function was impaired in all groups, with overall albumin 25 +/- 0.6 g/L, transferrin 1.60 +/- 0.66 g/L, and prothrombin 16.8 +/- 6.2 s.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Preoperative nutrition assessment in liver transplantation. 840 May 92

The management of blunt splenic trauma in children has remained controversial, with different physicians advocating observation, splenorrhaphy, and splenectomy. Proponents for each position have debated the relative importance of rebleeding (delayed splenic rupture), posttransfusion hepatitis with its sequelae, and overwhelming postsplenectomy sepsis. In an attempt to guide the clinician, a decision analysis was performed. Variables evaluated included the incidence of transfusion, postsplenectomy sepsis, posttransfusion hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, cirrhosis, and rebleeding. The quality-adjusted life expectancies (QALEs) when the average incidence of the variables were used in the decision analysis were 62.69 years for observation, 62.32 years for splenorrhaphy, and 61.14 years for splenectomy. Sensitivity analysis showed that there was very little difference between observation and splenorrhaphy when the transfusion rate and hepatitis rate were varied. But these treatment options produced longer QALEs than splenectomy. Therefore, in appropriately selected patients, observation is a safe and effective therapeutic option. If an operation is necessary, every effort should be made to preserve the spleen. Splenectomy may still be required in those cases of complete devascularization, persistent hemorrhage, or other associated significant injuries.
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PMID:Decision analysis in children with blunt splenic trauma: the effects of observation, splenorrhaphy, or splenectomy on quality-adjusted life expectancy. 843 76

Until the last several years liver transplantation was considered an experimental treatment procedure. Nowadays virtually any disease process, that is in terminal stage, is treatable with transplantation. The introduction of cyclosporine in 1980 and the recent use of OKT3 monoclonal antibody now allows a 5-year survival rate of 60-70%. The causes of early death of patients who survive after surgery are infective complications, multiorgan failure and acute rejection of the allograft. In the literature and in our experience, bacterial sepsis is the most common cause of deaths occurring during the first postoperative months while most deaths after one year are generally related to chronic rejection of the allograft. The risk of infection is also increased by the over-immunosuppression of these patients always treated with a high dose of immunosuppressive agents when evidence of acute graft rejection is found. Regarding these problems, patients being prepared for liver transplantation should be evaluated for their dental health. The medical indications of 80 transplant recipients and the current status of liver transplantation are reviewed in this article. We describe the dental status of these patients that should receive indicated dental care before surgery. Most patients (90%) were affected by chronic active hepatitis while the number of primitive cirrhosis was significantly lower. Very poor dental hygiene was found in 85% of patients while 45% were affected by advanced periodontal disease and 12% by a chronic gingivitis. Dental caries were observed in 67% while in 20% of cases endodontic periapical lesions were found and only 2% of these resulted as radicular cysts. Indicated dental care consisted in 87% of cases in dental hygiene instructions, in 85% in scaling and root planing, in 63% in conservative restorations and in 40% in endodontic treatments. Dental treatment guidelines before transplantation are described with particular attention to prevent risk of infection using antibiotic prophylaxis for invasive dental procedures. Dentists, after surgery must be also prepared to deal with excessive bleeding related to a severe liver disfunction; for this purpose an appropriate protocol is also described. The monitoring of oral and general health conditions and the achievement of specific protocols of prophylaxis are helpful in the prevention of complications and are fundamental to obtain the best results with liver transplantation improving the quality of life of these patients.
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PMID:[The dental assessment of the patient waiting for a liver transplant]. 902 87

Neonatal endocrinology is a diverse topic. Several chapters could be devoted to the endocrinology of fetal transition alone. The next several pages contain a brief overview of some pertinent illnesses. It is intended not to give an absolute map in the care of these patients but to help guide the physician in tailoring an approach for each patient based on current theories and practice parameters. It could also aid in improving the physician's understanding of screening laboratories used to identify those infants at risk of preventable, treatable and potentially disastrous diseases (i.e. congenial hypothyroidism). These metabolic screens are discussed due to their efficacy in the United States. In our experience, depending on the prevalence of a specific disease a few simple procedures allow for an efficient and economic way to reach ill children in a timely fashion. Other topics included in this article were reported based on their common occurrence, the lethality of illnesses if undiagnosed or their unique treatment. In the neonate hypoglycemia, either iatrogenic or secondary to sepsis, a congenital disorder of neisidioblastosis can have severe implications on the development of the CNS if not promptly treated and prevented. Some of these disorders require an experienced endocrinologist or neonatologist to treat and supervise conscientiously (i.e. CAH). However, as most of us know, it is sometimes hard to find such an individual in a community based practice. Therefore, it becomes of paramount value that each of us pays attention to the treatment of these illnesses for the sake of the children we care for.
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PMID:Neonatal endocrinology. 1083 25


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