Anti-inflammatory effect of exclusive enteral nutrition in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Objectives: There is extensive evidence for an influence of gut microbiota on the immune system, which has consequences for inflammatory diseases. Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN), which may change the gut microbiota, is an effective anti-inflammatory treatment for Crohn's disease in children. We wanted to explore the immediate anti-inflammatory effect of EEN in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Childhood idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in the Nordic countries: epidemiology and predictors of chronic disease.

Aim: To describe the epidemiology of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in the Nordic countries, to define clinical subgroups and to investigate factors predicting chronic disease.

Methods: A prospective registration was done from 1998 to 2000, including all children with newly diagnosed ITP aged 0-14 y and at least one platelet count <30 x 10(9)/l.

Results: 506 children were registered and 423 followed for 6 mo.

Reliability and reproducibility of classification of children as "bleeders" versus "non-bleeders" using a questionnaire for significant mucocutaneous bleeding.

The diagnosis of type 1 von Willebrand disease (VWD), the most common inherited bleeding disorder in humans, is greatly dependent on an accurate diagnosis of significant mucocutaneous bleeding. In a previous study, the authors modified the criteria of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis for significant mucocutaneous bleeding to a format, the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) criteria, that was more applicable to diagnose significant mucocutaneous bleeding in children. To assess the reliability and reproducibility of classification of subjects as "bleeders" versus "non-bleeders" using a questionnaire for significant mucocutaneous bleeding targeted to children, 39 subjects interviewed for a previous HSC VWD study were reinterviewed for the current study.

Duration and morbidity of newly diagnosed idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in children: A prospective Nordic study of an unselected cohort.

Objective: To determine the duration of the risk period with platelet counts <20 x 10(9)/L and the frequency of bleeding episodes in unselected children with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

Study Design: We established a registry for patients with newly diagnosed ITP in the five Nordic countries, enrolling children aged 0 to 14 years with platelet counts <30 x 10(9)/L. Treatment centers prospectively reported presenting features, management details, and disease-related events during the first six months after diagnosis.

Randomized study of IVIg and high-dose dexamethasone therapy for children with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Purpose: To investigate whether pulsed high-dose dexamethasone is more efficacious than intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) as treatment of symptomatic chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in childhood.

Methods: In a 2:1-randomized study, 23 children with chronic ITP received dexamethasone (0.6 mg/kg per day for 4 consecutive days once monthly for 6 months, n = 15) or IVIg (800 mg/kg intravenously once monthly for 6 months, n = 8).