Eosinophilic oesophagitis is a long-term complication of oesophageal atresia (EA), an uncommon condition that affects approximately 1 in 3500 infants. An exploratory, open-label phase 2 clinical trial was conducted in paediatric eosinophilic oesophagitis after oesophageal atresia (EoE-EA) to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of oral viscous budesonide (OVB). In total, eight patients were enrolled in the study and assigned to a twice-daily dosing regimen of either 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: To date, the etiology and risk factors of torticollis are still poorly defined in the pediatric literature. Especially in the Emergency Department (ED) scenario, it is critical to reliably distinguish benign and transient conditions from (potentially) life-threatening disorders. This study describes the clinical characteristics of a large sample of children with torticollis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe eating disorder primarily affecting children and adolescents. Disorders of the gut-brain interaction (DGBIs) have gained recognition as significant symptoms in individuals with AN. However, limited studies have explored GI symptoms in pediatric populations with AN using age-specific diagnostic tools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: COVID-19 is generally milder in children than in adults, however severe infection has been described in some patients. Few data are available on use of Remdesivir (RDV) in children, as most clinical trials focused on adult patients. We report a multicenter study conducted in 10 Italian Hospitals to investigate the safety of RDV in children affected by COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Despite its broad spectrum and excellent safety profile, fosfomycin is still rarely used in pediatrics, with very limited experience from clinicians.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all children admitted to Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy, and treated with fosfomycin for any serious infection. Children with immunodeficiency and oncologic diseases were excluded.
Background: To date, no study has specifically examined children with acute-onset pupillary motility disorders (APMD). Especially in the Emergency Department (ED), it is crucial to distinguish benign and transient conditions from life-threatening or urgent conditions (UCs). The aim of the study is to describe the clinical characteristics of children with APMD and their association with an increased risk of UCs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The current study aims at describing a sample of adolescents admitted to a tertiary referral pediatric hospital for drug self-poisoning and to identify variables that could explain and predict a higher severity of intoxication.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the cases of drug self-poisoning in adolescents admitted to the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital between January 2014 and June 2022 requiring consultation by the local Pediatric Poison Control Center (PPCC). We reported the type and class of drug ingested and correlated the clinical characteristics of the patients with their Poison Severity Score.
Background: This study aimed to analyze all the patients who contacted the hospital's pediatric poison control center (PPCC) for exposure to ibuprofen and acetaminophen, in order to assess the incidence of any adverse reactions.
Methods: We retrospectively reported the clinical data of children who accessed the PPCC of the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, from January 1, 2018 to September 30, 2022 due to wrong, accidental or intentional intake of inappropriate doses of acetaminophen and/or ibuprofen. In addition, we compared patients according to the intake of one of the two drugs and reported the trimestral distribution of cases during the study period.
Nutritional rehabilitation with weight restoration is an important step in patients hospitalised for anorexia nervosa (AN). Naso-gastric feeding (NGF) should be considered when oral nutrition (OF) and oral nutritional supplementation (ONS) are insufficient. We evaluated the role of NGF on short- and long-term outcomes, considering weight gain, the length of hospitalisation (LOS) and the time to relapse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between SARS-CoV-2 viral load in respiratory secretions of infected children and signs/symptoms of COVID-19.
Methods: We reported the clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2-infected children during the study period. We compared viral load for several clinical variables, performed a predictive linear regression analysis to identify signs and symptoms significantly associated with viral load, and searched for discriminant viral load thresholds for symptomatic versus asymptomatic infections based on receiver-operating characteristics.
Purpose: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is the most frequent eating disorder (ED), whose cardiac complications may have life-threatening consequences for both the physical and psychological health of affected children. In this study, we reported and analysed the echocardiographic anomalies found in pediatric patients diagnosed with AN.
Methods: We reported the demographic and clinical characteristics of children aged 8 to 18 years, who were diagnosed with AN and underwent a complete cardiological evaluation at the Emergency Department of the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome between the 1st January 2021 and the 30th June 2021.
Pediatric osteomyelitis is an insidious disease that can lead to permanent sequelae, the management of which still relies on lengthy intravenous antibiotic therapy. The purpose of this study is to report and describe the clinical course and outcome of pediatric bacterial osteomyelitis in our experience. We reported the clinical, diagnostic, and treatment characteristics of all cases of osteomyelitis in children younger than 18 years of age who were hospitalized between January 2010 and December 2021 at the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Rome, Italy, we compared patients with and without complications at follow-up, to identify any predictive factor for sequelae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Quarantine and isolation measures during COVID-19 pandemic may have caused additional stress and challenged the mental health of the youth. Aim of the study is to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic impact on neuropsychological disorders (NPD) of Italian children and adolescents to provide general pediatric recommendations.
Material And Methods: A retrospective multicenter observational study was planned by the Italian Pediatric Society (SIP) to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the access of children to pediatric Emergency Departments (pED) for the evaluation of neuropsychological symptoms, collecting the classification codes of diagnoses between March 1, 2019 and March 2, 2021.
Introduction: Methemoglobinemia (MetHb) is a rare inherited or acquired cause of cyanosis in children. Owing to its rarity, case reports and case series are mostly available in the current literature. This study reports data on a large sample of children with acquired MetHb.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a severe hereditary disease characterized by defective epithelial adhesion causing mucocutaneous fragility. The major types are EB simplex (EBS), junctional EB (JEB), dystrophic EB (DEB) and more than 35 EB subtypes. Another very rare type of EB is Kindler EB (KEB).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and home confinement had a significant impact on children, especially on those with eating disorders (ED). The primary objective of this retrospective study was to describe and analyze the demographic and clinical profiles of children presenting with ED during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of clinical charts of patients with ED younger than 18 years who accessed the emergency department of the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, between March 2019 and March 2021.
Background: Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHOM) is an insidious infection of the bone that more frequently affects young males. The etiology, mainly bacterial, is often related to the patient's age, but it is frequently missed, owing to the low sensitivity of microbiological cultures. Thus, the evaluation of inflammatory biomarkers and imaging usually guide the diagnosis and follow-up of the infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Fake news on children's and adolescent health are spreading. Internet availability and decreasing costs of media devices are contributing to an easy access to technology by families. Public health organizations are working to contrast misinformation and promote scientific communication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSARS-CoV-2 is currently causing hundreds of deaths every day in European countries, mostly in not yet vaccinated elderly. Vaccine shortage poses relevant challenges to health authorities, called to act promptly with a scarcity of data. We modeled the mortality reduction of the elderly according to a schedule of mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that prioritized first dose administration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The objective of this study is to test how certain signs and symptoms related to COVID-19 in children predict the positivity or negativity of the SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swab in children.
Methods: We review the data of children who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 for a suspected infection. We compared the clinical characteristics of the subjects who tested positive and negative, including the sensibility, positive and negative predictive value of different combination of signs and symptoms.
Viper bite is an uncommon but serious cause of envenoming in Europe, especially in children. Our study aim is to better describe and analyze the clinical course and treatment of viper bite envenoming in a pediatric population. We retrospectively reviewed 24 cases of pediatric viper bites that were admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Department and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Bambino Gesù Children Hospital in Rome between 2000 and 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The primary objective of this study is to report and compare our data with the most relevant literature of the past decade about neonatal osteomyelitis.
Study Design: We retrospectively review the data of 22 subjects aged 35 days or less who were admitted to three different sites in Italy with a radiological diagnosis of osteomyelitis. The inherent literature was searched and reviewed: five studies were considered for comparison with our data.