Diagnosis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in a Polynesian Male with a History of Rheumatic Fever: A Case Report and Literature Review.

The presence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has rarely been described in one patient. This report describes an adolescent Polynesian male with RHD who developed SLE years later. Initially, he fulfilled modified Jones criteria for rheumatic fever with aortic insufficiency, transient arthritis, elevated streptococcal titers, and a high erythrocyte sedimentation rate with a negative antinuclear antibody (ANA).

Pulmonary hemosiderosis in children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

We describe a possible association between pulmonary hemosiderosis (PH) and a history of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Both patients were born at 28-week gestation and presented with PH at ages 22 months and 6 years, respectively. Both initially presented with cough and tachypnea, and bronchoalveolar lavage showed evidence of hemosiderin-laden macrophages.

Group A streptococcal isolates temporally associated with acute rheumatic fever in Hawaii: differences from the continental United States.

Background: The annual incidence of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) in Hawaii has remained several times higher than that in the continental United States, particularly among ethnic Polynesians. The emm types of Streptococcus pyogenes that are associated with this nonsuppurative complication have, to our knowledge, not been previously reported in Hawaii.

Methods: Patients with ARF were identified through an active surveillance system at Kapiolani Medical Center (Honolulu, HI), the only pediatric tertiary care referral hospital in Hawaii.

Visiting consultant clinics to study prevalence rates of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and childhood systemic lupus erythematosus across dispersed geographic areas.

Objective: Visiting consultant clinics (VCC) may provide pediatric rheumatologic care to children in rural populations, but the clinical demands have not been studied. We studied whether these clinics could be effective in determining prevalence rates of rheumatic illness like juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and childhood systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) across large dispersed geographic areas.

Methods: The study population included children diagnosed with JRA or SLE at the only civilian pediatric rheumatology center in the State of Hawaii.

Ethnic differences for developing rheumatic fever in a low-income group living in Hawaii.

Unlabelled: The risk factors responsible for acute rheumatic fever (ARF) are complex, in part, because group A streptococcus (GAS) infection is a prerequisite for this disease. We attempted to differentiate socioeconomic from genetic risk factors by studying subjects in a Hawaii pediatric cardiology clinic who qualified for Medicaid. This ethnically diverse group was unique because they maintained a low socioeconomic but generally healthy lifestyle with more limited risks than those living in extremely impoverished conditions.

Elevated levels of matrix metalloproteinase 9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 during the acute phase of Kawasaki disease.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, self-limiting, multisystem vasculitis of unknown etiology affecting infants and young children. Unless treated promptly with high-dose intravenous gamma globulin and aspirin, patients frequently develop coronary aneurysms. Previously, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), which is secreted complexed to tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1), has been implicated in abdominal aortic aneurysm formation.

Report of the first annual Hawaii Asthma Research Consortium.

The first Hawaii Asthma Research Consortium was held on 7 May 2001 at Tripler Army Medical Center. Researchers investigating asthma-related problems and program directors of asthma projects were solicited statewide to present their projects. Ten lecturers focused on research and asthma projects in Hawaii in 20-minute presentations.

Ethnic differences in risk for pediatric rheumatic illness in a culturally diverse population.

Objective: To analyze the differences of occurrence of pediatric rheumatic disease among various ethnic groups in a culturally diverse isolated geographic area.

Methods: A retrospective study of pediatric rheumatic diseases in a multiethnic area during a 6 year period.

Results: A group of 922 patients was categorized based on predominant ethnicity, and their risk of having acute rheumatic fever (ARF), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was studied.