Prevalence of high neonatal thyroid stimulating hormone levels as an indicator of iodine deficiency in the province of La Pampa: An epidemiological analysis

Introduction. Iodine plays a key role in human metabolism, growth, and development. During pregnancy and childhood, the demand for this micronutrient increases notably. Increased neonatal thyroid stimulating hormone (nTSH) levels, defined as nTSH ≥ 5 mIU/L, are a marker of iodine deficiency in a population if its prevalence is higher than 3%. Objective. To establish the prevalence of nTSH ≥ 5 in La Pampa in the 2021-2022 period, analyze its correlation with different variables, and compare it with data from a historical cohort. Population and methods. Cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study in a population of newborn infants born in the 5 health regions of the province of La Pampa in 2021 and 2022. Results. Of the 5778 assessed newborn infants, 9.6% had nTSH levels ≥ 5 mIU/L. It was reported that 70.4% of these measurements were done after the third day of life. No significant differences were observed in the frequency of high nTSH levels by year of birth, birth weight, or days until sample collection. A higher prevalence was observed among male infants (10.6% versus 8.5%; p = 0.007) and term infants (9.8% versus 6.6%; p = 0.02). The prevalence of high TSH levels was superior to that observed in the 2001-2002 cohort. Conclusions. The prevalence of high nTSH levels in La Pampa during 2021 and 2022 was 9.6%, suggesting the presence of mild iodine deficiency in the population of this province, higher that what had been reported 2 decades ago.

Detection of illicit psychoactive substances in the urine of mothers and newborn infants at a public hospital. Comparison between the 2009-2013 and 2014-2018 five-year periods

Introduction. The use of illicit psychoactive substances during pregnancy is a growing problem. Few Latin American maternity centers implement a screening strategy, and published data are scarce. Objectives. To compare the outcomes of 2 five-year periods of a postpartum strategy to screen for illicit psychoactive drugs. Population and methods. This was a cross-sectional study. Immunoassay detection in urine of mother-newborn infant dyads in an Argentine public hospital between 2009 and 2018. Results. Substances were detected in 76/191 dyads over 10 years. The most frequent detection criterion was reporting or history of drug use: 25/37 and 32/39 in each five-year period. Cannabis (21/37 and 26/39) and cocaine (19/37 and 16/39) predominated in both periods. No differences were observed in demographic, gynecological, pregnancy, or neonatal data between both five-year periods. Conclusions. No differences were found in the frequency or type of substances detected over 10 years.

Fungal Planet description sheets: 1436-1477

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Argentina, Colletotrichum araujiae on leaves, stems and fruits of Araujia hortorum. Australia, Agaricus pateritonsus on soil, Curvularia fraserae on dying leaf of Bothriochloa insculpta, Curvularia millisiae from yellowing leaf tips of Cyperus aromaticus, Marasmius brunneolorobustus on well-rotted wood, Nigrospora cooperae from necrotic leaf of Heteropogon contortus, Penicillium tealii from the body of a dead spider, Pseudocercospora robertsiorum from leaf spots of Senna tora, Talaromyces atkinsoniae from gills of Marasmius crinis-equi and Zasmidium pearceae from leaf spots of Smilaxglyciphylla. Brazil, Preussia bezerrensis from air. Chile, Paraconiothyrium kelleni from the rhizosphere of Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis f. chiloensis. Finland, Inocybe udicola on soil in mixed forest with Betula pendula, Populus tremula, Picea abies and Alnus incana. France, Myrmecridium normannianum on dead culm of unidentified Poaceae. Germany, Vexillomyces fraxinicola from symptomless stem wood of Fraxinus excelsior. India, Diaporthe limoniae on infected fruit of Limonia acidissima, Didymella naikii on leaves of Cajanus cajan, and Fulvifomes mangroviensis on basal trunk of Aegiceras corniculatum. Indonesia, Penicillium ezekielii from Zea mays kernels. Namibia, Neocamarosporium calicoremae and Neocladosporium calicoremae on stems of Calicorema capitata, and Pleiochaeta adenolobi on symptomatic leaves of Adenolobus pechuelii. Netherlands, Chalara pteridii on stems of Pteridium aquilinum, Neomackenziella juncicola (incl. Neomackenziella gen. nov.) and Sporidesmiella junci from dead culms of Juncus effusus. Pakistan, Inocybe longistipitata on soil in a Quercus forest. Poland, Phytophthora viadrina from rhizosphere soil of Quercus robur, and Septoria krystynae on leaf spots of Viscum album. Portugal (Azores), Acrogenospora stellata on dead wood or bark. South Africa, Phyllactinia greyiae on leaves of Greyia sutherlandii and Punctelia anae on bark of Vachellia karroo. Spain, Anteaglonium lusitanicum on decaying wood of Prunus lusitanica subsp. lusitanica, Hawksworthiomyces riparius from fluvial sediments, Lophiostoma carabassense endophytic in roots of Limbarda crithmoides, and Tuber mohedanoi from calcareus soils. Spain (Canary Islands), Mycena laurisilvae on stumps and woody debris. Sweden, Elaphomyces geminus from soil under Quercus robur. Thailand, Lactifluus chiangraiensis on soil under Pinus merkusii, Lactifluus nakhonphanomensis and Xerocomus sisongkhramensis on soil under Dipterocarpus trees. Ukraine, Valsonectria robiniae on dead twigs of Robinia hispida. USA, Spiralomyces americanus (incl. Spiralomyces gen. nov.) from office air. Morphological and culture characteristics are supported by DNA barcodes. Citation: Tan YP, Bishop-Hurley SL, Shivas RG, et al. 2022. Fungal Planet description sheets: 1436-1477. Persoonia 49: 261-350. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2022.49.08.

Four-year health trajectories of children prenatally exposed to cocaine and/or cannabis. A retrospective, cohort study in La Pampa, Argentina

INTRODUCTION

Cocaine and/or cannabis use during pregnancy is a growing problem of relevance for global public health. Exposed children may have a wide range of perinatal complications, but there is little knowledge on their course.

OBJECTIVE

To describe and compare the health trajectories of children prenatally exposed and unexposed to cocaine and/or cannabis over 4 years.

METHODS

Retrospective, cohort study with a double control group. Exposed children were detected through a urine test by the Department of Neonatology of a public hospital between 2009 and 2013.

RESULTS

A total of 29 exposed children and 58 unexposed children were assessed. The most common drugs detected in the exposed group were cocaine and cannabis. Most mothers were poly-drug users. The exposed group showed significant differences in relation to a lower frequency of health checkups (p < 0.0001) and a higher number of visits to the emergency department (p = 0.0295) and hospitalizations (p = 0.007), mainly due to respiratory conditions. In addition, they had a greater rate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, changes of home, and legal interventions. In this group, 1 child and 2 parents had a violent death. No deaths were reported in the unexposed group.

CONCLUSIONS

Conclusions: Children prenatally exposed to cocaine and/or cannabis had a lower number of health checkups and a higher number of visits to the emergency department and hospitalizations. Besides, they showed a greater rate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, changes of home, legal interventions, and violent deaths in the direct family group.

Brain connectivity in patients with schizophrenia related to psychological stress

Introduction

It is commonly accepted that in most patients with schizophrenia external factors act on genetic predisposition to produce active psychotic symptoms. In fact, we showed that patients with schizophrenia have an abnormal brain activation and peripheral autonomic response to psychological stress. We sought to characterize the brain connectivity networks of such response in schizophrenia.

Methods

We studied the pattern of brain connectivity in relation to mental arithmetic stress paradigm in 21 patients and 21 healthy subjects aged 18 to 50 years, using 3T-fMRI. A period of 6 minutes of resting state acquisition (PRE) were followed by a block design with three 1-minute CONTROL task (one digit sum), 1-minute STRESS task (two digit subtraction) and 1-minute rest after task (POST). Pairwise Pearson correlations were calculated between 90 regions of interest. Data were analyzed with MATLAB and SPSS software.

Results

Patients with schizophrenia showed a lower connectivity network between fronto-temporal limbic areas compared with control subjects during control and stress task. Moreover, we observed a great variability of link density during resting state in patients but not in controls, and it diminishes in response to task.

Conclusions

Patients present abnormalities in networks related to stress response showing an alteration in fronto-temporal connectivity, and a poor and random modulation of these networks at rest. Current and previous findings suggest abnormal fronto-temporal connectivity that ultimately would lead to psychotic symptoms emergency in response to an environmental stressor and, even, could be related to hypervigilance and misattribution feeding into the paranoid cognition characteristic of patients with schizophrenia.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Rituximab for the treatment of relapses in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis

OBJECTIVE

Disease relapses are frequent in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV). This study was undertaken to evaluate outcomes in patients with AAV who are re-treated with rituximab (RTX) and prednisone for severe disease relapses.

METHODS

The Rituximab in AAV trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing the rates of remission induction among patients treated with RTX (n = 99) and patients treated with cyclophosphamide (CYC) followed by azathioprine (AZA) (n = 98). Prednisone was tapered to discontinuation after 5.5 months. After remission was achieved, patients who experienced a severe disease relapse between months 6 and 18 were eligible to receive RTX and prednisone on an open-label basis according to a prespecified protocol. Investigators remained blinded with regard to the original treatment assignment.

RESULTS

Twenty-six patients received RTX for disease relapse after remission had initially been achieved with their originally assigned treatment. Fifteen of these patients were initially randomized to receive RTX and 11 to receive CYC/AZA. Thirteen (87%) of the patients originally assigned to receive RTX and 10 (91%) originally assigned to receive CYC/AZA achieved remission again with open-label RTX (an overall percentage of 88%). In half of the patients treated with open-label RTX, prednisone could be discontinued entirely. Patients in this cohort experienced fewer adverse events compared to the overall study population (4.7 adverse events per patient-year versus 11.8 adverse events per patient-year).

CONCLUSION

Re-treatment of AAV relapses with RTX and glucocorticoids appears to be a safe and effective strategy, regardless of previous treatment.

Brain activity during social cognition tasks in individuals with schizophrenia, their unaffected siblings, and healthy controls

Background

Several studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia have impaired performance in various aspects of social cognition including emotion processing and theory of mind. Most available neuroimaging studies have compared patients and healthy controls during such mental.

Objective

To determine whether alterations in brain activation associated with social cognition reflects a heritable trait in schizophrenia.

Methods

Sixteen patients with schizophrenia (age 31.3 ± 6.5), 16 non-psychotic siblings (age 31.8 ± 3.5, 6 females) and 16 healthy subjects (age 30.1 ± 9.2, 6 females) underwent BOLD fMRI during emotion processing (Ekman Faces Test) and Theory of Mind (ToM) paradigms: Faces and Reading the Mind in the Eyes tasks. In all cases a gender condition was used as a control task. Random effects analysis was done for each task within groups, measuring signal changes between the target and control conditions of each paradigm, and later a group analysis was done.

Results

In patients, social cognition tasks brought about activations in language areas (left inferior frontal gyrus and structures near tempo parietal junction). The intensity of the activations was minimum in the emotional processing task (basic emotions), and maximum in the detection of complex mental states in eyes. Healthy controls also activated symmetric brain structures on the right side. Unaffected siblings also showed bilateral activation in the same brain structures but asymmetrically distributed (left > right).

Discussion

These results support the idea that schizophrenia is an illness characterized by abnormalities in the process of brain lateralization.

[Rectal prolapse in a neonate with Shigella diarrhea]

A case of neonatal rectal prolapse during Shigella diarrhea is described. A 10 days neonate exclusively breast fed, whose 2 years old brother has had the same process 2 weeks ago. Medical treatment with intravenous ceftriaxone resolved rectal prolapse in 48 hours. Stool cultures showed the presence of Shigella flexneri II resistant to amoxicillin; blood and cerebrospinal fluid, cultures were negative.

CONCLUSION

Rectal prolapse is an uncommon complication seen in infants with Shigella diarrhea. It has been described in older children, but never before in neonates.

Bone mineral density in users of two kinds of once-a-month combined injectable contraceptives

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this descriptive study was to compare bone mineral density (BMD) between users of two kinds of once-a-month combined injectable contraceptives (CICs) and control subjects.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

This cross-sectional descriptive study included 97 women aged between 20 and 45 years using CICs containing either 25 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate and 5 mg of estradiol cypionate for 12-82 months or 50 mg of norethindrone enanthate and 5 mg of estradiol valerate for 12-60 months, matched by age (+/-1 year) and body mass index (BMI; kg/m(2)) (+/-1) with users of the TCu 380A intrauterine device as control subjects. BMD was evaluated at the midshaft of the ulna and at the distal section of the radius of the nondominant forearm using double X-ray absorptiometry.

RESULTS

There was no difference in BMD between users of either CIC and nonusers at either section of the forearm studied. There was also no difference in BMD between users of the two CICs at either section of the forearm.

CONCLUSIONS

Women aged between 20 and 45 years, currently using one of these two kinds of CICs, presented BMDs similar to those of control subjects paired by age and BMI.

Gray-level computer-generated hologram filters for multiple-object correlation

Synthesis of gray-level computer-generated holograms allows for an increase of the information storage capability that is usually achieved with conventional binary filters. This is mainly because more degrees of freedom are available. We propose to profit from this feature by synthesizing complex filters formed by many superimposed holograms, each with a different carrier frequency. We apply these gray-level filters to perform multichannel correlation and in this way enhance the capability of optical correlators to process the information in parallel and simultaneously. First, we analyze the behavior of some performance criteria on the impulse response and on the correlation as a function of the number of holograms that are multiplexed. Then we show the results of two experiments: In the first a composed phase-only filter is used in a multiple-object recognition process. In the second a composed synthetic discriminant function filter is used to implement an object classification by means of a binary code.

Cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma: diagnosis by MR imaging

We report a case of cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma the initial clinical features of which were pericardial effusion, clinical symptoms of congestive heart failure and probable pulmonary thromboembolism, in which echocardiography constituted the first approach to the diagnosis of cardiac tumor and MRI confirmed it, precisely delimiting the tumoral extension and possible infiltration of pericardiac structures. A brief literature review of this entity is given, the MRI findings obtained in our case are described, and we discuss the advantages and limitations of this technique as compared with other alternatives of image diagnosis.

Minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery

Traditional coronary artery bypass surgery involves a median sternotomy and the use of a heart-lung machine to stabilize the heart during suturing. Minimally invasive coronary artery surgery employs small incisions directly over the target vessels and avoids the use of a heart-lung machine, which can cause postoperative complications. The target coronary vessels are stabilized in alternative ways, potentially hazardous manipulation of the ascending aorta is avoided, and the subclavian and axillary arteries provide alternative inflow sources. Other new techniques used in minimally invasive procedures include a coronary artery cannula to avoid intraoperative ischemia and wound irrigation catheters to administer postoperative bupivacaine hydrochloride. Perioperative nurses need to become familiar with these new techniques to be able to plan and implement effective patient care.

Systemic effects of low-power laser irradiation on the peripheral and central nervous system, cutaneous wounds, and burns

In this paper, we direct attention to the systemic effect of low-power helium-neon (HeNe) laser irradiation on the recovery of the injured peripheral and central nervous system, as well as healing of cutaneous wounds and burns. Laser irradiation on only the right side in bilaterally inflicted cutaneous wounds enhanced recovery in both sides compared to the nonirradiated control group (P less than .01). Similar results were obtained in bilateral burns: irradiating one of the burned sites also caused accelerated healing in the nonirradiated site (P less than .01). However, in the nonirradiated control group, all rats suffered advanced necrosis of the feet and bilateral gangrene. Low-power HeNe laser irradiation applied to a crushed injured sciatic nerve in the right leg in a bilaterally inflicted crush injury, significantly increased the compound action potential in the left nonirradiated leg as well. The statistical analysis shows a highly significant difference between the laser-treated group and the control nonirradiated group (P less than .001). Finally, the systemic effect was found in the spinal cord segments corresponding to the crushed sciatic nerves. The bilateral retrograde degeneration of the motor neurons of the spinal cord expected after the bilateral crush injury of the peripheral nerves was greatly reduced in the laser treated group. The systemic effects reported here are relevant in terms of the clinical application of low-power laser irradiation as well as for basic research into the possible mechanisms involved.