[Evolution of the automated system for preventive examination of children an automated unit for mass screening examinations].

The complicated situation in pediatric healthcare and long-term negative trends observed in the health of children predetermined the necessity of introducing automated units built on the principles of preventive medicine and screening diagnostics into the practice of healthcare. AKDO units belong to such equipment designed for early diversified diagnostics of chronic diseases made within comprehensive examinations of children, i.e. a state program of regular medical check-ups of children. The paper presents objective trends taking place in the modern practical healthcare that necessitated principle changes in and promotion of functional potentialities of the existing ASPON systems developed in 1983-1988.

[DNA polymorphism in the region of APOB100, APOCIII, APOE, and angiotensin-converting enzyme genes and indicators of the lipid spectrum in children and adolescents in St. Petersburg]. / Polimorfizm DNK v oblasti genov APOB100, APOCIII, APOE, angiotenzin- konvertiruiushchego fermenta i pokazateli lipidnogo spektra u detei i podrostkov Sankt-Peterburga.

Polymorphisms of 3 apolipoprotein genes Xba I apoB, Sstl apoCIII, and apoE and the insertion-deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene (I/D ACE) and lipid levels were studied in a random sample of 403 children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years living in St. Petersburg. The children were divided in 4 age groups with consideration for the relative body weight index: group 1.6 to 9 years; II, 10-12; III, 13-15; and IV, 16-18 years. The first three groups were divided by sex, the fourth was not because it was the smallest. Relationships between lipid levels and DNA polymorphisms of the above genes were analyzed in all groups. Effects of apoB Xbal, apoCIII Sstl, apoE, and ACE genotypes on the levels of the blood basic lipids were analyzed using Statgraphics software. A marked effect of the apoE (E3/E4) genotype on the total and LDL-cholesterol variability was observed in group IV. The individuals carrying the E4 apoE allele had increased levels of total and LDL-cholesterol (p < 0.02 and p < 0.03, respectively). The level of triglycerides was higher in the subjects carrying the S2 apoCIII allele in the third group (p < 0.04). A statistically reliable difference was however observed only in girls (p < 0.01). We failed to detect reliable correlations between lipid levels and various apoB and ACE genotypes. Hence, the genetic variants of apoCIII and apoE genes affect the blood lipid levels as early as in adolescence.

[Thymus mass in infants in the first year of life, who died as a result of sudden death syndrome]. / Massa timusa u detei pervogo goda zhizni, pogibshikh vsledstvie sindroma vnezapnoi smerti.

Thymus weight was studied in 117 infants of the first year of life who died a sudden death, in 195 breast-fed infants who died of various diseases and in 27 infants aged up to one year who died a violent death without disease symptoms. There was a great variability of the thymus weight in all the groups, although its values were statistically lower in the syndrome of sudden death whatever the method of comparison. No proof of the children thymomegaly in the syndrome of sudden death is found.

Generalized view of the origins of the sudden infant death syndrome.

A hypothesis is present that explains Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) as an outcome of biological immaturity. This hypothesis fits the known characteristics of SIDS and does not conflict with other possible explanations of its genesis.

[The evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of auranofin in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (the results of Soviet-American research)]. / Otsenka terapevticheskoi éffektivnosti auranofina pri iuvenil'nom revmatoidnom artrite (rezul'taty sovetsko-amerikanskogo issledovaniia).

The authors describe the results of prospective multicenter Soviet-American placebo-controlled 6-month investigations concerned with assessment of the therapeutic efficacy of auranofin in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). 231 patients with JRA were placed under observation. Auranofin was found to be slightly superior to placebo. The drug was tolerated well. It is noted that in the treatment of JRA, of importance are long (6-month) courses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

[An automated system for the preventive mass screening of the pediatric population (ASPON-D)]. / Avtomatizirovannaia sistema massovykh profilakticheskikh osmotrov detskogo naseleniia (ASPON-D).

Herein are described the problems that deal with the computer aided prophylactic medical examination of children population. Questions devoted to the development of the medical software ASPON-D, the technologies of children's examination and development of the specialised experimental system are described here as well. A brief summary of the feasibility study that can be applied for the alternative systems used for the practical public health aims and the results of the experimental operation test are presented.