Correction to: In vitro prediction of stop-codon suppression by intravenous gentamicin in patients with cystic fibrosis: a pilot study.

The original article [1] contains errors in Table 1 affecting some of the presented oligonucleotide sequences and readthrough values in Table 1.

Work of breathing as a tool to diagnose severe fixed upper airway obstruction.

A 4-year-old girl with bilateral vocal fold palsy was successfully decannulated from tracheotomy after seven laryngeal procedures. But an important stridor and dyspnea recurred 13 months after decannulation. Nocturnal gas exchange was normal but her daytime work of breathing was increased by fourfold, without any beneficial effect of nasal noninvasive continuous positive airway pressure ventilation (CPAP), reflecting a severe fixed airway obstruction. Endoscopic examination confirmed the work of breathing findings showing glottic and supraglottic stenosis. This upper airway obstruction was successfully treated with a recannulation. In conclusion, the major message of this case report is that measurement of the work of breathing was able to document the "fixed" nature of the airway obstruction, by showing no improvement even with highest tolerated levels of nasal CPAP. As such, the work of breathing may be proposed as a screening tool to quantify and assess the reversibility of severe upper airway obstruction in children.

Amplification and compression of temporally shaped picosecond pulses in Yb-doped rod-type fibers.

We report on a new technique to produce high power sub-picosecond pulses from a fiber amplifier. We use parabolic pulse shaping of 27 ps transform-limited pulses in order to control nonlinear effects in the fiber amplifier. 63 MW, 780 fs pulses with 25 W average power were obtained, and ways to scale the technique to higher peak powers were identified.

Drainage of subperiosteal orbital abscesses complicating pediatric ethmoiditis: comparison between external and transnasal approaches.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to compare the external (EA), transnasal endoscopic (TEA), and combined (CA) external and transnasal approaches to drain orbital subperiosteal abscesses complicating pediatric ethmoiditis. METHODS: This retrospective study included 38 children consecutively operated in our center for an orbital subperiosteal abscess complicating an acute ethmoiditis. The distribution of surgical approaches used for our patients was the following: 12 TEA (32%), 21 EA (55%) and 5 CA (13%). All data were retrieved from patients' clinical charts. RESULTS: No surgical complication was observed in the present study regardless of the approach. The percentage of surgical failures requiring additional drainage was almost twice as high after TEA (failure rate: 25%) than after EA (failure rate 14.3%), but this difference was not significant. Parameters which significantly influenced the risk of failure of TEA were the length and width of the abscess. The duration of postoperative hospitalization was significantly lower in the TEA group (3.1 days) than in the EA one (5.4 days). There were no failures in the CA group. CONCLUSIONS: Failures of surgical drainage of orbital subperiosteal abscess complicating pediatric ethmoiditis are not rare and did not differ between external and transnasal endoscopic approaches in our study. The transnasal route is associated with a shorter postoperative duration of postoperative hospitalization. CA seems to be a viable surgical option combining the advantages of both endoscopic and external approaches.

Endoscopic balloon dilatation of esophageal strictures in children.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To assess the efficacy and safety of endoscopic balloon dilatation of esophageal strictures in children. DESIGN: retrospective case series; population: 49 patients under 18 years of age referred to our center for esophageal strictures; treatment: endoscopic balloon dilatation; outcome parameters: residual dysphagia, weight gain, iatrogenic esophageal perforation, assessment of the esophageal lumen by endoscopy or esophagogram. RESULTS: The three main etiologies were esophageal atresia (49%; n=24), corrosive injury (25%; n=12), and epidermolysis bullosa (14%; n=7), followed by a heterogeneous group of rarer causes (12%; n=6). The number of dilatations ranged from 1 to 8 sessions per patient (median ± SEM: 2 ± 0.3). The length of the follow-up period ranged from 20 to 109 months (median ± SEM: 40 ± 4 months). Treatment was successful in 86% of cases (n=42). Twelve percent of patients (n=6) had a residual stenosis requiring surgery, and a further one still experienced swallowing difficulties requiring enteral nutrition via gastrostomy in spite of the absence of significant residual stricture. Results were less satisfactory in cases of corrosive injury than with other etiologies. Three esophageal perforations were observed (6% of patients; 2% of procedures). All were medically treated. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic balloon dilatation is a simple, safe and efficacious treatment of esophageal strictures in children.

Retropharyngeal infections in children. Treatment strategies and outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To optimize the treatment of retropharyngeal infections in children. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of 101 consecutive pediatric cases of retropharyngeal infections referred to our center from January 2006 to July 2009. RESULTS: Two-thirds of patients were males. Their mean age was 52 months (range: 6-163). Upper airway obstruction was observed in three patients. In another child, the infection evolved towards a diffuse cervical cellulitis. Medical treatment was initially planned in 44% of patients. Failures requiring surgical drainage occurred in 18% of them. In 56% of cases, surgical treatment was immediately instigated. It failed in 16% of patients, requiring a second surgical drainage. There was no difference in the duration of fever and of hospital stay between patients initially treated medically or surgically. Both medical and surgical treatment failures were associated with longer durations of fever (p=0.002, and p<0.0001, respectively) and of hospital stay (p=0.0006, and p=0.0005, respectively). Some characteristics of CT-scan anomalies were correlated with treatment failure. A hypodense core surrounded by rim enhancement, with a largest long axis ≥ 20 mm, was more frequent in case of medical failure (p=0.02). Surgical failure was associated with the same feature, but with a largest long axis ≥ 30 mm (p=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that severe complications are rare in pediatric retropharyngeal adenitis, and that CT-scan is a useful tool to choose between medical and surgical treatment.

Acute mastoiditis in children: a retrospective study of 188 patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to define the clinical and bacteriological characteristics of acute mastoiditis (AM) in children in order to optimize diagnostic work-up and treatment. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 188 children between 3 months and 15 years of age (15±24 months; median±SD) were referred to our pediatric ENT emergency center for AM during a 7-year period (December 2001-January 2008). RESULTS: Fifty seven percent were male and 43% were female. Clinical follow-up duration was 3.9±0.7 months (mean±SEM). The incidence of AM remained stable during the whole study period. Microbiological samples (n=236) were negative in 33% of cases. The most frequently isolated germs were Streptococcus pneumoniae (51%), Streptococcus pyogenes (11.5%), Anaerobes (6.5%), and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (6.5%). Paracentesis, puncture of retro auricular abscess under local anesthesia, and peroperative samples all contributed to isolate the involved germ(s). All the patients were hospitalized and received intravenous antibiotics, and 36.2% (n=68) underwent surgery. Several surgical procedures were necessary in 4 cases (2.1%). AM recurrences requiring a second hospitalization were observed in 8 patients (4.3%). The only observed complication was lateral sinus thrombosis (n=6; 3.2%). Surgical failures, requiring more than one surgical procedure, were more frequent in case of: (i) presence of Anaerobes (p≤0.001) or Gram-negative bacteria (p≤0.05) in microbiological samples; (ii) surgical drainage without mastoidectomy (p≤0.001). Recurrences were more frequent in AM due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings and on literature data, a protocol was established in order to standardize the management of pediatric AM in our center. The mains points are: no systematic surgery; if surgery is indicated, it must encompass a mastoidectomy; broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotic treatment covering the most commonly involved germs (3rd generation cephalosporin) and secondarily adapted to the results of microbiological samples. If the infection is not controlled after 48 h of intravenous antibiotherapy, a mastoidectomy had to be performed.