Urinary schistosomiasis is endemic in the tropical world. It is uncommon in geographical areas with advanced public health resources. Modern immigration from endemic communities to the United States supports the need to improve our diagnostic awareness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe population of children living in poverty and lacking healthcare insurance has increased in the United States of America in the last decade. Several factors have been responsible for this trend including illegal immigration, socioeconomic deprivation, young age, racial segregation, environmental degradation, and discriminatory housing policies. These systemic barriers have contributed to the exclusion of families from essential healthcare services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Treat Options Pediatr
May 2022
This article examines the regulatory function of the skeletal muscle, renal, and adrenergic systems in potassium homeostasis. The pathophysiologic bases of hypokalemia, systematic approach for an early diagnosis, and therapeutic strategy to avert life-threatening complications are highlighted. By promoting skeletal muscle uptake, intense physical exercise (post), severe trauma, and several toxins produce profound hypokalemia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/ckj/sfaa172.][This corrects the article DOI: 10.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfective dermatitis (ID) associated with Human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) is a rare form of severe superinfected eczema seen mostly in the Caribbean islands and Latin America. Although rapid response to antibiotic treatment is observed, patients should be monitored for development of complications associated with this retroviral infection, including T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) and HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Infective dermatitis is rarely seen in the United States and therefore may be under-recognized by physicians unfamiliar with this condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Transplant
October 2016
The prevalence of anemia in the first month after transplant is 70%-80%. The rate declines to 30%-40% at 3 months and 20% by 12 months. Its occurrence is influenced by the quality of the transplanted organ, bone marrow regenerative capacity, amount of surgical blood loss, and increased iron recycling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSchistosomiasis is the second most common socio-economically devastating parasitic disease after malaria, affecting about 240 million residents of developing countries. In Africa, it predominantly manifests as urogenital disease, and the main infective agent is Schistosoma hematobium. Endemicity is propagated by poor socio-economic status and environmental degradation due to rapid urbanization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In recognition of the challenges inherent with the use of single-item indices for the diagnosis of malnutrition-inflammation morbidity in pediatric dialysis patients, to enhance accuracy, we validated a composite scoring system in a pilot study. The objective malnutrition-inflammation score seeks to validate the use of a composite scoring system as a tool for assessing malnutrition-inflammation burden in a pediatric dialysis population.
Methods: We enrolled 20 patients on hemodialysis (n = 14) and peritoneal dialysis (n = 6) over a period of 12 months.
Routine administration of erythropoietin (EPO)-stimulating agents (ESAs) for the control of anemia has improved the quality of life of subjects with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, a wide variation in individual response to ESA is often observed. The reasons for EPO resistance include demographic variables such as age and gender distribution, morbidity pattern, and modality of dialysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevious studies often report lower responses to erythropoietin (EPO) therapy in pediatric patients on chronic dialysis than those of adults. Because of the greater capacity for hematopoiesis in the younger population, these studies may be confounded by poorly identified variables. Thus, we made parallel studies of pediatric and adult cohorts to explore the relationship between age, gender and other risk factors with EPO resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Laboratory indices are often poorly diagnostic of folate deficiency (FD). Compared with iron depletion in hemodialysis (HD) populations, the impact of FD is less appreciated. The composite scoring of hematologic indices of FD may facilitate a prompt and accurate diagnosis, and enhance operational research on folic acid therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHemorrhagic enterocolitis caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7 and its complication of hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) are well known from large outbreaks caused by contaminated meats and vegetables. However most cases may be endemic, not related to an outbreak. We identified cases of HUS in Oklahoma, 2002-2005, from the Inpatient Hospital Discharge Database of the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) and also the cases of HUS and E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlike iron therapy, folate use is not a standard of care in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Despite iron repletion, poor response to erythropoietin (EPO) treatment is common. Theoretical evidence for folate deficiency (FD) includes chronic blood loss, inflammation, malnutrition, and nutrient loss during dialysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHemodialysis (HD) catheter occlusion is a common cause of poor blood flow and inadequate dialysis. In order to address this problem in our pediatric dialysis unit, we elected to use short (2-h) infusions of low-dose recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) for thrombolysis of occluded catheters. Catheters meeting diagnostic criteria for thrombosis were infused with 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF