Asthma and health-related quality of life at 16-20 years of age in a prospectively followed post-bronchiolitis cohort.

Unlabelled: The aim was to evaluate asthma and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes in adolescents, after hospital-treated bronchiolitis experienced in less than 6 months of age. A prospective cohort study started in 2001-2004 and followed up 166 children hospitalised for bronchiolitis in early infancy. At 16-20 years of age, 76 cases and 41 population-based controls without a history of bronchiolitis participated in the current study.

Biochemical mechanisms in pathogenesis of infantile epileptic spasm syndrome.

The molecular mechanisms leading to infantile epileptic spasm syndrome (IESS) remain obscure. The only common factor seems to be that the spasms are restricted to a limited period of infancy, during a certain maturational state. Here the current literature regarding the biochemical mechanisms of brain maturation in IESS is reviewed, and various hypotheses of the pathophysiology are put together.

Intragroup contact with other mothers living in the same neighborhood benefits mothers' life satisfaction: The mediating role of group identification and social support.

Becoming a mother is often accompanied by a loss of social connections, which can reduce the availability of social support. This can increase maternal stress with negative health outcomes. Therefore, we examined how mothers' social contact with other mothers living in the same neighborhood can form a compensative source of social support and wellbeing.

Who is expected to make contact? Interpretative repertoires related to an intergroup encounter between Finnish majority mothers and immigrant mothers.

Although the benefits of contact for positive intergroup relations are widely acknowledged, less is known about how group members construct the agency and responsibility of contact participants in intergroup encounters. Using critical discursive psychology, we analysed the interpretative repertoires that Finnish majority mothers (N = 13) and mothers with an immigrant background (N = 10) used when talking about a hypothetical intergroup encounter among Finnish and immigrant mothers in a 'family café' (a group for mothers and children). Our analysis identified five interpretative repertoires that differed in terms of the levels of categorization used (individual, group, motherhood) and how agency and responsibility for initiating contact were discursively attributed to the parties in the intergroup encounter.

First-in-Class Small Molecule to Inhibit CYP11A1 and Steroid Hormone Biosynthesis.

Binding of steroid hormones to their cognate receptors regulates the growth of most prostate and breast cancers. We hypothesized that CYP11A inhibition might halt the synthesis of all steroid hormones, because CYP11A is the only enzyme that catalyses the first step of steroid hormone biosynthesis. We speculated that a CYP11A inhibitor could be administered safely provided that the steroids essential for life are replaced.

Interleukin 1 receptor-like 1 rs13408661/13431828 polymorphism is associated with persistent post-bronchiolitis asthma at school age.

Aim: Interleukin (IL) 1 receptor-like 1, encoded by the IL1RL1 gene, is a receptor for IL-33. In European birth cohorts, IL1RL1 rs102082293, rs10204137 (rs4988955), rs13424006 and rs13431828 (rs13048661) variations were associated with asthma at school age. In a Dutch multi-centre study, IL1RL1 rs1921622 variation was associated with severe bronchiolitis.

Could prevention of infantile spasms have been possible in a historical cohort of 31 tuberous sclerosis patients?

Unlabelled: Efforts to prevent epilepsy in infants with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) has been the focus of EPISTOP.

Purpose: The present study was carried out to evaluate whether prevention could have been realistic.

Methods: A retrospective analysis by hospital chart review of 31 patients with TSC and infantile spasms (practically all patients) admitted to two tertiary hospitals, Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki and Kuopio in 1980-2000.

Risk factors for irreversible airway obstruction after infant bronchiolitis.

Background: Increasing evidence shows that environmental factors in childhood play a role in development of irreversible airway obstruction. We evaluated early-life and preschool-age risk factors for irreversible airway obstruction in adolescence after bronchiolitis in infancy.

Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of data collected during prospective long-term follow-up of our post-bronchiolitis cohort.

Teleneurology based management of infantile spasms during COVID-19 pandemic: A consensus report by the South Asia Allied West syndrome research group.

With telehealth services rescuing patients with chronic neurological disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need for simplified teleneurology protocols for neurological disorders in children. Infantile spasms is an epileptic encephalopathy where treatment lag is a significant predictor of outcome. It is one such condition where telemedicine can make a remarkable difference when in-person consultations are delayed or are not possible.

ACTH Treatment of Infantile Spasms: Low-Moderate- Versus High-Dose, Natural Versus Synthetic ACTH-A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: High dosages of natural adrenocorticotropic hormone are used in many centers in the United States for the treatment of infantile spasms. However, lower dosages of synthetic adrenocorticotropic hormone (tetracosactide) might be equally efficient as high dosages. We analyzed the treatment options for infantile spasms, especially regarding the adrenocorticotropic hormone dosage and the formulation (natural versus synthetic) and evaluated which options were more effective in a retrospective cohort from 1960 to 1976.

Management practices for West syndrome in South Asia: A survey study and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Considering the dearth of literature on West syndrome (WS) from South Asian countries, this study aimed to evaluate the management practices in South Asia by an online survey and meta-analysis.

Methods: An online questionnaire was sent to 223 pediatric neurologists/pediatricians in India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Their responses were evaluated and supplemented by a meta-analysis.

Infantile Spasms: Outcome in Clinical Studies.

Children with infantile spasms are likely to have a poor outcome. Outcome measures for infantile spasms include primary response to treatment, relapse of spasms, neurological development, death, and progression to another type of epilepsy (Consensus Statements of the WEST Delphi Group 2004). This review is based mainly on prospective studies and emphasizes data about the current first-line drugs, adrenocorticotropic hormone, vigabatrin, and prednisolone, taking into account the proportion of patients with known and unknown etiology, which has a very strong effect on seizure outcome.

18q12.3-q21.1 microdeletion detected in the prenatally alcohol-exposed dizygotic twin with discordant fetal alcohol syndrome phenotype.

Background: A pair of dizygotic twins discordantly affected by heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) was reported previously by Riikonen, suggesting the role of genetic risk or protective factors in the etiology of alcohol-induced developmental disorders. Now, we have re-examined these 25-year-old twins and explored genetic origin of the phenotypic discordancy reminiscent with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Furthermore, we explored alterations in DNA methylation profile of imprinting control region at growth-related insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2)/H19 locus in twins' white blood cells (WBC), which have been associated earlier with alcohol-induced genotype-specific changes in placental tissue.

Toll-like receptor 10 rs4129009 gene polymorphism is associated with post-bronchiolitis lung function in adolescence.

Aim: The aim was to evaluate the association of polymorphisms in the Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 subfamily encoding genes with lung function by spirometry at 10-13 years of age in children who had been hospitalised for bronchiolitis at <6 months of age.

Methods: In a prospective cohort of 166 former bronchiolitis patients, 138 returned a structured questionnaire and 89 attended a clinical follow-up visit including spirometry before and after bronchodilation at 10-13 years of age. Data on polymorphisms of the TLR1, TLR2, TLR6 and TLR10 genes were available from 81-82 children.

CSF nerve growth factor (β-NGF) is increased but CSF insulin-like growth factor-(IGF-1) is normal in children with tuberous sclerosis and infantile spasms.

Tuberous sclerosis is associated with epilepsy that is often refractory. We examined cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations for neurotrophins, nerve growth factor (β-NGF) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) in children with infantile spasms between 1997 and 2010. We classified the patients as follows: tuberous sclerosis (n = 5), cryptogenic spasms (n = 6), postinfectious spasms (n = 5) and other symptomatic spasms (n = 22).