[Acid-base equilibrium and spinal fluid enzyme activity in newborn infants with pathology of the nervous system]. / Kislotno-shchelochnoe ravnovesie i aktivnost' fermentov spinnomozgovoi zhidkosti u novorozhdennykh s patologiei nervnoi sistemy.

The acid-base balance of the blood and cerebrospinal fluid was studied in 90 babies born in asphyxia in order to use these data in assessing the damage to the nervous system. Analysis revealed the hypoxic nature of the cerebral affection which was manifested by anaerobic glycolysis of the cerebral tissue and arterial hypoxemia. The degree of acidosis detected in the cerebrospinal fluid correlated with the severity of the nervous system damage. Children with the lethal outcome presented deeompensated respiratory acidosis, in the cerebrospinal fluid whereas children with severe neurological pathology had alkalosis. It is concluded that alkolosis is induced by an intensified catabolism of the nervous system proteins which leads to the accumulation of ammoniac compounds. The same children showed pulmonary hyperventilation leading to respiratory acidocis which was not related to pulmonary pathology. The latter points to the hypoxic impairment of the respiratory centre. At the same time, a considerable increase in the activity of the glycolytic enzymes was observed; the activity of glutamate oxalacetate transaminase increased 5-fold, the activity of lactate dehydrogenase rose two-fold.

[Clinical and computerized-tomographic correlations in children with cerebral palsy]. / Klinicheskie i komp'iuterno-tomograficheskie korreliatsii pri detskikh tserebral'nykh paralichakh.

Clinical investigation and computed tomography (CT) were performed in 75 children with the infantile cerebral paralysis (ICP). In 63% pathomorphologic changes were found, their rate dependent on ICP form and severity of the motor deficiency. Most frequent finding was ventricular system dilatation which was asymmetrical in majority of patients. Uniform CT changes--frontal atrophy--were found in patients with atonic-astatic form of ICP.

[Function of the sympathetico-adrenal system and the acid-base equilibrium in newborn infants with a hypoxic lesion of the central nervous system]. / Sostoianie simpatiko-adrenalovoi sistemy i kislotno-shchelochnogo ravnovesiia u novorozhdennykh s gipoksicheskim porazheniem tsentral'ni nervnoi sistemy.

The function of the sympathetic-adrenal system was studied by measuring umbilical cord blood catecholamines in 31 full-term newborns with perinatal asphyxia and evidence of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and in 20 normal newborns. The results indicate that the full-term newborn responds to asphyxia with graded catecholamine release. The epinephrine concentration in newborns with moderate HIE is lower than in newborns with mild HIE, which may reflect decreased sympathetic-adrenal function due to prolonged asphyxia. Acid-base values in capillary blood and lumbar cerebrospinal fluid were determined in the babies with HIE, with the findings pointing to metabolic acidosis which was more expressed in cerebrospinal fluid.

[Computerized tomographic and clinical examination of children with hemiparesis]. / Komp'iuterno-tomograficheskoe i klinicheskoe obsledovanie detei s gemiparezami.

Clinical examination and computerized tomography of 29 children with hemiparesis of different origin and severity (23 with a hemiparetic form of infantile cerebral paralysis and 6 with acquired hemiparesis) revealed in 69 per cent of the patients pathomorphological changes in the brain whose markedness correlated with the severity of the clinical status. The most frequent finding was dilatation of the ventricular system of the brain which was asymmetrical in most cases. Along with the atrophic process some patients presented focal or diffuse changes in the density of the cerebral matter depending on the nature of the primary damaging factors (zones of decreased density, porencephaly, calcification). Specification by computerized tomography of the structure and size of the pathomorphologic alterations in the brain allows evaluation of the clinical prognosis.