The portal vein is the main source of blood and hepatotrophic factors to the liver. Partial portal-vein ligation in rats results in reduced growth compared with that in control rats. To investigate whether extrahepatic portal vein obstruction occurring in early childhood influences growth in humans, anthropometric and nutritional assessments were prospectively carried out in 61 patients with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction. Comparisons were made with 183 matched healthy controls using National Center of Health Statistics reference. Fifty-one percent of children with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction had stunted growth (height for age less than 90% of normal), compared with 16% of controls (p less than 0.01). Growth retardation was severe in patients with longer (greater than 5 yr) than with shorter (less than 2.5 yr) duration of clinical portal hypertension (height for age, 88.0 +/- 3.2 vs. 95.1 +/- 3.0; p less than 0.01). Little difference was seen in the energy intake (1,302 +/- 463 kcal/day vs. 1,335 +/- 449 kcal/day; p = not significant) and weight for height index (83.6 +/- 9.3 vs. 88.0 +/- 7.9; p = not significant) between extrahepatic portal vein obstruction patients and controls. This suggested that despite comparable nutrition, marked growth retardation occurred in extrahepatic portal vein obstruction patients. Incremental growth velocity was studied in 31 patients; in 24 (73%) the baseline Z score (-2.1 +/- 0.2) had decreased further (-2.4 +/- 0.2) at the end of follow-up (15.5 +/- 1.6 mo). Although the incremental height velocity was only 56% of the expected height, incremental weight gain was 98% of the expected weight for the attained height.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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BackgroundTo evaluate the effects of intraalveolar placement of gel containing 0.2% chlorhexidine and 10gm of metronidazole on the incidence of alveolar osteitis.Material and MethodsA total of 300 impacted third molars were extracted in 150 patients enrolled in this trial. In each subject a socket was randomly selected and packed to the crest of alveolar ridge with the gel. The contralateral socket was packed with placebo dressing. The occurrence of dry socket was assessed during 3rd and 5th postoperative days .The data was analysed using a meta analytical program. Study Design Double blind, prospective, placebo controlled trial.ResultsThe combination of metronidazole + chlorhexidine gel significantly reduced dry socket incidence from 22.6% to 6.6% (P ≤ 0.001) [McNemar and chi-square tests].ConclusionsThe decrease in incidence of adverse reactions and complications related to local application of metronidazole and chlorhexidine gel explains its clinical use, specifically in mandibular molar extractions where the chances of dry sockets are high. Key words:Chlorhexidine, dry socket, intra-alveolar, metronidazole, placebo.

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