Growth monitoring to detect children with cystic fibrosis.

Background/aims: Cystic fibrosis (CF) in infancy and childhood is often associated with failure to thrive (FTT). This would suggest that in countries without a newborn screening program for CF, FTT could be used as a clinical screening tool. The aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic performance of FTT for identifying children with CF.

Chemokine production by buccal epithelium as a distinctive feature of pediatric Crohn disease.

Objectives: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) represent an aberrant immune response by the mucosal immune system to luminal bacteria. Because the oral mucosa harbors the first epithelial cells that interact with microorganisms, we assessed the immunologic activity of buccal epithelium in children with IBD and adults with Crohn disease.

Methods: Buccal epithelial cells were obtained from 17 children and 14 adults with Crohn disease, 18 children with ulcerative colitis, and 40 controls.

A population-based nested case control study on recurrent pneumonias in children with severe generalized cerebral palsy: ethical considerations of the design and representativeness of the study sample.

Background: In children with severe generalized cerebral palsy, pneumonias are a major health issue. Malnutrition, dysphagia, gastro-oesophageal reflux, impaired respiratory function and constipation are hypothesized risk factors. Still, no data are available on the relative contribution of these possible risk factors in the described population.

Assessment of nutritional status in children with cystic fibrosis: conventional anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance analysis. A cross-sectional study in Dutch patients.

Background: Assessment of nutritional status in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) is clinically relevant. Methods to measure nutritional status should be reliable and non-invasive, and reference values should be available.

Aim: To compare weight and height measurements and measurements of specific body compartments in children with CF.

Infliximab therapy in 30 patients with refractory pediatric crohn disease with and without fistulas in The Netherlands.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical experience with the anti-tumor necrosis factor chimeric monoclonal antibody, infliximab, in pediatric patients with Crohn disease in The Netherlands.

Design: Descriptive.

Methods: Clinical response and adverse effects of infliximab were recorded for pediatric patients with Crohn disease treated from October 1992 to January 2003.

Bronchiectasis in children after renal or liver transplantation: a report of five cases.

More effective immunosuppressive treatment in children following organ transplantation has significantly improved the survival of the grafts. Therefore, quality of life, long-term prognosis and adverse drug reactions have become more important. One of the main complications of immunosuppressive drugs is infections of the respiratory tract, but irreversible damage to the airways has not been described after renal or liver transplantation.