[Environment and genetics in the etiology of cleft lip and cleft palate with reference to the role of folic acid].

The combined birth prevalence of cleft palate [CP] and cleft lip with or without cleft palate [CL(P)] in Europe is approximately one in 700 with characteristic regional variations. Orofacial clefting (OC) is therefore now one of the most frequent congenital anomalies, with a higher birth prevalence that Down's Syndrome or Neural Tube defects, but still lower than cardiovascular malformation. Babies with OC require a multidisciplinary medical approach, surgery and rehabilitative treatments over time.

Study on 480 hospitalized febrile children: evaluation of the septic risk and results of the antibiotic and corticosteroid combined therapy.

The febrile child, previously healthy, represents a frequent diagnosis and management problem for pediatricians who work in private offices and those in hospital emergency departments. We are specifically interested in the identification, for the febrile child with septic risk, of severity parameters permitting to assess the likelihood of a serious bacterial infection. In the retrospective study we present, carried out on children admitted for febrile illness, two factors were mainly evaluated: 1.

[Severe inflammatory disease in children. Rationale for corticosteroid immunomodulating therapy: pathogenic therapy].

At the moment it is assumed that each strongly aggressive pathogenic agent, such as bacteria, viruses, toins, trauma, burns, grave asphyxia, allergic agents, and so on, could trigger serious and uncontrollable inflammatory response. That is due to an excessive response of subject's immune system, through the dysregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines release. The initial physiopathological event of inflammatory response consists in the production of "primary cytokines", TNF-alpha, IL-1 and IL-6 by macrophages.