Does maternal nicotine exposure exacerbate neonatal hyperoxia-induced lung fibrosis in rats?
CTGF may be involved in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis induced by maternal nicotine and neonatal hyperoxia, and maternal nicotine exposure exacerbates neonatal hyperoxia-induced lung fibrosis. These results are relevant to neonates who require supplemental oxygen and are exposed to the breast milk of smoking mothers during infancy.
The rate of death or discharge to nursing care facility after cardiac surgery was high among patients who were octogenarians. Current operative outcome end points do not reflect such important differences between patients who are octogenarians and younger patients. Informed discussion of treatment options, potential for discharge to a nursing care facility, and quality of life expectations should precede a decision to undergo cardiac surgery in patients who are octogenarians. Randomized clinical trials of medical versus surgical palliation of cardiovascular symptoms in patients who are octogenarians are needed to justify cost-effectiveness and guide better use of relatively scarce Medicare resources.