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H Harrison

Publications and source records attributed to H Harrison.

58 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug use by expectant mothers.

BACKGROUND: Prevalence data of illicit drug and alcohol use during pregnancy in Alaska is limited. This study demonstrates the prevalence of perinatal drug and alcohol use at a single community hospital in Anchorage, Alaska. METHODS: A convenience sample was used during a six month period. 351 anonymous urine samples were obtained from imminently delivering women. Screening toxicology tests were run and results were linked to demographic variables using a common random reference number. RESULTS: 16.2% (n = 57) of the samples were positive for drugs or alcohol. Cannabinoids and alcohol were found most frequently. Polydrug use was found in 22.8% of the positive samples. Medicaid recipients represented the highest users of illicit drugs and alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of positive drug screens and polydrug use in our sample is amongst the highest reported in the literature. The high prevalence of drug and alcohol use indicates that present prevention strategies are not working in Alaska. New and innovative outcome based strategies to decrease drug and alcohol use in pregnancy are needed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The messenger case.

Increasingly, parents are asking for the right to make resuscitation and treatment decisions for their newborn infants at high risk for mortality and morbidity. Failure of neonatologists to honor such parental wishes has led to criticism in the media and public disenchantment with neonatology. These issues were dramatized in a recent trial in which a father was charged with manslaughter after he removed his extremely premature son from life support to stop treatment administered against the family's wishes. Guidelines giving parents greater latitude in treatment decisions would help avoid similar tragic situations and would help restore public confidence in neonatology.

Critical Illness↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Bilirubinemia in asphyxiated term infants. A clinical observation.

Recent clinical observations suggested that serum bilirubin levels remain low following perinatal asphyxia. This study was performed to determine the peak serum bilirubin concentrations in asphyxiated term infants and to compare these levels with those in a group of non-asphyxiated term infants. The medical records of 28 asphyxiated (Apgar < 7 at 5 minutes) and 947 non-asphyxiated term infants born during the same period of time were reviewed to obtain data on peak serum bilirubin concentrations for statistical comparison. The statistical mean for the peak serum bilirubin concentrations in the 28 asphyxiated infants was 5.0 mg/dl (+3.1 SD) while that for the 947 non-asphyxiated infants was 8.9 mg/dl (+3.7, p < .001). The findings in this study indicate that low peak bilirubin levels should be expected in asphyxiated term infants and may be helpful as a biochemical marker before the mechanism of action is known.

Asphyxia↗