Reduced lung function during childhood in identical twins with discordant fetal growth: a cohort study.

Background: Fetal growth restriction (FGR) can negatively affect lung development, leading to increased respiratory morbidity and reduced lung function later in life. Studies regarding the impact of FGR on lung function in singletons are influenced by genetic, obstetric, and maternal factors. To overcome these confounding factors, we aim to investigate lung function in identical twins with selective FGR (sFGR).

Interstitial Lung Disease in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis: Toward Personalized-Medicine-Based Prediction and Drug Screening Models of Systemic Sclerosis-Related Interstitial Lung Disease (SSc-ILD).

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune connective tissue disease, characterized by immune dysregulation and progressive fibrosis. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most common cause of death among SSc patients and there are currently very limited approved disease-modifying treatment options for systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD). The mechanisms underlying pulmonary fibrosis in SSc-ILD are not completely unraveled, and knowledge on fibrotic processes has been acquired mostly from studies in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms do not affect growth in fetal and early postnatal life. The Generation R Study.

Background: Glucocorticoids have an important role in early growth and development. Glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms have been identified that contribute to the variability in glucocorticoid sensitivity. We examined whether these glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms are associated with growth in fetal and early postnatal life.

Reliability of echocardiographic measurements of left cardiac structures in healthy children.

Background: Echocardiographic measurements are widely used as outcomes of different studies. The aim of this study was to assess intraobserver and interobserver reliability of echocardiographic measurements in healthy children.

Materials And Methods: We studied 28 children, with a median age of 7.

Insulin gene variable number of tandem repeats is not associated with weight from fetal life until infancy: the Generation R Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine whether the insulin gene variable number of tandem repeats (INS VNTR) is associated with growth patterns in fetal life and infancy.

Design And Methods: This study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study from fetal life until young adulthood. Fetal growth was assessed by ultrasounds in early, mid-, and late pregnancy.

The accuracy of outcome prediction models for childhood-onset epilepsy.

Purpose: Two large prospective cohort studies of childhood epilepsy (Nova Scotia and the Netherlands) each developed a statistical model to predict long-term outcome. We sought to evaluate the accuracy of a prognostic model based on the two studies combined.

Methods: Analyses with classification tree models and stepwise logistic regression produced predictive models for the combined dataset and the two separate cohorts.