Low birth weight is a conditioning factor for podocyte alteration and steroid dependance in children with nephrotic syndrome.

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) is associated with reduced nephron endowment. Clinical-pathologic features of post adaptive focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) have been observed in subjects with prematurity and very LBW.

Methods: We aimed to investigate the correlation between LBW and outcome in a cohort of 89 children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS) (2-12 years-old at onset, followed for > 3 years), of whom 21 with LBW (birth weight < 10th percentile for gestational age, gender, ethnicity, and maternal parity or birth weight < 2500 g).

Dense deposit disease in a child with febrile sore throat.

Dense deposit disease or membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis type II is a rare glomerulopathy characterized on renal biopsy by deposition of abnormal electron-dense material in the glomerular basement membrane. The pathophysiologic basis is uncontrolled systemic activation of the alternate pathway of the complement cascade. C3 nephritic factor, an autoantibody directed against the C3 convertase of the alternate pathway, plays a key role.

High mobility group box 1: Biomarker of inhaled corticosteroid treatment response in children with moderate-severe asthma.

Background: High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is abnormally expressed in serum and sputum of patients with allergic asthma.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of HMGB1 as guidance for treatment management of children with asthma.

Methods: Thirty children with asthma and 44 healthy children were enrolled.

Intestinal Behçet and Crohn's disease: two sides of the same coin.

Behçet's disease (BD) and Crohn's disease (CD) are chronic immune-mediated, inflammatory disorders affecting many different systems (joints, skin, eyes, gastrointestinal and biliary tracts). Both disorders have fluctuating courses and when gastrointestinal symptoms are prevalent, differential diagnosis can be difficult. BD involves the gastrointestinal tract in 10-15% of cases with localized lesions in the ileocecal region.

Intestinal and neurological involvement in Behcet disease: a clinical case.

Background: Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic immune-mediated, inflammatory disorder which may affect a number of different systems (oral and genital mucosa, eyes, skin, vascular district, joints, gastrointestinal tract and nervous system). Neurological manifestations are present in 5-10%, and gastrointestinal tract involvement in 10-15% of cases. The simultaneous involvement of two systems, neurological and gastrointestinal tract, is very rare and represents the aim of our case report.

Management of pain on hallux valgus with percutaneous intra-articular Pulse-Dose Radiofrequency.

Aim: The purpose of our study was to investigate the role of intra-articular pulse-dose radiofrequency in management of painful hallux valgus refractory to conservative therapies.

Method: Between November 2010 and April 2012, 51 patients (15 male, 36 female) with a median age of 71.4 years were included in our clinical trial.

Primary extramedullary plasmacytoma of the heart: a rare manifestation of plasmacellular tumor.

Extramedullary plasmacytoma involving the heart is extremely rare. Primary extramedullary localizations are most commonly found in the head and neck region, with no radiologic evidence of additional skeletal lesions and normal bone marrow examination, but can occur in many other locations. They rarely occur in the heart and are commonly associated with multiple myeloma diagnosis.

Clinical evaluation of percutaneous vertebroplasty in a patient with paraplegia and immobilization syndrome: a case report.

We will discuss a potential role of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in the management of a patient with immobilization syndrome due to paraplegia and vertebral osteoporotic fractures. While PVP is commonly used for the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures, its role in vertebral stabilization in patient with immobilization syndrome has not been reported in the literature. A 73-year-old woman affected by immobilization syndrome due to paraplegia and vertebral osteoporotic fractures was treated with PVP of vertebrae D12, L1, and L4.

General versus spinal anaesthesia for elective caesarean sections: effects on neonatal short-term outcome. A prospective randomised study.

Objective: To compare neonatal short-term outcome in patients who underwent spinal, general anaesthesia and conversion from spinal to general anaesthesia.

Methods: One hundred seventy-nine pregnant women undergoing elective caesarean section were allocated randomly to general (n=89) or spinal anaesthesia (n=90) and compared with 63 patients who required conversion to general anaesthesia. Umbilical cord artery pH, Apgar score as well as its individual parameter and need for assisted ventilation were evaluated.