Food insecurity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in cystic fibrosis households.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted many households due to shelter-in-place orders and economic hardship. People with cystic fibrosis (CF) experienced increased food insecurity compared to the general population before the pandemic, even though adequate food access is needed to maintain nutrition goals associated with improved health-related outcomes. Little is known about the impact the pandemic had on the food insecurity of people with CF and their families.

Pulmonary Metagenomic Sequencing Suggests Missed Infections in Immunocompromised Children.

Background: Despite improved diagnostics, pulmonary pathogens in immunocompromised children frequently evade detection, leading to significant mortality. Therefore, we aimed to develop a highly sensitive metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) assay capable of evaluating the pulmonary microbiome and identifying diverse pathogens in the lungs of immunocompromised children.

Methods: We collected 41 lower respiratory specimens from 34 immunocompromised children undergoing evaluation for pulmonary disease at 3 children's hospitals from 2014-2016.

Long-Term Pulmonary Function and Quality of Life in Children After Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Feasibility Investigation.

Objectives: To determine the feasibility of pulmonary function and quality of life evaluations in children after acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Design: A prospective follow-up feasibility study.

Setting: A tertiary PICU.

The role of polysomnography in diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnea in pediatric patients.

Obstructive sleep apnea in children is associated with serious neurocognitive and cardiovascular morbidity, systemic inflammation, and increased health care use, yet remains underdiagnosed. Although the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea is 1-3% in the pediatric population, the prevalence of primary snoring (PS) is estimated to be 3-12%. The challenge for pediatricians is to differentiate PS from obstructive sleep apnea in a cost-effective, reliable, and accurate manner before recommending invasive or intrusive therapies, such as surgery or continuous positive airway pressure.

Blood product transfusions and clinical outcomes in pediatric patients with acute lung injury.

Objective: There are data suggesting that blood product transfusions increase the risk of developing acute lung injury (ALI) in adults, and may be associated with increased mortality in adults with ALI. A possible association between transfusions and adverse outcomes of pediatric patients with ALI has not been studied previously. We tested the hypothesis that blood product transfusions to pediatric patients with ALI within the first 72 hours of the diagnosis would be associated with increased mortality and prolonged mechanical ventilation.

Higher urine desmosine levels are associated with mortality in patients with acute lung injury.

Desmosine is a stable breakdown product of elastin that can be reliably measured in urine samples. We tested the hypothesis that higher baseline urine desmosine would be associated with higher mortality in 579 of 861 patients included in the recent Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network trial of lower tidal volume ventilation (1). We also correlated urine desmosine levels with indexes of disease severity.