No abstract available.
Bilirubin* ; Fetal Blood* ; Hyperbilirubinemia, Neonatal*

No abstract available.
Bilirubin/*blood ; Female ; Heart Failure/*blood ; Humans ; Male

BACKGROUND: Irbersatan, an orally active antihypertensive agent, effectively reduce blood pressure by directly blocking angiotensin II receptors without any significant adverse effects. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of irbesartan in patients with mild to moderate hypertension. METHODS: This study enrolled 83 patients who had diastolic pressure above 95 mmHg and below 110 mmHg on two measurements. Sixty eight patients were administered 150mg of irbesartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker, daily for four weeks as an initial dosage. If the sitting diastolic pressure was equal to or greater than 90 mmHg after a 4 week treatment period, the dosage was doubled until the end of 8 weeks. Baseline pressures, antihypertensive effect, side effects, laboratory findings were compared before and after treatment. RESULTS: Fourty two patients out of 53 patients having completed this study showed decreased blood pressure equal to or more than 5 mmHg of the sitting diastolic pressure (response rate=79%). Twenty one patients out of 53 patients showed normalized blood pressure below 90 mmHg of the sitting diastolic pressure (normalization rate=40%). The extent of decrease in diastolic and systolic blood pressure after eight week treatment was an average 11.7+/-10.1 mmHg and 16.3+/-18.9 mmHg, respectively (p<0.05). Nineteen ontoward side effects was observed in 17 patients out of 68 patients with medication (frequency of ontoward effects=25%). Only one case with headache was considered to be related to the medication. Abnormal laboratory findings were observed in eight patients, and only one case with elevation of bilirubin and ALT levels was considered to be related to the medication. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, irbesartan is a safe and effective antihypertensive drug in patients with mild to moderate hypertension with tolerable side effects.
Bilirubin ; Blood Pressure ; Headache ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Receptors, Angiotensin

No abstract available.
Bilirubin/*blood ; Fatty Liver/*ultrasonography ; Female ; Humans ; Male

Neonatal jaundice is a common condition seen in the primary care setting. Most afflicted babies have physiological jaundice and their prognosis is good. However, others have pathological jaundice, which must be detected early. High levels of serum bilirubin can also result in bilirubin encephalopathy. This article describes consultation tasks in the primary care setting with the aim of providing a guide for the safe management of neonatal jaundice. They include clinical assessment of the baby's well-being; looking out for features that suggest pathological jaundice; assessment for the presence of high-risk features; utilising appropriate laboratory tests for monitoring; assessing the degree of jaundice to decide if the child can be safely followed up in primary care; and providing advice on primary prevention measures and allaying parental concerns. The importance of stool colour examination and its role in early detection of cholestatic jaundice is emphasised.
Bilirubin ; blood ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Disease Management ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Jaundice, Neonatal ; blood ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Risk Factors

Neonatal jaundice is a common neonatal disease. Severe jaundices lead to kernicterus that affects intellectual development of infants or even causes death. Timely and early prediction is vital to the treatment and prevention. This paper presents a jaundice predictor, which uses C8051F020 as the core of single-chip microcomputer (SCM) system with prediction algorithms proven by a large number of clinical trials. The jaundice predictor can reduce the incidence rate of jaundice, alleviate the condition of infants with jaundice, improve the quality of perinatal, with predicting pathologic neonatal jaundice effectively and calling attention to the prophylactic treatment. In addition, compared with the existing transcutaneous jaundice meters, the new predictor has a smaller size, a lighter weight, more user-friendly, and easier to use by hand-holding.
Algorithms ; Bilirubin ; blood ; Equipment Design ; methods ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Jaundice, Neonatal ; blood ; diagnosis ; Microcomputers ; Photometry ; methods

OBJECTIVETo explore the association between hyperbilirubinemia and apnea in premature infants.

METHODSPremature infants with apnea and birth weight >1500 g were tested for the heart rate, serum level of bilirubin, saturation of blood oxygen (SO₂) and partial pressure of oxygen (PO₂) before and after treatment, with term infants serving as the control. A comparative analyses of the serum level of bilirubin, SO₂ and PO₂ were carried out in the premature infants with birth weight <1500 g suffering apneic syndrome or not on the first and third days after birth.

RESULTSOf the premature and term infants with apnea and birth weight <1500 g, 92.5% and 70.00% showed increased serum level of indirect bilirubin (IBIL), respectively. The infants with birth weight <1500 g who presented the syndrome of apnea on the first day after birth had significantly higher levels of IBIL than those without an apparent syndrome of apnea. A three-day conventional therapy resulted in an obvious improvement of apneic syndrome and lowered bilirubin level.

CONCLUSIONIncreased bilirubin level can be one of the reasons for the development of apnea in premature infants, and therapies for reducing bilirubin level can ameliorate the syndrome of apnea.

Apnea ; blood ; complications ; Bilirubin ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperbilirubinemia ; complications ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Male

The Kidd blood group is clinically significant since the Jk antibodies can cause acute and delayed transfusion reactions as well as hemolytic disease of newborn (HDN). In general, HDN due to anti-Jk(b) incompatibility is rare and it usually displays mild clinical symptoms with a favorable prognosis. Yet, we apparently experienced the second case of HDN due to anti-Jk(b) with severe clinical symptoms and a fatal outcome. A female patient having the AB, Rh(D)-positive boodtype was admitted for jaundice on the fourth day after birth. At the time of admission, the patient was lethargic and exhibited high pitched crying. The laboratory data indicated a hemoglobin value of 11.4 mg/dL, a reticulocyte count of 14.9% and a total bilirubin of 46.1 mg/dL, a direct bilirubin of 1.1 mg/dL and a strong positive result (+++) on the direct Coomb's test. As a result of the identification of irregular antibody from the maternal serum, anti-Jk(b) was detected, which was also found in the eluate made from infant's blood. Despite the aggressive treatment with exchange transfusion and intensive phototherapy, the patient died of intractable seizure and acute renal failure on the fourth day of admission. Therefore, pediatricians should be aware of the clinical courses of hemolytic jaundice due to anti-Jk(b), and they should be ready to treat this disease with active therapeutic interventions.
Bilirubin/blood ; Erythroblastosis, Fetal/*blood ; Fatal Outcome ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Isoantibodies/blood ; Kidd Blood-Group System/*immunology

Hematologic investigations for 7 years at the Pediatric Department of Yonsei Medical Center of 52 syphilitic infants were reviewed. A moderate degree of anemia with red cell regeneration was observed in 40 infants (76.0%). Marked. thrombocytopenia but without active bleeding was found in 19 infants, and with active bleeding in 3 infants. A wide range of leukocyte counts, relative lymphocytosis and monocytosis were prominant features. The jaundice was mainly due to unconjugated bilirubin in 6 infants, conjugated as well as unconjugated bilirubin in 8 infants. With therapy, the above abnormal hematologic findings showed marked improvement. Early diagnosis is essential. Prevention and congenital syphilis depend on a high level of clinical suspicion, supported by routine and diagnostic use of laboratory and serologic aids, in the asymptomatic or minimally symptomtaic infants.
Bilirubin/blood ; Blood Cell Count ; Blood Platelets ; Female ; Hemoglobins/metabolism ; Human ; Infant, Newborn ; Reticulocytes ; Syphilis, Congenital/blood*

OBJECTIVETo study the efficacy and safety of plasma-perfusion with a novel aminated chitosan on liver failure in a canine model.

METHODSA canine model of liver failure was established. Plasma-perfusion with a novel aminated chitosan was performed on those dogs. Blood pressure and body temperature during plasma-perfusion were monitored. Total plasma bilirubin, direct bilirubin and indirect bilirubin at the entrance and exit of a column before and after plasma-perfusion and at the time of 15, 30, 60, and 120 min during plasma-perfusion were examined. Blood alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, ammonia, plasma prothrombin time, electrolytes and other blood parameters were examined before and after the plasma-perfusion.

RESULTSAfter the plasma-perfusion, total bilirubin decreased from 177.4+/-18.1 to 46.1+/-3.7 (P less than 0.05), direct bilirubin decreased from 124.2+/-10.3 to 30.5+/-1.7 (P less than 0.05), indirect bilirubin decreased from 53.2+/-2.8 to 15.6+/-2.0 (P less than 0.05). Compared at the entrance of the column, there were significant decreases in the levels of total bilirubin, direct bilirubin and indirect bilirubin of plasma at the exit of the column at the times of 15 and 30 min during plasma-perfusion (P less than 0.05); there were no further significant decreases at 60 and 120 min (P more than 0.05). Compared with pre-plasma-perfusion, there were significant decreases in the levels of blood alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and ammonia (P less than 0.05); the plasma prothrombin time was significantly increased (P less than 0.05), the electrolytes, hematocrit level, platelet count, and white cell count were not affected significantly by the perfusion (P more than 0.05); blood pressure and body temperature were not affected significantly during the plasma-perfusion.

CONCLUSIONPlasma-perfusion with a novel aminated chitosan resin is an effective and safe method for treating liver failure in this canine model.

Animals ; Bilirubin ; blood ; Blood Chemical Analysis ; Chitosan ; blood ; therapeutic use ; Dogs ; Female ; Liver Failure ; therapy ; Male ; Perfusion ; Plasma