No abstract

Following orthotopic transplantation of hDAF-transgenic pig hearts into baboons, GAS914 is able to maintain a sufficient reduction of Galalpha(1,3)Gal-specific cytotoxicity to the graft. GAS914 therefore is able to prevent not only hyperacute rejection, but also acute vascular rejection at its beginning, when serum cytotoxicity to the pig heart appears to be predominantly Galalpha(1,3)Gal-specific. A sustained prevention of acute vascular rejection, however, still requires the identification of antibody specificities other than to Galalpha(1,3)Gal.

No abstract

Our results demonstrate that in the early phase after orthotopic transplantation of hDAF pig hearts to baboons, cardiac function of the donor heart is maintained and exceeds baseline CO. However, in the early intraoperative phase this was only possible by using inotropic substances and vasopressors due to the inevitable blood loss and dilution by the priming of the bypass circuit.

Propofol and isoflurane appear to provide equal hemodynamic stability in orthotopic cardiac pig-to-baboon xenotransplantation prior to the start of CPB. The trend of a reduced catecholamine support needed after CPB, however, suggests that isoflurane may be the preferred drug for maintenance of anesthesia in this primate model.

Improvement of heart performance and reduction of myocardial damage and intravascular thrombosis confirm a role of the GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor tirofiban for the prevention of hDAF pig heart rejection and xenograft function.

In most cases, diagnosis of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis is now based on real-time ultrasound examination. We employed the criteria stated in literature for sonographic diagnosis of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, to evaluate our results. We studied 15 patients with symptoms of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis via real-time ultrasound, as well as 15 healthy infants. 10 patients were boys and 5 were girls, between 19 and 83 days of age (average age 45 days). 15 healthy infants of the same age were studied (average age 41 days) for comparison. In the healthy group, the average transverse pyloric diameter was 1.0 cm (0.6-1.5 cm); the mean wall thickness was 0.24 cm (0.2-0.3 cm) and mean pyloric length was 1.29 cm (1.0-1.6 cm). Analysis of the results in hypertrophic condition showed that the mean transverse pyloric diameter was 1.6 cm (1.2-1.9 cm). The wall thickness ranged from 0.4 to 0.8 cm with an average of 0.56 cm. The muscle length ranged from 1.7 to 2.5 cm with an average of 2.1 cm. On comparing the data of both groups we found significant differences in wall thickness and length. There was no false negative scan. Sonographic diagnosis was confirmed in all cases by surgical intervention. Our results agree with those obtained by other authors.

33 premature infants (age: 32 +/- 3 weeks; birth weight 1,268 +/- 535 gs) with the clinical signs of patent ductus arteriosus Botalli (PDA) and a control group of 96 healthy infants (age: 37 +/- 4 weeks; birth weight 2 348 +/- 944 gs) were investigated. Pulsed doppler recordings were obtained in the anterior cerebral arteries (ACA) and compared with the flow pattern in the truncus coeliacus (TC). In all children the maximal systolic velocity (Vs), the endsystolic (Ves) and the enddiastolic velocity (Ved) and the pulsatility-index (PI) were measured. The 96 healthy premature born infants showed the following velocities: Vs: 41 +/- 12 cm X sec-1; Ves: 19 +/- 7 cm X sec-1; Ved: 10 +/- 4 cm X sec-1. The pulsatility-index was 0.74 +/- 0.08. In children with PDA all velocities were significantly lower than in the healthy control group: Vs: 31 +/- 10 cm X sec-1; Ves: 7 +/- 6 cm X sec-1; Ved: -1 +/- 5 cm X sec-1. Ved was more decreased than Vs resulting in a significant increase in PI (1.04 +/- 0.14). 22 infants with surgically proven large PDA (age: 31 +/- 3 weeks; birth weight: 1,160 +/- 467 gs) showed significant lower velocities (Vs: 34 +/- 8 cm X sec-1; Ves: 4 +/- 4 cm X sec-1; Ved: -4 +/- 4 cm X sec-1) in comparison with the healthy control group and the 11 children with small PDA (age: 33 +/- 4 weeks; birth weight: 1,494 +/- 621 gs).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)