Publications by authors named "Alejandro Balestracci"

Article Synopsis
  • Urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children are primarily caused by enterobacteria, but Streptococcus pneumoniae is a rare cause that can indicate underlying issues.
  • A case study focused on a 2-year-old girl with recurrent UTIs, renal malformations, and a detected UTI caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae demonstrated the importance of thorough imaging studies for such cases.
  • The findings highlight that UTIs from this atypical bacterium often correlate with serious renal-urological conditions, emphasizing the necessity for additional urinary tract evaluations in affected patients.
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  • The standard treatment for primary nephrotic syndrome involves an 8-week course of prednisone, while some suggest that extending treatment to 12 weeks may reduce relapses.
  • A study compared the relapse rates of patients receiving the standard vs. extended treatment over 2 years, with 37 patients in each group.
  • Results showed no significant difference in the cumulative incidence of relapses between the two treatment regimens (75.6% for standard vs. 72.9% for extended), indicating that extending treatment doesn't lead to fewer relapses.
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Background: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS) is a severe condition mainly affecting children. It is one of the leading causes of acute kidney injury in the pediatric population. There is no established therapy for this disease.

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One of the hallmarks of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS) is kidney damage. Our previous research demonstrated that Shiga toxin type 2 (Stx2a) decreases cell viability and induces swelling of human glomerular endothelial cells (HGEC). However, Stx2a can disrupt net water transport across HGEC monolayers without affecting cell viability.

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  • A rare condition called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) can happen after a serious illness called STEC-HUS, which is caused by a bad type of E. coli bacteria.
  • A 4-year-old girl with STEC-HUS got really sick and later had stomach issues that led to her being diagnosed with EPI after tests showed low levels of a special enzyme.
  • She was treated with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) for 3 months, and her health improved, showing that doctors need to be aware of EPI when kids have STEC-HUS.
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Background: Most studies regarding kidney outcomes in patients with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli-hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS) focus on kidney status at last assessment. We aimed to describe patterns of changes in kidney function during follow-up and investigate associations between kidney function at 1st, 5th, and 10th year after onset and long-term kidney outcomes.

Methods: Data of patients with STEC-HUS followed for at least 15 years were analyzed.

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Background: Some data have recognized an association between shorter prodromal phase and severe episode of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli-related hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS). Our aims were to confirm such association and analyze characteristics of STEC-HUS patients according to duration of the prodromal phase.

Methods: Patients treated from 2000 to 2022 were compared according to the presence of severe (> 10 days of dialysis and/or extra-renal complications) or non-severe disease.

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Background: Chronic kidney-related sequelae after STEC-HUS occur in 20-40% of patients. Hyperuricemia (HU) may cause acute and chronic toxicity involving the kidneys. We retrospectively assessed if there was an association between the presence of HU during the acute illness and that of kidney-related sequelae in children with STEC-HUS.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of renal involvement in pediatric COVID-19 patients across 13 sites in Argentina, revealing rates between 1.2% and 44% from existing data.
  • Conducted from March to December 2020, it included 423 hospitalized patients aged 1 month to 18 years, excluding those with pre-existing kidney disease, and defined renal involvement through various metrics like acute kidney injury.
  • Results showed a 10.8% prevalence of renal issues, mainly leukocyturia, proteinuria, and hematuria, with a significant correlation to severe disease forms, while no patients required dialysis.
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Two types of early childhood hyperkalemia had been recognized, according to the presence or absence of urinary salt wasting. This condition was attributed to a maturation disorder of aldosterone receptors and is characterized by sustained hyperkalemia, hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis (MA) due to reduced ammonium urinary excretion and bicarbonate loss, and normal creatinine with growth delay. We present 3 patients of the type without salt wasting, which we will call transient early-childhood hyperkalemia (TECHH) without salt wasting, and discuss its physiopathology according to new insights into sodium and potassium handling by the aldosterone in distal nephron.

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Background: The efficacy of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) in sparing red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in children with hemolytic uremic syndrome related to Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC-HUS) is uncertain.

Methods: We conducted a pilot randomized controlled open trial between December 2018 and January 2021. Children were randomized to the intervention (subcutaneous rHuEPO 50 U/kg three times weekly until discharge + RBC transfusion if hemoglobin ≤ 7 g/dL and/or hemodynamic instability) or to the control arm (RBC transfusion if hemoglobin ≤ 7 g/dL and/or hemodynamic instability).

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Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is an ultra-rare disease characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and renal damage. Its presentation as nephrotic syndrome (NS) during first year of life is uncommon; we describe a child with clinical and laboratory findings of NS whose renal biopsy revealed thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). A previously healthy 4-month-old male was admitted with severe dehydration, diarrhea and anuria.

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Renal involvement among pediatric patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ranges between 10% and 80%. Given the limited information about its prognosis, the objective of this study was to describe the short-term course of patients in whom renal involvement was detected during hospitalization due to COVID-19. This was an observational, cross-sectional study in patients aged 1 month to 18 years who had COVID-19 and renal involvement.

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Immunoglobulin M nephropathy (IgMN) is an idiopathic glomerulopathy characterized by diffuse global mesangial deposits of IgM. We retrospectively studied the clinical and histopathological characteristics of the patients with IgMN seen in our service. Of 241 renal biopsies, 21 corresponded to IgMN (8.

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Introduction: The usual definition of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS) is based on the presence of anemia, thrombocytopenia, and elevated serum creatinine levels, with or without proteinuria and/or hematuria. The strict definition only considers elevated serum creatinine levels as a renal criterion. The extended definition maintains flexible renal criteria, although it replaces anemia with hemolysis and considers a sharp drop in platelet count as an indicator of platelet consumption.

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Introduction: Neurologic involvement in hemolytic uremic syndrome related to Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC-HUS) is the main cause of death. In last years has been demonstrated that activation of complement alternative pathway also contributes to organ damage. This finding led to the recognition of decreased C3 levels at admission as a marker of poor prognosis as well as the evaluation of the use of eculizumab in cases with neurologic compromise.

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Background: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli is responsible for post-diarrheal (D+) hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is a cause of acute renal failure in children. The glycolipid globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) is the main receptor for Shiga toxin (Stx) in kidney target cells. Eliglustat (EG) is a specific and potent inhibitor of glucosylceramide synthase, first step of glycosphingolipid biosynthesis, actually used for the treatment of Gaucher's disease.

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Two types of early-childhood hyperkalemia had been recognized, according to the presence or absence of urinary salt wasting. This condition was attributed to a maturation disorder of aldosterone receptors and is characterized by sustained hyperkalemia, hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis due to reduced ammonium urinary excretion and bicarbonate loss, and normal creatinine with growth delay. We present three patients of the type without salt wasting, which we will call transient early-childhood hyperkalemia without salt wasting, and discuss its physiopathology according to new insights into sodium and potassium handling by the aldosterone in distal nephron.

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Introduction: The prevalence of neonatal hypertension in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) ranges between 3 and 9%. However, there is no current data on Latin America.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of neonatal hypertension and to assess its association with causes previously related to this condi tion.

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