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Allogeneic blood transfusions are associated with a risk of infection, immunological reactions, immunosuppression, and the induction of antibodies in blood cells. We report our results of giving predeposited autologous blood transfusions (PABT) to children when it was anticipated that transfusions would be required for an elective operation. Autologous blood was collected for deposit from 16 patients ranging in age from 1 to 11 years old (mean 5.6 years old, mode 4 years old), and weighing from 9.7 to 42 kg (mean 20.8kg). They included 12 patients with pectus excavatum (funnel chest) and 4 patients with choledochal cyst (CBD). Blood was collected once from 2 patients and twice from the other 14 patients, then centrifuged and stored in a freezer at -80 degrees C. Between 7 and 14 ml/kg was collected at one time, the total mean volume of predeposited blood being 21.0 +/- 3.3 ml/kg for the children operated on for funnel chest, and 16.2 +/- 4.5 ml/ kg for those operated on for CBD. None of the patients required allogeneic transfusions and no complications occurred. PABT was found to be a safe and effective means for elective general pediatric surgical procedures for avoidance of allogeneic blood transfusion.

Morphometrical analyses of the immunohistochemical expression of bombesin, which is one of the peptides produced by pulmonary neuroendocrine (PNE) cells, were carried out on the bronchioles of human congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) neonates, and the findings were then compared with those in a gestational and postnatal age-matched control group. As a result, no difference was found in the number of bombesin-positive cells between the lungs of the control group and the unaffected side lungs in the CDH group except for the ratio of the bombesin-positive cells per unit of the bronchiolar surface area (P < 0.05). However, compared with the lungs in the control group, the affected side of the lungs in the CDH group showed a significant increase in the expression of bombesin, namely, the ratio of the bombesin-positive cells per bronchiole (P < 0.05), the ratio of the bombesin-positive cells per unit perimeter of the bronchioles (P < 0.05), and the ratio of the bombesin-positive cells per unit of the bronchiolar surface area (P < 0.01). These results thus suggest that hyperplasia of the PNE-cell system in the lungs of the CDH cases, especially on the affected side, exists in human fetuses. We also further speculate that PNE cells may thus play a role in the problems associated with CDH during intrauterine life in human beings.

We investigated the role of graft luminal fluid cytology for immunological monitoring of rat small-bowel allograft recipients. Allogeneic transplantation from WKAM (RT1u) to Lewis recipients and syngeneic transplantation using Lewis (RT11) rats were carried out. Twenty centimeters of the proximal jejunum was transplanted as a Thiry-Vella loop. The luminal fluid on days 0, 3, and 6 was examined cytologically using Papanicolaou, periodic acid-Schiff, and Giemsa staining, and immunocytochemically with monoclonal antibodies for macrophages (ED1 and ED2). Full thickness biopsies of graft tissue were evaluated by both immunofluorescence (ED1 and ED2) and by standard histological methods. The cytological examination on day 6 revealed an increase in the number of enterocytes, lymphocytes, and neutrophils, the presence of bacteria, and the depletion of goblet cells in the allografts. Histologically, significant morphological changes of acute rejection were first seen on day 6. Immunofluorescence predicted the acute rejection of the allografts earlier than a histological examination by showing an increase in the number of ED1- and Ed2-positive cells on day 3. Graft luminal fluid cytology and immunofluorescence analysis of ED1 and ED2 cells could thus be used to recognize early acute allograft rejection following small-bowel transplantation.

The integrity of the sensory nervous system in the anal canals of chronically constipated children was investigated using evoked potential techniques examining cerebral and spinal evoked potentials from the lower extremities and anal canal. Stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve produced no significant difference in the parameters of spinal and cerebral evoked potentials between 18 controls and 12 chronically constipated children. However, stimulation of the anal canal resulted in evoked potentials related to the age and/or consciousness level of the control children. Reproducible cerebral responses were obtained only from nine of these control children, all aged over 4 years, who were examined while awake without sedatives. A typical response was characterized by a polyphasic wave occurring with an onset latency of 79.4 +/- 27.7 ms (mean +/- SD). In the 12 chronically constipated children, the 5 sedated patients examined while asleep did not show any reproducible potential, as in the controls. However, in the remaining 7 children examined while awake, the occurrence of the anal canal evoked potential was significantly reduced, and only two exhibited a cerebral response. These findings suggest that rectal mucosal perception of the intraluminal stimuli might be disturbed in some children with chronic constipation.

Undifferentiated (embryonal) sarcoma is a rare malignant tumor of the liver. It typically presents in late childhood and its prognosis is poor. We experienced three cases of such a tumor during the period of 1976-1989; two of these patients are still alive without disease. Each case was independently treated with a combination of surgery and pre- and/or postoperative chemotherapy, which was found to be effective. In one surviving patient, cyclophosphamide and vincristine were found to be effective, while in the other a combination of cisplatin, Adriamycin (ADM), vincristine and cyclophosphamide was observed to induce a rapid reduction in the size of the recurrent tumor. Thus, an adequate combination of surgery and chemotherapy may improve the prognosis of this tumor.