RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: It is believed to be the standard of care to obtain a blood culture in a child who is hospitalized for pneumonia. In recent years, many studies have questioned the utility of this practice in the presence of age appropriate immunization. We conducted this study to determine the current prevalence of bacteremia in children with uncomplicated pneumonia and the utility of obtaining blood cultures in these children. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk of bacteremia in hospitalized young children with pneumonia. METHODS: This was a retrospective review from July 2003 until July 2008. The setting was the pediatric emergency department of an urban teaching hospital. The study population included children under 36 months of age who had been fully immunized and who had been hospitalized with radiographic evidence of uncomplicated pneumonia. Excluded were children who were currently using antibiotics or who had used antibiotics within the previous 48 hours, as well as children with immunodeficiency status such as sickle cell anemia, immunoglobulin deficiency, or children on steroid therapy. The radiologist's interpretation of each chest radiograph was reviewed and recorded. The variables studied were age (in months), gender, race, birth history, pneumococcal vaccination status, appearance on arrival, temperature on arrival, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil count, band count, and urine culture. The chi-square test and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: A blood culture was obtained in 535 children hospitalized with radiographic pneumonia. Bacteremia was present in 12 children (2.2%). All organisms isolated from the blood cultures were considered contaminants. CONCLUSION: Children hospitalized with uncomplicated pneumonia have a low rate of positive blood cultures. None of the variables studied predicted bacteremia. The absence of true-positive cultures among the organisms isolated suggests little value in obtaining blood cultures in children hospitalized due to uncomplicated pneumonia.

RESUMEN

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of pH-stat and α-stat management before deep hypothermic circulatory arrest followed by a period of low-flow (two rates) cardiopulmonary bypass on cortical oxygenation and selected regulatory proteins: Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3, and phospho-Akt. DESIGN: Piglets were placed on cardiopulmonary bypass, cooled with pH-stat or α-stat management to 18 °C over 30 mins, subjected to 30-min deep hypothermic circulatory arrest and 1-hr low flow at 20 mL/kg/min (LF-20) or 50 mL/kg/min (LF-50), rewarmed to 37 °C, separated from cardiopulmonary bypass, and recovered for 6 hrs. SUBJECTS: Newborn piglets, 2-5 days old, assigned randomly to experimental groups. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Cortical oxygen was measured by oxygen-dependent quenching of phosphorescence; proteins were measured by Western blots. The means from six experiments ± sem are presented as % of α-stat. Significance was determined by Student's t test. For LF-20, cortical oxygenation was similar for α-stat and pH-stat, whereas for LF-50, it was significantly better using pH-stat. For LF-20, the measured proteins were not different except for Bax in the cortex (214 ± 24%, p = .006) and hippocampus (118 ± 6%, p = .024) and Caspase 3 in striatum (126% ± 7%, p = .019). For LF-50, in pH-stat group: In cortex, Bax and Caspase-3 were lower (72 ± 8%, p = .001 and 72 ± 10%, p = .004, respectively) and pAkt was higher (138 ± 12%, p = .049). In hippocampus, Bcl-2 and Bax were not different but pAkt was higher (212 ± 37%, p = .005) and Caspase 3 was lower (84 ± 4%, p = .018). In striatum, Bax and pAkt did not differ, but Bcl-2 increased (146 ± 11%, p = .001) and Caspase-3 decreased (81 ± 11%, p = .042). CONCLUSIONS: In this deep hypothermic circulatory arrest-LF model, when flow was 20 mL/kg/min, there was little difference between α-stat and pH-stat management. However, for LF-50, pH-stat management resulted in better cortical oxygenation during recovery and Bax, Bcl-2, pAk, and Caspase-3 changes were consistent with lesser activation of proapoptotic signaling with pH-stat than with α-stat.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of repeated intermittent apnea and resuscitation with 100% vs. 21% oxygen enriched gas on levels of key regulatory proteins contributing to cell death (Bax, Caspase-3) or protecting neurons from hypoxic/ischemic injury (Bcl-2, p-Akt, p-CREB). METHODS: The anaesthetized, mechanically ventilated newborn piglets underwent 10 episodes of apnea with resuscitation either with 100% or with 21% oxygen. Following 6h recovery the animals were sacrificed painlessly, the brain dissected out and used to determine levels of Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3, p-Akt and p-CREB in the striatum, frontal cortex, midbrain and hippocampus were studied. RESULTS: In hippocampus and striatum, Bcl-2 expression was higher with 100% vs. 21% group (173+/-29% vs. 121+/-31%, p<0.05 and 189+/-10% vs. 117+/-47%, p<0.01, respectively) whereas the Bax expression was lower (88+/-3% vs. 100+/-9%, p<0.05 and 117+/-5% vs. 133+/-10%, p<0.05, respectively). Expression of Caspase-3 in the striatum, was lower with 100% vs. 21% group (197+/-35% vs. 263+/-33%, p<0.05, respectively) but not different in the hippocampus. p-Akt expression was higher with 100% vs. 21% oxygen in the hippocampus and striatum (225+/-44% vs. 108+/-35%, p<0.01 and 215+/-12% vs. 164+/-16%, p<0.01, respectively). The p-CREB expression was higher with 100% vs. 21% oxygen resuscitation in the hippocampus (217+/-41% vs. 132+/-30%, p<0.01) with no changes in striatum. Much smaller or insignificant differences between 100% vs. 21% oxygen groups were observed in the frontal cortex and midbrain, respectively. CONCLUSION: In neonatal piglet model of intermittent apnea, selectively vulnerable regions of brain (striatum and hippocampus) are better protected from apoptotic injury when resuscitation was conducted with 100%, rather than 21%, oxygen.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: To determine the effect of pH-stat as compared with alpha-stat management on brain oxygenation, level of striatal extracellular dopamine, phosphorylation, and levels of protein kinase B (Akt) and cyclic adenosine 3', 5'-monophosphate response element-binding protein (CREB), and levels of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2, Bcl-2, and Bax in a piglet model of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA). METHODS: The piglets were placed on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), cooled with pH-stat or alpha-stat to 18 degrees C, subjected to 90 minutes of DHCA, rewarmed, weaned from CPB, and maintained for two hours recovery. The cortical oxygen was measured by: quenching of phosphorescence; dopamine by microdialysis; phosphorylation of CREB (p-CREB), ERK (p-ERK) 1/2, Akt (p-Akt), and level of Bcl-2, Bax by Western blots. RESULTS: Oxygen pressure histograms for the microvasculature of the cortex show substantially higher oxygen levels during cooling and during the oxygen depletion period after cardiac arrest (up to 15 minutes) when using pH-stat compared with alpha-stat management. Significant increases in dopamine occurred at 45 minutes and 60 minutes of DHCA in the alpha-stat and pH-stat groups, respectively. The p-CREB and p-Akt in the pH-stat group were significantly higher than in the alpha-stat group (140 +/- 9%, p < 0.05 and 125 +/- 6%, p < 0.05, respectively). There was no significant difference in p-ERK1/2 and Bax. The Bcl-2 increased in the pH-stat group to 121 +/- 4% (p < 0.05) compared with the alpha-stat group. The ratio Bcl-2:Bax increased in the pH-stat group compared with the alpha-stat group. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in p-CREB, p-Akt, Bcl-2, Bcl-2/Bax, and delay in increase of dopamine indicated that pH-stat, in the piglet model, prolongs "safe" time of DHCA and provides some brain protection against ischemic injury.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

OBJECTIVE: To determine the optimum rate of low-flow hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (LF), following circulatory arrest (DHCA) on brain oxygenation (bO(2)), extracellular dopamine (DA), phosphorylation of select neuroregulatory proteins responsible for neuronal injury, and survival following ischemic brain injury: CREB, Erk1/2, Akt, Bcl-2, and Bax. METHODS: The piglets were placed on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and cooled to 18 degrees C. They were then subjected to 30 min of DHCA followed by 1h of LF at 20, 50, or 80 ml/(kg/min), rewarmed, separated from CPB, and maintained for 2h. The bO(2) was measured by quenching of phosphorescence; DA by microdialysis; phosphorylation of CREB, ERK1/2, Akt, Bcl-2, and Bax by Western blots. The results are means+/-SD for seven experiments. RESULTS: Pre-bypass bO(2) was 47.4+/-4.2 mmHg and decreased to 1.9+/-0.8 mmHg during DHCA. At the end of LF at 20, 50, and 80 ml/(kg/min), bO(2) was 11.8+/-1.6, 26+/-1.8, and 33.9+/-2.6 mmHg, respectively. The DA increased 510-fold relative to control (p<0.001) by 15 min of LF-20 with maximum increase occurring at 45 min. With LF-50, increase in DA was not statistically significant and no increase was observed when LF-80 was used. Bcl-2 immunoreactivity increased after LF-50 and LF-80 (140+/-14.5%, p<0.05 and 202+/-34%, p<0.05, respectively). Neither flow increased Bax immunoreactivity. The ratio of Bcl-2/Bax, pCREB, pAkt, pErk increased significantly with increasing the flow rate of LF. CONCLUSIONS: The protective effect of LF following DHCA on brain metabolism is dependent on the flow rate. Flow-dependent increase in pCREB, pErk1/2, pAkt, increase in Bcl-2/Bax, and decrease in DA indicated that to minimize DHCA-dependent neuronal injury, LF flow should be above 50 ml/(kg/min).

Asunto(s)