Gastrointestinal involvement in STEC-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome: 10 years in a pediatric center.

Background: The gastrointestinal (GI) tract represents one of the main targets of typical hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in children. In this observational study, we tried to establish (1) the main features of GI complications during STEC-HUS and (2) the relationship between Escherichia coli serotypes and Shiga toxin (Stx) variants with hepatopancreatic involvement.

Methods: A total of 79 STEC-HUS patients were admitted to our pediatric nephrology department between January 2012 and June 2021.

Rare Single Nucleotide and Copy Number Variants and the Etiology of Congenital Obstructive Uropathy: Implications for Genetic Diagnosis.

Significance Statement: Congenital obstructive uropathy (COU) is a prevalent human developmental defect with highly heterogeneous clinical presentations and outcomes. Genetics may refine diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, but the genomic architecture of COU is largely unknown. Comprehensive genomic screening study of 733 cases with three distinct COU subphenotypes revealed disease etiology in 10.

From Uganda to Italy: a case of nephrotic syndrome secondary to Plasmodium infection, Quartan malarial nephropathy and kidney failure.

Gentile F, Martino M, Santangelo L, Giordano P, Torres DD, Carbone V, Di Palma AM, Rossini M, Gesualdo L, Giordano P, Giordano M. From Uganda to Italy: a case of nephrotic syndrome secondary to Plasmodium infection, Quartan malarial nephropathy and kidney failure. Turk J Pediatr 2019; 61: 776-779.

Recurrent urinary tract infections in kidney transplant recipients during the first-year influence long-term graft function: a single-center retrospective cohort study.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) after kidney transplantation are associated with significant morbidity. However, data on the impact of UTI on graft survival are controversial. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 380 kidney transplant patients.

A pediatric neurologic assessment score may drive the eculizumab-based treatment of Escherichia coli-related hemolytic uremic syndrome with neurological involvement.

Background: Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a clinical syndrome encompassing a large group of rare but severe disorders including thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and both typical and atypical forms of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The key role of the complement system is well known in TTP and atypical HUS, but recent reports describe its involvement in the pathogenesis of HUS secondary to gastrointestinal infections due to Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC).

Methods: TMA mainly affects the kidney, but extra-renal complications are frequently described.

Indications and results of renal biopsy in children: a 36-year experience.

Background: This study was conducted to investigate retrospectively the indications for renal biopsy (RB) in native kidneys and to analyze pathological findings in a single tertiary pediatric hospital in Southern Italy for the last 36 years.

Methods: All patients who underwent RB at our hospital from 1979 to 2014 were included. All renal tissue specimens were studied under light and immunofluorescent microscopy, while electron microscopy was performed only for specific clinical indications.

Mutational Spectrum of CYP24A1 Gene in a Cohort of Italian Patients with Idiopathic Infantile Hypercalcemia.

Background/aims: Loss-of-function mutations in the CYP24A1 gene, which encodes the vitamin D-24 hydroxylase, have been recognized as a cause of elevated 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D concentrations, hypercalcemia, hypercalciuria, nephrocalcinosis and nephrolithiasis in infants and adults. As only a case report describing 2 adult patients has been reported in Italian population, we report here the mutation analysis of CYP24A1 gene in an Italian cohort of 12 pediatric and adult patients with idiopathic infantile hypercalcemia (IIH).

Methods: We performed mutational screening of CYP24A1 gene in a cohort of 12 Italian patients: 8 children with nephrocalcinosis, hypercalcemia and PTH levels <10 pg/ml and 4 adult patients with nephrolithiasis, mild hypercalcemia and PTH levels <10 pg/ml from 11 unrelated Italian families.