Biofeedback Therapy in Managing Functional Fecal Incontinence in Children: A Literature Review.

This literature review explores the role of biofeedback therapy (BFT) in managing functional fecal incontinence (FFI) in children - a common condition with a substantial impact on the quality of life. FFI diagnosis relies primarily on medical history and thorough physical examination and is categorized by the Rome IV criteria into functional constipation (FC) and functional nonretentive fecal incontinence (FNRFI). Treatment options for FFI remain limited, particularly for FNRFI.

Association between proinflammatory cytokines and arterial stiffness in type 1 diabetic adolescents.

Objectives: Type 1 diabetes mellitus is considered a state of chronic low-grade inflammation and activation of the innate immune system, which is regulated by several proinflammatory cytokines and other acute-phase reactants. Arterial stiffness, a dynamic property of the vessels evaluated by the determination of pulse wave velocity (PWV), is increased in diabetic patients and is associated with microvascular and macrovascular complications of diabetes and higher cardiovascular risk. In the present study, we aimed to compare the proinflammatory state and arterial stiffness in diabetic and non-diabetic adolescents, and to characterize the association between these two parameters.

Uncovering the burden of Influenza in children in Portugal, 2008-2018.

Background: Despite their higher risk of developing severe disease, little is known about the burden of influenza in Portugal in children aged < 5 years old. This study aims to cover this gap by estimating the clinical and economic burden of severe influenza in children, in Portugal, during ten consecutive influenza seasons (2008/09-2017/18).

Methods: We reviewed hospitalizations in children aged < 5 years old using anonymized administrative data covering all public hospitals discharges in mainland Portugal.

Gender-related differences in cardiometabolic risk factors and oxidative stress among prepubertal children with obesity.

Objectives: Gender-related differences in oxidative stress, nitric oxide bioavailability, and cardiometabolic risk factors were examined in a cross-sectional study involving 313 prepubertal children (8-9 years old) from the generation XXI birth-cohort.

Methods: Anthropometric measurements, cardiometabolic variables, and redox markers were assessed, including plasma and urinary isoprostanes (P-Isop, U-Isop), plasma total antioxidant status (P-TAS), serum myeloperoxidase (MPO), plasma and urinary nitrates and nitrites (P-NOX, U-NOX), and urinary hydrogen peroxide (U-HO).

Results: Girls showed higher levels of total/non-HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) compared to boys.

Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Infants with Grade III, IV, or V Vesicoureteral Reflux.

Background: The efficacy of continuous antibiotic prophylaxis in preventing urinary tract infection (UTI) in infants with grade III, IV, or V vesicoureteral reflux is controversial.

Methods: In this investigator-initiated, randomized, open-label trial performed in 39 European centers, we randomly assigned infants 1 to 5 months of age with grade III, IV, or V vesicoureteral reflux and no previous UTIs to receive continuous antibiotic prophylaxis (prophylaxis group) or no treatment (untreated group) for 24 months. The primary outcome was the occurrence of the first UTI during the trial period.

Modelling metabolic performance in paediatric obstructive sleep disordered breathing: A case-control study.

Paediatric obstructive sleep disordered breathing (OSDB) has a considerable impact on cardiovascular physiology, but the consequences on children's basal metabolism and response to exercise are far from being known. The objective was to propose model estimations for paediatric OSDB metabolism at rest and during exercise. A retrospective case-control analysis of data from children submitted to otorhinolaryngology surgery was performed.

Long COVID in Children and Adolescents: A Retrospective Study in a Pediatric Cohort.

Studies on long coronavirus disease (COVID) in children are scarce. We aimed to describe persistent symptoms and identify risk factors for its development. In our study population, 17.

Potential Renal Damage Biomarkers in Alport Syndrome-A Review of the Literature.

Alport syndrome (AS) is the second most common cause of inherited chronic kidney disease. This disorder is caused by genetic variants on , and genes. These genes encode the proteins that constitute collagen type IV of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM).

Impact of physical activity on redox status and nitric oxide bioavailability in nonoverweight and overweight/obese prepubertal children.

Nutritional status might contribute to variations induced by physical activity (PA) in redox status biomarkers. We investigated the influence of PA on redox status and nitric oxide (NO) production/metabolism biomarkers in nonoverweight and overweight/obese prepubertal children. We performed a cross-sectional evaluation of 313 children aged 8-9 years (163 nonoverweight, 150 overweight/obese) followed since birth in a cohort study (Generation XXI, Porto, Portugal).

Childhood Obesity and Impact on the Kidney.

Obesity is known to be associated with a myriad of cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities. In children, several longitudinal studies have shown that obesity consequences start early in life and accompany the obese child into adulthood, implying a higher risk of adverse cardiovascular events. More recently, data related to the possible role of obesity in the risk of kidney disease in adults, independently of diabetes, has started to become more available.

Should first blood pressure measurement be performed in the newborn?

Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common form of cardiomyopathy and the main cause of cardiac transplantation in children and in adults. Infants and children have a wider spectrum of etiologies, hampering their identification. The most frequent initial manifestation of dilated cardiomyopathy is symptomatic heart failure during exercise or at rest (although many patients are asymptomatic).

Association of Serum Soluble Urokinase Receptor Levels With Progression of Kidney Disease in Children.

Importance: Conventional methods to diagnose and monitor chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children, such as creatinine level and cystatin C-derived estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and assessment of proteinuria in spot or timed urine samples, are of limited value in identifying patients at risk of progressive kidney function loss. Serum soluble urokinase receptor (suPAR) levels strongly predict incident CKD stage 3 in adults.

Objective: To determine whether elevated suPAR levels are associated with renal disease progression in children with CKD.

Acute and chronic malnutrition and their predictors in children aged 0-5 years in São Tomé: a cross-sectional, population-based study.

Objective: Undernutrition is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and children worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nutritional status and their predictors in children from 0 to 5 years of age in São Tomé.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in São Tomé Island.

Dedicated Pediatricians in Emergency Department: Shorter Waiting Times and Lower Costs.

Background: Dedicated pediatricians in emergency departments (EDs) may be beneficial, though no previous studies have assessed the related costs and benefits/harms. We aimed to evaluate the net benefits and costs of dedicated emergency pediatricians in a pediatric ED.

Methods: Cost-consequences analysis of visits to a pediatric ED of a tertiary hospital.

Determinants of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity in prepubertal children.

Background: Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a noninvasive technique to evaluate arterial stiffness, a dynamic property of the vessels, reflecting their structure and function. Childhood obesity is associated with several cardiovascular comorbidities and to the progression of atherosclerosis. We aimed to compare carotid-femoral PWV between normal weight and overweight/obese prepubertal children and to quantify its association with other cardiovascular risk factors.

Association of myeloperoxidase levels with cardiometabolic factors and renal function in prepubertal children.

Introduction: Myeloperoxidase (MPO), an enzyme linking obesity and cardiovascular (CV) risk in adults, has rarely been studied in young children and no studies assessed its association with renal function. We sought to explore a possible association between serum MPO levels, obesity, CV risk factors and renal function in prepubertal children.

Materials/methods: Cross-sectional evaluation of 309 children aged 8-9 years (161 normal weight, 148 overweight/obese), members of the birth cohort Generation I (Portugal).

Sex-Specific Mediating Role of Insulin Resistance and Inflammation in the Effect of Adiposity on Blood Pressure of Prepubertal Children.

Objective: To evaluate the association between obesity indices and blood pressure (BP) at 4 years of age, in each sex, and to quantify to which extent this association is mediated by inflammation and insulin resistance (IR).

Materials And Methods: We studied 1250 4-year-old children selected from the population-based birth cohort Generation XXI. Associations between body mass index (BMI) z-score and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), office BP, inflammation (high sensitivity C-reactive protein) and IR (HOMA-IR index) were assessed.

Considerable variations in growth hormone policy and prescription in paediatric end-stage renal disease across European countries-a report from the ESPN/ERA-EDTA registry.

Background: Growth retardation in paediatric end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has a serious impact on adult life. It is potentially treatable with recombinant growth hormone (rGH). In this study, we aimed to quantify the variation in rGH policies and actual provided care in these patients across Europe.

Elicitation of expert prior opinion: application to the MYPAN trial in childhood polyarteritis nodosa.

Objectives: Definitive sample sizes for clinical trials in rare diseases are usually infeasible. Bayesian methodology can be used to maximise what is learnt from clinical trials in these circumstances. We elicited expert prior opinion for a future Bayesian randomised controlled trial for a rare inflammatory paediatric disease, polyarteritis nodosa (MYPAN, Mycophenolate mofetil for polyarteritis nodosa).

Etiological agents and antimicrobial susceptibility in hospitalized children with acute pyelonephritis.

Introduction: Antibiotic resistance driven by antibiotic use remains a major public health and professional concern. Our aim was to know the local prevalence of uropathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility profile in acute pyelonephritis.

Material And Methods: A prospective study of patients admitted in a level III Pediatric Department ward with acute pyelonephritis from 1994 to 2012 was performed in Northern Portugal.

Spectrum of steroid-resistant and congenital nephrotic syndrome in children: the PodoNet registry cohort.

Background And Objectives: Steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome is a rare kidney disease involving either immune-mediated or genetic alterations of podocyte structure and function. The rare nature, heterogeneity, and slow evolution of the disorder are major obstacles to systematic genotype-phenotype, intervention, and outcome studies, hampering the development of evidence-based diagnostic and therapeutic concepts. To overcome these limitations, the PodoNet Consortium has created an international registry for congenital nephrotic syndrome and childhood-onset steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome.

Growth cartilage expression of growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor I axis in spontaneous and growth hormone induced catch-up growth.

Introduction: Catch-up growth following the cessation of a growth inhibiting cause occurs in humans and animals. Although its underlying regulatory mechanisms are not well understood, current hypothesis confer an increasing importance to local factors intrinsic to the long bones' growth plate (GP).

Aim: The present study was designed to analyze the growth-hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) axis in the epiphyseal cartilage of young rats exhibiting catch-up growth as well as to evaluate the effect of GH treatment on this process.

Strict blood-pressure control and progression of renal failure in children.

Background: Although inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system delays the progression of renal failure in adults with chronic kidney disease, the blood-pressure target for optimal renal protection is controversial. We assessed the long-term renoprotective effect of intensified blood-pressure control among children who were receiving a fixed high dose of an angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor.

Methods: After a 6-month run-in period, 385 children, 3 to 18 years of age, with chronic kidney disease (glomerular filtration rate of 15 to 80 ml per minute per 1.