Bidirectional relationships exist among sickle cell disease (SCD), sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), and hydroxyurea therapy, and this complex interplay poses challenges to research attempting to elucidate causal mechanisms and determine therapeutic targets. We therefore set out to study all three components of this clinical triad simultaneously (SCD, SDB, and hydroxyurea therapy), documenting correlations and suggesting underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Hydroxyurea therapy was associated with improved SDB and with decreased inflammation, implicating the anti-inflammation effects of hydroxyurea as a plausible mechanism driving these correlations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) is an established treatment for malignant and non-malignant conditions and pulmonary disease is a leading cause of late term morbidity and mortality. Accurate and early detection of pulmonary complications is a critical step in improving long term outcomes. Existing guidelines for surveillance of pulmonary complications post-HSCT contain conflicting recommendations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe American Thoracic Society Pediatric Core Curriculum updates clinicians annually in pediatric pulmonary disease in a 3 to 4 year recurring cycle of topics. The 2019 course was presented in May during the Annual International Conference. An American Board of Pediatrics Maintenance of Certification module and a continuing medical education exercise covering the contents of the Core Curriculum can be accessed online at www.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPediatr Pulmonol
November 2018
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the earliest bacteria isolated from the respiratory tract in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Its methicillin resistant form, MRSA, has gained attention due to the rapid increase in the last decades and worse outcomes with chronic infection. In the United States, prevalence of MRSA in CF is around 27%, but is much lower (3-18%) in most other countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeficiency in ATP binding cassette A3 (ABCA3) causes neonatal respiratory distress, hypoxemic respiratory failure, and interstitial lung disease. ABCA3 transports phospholipids into the lamellar bodies of type II alveolar cells, a critical step in alveolar surfactant production. We report a term infant with ABCA3 surfactant deficiency syndrome with the E292V (c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRanolazine is a new anti-anginal medication that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006 for patients with symptomatic chronic angina despite optimized therapy. This paper presents a case report of a fifteen year old male patient admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit after ranolazine overdose ingestion. He had recurrent new onset seizures that are most likely due to ranolazine overdose.
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