The use of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) release assays (IGRAs) for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) infection in children is still under debate because of concerns about the immature immune response in children. The aim of this study was to investigate quantitative values of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT) test, a commercially available IGRA, in a large cohort of children screened for TB infection. A retrospective analysis was conducted on samples from 517 children aged 0 to 14 years old at the Pediatric Unit of S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The diagnostic accuracy of Quantiferon-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT) is uncertain in the pediatric population, while tuberculin skin test (TST) is still conventionally used despite its limitations. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of QFT-IT with TST in a large cohort of children screened for tuberculosis (TB) infection because of contact tracing, suspected TB, arrival from endemic country or immunosuppressive therapy.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 517 children 0-14 years of age evaluated at the pediatric unit of the S.
Study Objectives: To evaluate the effect of type 1 narcolepsy (NT1) on anthropometric and endocrine features in childhood/adolescence, focusing on patterns and correlates of weight, pubertal development, and growth in treated and untreated patients.
Methods: We collected anthropometric (height, weight, body mass index (BMI) z-scores), pubertal, metabolic, and endocrine data from 72 NT1 patients at diagnosis and all available premorbid anthropometric parameters of patients from their pediatric files (n = 30). New measurements at 1-y reassessment in patients undergoing different treatments were compared with baseline data.
Background: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome is characterized by a combination of clinical-radiological findings and pathophysiologically by localized brain vasogenic edema. Many clinical illnesses may trigger the onset of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome and hypertension is present in about 80% of patients.
Methods: We describe a child with high consumption of licorice toffees who developed systemic hypertension followed by posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome.
Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther
December 2014
Objective: The Italian Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases created a registry to determine the management of pediatric acute mastoiditis (AM) in Italy.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey of paediatricians was conducted to evaluate hospitalization due to AM in Italian pediatric wards between 1 January 2002, and 31 December 2013.
Results: A total of 913 children (561 males, 61.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae, the major pathogen of primary atypical pneumonia, is reported as the most common infectious agent associated with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) in children. For that reason it is important to consider mycoplasma infection also in the absence of classical pulmonary symptoms. SJS is a rare and acute, self-limited disease, characterized by severe inflammation and necrosis of two or more mucous membranes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Objectives: We analyzed the potential predictive factors for precocious puberty, observed in some cases of childhood narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC) and for obesity, a much more common feature of NC, through a systematic assessment of pubertal staging, body mass index (BMI), and metabolic/endocrine biochemical analyses.
Design: Cross-sectional on consecutive recruitment.
Setting: Hospital sleep center and pediatric unit.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess pulmonary function and its predictors in very low birth weight (birth weight ≤1,500 g) children (VLBWc) with or without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), born at gestational age ≤32 weeks at a single tertiary center during 1996-1999, after the introduction of surfactant therapy.
Methods: Of the 120 surviving VLBW children, 48 (40%) VLBWc (22 with prior-BPD) at age 8.5 ± 1.
A 6-year-old girl was admitted to the paediatric emergency department with colicky abdominal pain. She had a significant medical history, with four previous admissions due to recurrent abdominal pain in the past year. On examination the abdomen was soft, there was no rebound tenderness and Rovsing's sign was negative.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 13-year-old girl with persistent fever, pharyngitis, acute anaemia, peripheral blood and bone marrow positive for parvovirus B19 DNA.Microscopic findings of gastrointestinal biopsy showed diffuse vacuolar alteration of the cytoplasma of duodenal enterocytes and virological analysis demonstrated the presence of parvovirus in lymphocytes of the duodenal wall's epithelial layer.In unexplained gastrointestinal pathologies, the role of parvovirus B19 infection should be investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report on the outcome of intravenous high-dose immunoglobulin (IVIg) treatment in four children with narcolepsy and cataplexy, in whom the early diagnosis and the extreme disease severity were indications for this potentially efficacious therapy. One of four patients showed an objective and persistent improvement in clinical features during and after IVIg treatment. Our data partially support the recent report of the efficacy of IVIg treatment in early diagnosed narcolepsy with cataplexy and support the need for a controlled multicenter clinical trial on IVIg in narcolepsy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPost-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans (PBO) is a rare form of chronic obstructive lung disease in children with few data on the pulmonary function outcome and underlying inflammatory process. The aim of this study was to determine the change in lung function over time and to investigate by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) the inflammatory characteristics of pulmonary involvement. Eleven Caucasian children with PBO were evaluated to estimate the average rate of change in lung function indices using a mixed model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCutaneous myiasis is a common travel-associated dermatosis caused by fly larvae. We report an unusual case of furuncular myiasis caused by Dermatobia hominis that was associated with signs of systemic inflammation. In this case study, morphological and novel molecular approaches were used to identify and characterize the larvae responsible for human infestation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA cross-sectional study design was undertaken to assess pulmonary function in children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), and to establish if there is any relationship with diabetic factors and complications. Thirty-eight children (10 +/- 1.8 years) with IDDM and without clinical or radiological evidence of lung involvement, and 41 healthy age-matched reference subjects, underwent a pulmonary function study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFrom November 1995 to May 2002, the authors studied 59 children with suspected primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). Samples of ciliated respiratory epithelium were obtained by nasal brushing from 44 patients and by biopsy of bronchial mucosa from 15 patients. Thirty-four/Fifty-nine samples were suitable to obtain a qualitative-quantitative evaluation of ultrastructural ciliary abnormalities.
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