Measurement of nitric oxide and 8-isoprostane in exhaled breath of children with atopic eczema.

Background: Children with atopic eczema (AE) are at risk of developing asthma. Airway inflammation has been shown to be present before the onset of clinical asthma. Increased exhalation (forced expiration; FE) of nitric oxide (FE(NO)) and 8-isoprostane seems to be a feature of bronchial inflammation in people with asthma.

Exhaled breath biomarkers in asthmatic children.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways which affects about 10-25% of children in Western countries. Monitoring of inflammation is considered an important tool in the diagnosis and follow-up of asthma, including assessment of severity and response to treatment. Bronchial biopsy specimens and bronchoalveolar lavage are reliable ways to assess airway inflammation.

One year experience at the Emergency Unit of the Children's Hospital of Parma.

The objective of the study was to analyse the activity of the Paediatric Emergency Unit (PEU) of the Children's Hospital in Parma, Italy, in the first year of its functioning. To this aim, the child's chronological age, place of origin (town or province), ethnic group, cause of consultation, time and date of admission, diagnosis and final destination were retrospectively collected from the clinical notes of all children who attended PEU from 1st. 10.