Advantage of a higher position of the tracheostoma with glottic closure for preventing complications related to tracheostomy tube: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Surgery to prevent aspiration has complications related to tracheostomy tube, such as the trachea-brachiocephalic artery fistula. Glottic closure procedure makes tracheostoma at a position higher than the first ring of the trachea and theoretically has a potential to prevent such complications owing to a longer distance between the tip of tracheostomy tube and the tracheal membrane adjacent to the brachiocephalic artery. Our aim is to evaluate the safety of glottic closure in neurologically impaired patients by comparing outcomes with laryngotracheal separation. METHODS: This study is a single-center retrospective study from 2004 to 2019, using data of 15 and 12 patients who underwent glottic closure (GC) and laryngotracheal separation (LTS). The primary outcome was the incidence of postoperative complications induced by tracheostomy tube placement and adjustment of the tracheostomy tube position to prevent these complications, such as by converting to a length-adjustable tube and/or placing gauze between the skin and tube flange. Additionally, we analyzed the anatomical relationship between the tracheostomy tube tip and brachiocephalic artery and measured the distance between them using postoperative CT images. RESULTS: No patients in either group had trachea-brachiocephalic artery fistula. Erosion or granuloma formation occurred in 1 patient (7%) and 4 patients (33%) in the GC and LTS groups, respectively. Adjustment of the tracheostomy tube was needed in 2 patients (13%) and 6 patients (50%) in the GC and LTS groups. CT revealed a higher proportion of patients with the tracheostomy tube tip superior to the brachiocephalic artery in GC than LTS group. The mean tracheostoma-brachiocephalic artery distance was 40.8 and 32.4 mm in the GC and LTS groups. CONCLUSIONS: Glottic closure reduces the risk of postoperative complications related to a tracheostomy tube. This may be due to the higher position of the tracheostoma at the level of the cricoid cartilage, increasing the distance between the tracheostoma and brachiocephalic artery.

A patient with Joubert syndrome who developed sleep-related breathing disorder at 15 years of age.

Joubert syndrome is characterized by neonatal breathing disorders that are thought to improve with age, but recent findings indicate that sleep-related breathing disorders can occur even after infancy. A 15-year-old boy who had a breathing disorder during the neonatal period developed mental retardation and hypotonia. He was diagnosed with Joubert syndrome based on the clinical course and molar tooth sign on brain MRI at 9 years of age. Daytime sleepiness developed at 15 years of age. An interview and the results of sleep questionnaires (Epworth sleepiness scale, Pediatric sleep questionnaire and Pittsburgh sleep quality index), indicated that the patient had daytime sleepiness and a sleep-related breathing disorder. Overnight polysomnography showed central apnea with an apnea hypopnea index of 16, indicating that the patient had central sleep apnea syndrome. After nighttime oxygen therapy at home for one month, the sleep questionnaires showed improved daytime sleepiness and the sleep-related breathing disorder. The improvement persisted for over 12 months thereafter. Sleep-related breathing disorders could be indicated by non-specific complaints such as daytime sleepiness and lead to appropriate therapies. Such disorders should be considered as a complication of Joubert syndrome even after infancy.

Effects and limits of acute noninvasive positive pressure ventilation in children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities with pneumonia/bronchitis.

Objective: We have frequently applied noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) to treat acute respiratory failure in children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities. We investigated the features and causes of conditions requiring endotracheal intubation. We aimed to determine whether phlegm expulsion using appropriate breathing physiotherapy with NPPV could avoid the need for endotracheal intubation in such patients. Methods: Between December 2010 and November 2012, 21 children with 51 episodes of acute respiratory failure were placed on NPPV at our hospital. We investigated the ratio, background, and causes of conditions requiring endotracheal intubation. Results: Pneumonia and bronchitis caused 30 and 21 episodes of respiratory failure, respectively. Respiratory infection required endotracheal intubation in 8 of 30 episodes of pneumonia, and in none of the 21 episodes of bronchitis. Respiratory infections were caused by upper airway obstruction with large amounts of secretion (n=4), lower airway obstruction due to atelectasis (n=3) and a combination of both (n=1). The frequency of breathing physiotherapy was significantly higher for all patients who required assistance with active phlegm expulsion than in those who did not (p=0.006). More patients on endotracheal intubation also required phlegm aspiration compared with other patients (p=0.019). Conclusion: We applied NPPV to acute respiratory failure in children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities. This allowed 84% of them to avoid endotracheal intubation. Acute respiratory failure did not improve in any patient who required endotracheal intubation, but we also used NPPV with breathing physiotherapy and postural drainage. Assistance with phlegm expulsion is hampered in children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities due to conditions such as thoracic deformations, joint contracture and glossoptosis. We consider that assistance with phlegm expulsion using appropriate breathing physiotherapy with NPPV is very important for such patients.

Varied clinical course of aplastic crisis in hereditary spherocytosis.

This study is the first to report a familial case involving differing clinical courses of aplastic crisis triggered by parvovirus B19 in two patients with HS, although similar eosin-5-maleimide-binding test and sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis results had been obtained for both. One patient had short-term mild symptoms, whereas the other patient developed severe anemia that required blood transfusion, experienced fever for 13 days, and did not have any rash. The severity of aplastic crisis is reported to be correlated with the severity of the underlying hemolytic anemia; the present findings show that the severity of infection should also be considered as an important predictive factor of the severity of aplastic crisis.

Ketogenic diet for refractory epilepsy with MEHMO syndrome: Caution for acute necrotizing pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND: The MEHMO (mental retardation, epileptic seizures, hypogonadism and hypogenitalism, microcephaly, and obesity) syndrome, which is caused by a hemizygous variant in the EIF2S3 gene on chromosome Xp22, is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Refractory epileptic seizures and glucose dysregulation are characteristic manifestations of the MEHMO syndrome, which can often diminish patients' quality of life. CASE: A 5-year-old boy was referred to our hospital because of profound intellectual disability, micropenis, cryptorchidism, central hypothyroidism, and microcephaly. He had neonatal hypoglycemia at birth and later experienced refractory epileptic seizures and developed obesity and insulin-dependent diabetes. A diagnosis of MEHMO syndrome was established on the basis of the patient's clinical manifestations and de novo novel missense variant in the EIF2S3 gene (NM_001415.3:c.805 T > G) that was detected through whole-exome analysis. Although the patient's refractory seizures and diabetes had been well controlled with a combination of ketogenic diet (KD) therapy and insulin therapy, acute fatal necrotizing pancreatitis occurred at the age of 68 months. Moreover, despite intensive care, his condition rapidly deteriorated to multiple organ failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome, resulting in death. CONCLUSION: The pathophysiology of glucose intolerance in MEHMO syndrome remains to be elucidated; however, recent studies have suggested that EIF2S3 gene variants could lead to glucose dysregulation and ß-cell damage in the pancreas. We suspect that in the present case, KD therapy led to an abnormal load on the beta cells that were damaged owing to eIF2γ dysfunction. Therefore, the adverse effects of KD in patients with MEHMO syndrome should be considered.

Cumulative jerk as an outcome measure in nonambulatory Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

OBJECTIVES: Quantitative or semiquantitative outcome measures for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are important, as they can be objective indicators of the natural history of DMD; these measures also aid in the evaluation of the efficacy of various treatments. However, the most widely used standard outcome measures in patients with DMD, such as the North Star Ambulatory Assessment and the 6-min walk test, cannot be applied after patients have become nonambulatory. We evaluated the utility and reliability of accelerometric analysis of motor activity in nonambulatory patients with DMD. METHODS: We measured the motor activity of the upper extremity in 7 nonambulatory patients with DMD, by using an accelerometer attached at the wrist of the dominant arm. To eliminate gravitational acceleration, we measured the changes in acceleration between measurements. The root of the sum of squared values of the changes per unit time in the 3 axes of the accelerometer was defined as a jerk. The total sum of the jerk values obtained at a measurement frequency of 15.625 Hz for 8 h was defined as the cumulative sum of jerks (Cj). RESULTS: The Cj values had significant and very strong or strong correlations with the Brooke Upper Extremity Scale (rs = -0.973; p = 0.00023) and the arm function scores for the DMD Functional Ability Self-Assessment Tool (rs = 0.810, p = 0.027). The values also had a very strong or strong correlation with the elbow flexion strength (nondominant arm: r = 0.931, p = 0.002; dominant arm: r = 0.750, p = 0.052). CONCLUSION: Cj assessment is a useful method to evaluate motor activities in nonambulatory patients with DMD.