Prevalence and epidemiology of overweight and obesity in children with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Obesity is a significant public health threat to children in the United States. The aims were to: 1) Determine the prevalence of obesity in a multicenter cohort of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); 2) Evaluate whether overweight and obese status is associated with patient demographics or disease characteristics.

Methods: We used data from the ImproveCareNow Collaborative for pediatric IBD, a multicenter registry of children with IBD, collected between April 2007 and December 2009.

ImproveCareNow: The development of a pediatric inflammatory bowel disease improvement network.

Unlabelled: There is significant variation in diagnostic testing and treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. Quality improvement science methods can help address unwarranted variations in care and outcomes.

Methods: The ImproveCareNow Network was established under the sponsorship of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and the American Board of Pediatrics as a prototype for a model of improving subspecialty care that included three components: 1) creating enduring multicenter collaborative networks of pediatric subspecialists, 2) sharing of performance data collected in patient registries, and 3) training in quality improvement.

Tacrolimus-associated eosinophilic gastroenterocolitis in pediatric liver transplant recipients: role of potential food allergies in pathogenesis.

Tacrolimus is a macrolide agent that is now the primary immunosuppressant used in prevention of graft rejection in transplant recipients. It has been found to be superior to cyclosporine (CSA) for rescue therapy as well as for earlier weaning of steroids. Both tacrolimus and CSA share similar toxicity profiles; however, their gastrointestinal side effects have received little attention.