PEDIATRICS Vol. 101 No. 1 January 1998, pp. 159-160
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To the Editor.
Strauss et al1 recently published a large
retrospective population-based study on the effect of tubefeeding on
mortality in children with severe disabilities and mental retardation.
In their introduction they quoted our study on outcomes after
endoscopic gastrostomy placement in 30 children with severe
neurological impairment.2 Strauss et al wrote that
"... although none of the children [...] were preoperatively
felt to have significant pulmonary disease, 6 of 30 children who
underwent a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement died of
chronic