Quality of the discussion of asthma on twitter.

Patients obtain a large amount of medical information online. Much of this information may not be reliable or of high quality. We investigated what influences the discussion of asthma on Twitter by evaluating the most popular tweets and the quality of the links shared.

Assessing Frequency of Respiratory Complications in Children Undergoing Adenotonsillectomy.

Objectives: To determine the frequency of respiratory complications in children admitted to the ICU after adenotonsillectomy and to identify factors associated with the risk of respiratory complications in this cohort.

Design: Retrospective observational study.

Setting: PICU.

Describing the Digital Footprints or "Sociomes" of Asthma for Stakeholder Groups on Twitter.

Although there is a great deal of conversation on social media, there may not be good communication. We sought to investigate communicaton activity online by examining digital footprints (or "sociomes") of asthma stakeholders on Twitter. Tweets containing the word "asthma" and the hashtag #asthma were collected using Symplur Signals.

Clinical Examination Does Not Predict Response to Albuterol in Ventilated Infants With Bronchiolitis.

Objective: Bronchiolitis is a common respiratory infection in infants that is sometimes treated with albuterol. Response to albuterol is determined by clinical assessment, but this subjective determination is potentially unreliable. In this study, we compared providers' clinical assessment of response to albuterol with the measurement of response by pulmonary mechanics in intubated, sedated, and ventilated infants.

A regional cohort study of the treatment of critically ill children with bronchiolitis.

Objective: To describe the treatment practices in critically ill children with RSV bronchiolitis across four regional PICUs in the northeastern United States, and to determine the factors associated with increased ICU length of stay in this population.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children who were admitted with RSV bronchiolitis between July 2009 and July 2011 to the PICUs of Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, and Baystate Children's Hospital. Data were collected regarding clinical characteristics and intensive care course among these hospitals.

Factors associated with disease severity in children with bronchiolitis.

Objective: Bronchiolitis is one of the top causes of hospitalization of infants in the United States. Several clinical factors have been associated with hospitalization; however, few studies have examined factors related to severe disease. Our goal was to describe the clinical characteristics and hospital course of children admitted with bronchiolitis and to identify factors related to intensive care unit (ICU) admission in this population.

Transient occult cardiotoxicity in children receiving continuous beta-agonist therapy.

Background: Continuous beta-agonist therapy, typically in the form of inhaled albuterol, is the first line therapy for the treatment of acute and severe bronchospasm in children. Although this treatment is commonly used, concerns about cardiotoxicity have been raised. We aimed to investigate the cardiotoxic effects of continuous beta-agonist therapy in children.

Pediatric status asthmaticus.

Status asthmaticus is a frequent cause of admission to a pediatric intensive care unit. Prompt assessment and aggressive treatment are critical. First-line or conventional treatment includes supplemental oxygen, aerosolized albuterol, and corticosteroids.

β2-adrenergic receptor haplotype linked to intubation and mechanical ventilation in children with asthma.

Background And Aims: Children with asthma and respiratory failure comprise a small but significant subset of children with acute asthma. In addition to clinical and historical factors that have been associated with respiratory failure, there may also be genetic factors that predispose some asthmatic children to intubation and mechanical ventilation. However, this has not previously been assessed in this population.

Beta-adrenergic receptor polymorphisms associated with length of ICU stay in pediatric status asthmaticus.

Background: During severe exacerbations, asthmatic children vary significantly in their response to high-dose continuous β(2) -adrenergic receptor (ADRβ(2) ) agonist therapy. Genetic polymorphisms have been identified within the ADRβ(2) that may be functionally relevant, but few studies have been performed in this population. Our hypothesis was that genotypic differences are associated with magnitude of response to ADRβ(2) agonist treatment during severe asthma exacerbations in children.

Factors associated with the development of severe asthma exacerbations in children.

Background: Asthma exacerbations are one of the most common causes of hospitalization in children and account for approximately 10,000 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions per year in the United States. Despite the prevalence of this disease in children, the factors associated with the development of these severe exacerbations are largely unknown.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted involving all eligible children admitted to the hospital with asthma for a 1-year period.