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Introduction: Evidence regarding the potentiating effects of intravenous dexamethasone on peripheral regional anesthesia in children is sparse. The objective of the current study was to investigate the potentiating effect of intravenous dexamethasone upon pudendal block during surgical correction of hypospadias using Snodgrass technique., Methods: The study consisted of a monocentric, randomized controlled, double-blinded study. Patients were randomized to receive either intravenous dexamethasone 0.15 mg.kg - 1 (D group) or a control solution (C group). Both groups received standardized anesthesia including a preemptive pudendal block performed after the induction of anesthesia. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients needing rescue analgesia. Secondary outcomes were other pain outcomes over the first 24 postoperative hours., Results: Overall, 70 patients were included in the study. Age were 24 [24; 36] and 26 [24; 38] months in the D and C groups, respectively (p = 0.4). Durations of surgery were similar in both groups (60 [30; 60], p = 1). The proportion of patients requiring rescue analgesia was decreased in the D group (23% versus 49%, in D and C groups respectively, p = 0.02). The first administration of rescue analgesia was significantly delayed in the D group. Postoperative pain was improved in the D group between 6 and 24 h after surgery. Opioid requirements and the incidence of vomiting did not significantly differ between groups., Conclusion: Associating intravenous dexamethasone (0.15 mg.kg - 1 ) to pudendal block during hypospadias surgery improves pain control over the first postoperative day. Further studies are needed in order to confirm these results., Gov Identifier: NCT03902249. A., What Is Already Known: dexamethasone has been found to potentiate analgesia obtained with regional anesthesia in children. B. WHAT THIS ARTICLE ADDS: intravenous dexamethasone was found to improve analgesia with a preemptive pudendal block during hypospadias surgery. C. IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSLATION: results of this study indicate that intravenous dexamethasone could be used as an adjunct to pudendal block., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: Our purpose was to review our experience with congenital diaphragmatic hernia emphasizing diagnosis, management, and outcome., Study Design: We conducted a retrospective review of all cases of babies with congenital diaphragmatic hernia diagnosed and treated in our centre from 1998 to 2010., Results: There were 28 congenital diaphragmatic hernia cases, 13 girls and 15 boys with a mean weight birth of 3 kg. Three patients (10, 6% of cases) died within a few hours after admission. In the remaining cases, surgery was performed after a stabilization period of 2 days. The diaphragmatic defect was sitting in the posterolateral left in 23 cases and right in 2 cases. Its dimensions were on average 4,5 cm, tow cases of agenesis of the cupola were seen and required the placement of gortex prosthesis. The remaining cases are treated by direct closure of defect. Postoperative course was marked by an early death in context of respiratory distress in six cases and later with sepsis in tow cases. The outcome was favourable in 17 cases (60, 7%), despite the occurrence of sepsis in four cases and evisceration in two cases., Conclusions: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia remains a serious disease with high mortality and morbidity despite advances in prenatal diagnosis and neonatal resuscitation.

GABA and glutamate are known as the principal inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters in the vertebrate central nervous system, respectively. However, recent electro-physiological and immunogold literature data indicate that GABA may undergo also an excitatory action on presynaptic varicosities of parallel fibers (PFs) in the molecular layer of the rat cerebellum. PFs are axonal extensions, with a cross section of about 0.1 microm, of the glutamatergic granule cells. Such an unexpected excitatory action of GABA indicates clearly the presence of GABA receptors in the PFs of granule cells. We show in this study that quantum dots may be used specifically and efficiently to label two endogenous synaptic proteins, namely R-GABA(A)-alpha1 receptors (GABA(A) Rs) and glutamate transporters (VGLUT1) in order to target their localization in very small structures such as the presynaptic varicosities of the PFs.

P-selectin (SELP) and its counter-receptor, P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1), play key role in the transient attachment of leukocytes to endothelial cells predisposing to coronary heart disease (CHD). In the current report, 293 angiographically proven CHD patients and 327 age, gender, and race-matched controls were included. Our aim was to evaluate the contribution to CHD of the following SNPs: C-2123G, G-1969A and T715P in SELP, Met62Ile and the VNTR variants in PSGL-1 gene in a North African population from Tunisia. While there were no significant differences in the distribution of SELP or PSGL-1 alleles or genotypes between patients and controls, a trend for a significant association of the C-2123G genotypes distribution with incident CHD was observed (P=0.06). Assuming an additive model of transmission, the risk was 74% higher among subjects carrying the GG genotypes in comparison to those carrying the CC genotype (OR=1.74 [1.01-2.98], P=0.04) and 80% higher in the recessive model (OR=1.80 [1.08-3.01], P=0.02). Haplotype analysis did not identify any specific SELP or PSGL-1 haplotypes to be associated with CHD. The present study demonstrated no evidence of association between individual SELP or PSGL-1 SNPs or haplotypes with incident CHD. However, this study replicates absence of association of the mostly studied SNP, T715P, previously reported in individuals with African origin.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of hydroxyzine as a premedication agent for the acceptance of facial mask during induction of general anaesthesia in children., Study Design: Prospective randomized single-blind study including ASA 1 and 2 children, aged between 1 and 9 years and undergoing outpatient surgery., Patients and Methods: Patients were randomly allocated to receive orally either 1mg/kg hydroxyzine (G1) or water 0.1 ml/kg (G2) one hour before induction of standardized inhalational anaesthesia. Tolerance of facial mask was assessed with a 3-points scale (good, moderate or poor). Chi-square and Student's t-test were used in statistical analysis; p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant., Results: One hundred patients were included (G1 = 49, G2 = 51). Demographic data were similar in both groups. Acceptance of facial mask was significantly better in G1 than in G2 (p = 0,002)., Conclusion: Hydroxyzine provided better acceptance of facial mask than placebo during induction of general anaesthesia in children., (Copyright 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Despite extensive exploration of many genes, strong evidence of a molecular genetic association with coronary heart disease (CHD) or myocardial infarction (MI) remains to be obtained. Recently, significant interest has emerged in mapping genetic susceptibility for complex traits through whole-genome studies association generating promoting data that will determine the genetic contribution to common human diseases such as coronary heart disease. The aim of the present case-control study including 324 healthy controls and 296 patients with coronary heart disease from Tunisia, was to assess relation between three polymorphisms previously reported to be strongly associated with coronary heart disease in the Welcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) and the German myocardial infarction family studies: locus 9p21.3 (rs 1333049), locus 6q25.1 (rs6922269) and 2q36.3 (rs2943634). By single locus analysis, no differences in genotype distribution and allelic frequency were found between the two groups of study. The risk allele (C) for rs2943634 was less frequent among Tunisian population than in controls from the WTCCC and German studies (57% vs 65%). The three SNPs previously reported to be associated with CHD were not replicated in our small sample.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to compare the analgesic effects of ripovacaine when used as high concentration/small volume, versus its use as high volume/low concentration, in ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block in children., Methods: This is a prospective single-blind randomized study consisting of 72 children ASA I & II, 3-9 years of age, scheduled for outpatient elective surgery. Children were randomly assigned into two equal groups (36 each), to receive ropivacaine 0.8 mg.kg(-1), for ilioinguinal-iliohypogastsric block, either as: 1 mg.ml(-1) (0.8 ml.kg(-1)) G1 group, or 2 mg.ml(-1) (0.4 ml.kg(-1)) G2 group. The postoperative pain was assessed using the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale (CHEOPS), at the end of surgery (H0), at one (H1), tow (H2), four (H4) and six (H6) postoperative hours. Parents were requested to record their child's pain every 6 hours during the first 24 postoperative hours, using the postoperative pain measurement for Parent Scale., Results: CHEOPS score H0 was significantly lower in G2 as compared to G1 group (p = 0.03). Only 2 children in G2 as compared to 8 children in G1 group, required i.v. paracetamol administration after surgery (p = 0.04). In group G1, two children required paracetamol at home and three developed a postoperative transitory femoral nerve block (p = 0.23)., Conclusions: Ropivacaine when used with high concentration/small volume is more efficient than when used a high volume/low concentration, for ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block in children.

Background: Recent research has shown that inflammation plays a key role in coronary artery disease (CAD) and other manifestations of atherosclerosis. Several lines of evidence support a key role for tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), a potent immunomodulator and pro-inflammatory cytokine, in the development of atherosclerosis and in complications of CAD., Methods: We investigated the possible association between CAD and the TNF gene promoter polymorphisms -308G>A and -1031T>C in a Tunisian population. We compared the distribution of these polymorphisms between 418 patients with CAD and 406 healthy controls using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length-polymorphism analysis., Results: The frequency of the TNF-alpha -308A allele in the control group was similar to that observed in CAD patients [p=0.78; odds ratio (OR)=1.15; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.86-1.55], but higher than those described in other Europeans, such as in the French, Finnish and Spanish. Concerning the TNF-alpha -1031T/C polymorphism, the same distribution was observed between patients with CAD and controls (p=0.12; OR=1.27; 95% CI=0.94-1.72). In addition, the genotype and allele frequencies of control individuals were comparable to those previously reported in healthy Tunisian controls and other ethnic groups. Haplotype analysis (TNF-alpha -308G>A and -1031T>C) demonstrated no significant association between TNF haplotypes and CAD., Conclusions: We conclude that TNF promoter gene polymorphisms at position -308G>A and -1031T>C do not play a major role in the pathogenesis of CAD in the Tunisian population.