Acute liver failure (ALF) in children is a life-threatening condition that often leads to urgent liver transplantation (LT). The aim of the present investigation was to describe the experience in Brazil in treating pediatric ALF, with an emphasis on the role of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in treating this condition. All children with ALF who fulfilled the criteria for an urgent LT were admitted to the intensive care unit. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the moment of admission: before and after June 2007, when the LDLT program for ALF was started. Statistical analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors of patients with ALF. For the study, 115 children with ALF were admitted. All patients had some degree of encephalopathy. Among the patients, 26% of them required intracranial pressure monitoring (IPM), 12.8% of the patients required hemodialysis, and 79 patients underwent transplantation (50 deceased donors and 29 living donors) corresponding to 12.4% of all pediatric LTs. Only 9 children recovered without LT. The need for IPM and nonperformance of LT were related to a higher mortality. The mortality rate of patients who underwent LT was significantly lower than that of children with ALF who did not undergo a LT (48.1% versus 75%; P = 0.02). The incidences of primary nonfunction and mortality were statistically higher among deceased donor liver transplantations than LDLTs. Finally, it was verified that the overall survival rate of transplanted patients was increased after the introduction of LDLT (P = 0.02). In conclusion, ALF in children continues to be a severe and devastating condition, and a LT should be performed promptly. The introduction of LDLT could increase the survival rate of patients in Brazil. Liver Transplantation 22 1006-1013 2016 AASLD.

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SUMMARYThe aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the acaricide tri-n-butyl tin maleate, industrially applied to samples of carpets, mattress foam, and fabrics used for furniture upholstery, soft toys and shoe uppers. Approximately 100 adult house dust mites of the species Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus were inoculated into a Petri dish containing the sample (a piece of carpet, mattress foam, or fabric), treated with the acaricide, randomly collected. Mite-maintenance culture medium was added on top of each sample. After one, two, three, seven and 30 days of incubation at 25 °C and 75% relative humidity, each dish was examined using a 40X stereoscopic microscope (40X). One hundred percent acaricide effectiveness was obtained in treated materials by the end of the 30 th -day postinoculation period, under optimal conditions for mite maintenance.

Introduction: Congenital malformations are major diseases observed at birth. They are the second most common cause of death in the neonatal population, the fi rst one being prematurity.Objective: To characterise the clinical outcome of newborns with gastroschisis (GS) in a neonatal intensive care unit. Methods:A retrospective observational clinical study in 50 infants with GS using the association of intestinal abnormalities, impossibility of primary closure of the abdominal defect and reoperation necessity as classifi cation criteria for the disease. The signifi cance level was p < 0.05. Results:The hospitalisation to primary surgery occurred with a median age of 2 hours. Fourteen percent of children were subjected to a primary silo interposition and 24% had associated intestinal malformation. Nineteen newborns (NB) required more than one surgery. The median length of stay was 33 days, higher in patients with complex GS (56 days). All NB recovered from urine output 48 hours after surgery and 40% had hyponatraemia and oligoanuria in this period. There was no difference between the natraemia and fasting time (p = 0.79). Weight gain was similar in both groups with total parenteral nutrition and became signifi cantly higher in patients with simple GS after enteral feeding (p = 0.0046). These NB evolved 2.4 times less cholestasis. Late-onset sepsis occurred in 58% of patients and was related to the infection of the central venous catheter in 37.9% of cases. Mortality was higher in infants infected with complex GS and the overall mortality rate was 14%. Conclusion:Clinical characterisation of newborns with gastroschisis depends on the complexity and the knowledge and conduct of morbidities to reduce mortality.Key words: gastroschisis, new-born, mortality, total parenteral nutrition, renal insuffi ciency, infection. INTRODUCTIONCongenital malformations are major diseases observed at birth. In the United States, a prevalence of about 3% 1 is cited. In Brazil, a study at the Fernandez Figueira Institute in Rio de Janeiro found that the prevalence was similar, i.e. 2.7% among live newborns (NB) and 6.7% among stillbirths. Among the causes of death, neonatal malformations are the second most common reason, the fi rst one being prematurity 2 .Gastroschisis (GS) is a congenital malformation of the abdominal wall that has increased in prevalence worldwide; its causes have not been fully elucidated 3 . In the 1960s, the prevalence of this disease was 1:50,000 live births. However, Kirby et al. 4 - -Characteristics of the clinical development of a newborn with gastroschisis in an intensive care unit in latin america J Hum Growth Dev. 2016; 26(2): 190-198 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.119266 temporal increase of 2.23 per 10,000 live births to 4.42 per 10,000 Regarding the defi nition of live births. The current prevalence in South America is 2.9:10,000 5 . This disease is characterised by a defect in abdominal wall closure with herniation of the intestines and other abdominal organs into the amniotic cavity. ...

In pediatric liver transplantations with LFS grafts, higher incidences of graft dysfunction probably occur due to IRI. It was postulated that increasing the blood supply to the graft by means of a meso-caval shunt could ameliorate the IRI. Eleven pigs underwent liver transplantation and were divided into two groups: LFS and LFS+SHUNT group. A series of flowmetric, metabolic, histologic, and molecular studies were performed. No significant metabolic differences were observed between the groups. One hour after reperfusion, portal flow was significantly lower in the recipients than in the donors, proving that the graft was maintained in low portal blood flow, although the shunt could promote a transient increase in the portal blood flow and a decrease in the arterial flow. Finally, it was verified that the shunt promoted a decrease in inflammation and steatosis scores and a decrease in the expression of the eNOS gene (responsible for the generation of nitric oxide in the vascular endothelium) and an increase in the expression of the proapoptotic gene BAX. The meso-caval shunt was responsible for some positive effects, although other deleterious flowmetric and molecular alterations also occurred.

Background. Ischemic preconditioning (IPC), either direct (DIPC) or remote (RIPC), is a procedure aimed at reducing the harmful effects of ischemia-reperfusion injury. Aims. To assess the local and systemic effects of DIPC, RIPC, and both combined, in the pig liver transplant model. Methods. Twenty-four pigs underwent orthotopic liver transplantation and were divided into 4 groups according to the procedures applied: direct donor preconditioning; indirect preconditioning at the recipient and a group with direct donor and indirect recipient preconditioning. The following parameters were recorded: donor and recipient weight, graft-to-recipient weight ratio (GRWR), surgery time, hot and cold ischemia time, and intraoperative hemodynamic values. Blood samples were collected before native liver removal (BL) and at 0h, 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, 18h, and 24h postreperfusion and the following biochemical tests were performed: aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), creatinine, BUN, lactate, total and direct bilirubin. Histopathological examination of liver, gut, kidney, and lung fragments were performed, as well as molecular analyses for expression of the apoptosisrelated BAX (pro-apoptotic) and Bcl-XL (anti-apoptotic) genes, eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide synthase) gene, and IL-6 gene related to inflammatory ischemia-reperfusion injury, using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).Results. There were no differences between the groups regarding biochemical and histopathological parameters. We found a reduced ratio between the expression of the pro-apoptotic BAX gene and the expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl gene in the livers of animals with IPC versus the control group.Conclusions. DIPC, RIPC or a combination of both produce local beneficial effects only at the molecular level but do not translate into biochemical or histological changes. BackgroundPrimary graft dysfunction due to ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is one of the most serious complications of liver transplantation. 1,2 Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is an important approach to reduce the harmful effects of this process. It consists of producing brief periods of ischemia followed by brief periods of reperfusion prior to the prolonged ischemic insult, which should induce greater