PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Ernst Eber

Publications and source records attributed to Ernst Eber.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Tracheostomy care in the home.

There are hardly any controlled studies in paediatric tracheostomy care; instead, most established standards, procedures and details have been elaborated at the bedside by trial and error. Once the appropriate tube is chosen, tube care consists of tube change, fixation, management of secretions, humidification of inspired air and application of medications. The stoma requires cleaning, protection and dressing. Child care may be structured into monitoring, feeding, bathing and clothing. Preparing the home and family environment are important prerequisites for discharge from the hospital. Last but not least, the family of the child or other caregivers must undergo a structured and detailed training programme to become competent in long-term home care.

Caregivers↗
PubMed2006

Tracheostomy care in the hospital.

Long-term tracheostomy in infants and children is associated with significant morbidity. The majority of paediatric patients experience tracheostomy-related complications during cannulation and/or after decannulation. A large proportion of these complications are, however, preventable or may be minimised by good tracheostomy care and clinical evaluation of the patients at regular intervals, tailored to the needs of the individual child. By and large, infants and children benefit from a specialist tracheostomy service. In this article, we review different aspects of hospital-based care, covering a wide range of topics including the selection of tracheostomy tubes and adjuncts, clinical evaluation, speech/communication, and late complications and their prevention.

Airway Obstruction↗
PubMed2006

Adult outcome of congenital lower respiratory tract malformations.

In this article, the most important lower respiratory tract malformations are briefly reviewed, with special focus on those factors that may have some impact on the long-term respiratory outcome of specific lesions, like the amount of lung tissue resected, compensatory lung growth, lung hypoplasia, intensive care and mechanical ventilation.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

[Long-acting beta-2 agonists in pediatric asthma therapy--friend or foe].

Recent publications suggest that long-acting beta-2 agonists (LABAs) increase the risk for death in asthma. The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a relevant alert in 2005. In the currently valid Austrian consensus guidelines for drug therapy of bronchial asthma in children and adolescents, LABAs are only recommended as add-on therapy in those patients whose asthma is not sufficiently controlled by inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) alone. LABAs have no established role in earlier steps of the therapeutic algorithm; consequently, the prescription of ICS-LABA combinations for initial treatment of paediatric asthma is not supported by these consensus treatment guidelines.

Adrenergic beta-Agonists↗
PubMed2005

Pneumonitis and pneumatoceles following accidental hydrocarbon aspiration in children.

Accidental ingestion and aspiration of hydrocarbons in children are common. Among the various clinical and pathological manifestations of hydrocarbon (HC) poisoning, pneumonitis is the most significant and occurs in up to 40% of children, whereas formation of pneumatoceles is believed to be a rare event. We report two children with HC pneumonitis and pneumatoceles as a reversible complication after ingestion and aspiration of lamp oil with very low viscosity. Patient 1, a 21-month-old boy, started to cough and developed tachypnea, sternal retractions and mild cyanosis immediately after aspiration. Patient 2, a 24-month-old girl, was asymptomatic during the first days after the accident; subsequently, she started to cough and developed fever, dyspnea and chest pain. Chest x-ray and computed tomography revealed multiple patchy infiltrates in both cases; after several days, these confluent infiltrates developed into pneumatoceles. Both children were treated with antibiotics and steroids. They recovered within three and four weeks, respectively, with complete remission of the radiologic abnormalities and had an uneventful follow-up after discharge.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed2005

Does bronchodilator responsiveness in infants with bronchiolitis depend on age?

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relation between age and bronchodilator responsiveness in infants with bronchiolitis. STUDY DESIGN: In 41 infants (age, 2 to 18 months) with bronchiolitis, lung function was measured with the raised volume rapid thoracoabdominal compression technique before and after salbutamol inhalation. Lung function was quantified in terms of timed volumes (FEV(0.5), FEV(0.75), and FEV(1.0)). A significant change was defined as a postbronchodilator value that differed from baseline by more than twice the within-subject coefficient of variation. RESULTS: For the group, postbronchodilator values did not differ significantly from baseline (DeltaFEV(0.5), 3.8% +/- 9.3%; DeltaFEV(0.75), 3.5% +/- 9.5%; and DeltaFEV(1.0), 4.0 +/- 9.8%). Eleven subjects showed significantly increased timed volumes; 3 presented with a decreased lung function; the remaining patients failed to show a significant change. The mean age of subjects with improved lung function did not differ significantly from the mean age of those with no or paradoxical responses (9.7 +/- 4.7 vs 8.1 +/- 4.1 months); there was no correlation of age with the size of the bronchodilator response. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study indicate that bronchodilator responsiveness in infants with bronchiolitis is not age-dependent.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2004

Evaluation of the upper airway.

The evaluation of infants and children with upper airway obstruction always involves a history and physical examination, which in many cases allow a diagnosis to be made. Assessment of severity and response to treatment relies on subjective parameters. Flow-volume loop analysis is a rapid, simple and effective method of evaluating patients with upper airway obstruction non-invasively. Imaging studies are complementary to endoscopy, and include plain radiography as well as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, with the latter two being increasingly used in the evaluation of the paediatric airway. The ultimate diagnostic test for evaluation of upper airway obstruction, however, is flexible endoscopy.

Airway Obstruction↗
PubMed2002

Effects of inhaled gentamicin prophylaxis on acquisition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in children with cystic fibrosis: a pilot study.

Inhaled antibiotics are an established treatment for chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infection in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). However, inhaled antibiotics might also have prophylactic potential to delay acquisition of PA in early stages of the disease. From 1986-1999, all CF patients at this center who experienced defined risk situations for acquisition of PA (28 patients) received inhaled gentamicin (80 mg BID for those < 12 months; 120 mg BID for those > 12 months) for a minimum of 3 years. Twelve patients had repeated risk situations and continued this prophylaxis without interruption during the entire study period (group 1). In the remaining 16 patients, inhaled antibiotics were discontinued at various times for a variety of reasons (group 2). None of the patients in group 1, but 7 in group 2, became chronically infected with PA (P = 0.01). Lung function and chest X-ray scores were significantly worse in those 7 infected patients, when compared to the noninfected ones in both groups. This suggests that long-term-prophylaxis with inhaled gentamicin can effectively delay acquisition of PA and decrease disease progression in children with CF.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2001

CT-based virtual tracheobronchoscopy in children--comparison with axial CT and multiplanar reconstruction: preliminary results.

BACKGROUND: 3D post-processing of spiral-CT (S-CT) data using perspective projection allows the generation of virtual views similar to endoscopy. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether simultaneous reading of axial S-CT, multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) and virtual tracheobronchoscopy (VTB) is more precise and accurate than reading of axial S-CT and MPR alone in paediatric patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: S-CT studies of 15 symptomatic and 4 normal patients were investigated. Two radiologists independently read two sets of images for airway abnormalities: first axial CT and MPR, followed by axial CT, MPR and VTB. A final decision was later made by consensus. All results were compared to fibre-optic bronchoscopy (FTB). Interobserver agreement was used as an indicator of precision for the display technique used. RESULTS: At reading of axial S-CT and MPR an interobserver agreement of 89.5% (kappa=0.776, P<0.00103) was found. Based on the consensus decision, a diagnostic accuracy of 89.5% at a sensitivity 86.6% and specificity of 100% (kappa=0.776, 95% CI 0.491-1.062, P<0.00103) was achieved. At reporting on axial S-CT, MPR and VTB, all cases were classified correctly by both readers, indicating 100% accuracy, interobserver agreement, sensitivity and specificity (kappa=1.00, 95% CI 1.0-1.0, P<0.000258). CONCLUSIONS: The simultaneous display of axial S-CT, MPR and VTB raises the precision, accuracy and sensitivity of radiological reports.

Adolescent↗