Neonatal haemostatic parameters in correlation to gestational age and birth weight.

Introduction: The aim of our study was to establish reference ranges for neonatal coagulation and fibrinolysis parameters and to investigate their relationship with gestational age (GA) and birth weight (BW).

Methods: A single-centre prospective study was conducted in all healthy neonates born in our hospital during the study period, excluding those with maternal or neonatal disorders and diseases that affect haemostasis. The following parameters were measured: fibrinogen, prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) as well as factors II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII, von Willebrand (vWF), protein C, free protein S, antithrombin (AT), activated protein C resistance (APCr), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1).

Associations of Apolipoprotein A, High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Fasting Plasma Insulin in Obese Children With and Without Family History of Cardiovascular Disease.

Background: The worldwide prevalence of childhood obesity has increased from 4.2% to 6.7% during the last two decades.

Atrial septal aneurysms in childhood: prevalence, classification, and concurrent abnormalities.

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the prevalence of atrial septal aneurysms in the paediatric population and to define coexisting abnormalities and their incidence.

Background: Few papers refer to the prevalence of atrial septal aneurysms in childhood.

Methods: We enrolled a total of 4522 children aged more than 12 months who underwent a transthoracic echocardiography.

Socioeconomic status, area remoteness, and survival from childhood leukemia: results from the Nationwide Registry for Childhood Hematological Malignancies in Greece.

The aim of the present nationwide Greek study is to assess whether survival from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is modified by socioeconomic status (SES) and area remoteness. Detailed precoded information derived from a personal interview conducted by specially trained health personnel with the child guardians was available for 883 ALL and 111 AML incident childhood cases registered in the Nationwide Registry for Childhood Hematological Malignancies during the period 1996-2010. Parental socioprofessional category was recorded on the basis of ISCO68 and ISCO88 codes; the exact traveling distance between residence and the treating hospital was ad hoc calculated.

Reduced exercise capacity in Greek children with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common disease that is increasingly recognized among pediatric population. The exercise capacity of adults with OSAS has been demonstrated to be impaired, but there are no data about pediatric exercise response.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate cardiopulmonary response to exercise in children with OSAS and to correlate exercise capacity and severity of OSAS.

Transient myeloproliferative disorder in a newborn with down syndrome treated with rasburicase for the risk of development of tumor lysis syndrome: A case report.

Introduction: Transient myeloproliferative disorder is a hematologic abnormality characterized by an uncontrolled proliferation of myeloblasts in peripheral blood and bone marrow that primarily affects newborns and babies with Down syndrome. Tumor lysis syndrome is rarely associated with transient myeloproliferative disorder.

Case Presentation: Transient myeloproliferative disorder was diagnosed in a seven-day-old baby girl with Down syndrome, who was referred to our department due to hyperleukocytosis.

Immunization of preterm infants with 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Objective: The safety and immunogenicity of the 10-valent pneumococcal nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae protein D conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV) in preterm infants were assessed in this study.

Methods: Three parallel groups of infants received 3-dose primary immunization with PHiD-CV at 2, 4, and 6 months of age and a booster dose at 16 to 18 months: preterm I (gestation period ≥ 27 and <31 weeks, N = 50); preterm II (≥31 and <37 weeks, N = 87); and term (≥37 weeks, N = 149). Solicited symptoms and adverse events were recorded.

In vitro fertilization and risk of childhood leukemia in Greece and Sweden.

Background: Cancer risk in children born after in vitro fertilization (IVF) remains largely unknown. We aimed to investigate risk of leukemia and lymphoma following IVF using two nationwide datasets.

Methods: The hospital-based case-control study in Greece derived from the National Registry for Childhood Hematological Malignancies (1996-2008, 814 leukemia and 277 lymphoma incident cases with their 1:1 matched controls).

Candida hellenica var. hellenica as a possible cause of respiratory infection in a child with acute myeloid leukemia.

Candida hellenica var. hellenica (teleomorph Zygoascus meyerae) is a member of the genus Zygoascus that comprises species isolated from environmental sources such as damaged grapes. A case of a possible pneumonia due to this uncommon yeast in a pediatric oncology patient suffering from acute myeloid leukemia is described.

Haemostatic profile of full-term, healthy, small for gestational age neonates.

Background: Small for Gestational Age (SGA) neonates often appear with haemostatic alterations, principally due to hepatic dysfunction that results from chronic intrauterine hypoxia. Polycythaemia and thrombocytopenia are common findings in this neonatal population.

Study Design: We performed a comparison of coagulation, natural inhibitors and fibrinolysis between SGA and Appropriate for Gestational Age (AGA) infants born full term [gestational age (G.

Enterococcus faecalis: an unusual cause of meningitis in a child with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Enterococcal meningitis is an uncommon disease in children, most frequently reported in infants or in children with central nervous system pathology. We report a rare case of Enterococcus faecalis meningitis in an 11-year-old child with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The patient during the course of chemotherapy became neutropenic, febrile, agitated, and disoriented with clinical signs of meningeal irritation.

Holoprosencephaly and diabetes insipidus in a 3-month-old infant.

Holoprosencephaly is a developmental defect caused by incomplete cleavage of the embryonic forebrain structures during early embryogenesis. We describe a 3-month-old boy with median cleft palate, surgically reconstructed cleft lip, hypotelorism with a flat nose, cryptorchidism, clubfoot, and microcephaly. During the laboratory investigation, his blood sodium level was 154 mmol/L and urine specific gravity was 1.

Fungal brain abscesses in leukemia.

Invasive fungal infections remain a life threatening complication in children with hematological malignancies. The brain represents a common site of hematogenously disseminated infections from an extracranial focus. We report our experience in the diagnosis, radiological aspects and therapeutic approach of fungal brain abscesses in 2 children receiving chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Increased expression of multidrug resistance gene (MDR1) at relapse in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Modern treatment protocols lead to complete remission in a high proportion of patients with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, a large number of them show a relapse of the disease. Treatment failure in these patients is mainly attributable to de novo or acquired resistance to a wide variety of cytotoxic drugs, which is called multi drug resistance (MDR).

Bone mineral density in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The aim of our study was to evaluate bone metabolism with measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) after management (chemo-, radiotherapy) for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Bone mineral density (g/cm2) of lumbar spine was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (Norland bone densitometer) in 18 children with ALL and a median of 34 months' post-diagnosis with no history of relapse, secondary malignancy, or transplantation. In addition, patients' BMDs were correlated with particular attention to age, sex and time (years) from completion of chemotherapy.