Embryonic development of the respiratory system is regulated by a series of mesenchymal-epithelial interactions that are only partially understood. Mesenchymal FGF and Wnt2/Wnt2b signaling are implicated in specification of mammalian pulmonary progenitors from the ventral foregut endoderm, but their epistatic relationship and downstream targets are largely unknown. In addition, how wnt2 and wnt...

HYPOTHESIS Factors that lead to failures in antireflux procedures can be identified, and dealing with them at the initial operation may decrease the number of such failures. DESIGN Analysis of symptoms, 24-hour esophageal pH monitoring, manometry, upper gastrointestinal tract radiographs, and correlation with operative anatomic findings. SETTING University referral center. PATIENTS Forty-...

OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, its risk factors and resource utilization in a large South American population of very low birth weight infants. METHODS Prospectively collected data in infants weighing 500 to 1,500 g born at 16 NEOCOSUR Network centers from 10/2000 through 12/2003. Multivariate relative risk and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by Po...

The composition of the bacterial communities in the contents of the foregut and hindgut of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus and in the ambient surface sediment was surveyed by 16S rRNA gene 454-pyrosequencing. A total of 188,623 optimized reads and 15,527 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from the ten gut contents samples and four surface sediment samples. The sequences in...

background and aims: aspergillus fumigatus is a sporadic fungus that causes different infections and allergies in immunocompromised patients. the allergic disease caused by this fungus is called allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (abpa). abpa is considred important in atopic and immunocompromised individuals, which can result in inflammation and epithelial damage. therefore, the aim of thi...

We reviewed our institutional experience with pulmonary resection for congenital bronchopulmonary malformations and analysed the management and outcome of pregnancies with a prenatal diagnosis of congenital lung malformations. Between January 1993 and December 2003, 31 patients underwent evaluation and pulmonary resection for bronchopulmonary malformations. Common clinical presentations were re...

Intrapericardial developmental foregut cysts are rare and are most frequently incidental findings at necropsy in adults. A 29 year old Asian woman delivered a 24 week stillborn fetus seven days after diagnosis of intrauterine death caused by rupture of a foregut cyst. Multiple cysts occupied the wall of the right atrium and its rupture caused haemopericardium and cardiac tamponade.