∆-3-oxo-5β-reductase deficiency: favorable outcome in 16 patients treated with cholic acid.

Background: Oral cholic acid therapy is an effective therapy in children with primary bile acid synthesis deficiencies. Most reported patients with this treatment have 3β-hydroxy-Δ-C-steroid oxidoreductase deficiency. The aim of the study was the evaluation of cholic acid therapy in a cohort of patients with the rarer Δ-3-oxosteroid 5β-reductase (Δ-3-oxo-R) deficiency.

Endoscopic management of esophageal mucosal bridges in children with esophageal atresia.

Background And Study Aims: Esophageal mucosal bridge (EMB) may be diagnosed at the anastomotic site in children operated on for esophageal atresia (EA) but so far only a few cases (n = 4) have been reported. This study aimed to characterize EMB in children with EA, risk factors, and treatment.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective multicenter study recorded patient's characteristics, EMB diagnosis circumstances, endoscopic management, follow-up, and EMB recurrence in children with EA aged less than 18 years, compared with paired EA patients without EMB.

Determinants of early surgical complications after pediatric liver transplantation: A single center/single surgeon experience over 20 years.

Background: The risk of early surgical complications of liver transplantation (LT) is higher in children when compared with adults. The aims of the present retrospective study from a single center cohort/single surgeon were to identify the predictive factors for surgical complications after pediatric LT.

Methods: All children receiving a first LT from October 1990 to October 2010 in our center were included.

Iterative antibody-induced bile salt export pump deficiency after successive liver transplantations successfully treated with plasmapheresis and rituximab.

Post-transplantation evolution of progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 2 patients can be complicated by antibody-induced bile salt export pump deficiency (AIBD). There is no consensus on its management. We describe a patient who presented two episodes, 9 years apart.

A Simple-to-Perform mRNA Gene Expression Assay on Whole Blood Accurately Appraises Varicella Zoster Virus-Specific Cell-Mediated Immunity After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Herpes zoster, which is due to the reactivation of Varicella zoster virus (VZV), is a leading cause of morbidity after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). While cell-mediated immunity (CMI) is critical to inhibiting VZV reactivation, CMI is not routinely assessed due to a lack of reliable tests. In this study, we aimed to evaluate VZV-specific CMI among allo-HSCT recipients (n = 60) and healthy individuals (HI, n = 17) through a panel of three immune functional assays after stimulation by VZV antigen: quantification of (i) IFN-γ release in the supernatants, (ii) T-cell proliferation after a 7-day stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and (iii) measurement of the - mRNA gene expression level after 24 h of stimulation of a whole-blood sample.

Targeted-Capture Next-Generation Sequencing in Diagnosis Approach of Pediatric Cholestasis.

Background: Cholestasis is a frequent and severe condition during childhood. Genetic cholestatic diseases represent up to 25% of pediatric cholestasis. Molecular analysis by targeted-capture next generation sequencing (NGS) has recently emerged as an efficient diagnostic tool.

Partial splenectomy in children undergoing liver transplantation or venous shunt for severe hypersplenism: A case control comparative study.

Background And Aim: Hypersplenism is a consequence of portal hypertension and splenomegaly secondary to cirrhosis or portal cavernoma in children. In order to avoid persistent hypersplenism and splenomegaly after liver transplantation (LT) or venous shunt (VS), partial splenectomy (PS) may represent a relevant therapeutic option. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the results of PS performed in children presenting hypersplenism.

Escherichia coli-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome and severe chronic hepatocellular cholestasis: complication or side effect of eculizumab?

Background: Liver lesions of hemolytic uremic syndrome due to Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC-HUS) are uncommon.

Case-diagnosis/treatment: We report three observations of severe STEC-HUS with delayed hepatic involvement. They presented with multiple organ failure and received eculizumab; 15 days after the onset of STEC-HUS, cholestasis appeared and cytolysis worsened.

TTC7A mutation must be considered in patients with repeated intestinal atresia associated with early inflammatory bowel disease: Two new case reports and a literature review.

TTC7A mutations cause multiple neonatal intestinal atresias with early inflammatory bowel disease and severe combined immunodeficiency. There are no treatment protocols for this rare disease. Two new cases are described for which radical early treatment measures - total enterectomy, home parenteral nutrition, immunoglobulin therapy and intravenous antibiotic prophylaxis - have allowed both patients to develop optimally.

Newly diagnosed immune thrombocytopenic purpura in childhood: successful implementation of a limited intervention strategy in the setting of pediatric emergency care.

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura is a bleeding disorder for which management remains mainly guided by platelet counts. Pediatric hematologists and emergency physicians collaborated to set up a limited intervention strategy, focusing on clinical bleeding severity irrespective of platelet counts, starting in the emergency room. We report how this strategy was safely applied for 106 consecutive children admitted for newly diagnosed immune thrombocytopenic purpura.