Bile bilirubin pigment analysis in disorders of bilirubin metabolism in early infancy

Concise Review: Updated Advances and Current Challenges in Cell Therapy for Inborn Liver Metabolic Defects

: The development of liver cell transplantation (LCT), considered a major biotechnological breakthrough, was intended to provide more accessible treatments for liver disease patients. By preserving the native recipient liver and decreasing hospitalization time, this innovative approach has progressively gained interest among clinicians. LCT initially targets inborn errors of liver metabolism, enabling the compensation of deficient metabolic functions for up to 18 months post-transplantation, supporting its use at least as a bridge to transplantation. The rigorous clinical development and widespread use of LCT depends strongly on controlled and consistent clinical trial data, which may help improve several critical factors, including the standardization of raw biological material and immunosuppression regimens. Substantial effort has also been made in defining and optimizing the most efficient cell population to be transplanted in the liver setting. Although isolated hepatocytes remain the best cell type, showing positive clinical results, their widespread use is hampered by their poor resistance to both cryopreservation and in vitro culture, as well as ever-more-significant donor shortages. Hence, there is considerable interest in developing more standardized and widely accessible cell medicinal products to improve engraftment permanency and post-cell transplantation metabolic effects.

SIGNIFICANCE

In this therapeutic approach to liver disease, new solutions are being designed and evaluated to bypass the documented limitations and move forward toward wide clinical use. Future developments also require a deep knowledge of regulatory framework to launch specific clinical trials that will allow clear assessment of cell therapy and help patients with significant unmet medical needs.

Inherited disorders of bilirubin clearance

Inherited disorders of hyperbilirubinemia may be caused by increased bilirubin production or decreased bilirubin clearance. Reduced hepatic bilirubin clearance can be due to defective (i) unconjugated bilirubin uptake and intrahepatic storage, (ii) conjugation of glucuronic acid to bilirubin (e.g., Gilbert syndrome, Crigler-Najjar syndrome, Lucey-Driscoll syndrome, breast milk jaundice), (iii) bilirubin excretion into bile (Dubin-Johnson syndrome), or (iv) conjugated bilirubin re-uptake (Rotor syndrome). In this review, the molecular mechanisms and clinical manifestations of these conditions are described, as well as current approaches to diagnosis and therapy.

Evaluating the clinical effectiveness of neonatal nurse practitioners: an exploratory study

AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of the investigation was to establish if there was any preliminary evidence to indicate if the quality of care and clinical outcomes for premature birth babies are affected by the type of practitioner (i.e. nurse practitioner vs. medical practitioner) responsible for the initial assessment, treatment and management of neonates during the first 6-12 hours following admission to a neonatal intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND

The United Kingdom (UK) has seen a proliferation in the number of nurse practitioners in the past decade. While there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that nurse practitioners in primary care settings are able to provide a high quality and effective level of clinical service comparable with many of their medical counterparts, there has been relatively little evaluation of the nurse practitioner role in acute or high dependency hospital settings.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The study design used a mixed method approach combining a retrospective examination and quality assessment of nursing and medical records. A random sample of 61 sets of medical records, relating specifically to the initial management and treatment of neonates were criterion assessed by an experienced consultant neonatologist and a variety of patient outcome data collated and analysed.

RESULTS

The analysis of the patient outcome data and quality assessment of nursing and medical records revealed that there was no statistical difference in the standard and quality of care provided between nurse practitioners and medical staff in the vast majority of areas evaluated. However, trends in the data suggest that Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (ANNPs) did not perform as well as their medical counterparts in terms of the overall completeness or comprehensiveness of the standard care provided in a number of areas.

CONCLUSION

Neonatal nurse practitioners provide an alternative model of service delivery in the initial admission and management of premature birth babies. While the results of the study suggest that ANNPs do not perform as well as medical staff, in the majority of cases, they still performed to an acceptable standard. Nonetheless, some deficits in the standard of care provided by both groups of practitioners were identified which in turn have implications for ongoing training and skills development. Relevance to clinical practice. The findings suggest that ANNPs are capable of taking on an advanced role in the assessment and management of neonates.

Evaluating a nurse-led model for providing neonatal care

AIMS

The paper presents an overview of a multi-dimensional, prospective, comparative 5-year audit of the quality of the neonatal care provided by a maternity unit in the UK delivering 2000 babies a year, where all neonatal care after 1995 was provided by advanced neonatal nurse practitioners, in relation to that provided by a range of other medically staffed comparator units.

METHODS

The audit includes 11 separate comparative studies supervised by a panel of independent external advisors. Data on intrapartum and neonatal mortality is reported. A review of resuscitation at birth, and a two-tier confidential inquiry into sentinel events in six units were carried out. The reliability of the routine predischarge neonatal examination was studied and, in particular, the recognition of congenital heart disease. A review of the quality of postdischarge letters was undertaken alongside an interview survey to elicit parental views on care provision. An audit of all hospital readmissions within 28 days of birth is reported. Other areas of study include management of staff stress, perceived adequacy of the training of nurse practitioners coming into post, and an assessment of unit costs.

RESULTS

Intrapartum and neonatal death among women with a singleton pregnancy originally booked for delivery in Ashington fell 39% between 1991-1995 and 1996-2000 (5.12 vs. 3.11 deaths per 1000 births); the decline for the whole region was 27% (4.10 vs. 2.99). By all other indicators the quality of care in the nurse-managed unit was as good as, or better than, that in the medically staffed comparator units.

CONCLUSION

An appropriately trained, stable team with a store of experience can deliver cot-side care of a higher quality than staff rostered to this task for a few months to gain experience, and this is probably more important than their medical or nursing background. Factors limiting the on-site availability of medical staff with paediatric expertise do not need to dictate the future disposition of maternity services.

Fine needle aspiration biopsy of thyroid nodules

BACKGROUND

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) is a routine diagnostic technique for evaluating thyroid nodules. Many reports in adults consider that FNA is superior to thyroid ultrasonography (USG) and radionuclide scanning (RS). Only five studies have been published on FNA of childhood thyroid nodules.

AIMS

To investigate the reliability of FNA in the evaluation and management of thyroid nodules, and compare the results of FNA, USG, and RS with regard to final histopathological diagnosis.

METHODS

FNA was performed in 46 children with thyroid nodules after USG and RS examination. We investigated the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of USG, RS, and FNA in their management.

RESULTS

Six patients who had malignant or suspicious cells on FNA examination underwent immediate surgery. The other 40 patients received medical treatment according to their hormonal status. Fifteen of these nodules either disappeared or decreased in number and/or size. Surgery was performed in 25 patients who did not respond to therapy. Statistical analysis revealed sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values respectively as follows: 60%, 59%, 59%, 15%, and 92% for USG; 30%, 42%, 39%, 12%, and 68% for SC; 100%, 95%, 95%, 67%, and 100% for FNAB.

CONCLUSION

FNAB is as reliable in children as in adults for definitive diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Using this technique avoids unnecessary thyroid surgery in children.