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Biomedical subjects

E Berggren

Publications and source records attributed to E Berggren.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Psychomotor development and minor anomalies in children exposed to antiepileptic drugs in utero: a prospective population-based study.

The aim of this study was to assess psychomotor development, using Griffiths' test, and the incidence of minor anomalies at birth in children who had been exposed to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in utero. The study sample comprised 100 children of mothers who were treated with AEDs during pregnancy and 100 matched control children. Women with epilepsy were recruited from a pregnant urban population (450 000 inhabitants). The lowest possible dose of the fewest AEDs to maintain seizure control was used. Drug levels were controlled on a monthly basis. The children were assessed at 9 months of age. The study children had a significant increase in the number of minor anomalies (31 compared with 18 control children; odds ratio 2.4, CI 1.15 to 5.02, P=0.02 McNemars test), and an increased number of facial anomalies after carbamazepine exposure (11 compared with six control children). Drug exposure did not influence the Griffiths' score at 9 months of age. Even a meticulous AED treatment strategy during pregnancy increases the number of minor anomalies. However, treatment with AEDs does not necessarily influence short-term psychomotor development.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Pilot study of nebulized surfactant therapy for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.

Thirty-four spontaneously breathing newborns with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) requiring nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and an arterial-to-alveolar oxygen tension ratio (a/A PO2) of 0.15-0.22 were randomized to treatment with nebulized surfactant (Curosurf) or to serve as controls. All children were first supported by nasal CPAP according to normal clinical routines. Surfactant was administered using a modified Aiolos nebulizer, and a total of 480 mg was aerosolized in each case. The control group received no nebulized material, but had the same CPAP support. Acid-base status and a/A PO2 were determined at regular intervals before, during and after surfactant administration. Both groups included in the study were similar with regard to gestational age, birthweight, steroids given before birth, sex and Apgar scores as well as a/A PO2 when entering the study. There were no significant differences between the groups in a/A PO2 1-12 h after randomization, number of infants needing mechanical ventilation, time on ventilator or CPAP. Two children in the treated group developed bronchopulmonary dysplasia. No side effects of the surfactant therapy were noted. No beneficial effects of aerosolized surfactant were demonstrated in our trial, contrary to data from animal experiments. This finding probably reflects differences in administration techniques. Our findings do not justify large clinical trials with the same protocol. Further work is needed to optimize delivery of aerosolized surfactant to the neonatal lung in clinical practice.

Aerosols↗

Patients' and relatives' opinions and feelings about diaries kept by nurses in an intensive care unit: pilot study.

The underlying aim of this study was to obtain knowledge about the questions which could be of interest for a qualitative interview study, and for the planning and construction of a comparative study. The immediate aim was, however, to investigate whether the diary was of importance to patients after their discharge from the ICU or for relatives, following patients' deaths in the ICU. A diary was kept for nine months concerning ten patients together with eight patients who later died in the ICU. All of the ten patients, and four of the eight deceased patients' relatives, answered a questionnaire consisting of five close-ended and two open-ended questions. The participants were encouraged to comment upon all the questions. All participants read the diary. Seven patients stated that it helped them to remember their ICU stay and two that it did not. It helped them to re-live and come to terms with their serious illness/injury and recall what had happened. For those who could not recollect their ICU stay, the diary helped them to remember 'the lost time'. All the relatives except one stated that it helped them to return and adjust to everyday life; made it easier to accept what had happened; and to understand the seriousness of the patient's injury or disease.

Adult↗

Characterization of supernumerary ring marker chromosomes by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Five cases with small supernumerary ring chromosomes are characterized at the molecular level. Routine chromosome banding analysis was insufficient for identification of the ring chromosomes, and none of them was DA/DAPI positive. Fluorescence in situ hybridization utilizing repetitive centromeric probes for all chromosomes has determined that one of these five ring chromosomes originates in each of chromosomes 4, 7, 8, 9, and 20. Chromosome painting with chromosome-specific libraries has confirmed this and excluded the involvement of additional chromosomes in the rearrangements.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Interpretation of 25Mg spin relaxation in Mg-DNA solutions: temperature variation and chemical exchange effects.

The temperature dependencies of line shapes and spin-lattice relaxation times T1 have been measured for 25Mg in dilute solutions of Na-DNA/NaCl containing varying amounts of added magnesium(II) ions. The 25Mg spectrum is clearly non-Lorentzian, due to the presence of motions modulating the quadrupolar interaction that are slow compared to the inverse of the Larmor frequency. The weakly temperature-dependent line shapes and relaxation rates appear to be influenced by the relatively slow exchange of the Mg2+ ions between the DNA surface and the aqueous bulk phase. The observed temperature dependencies depend on the ratio of total magnesium to DNA phosphate, Mg/P. The line shape as well as the temperature dependence of the line width at half height can be qualitatively reproduced with a two-site discrete exchange model for the quadrupolar relaxation of a spin 5/2 nucleus in isotropic solution. The calculations give a value of the lifetime for magnesium bound to DNA of 4 ms at room temperature. Previously reported temperature-dependent 43Ca relaxation measurements in DNA solution can be reproduced under the assumption of a mean lifetime of bound calcium that is not larger than 2 ms but not smaller than 50 microseconds at room temperature. The temperature variation of T1 for 25Mg has been calculated, giving some qualitative agreement with the data. The correlation time for bound 25Mg has been found to be about 40 ns at room temperature.

Animals↗

Theoretical nuclear magnetic resonance-lineshape study of a two-site chemical exchange model of sodium ions (I = 3/2) in an intracellular environment.

We present a theoretical calculation of the lineshape function based on the solution of the semiclassical Liouville equation, of a two-site chemical exchange model of biological relevance. The bound site is allowed to be in the slow region regime that is the inverse quadrupole interaction of one bound site is in the same range as the reorientational correlation time. We compare different chemical exchange models, and several different physical situations are investigated. The variation of the width at half height (WHH) and the relative intensity (l/lo) is shown to be important, experimentally accessible quantities that are useful in order to discriminate between different model systems.

Body Fluids↗