Helvetica paediatrica acta
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An infant is described with acrodermatitis enteropathica, who initially presented with severe and intractable watery diarrhea. Diagnosis was established at the age of eleven weeks. ⋯ Eleven days after oral zinc supplement (100 mg elemental zinc per day), the skin lesions had healed. The high therapeutic doses of zinc required for healing are suggestive that zinc malabsorption is an important pathogenetical factor of this disease.
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57 preterm and 1 term infant suffering from severe idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome with respiratory insufficiency were mechanically ventilated with an inspiratory-time of at least 1.5 sec and an inspiratory:expiratory ratio of always less than 1:2. Consequently the respiratory frequencies were below 14/min (low frequency ventilation). ⋯ None showed radiological evidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. This fact together with a relatively low incidence of pneumothorax (6.8%) suggests that this method if compared with conventional ventilation is less likely to cause persistent lung damage.
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Report of 3 cases with Robinow syndrome. Analysis of the X-ray findings, including the formerly reported cases. ⋯ In 2 cases, the pattern profiles were of considerable similarity. The practical importance of the correct diagnosis in this syndrome is emphasized.
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The article discusses the present therapy of acute meningococcal septicemia. Besides adequate antibiotic treatment, the importance of early and aggressive shock and respiratory therapy, i.e. endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation, is stressed. The role of corticosteroids is discussed. The use of anticoagulants, fibrinolytic agents and inhibitors of fibrinolysis is discouraged.
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A case of a newborn infant with clinical and angiocardiographic signs of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) is presented. The baby died after a short therapy with beta-blockers. Light- and electron-microscopic investigations showed severe disorganization of muscular cellular arrangement and disturbances of intracellular structures of the interventricular septum. HOCM is a genetically determined disease which can present clinically in the newborn period and may simulate congenital cardiac malformations.