Successful use of sodium hypochlorite pack plus systemic and local antibiotic therapy for the treatment of pseudomonas infection of peritoneal dialysis catheter exit-site.

Peritoneal catheter exit-site and tunnel infections remain critical problems in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. Catheter-related peritonitis occurs in about 20% of patients and exit-site infections are responsible for catheter removal in more than one-fifth of the cases. For the last 2 years in the Department of Nephrology, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy, we have been treating exit-site infections caused by Pseudomonas with sodium hypochlorite packs as well as systemic and local antibiotic therapy. Considering the encouraging results obtained on Pseudomonas infection, we decided to utilize the same schedule for the treatment of exit-site infections caused by other germs which are generally difficult to eradicate to prevent peritonitis and catheter removal. Between 2003 and 2004, 10 patients contracted infection of the exit-site. All patients underwent a swab test because of the reddening and the purulent secretion of the exit-site. The swab resulted positive for Pseudomonas in 7 patients, Corynebacterium sp. in 2 patients, and Candida albicans in 1 patient. All patients were treated with systemic antibiotic therapy or antifungal therapy, local sodium hypochlorite 50% packs. After 15 days all patients were submitted to a swab test of the exit site. In all patients, the swab test resulted negative after 15 days and 1 month, and they could continue peritoneal dialysis. This procedure avoided peritoneal catheter removal and temporary switch to hemodialysis in all patients with exit site infection. The mechanism of action is related to the wide antimicrobial spectrum and the rapid action of sodium hypochlorite possibly creating a protective barrier on the exit-site.

Acid-base balance in peritoneal dialysis.

In patients without functioning kidneys, alkali replenishment is accomplished by the addition, via dialysis solution, of either HCO 3 - itself or a metabolic precursor of this anion, such as lactate. The body base balance in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients is self-regulated by the feedback between plasma bicarbonate concentration and dialytic base gain. Dialytic base gain is the only source of buffer for PD patients and this gain should counteract the metabolic acid production. Dialytic base gain depends on peritoneal buffer fluxes (lactate reabsorption minus bicarbonate lost). The plasma bicarbonate level is determined by the dialytic base gain and the metabolic acid production. Bicarbonate buffered PD solution provides some advantages over the conventional lactate buffered PD solution.

The ''Ronco'' catheter for continuous flow peritoneal dialysis.

To perform CFPD, a two way access must be available in order to allow continuous inflow and outflow of the solution. This is most likely achieved with a double lumen peritoneal catheter. To design a double lumen catheter does not necessarily mean to increase the size of the tube or to increase the discomfort of the patient. However, the real challenge is to find a design in which minimal re-circulation is experienced. The two tips of the catheter must be positioned such that a maximal exposure of the peritoneal surface to the fluid is guaranteed during one single passage of the fluid from one lumen to another. Double lumen catheters with one short branch and another long of straight and of spiral shape were originally designed. Ash and coworkers have designed a catheter with a t-shape configuration in order to distantiate to the maximum the tips of the two lumens. Recently we have designed a novel catheter for CFPD equipped with a thin walled silicone diffuser used to gently diffuse the inflow dialysate into the peritoneum. The holes on the round tapered diffuser are positioned to allow dialysate to perpendicularly exit 360 degrees from the diffuser. The diffuser design and hole locations disperse the high-flow dialysate fluid at 360 degrees, reducing trauma to the peritoneal walls and allowing the dialysate to mix into the peritoneum. The dispersed fluid infused into the peritoneal cavity is then drained through the second lumen whose tip is placed into the lower Douglas cavity. The new catheter with diffuser is also equipped with a special removable hub that allows for easy creation of the subcutaneous tunnel without increasing the size of the skin exit site. The results so far achieved seems to offer advantages in terms of high flows, minimal pressure regimes and negligible recirculation.

The Vicenza ''Short'' peritoneal catheter: a twenty year experience.

Dislocation of peritoneal dialysis catheters is one of the major causes of technique failure. We evaluated 701 Vicenza catheters, implanted since 1985 in 365 males, mean age 53 +/- 16 yrs, range 24 - 87, and 336 females, mean age 51 +/- 17 yrs, range 21 - 82. The Vicenza catheter is defined "short" since it consists of a classic straight double cuff PD catheter having however an inner segment (the portion located in the peritoneal cavity) much shorter than any other type of catheter. It is implanted in the lower abdomen, just a few centimeters above the pubis. The analysis of our results obtained in a large PD population displayed good device survival at 2 and 5 years (94.3% and 91.5% respectively), a low dislocation rate (4%) and an exit-site infection rate similar to other double cuffed catheters. There was no selection of patients receiving this catheter since from 1985 we have used this catheter in every incident patient. Due to its lower implantation site this catheter demonstrates excellent wearability and good body image acceptance.

Pseudo-Class III malocclusion treatment with Balters' Bionator.

The aim of this article is to show the use of the Balters' Bionator in pseudo-Class III treatment. The importance of differentiating between true Class III and pseudo-Class III is emphasized. The therapeutic results of a Balters' Bionator appliance are presented in three case reports of subjects in the mixed dentition. In this stage of development it is possible to correct an isolated problem. The use of the Bionator III in this kind of malocclusion enabled the correction of a dental malocclusion in a few months and therapeutic stability of a mesially-positioned mandible encouraging favourable skeletal growth.

Aerobic exercise training fails to reduce blood pressure in nondipper-type hypertension.

To assess whether aerobic exercise training is an effective and an alternative method to control blood pressure (BP) in hypertension, 32 uncomplicated, never treated patients suffering from mild-to-moderate essential arterial hypertension (EAH) were included in an aerobic exercise training program using a regular standardized cycle ergometer exercise for 3 months. In all EAH patients, before and after the exercise training period, ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) was performed and several metabolic variables were assessed. Before exercise, in 20 EAH patients, a 48-h ABPM showed a normal day-night rhythm, with nocturnal BP decrease, according to a dipper-type hypertension, whereas in 12 EAH patients 48-h ABPM profile indicated a nondipper-type hypertension. After exercise, EAH dippers presented a significant decrease in the daytime systolic and diastolic BP, whereas EAH nondippers did not show any change in daytime and nighttime systolic and diastolic BP. Our study confirms the controversy about the postulated BP lowering effect of dynamic exercise in EAH patients, in the sense that only EAH dipper patients seem to obtain a beneficial diurnal lowering BP effect deriving from exercise, possibly through a reduction in sympathetic tone. On the contrary, physical activity seems to fail in reducing diurnal and nocturnal BP values in EAH nondippers, suggesting that in nondipper-type hypertension, other "masking" endogenous or exogenous factors could interfere with and prevail over the adrenergic-vagal balance that modulates the day-night BP synchronism.

Efficacy of hepatitis B immunization with reduced intradermal doses.

Intradermally (I.D.) administered reduced doses of HB-Vax and Hevac-B were tested against the standard protocols for administering these two vaccines. Immunogenicity, efficacy and possible side effects were evaluated. Four-hundred-sixty-two healthy subjects were vaccinated as follows: Fifty-two subjects received HB-Vax and 99 Hevac B according to the standard regimens. The remaining subjects received 3 I.D. injections in the deltoid region at one-month intervals in the following doses: 165 subjects with 2 micrograms doses of HB-Vax, 118 subjects with 1 microgram doses of Hevac-B and 28 subjects with 0.5 micrograms (minimal) doses of Hevac-B. Post-vaccination tests (anti-HBs titres and other serological markers for HBV) were to be performed 30, 60, 90, 180, 270 and 360 days after the first injections. Side effects seen with the experimental protocols were acceptable and limited to local reactions. It was found that, on the whole, reduced I.D. doses of both vaccines produced very high immune responses showing a consistently greater efficacy than those of the standard protocols, though the differences were not always statistically significant. Ninety days after the first injections, 80.8% and 82.7% of subjects vaccinated with reduced I.D. doses of HB-Vax showed seroconversion as opposed to only 62.0% of those receiving standard protocol HB-Vax. Seroconversion rates at 90 days in subjects receiving reduced I.D. doses of Hevac-B were 92.0% and 87.9% and for those receiving the minimal doses of this vaccine, 94.1%. The rate of seroconversion obtained with standard administration of Hevac-B was 83.8%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)