Is the performance of the international severity scoring system for familial mediterranean fever in children better than other scoring systems?

Aims: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by recurrent episodes of fever and serosal inflammation with elevated acute phase reactants. Assessing the severity of the disease may be useful in identifying colchicine-resistant patients. The aim of this study is to determine the disease severity of FMF patients according to the Pras, Mor, and International Severity Scoring System for Familial Mediterranean Fever (ISSF) scoring systems and to evaluate the consistency of these three systems.

Predictive role of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and mean platelet volume in Henoch-Schönlein purpura related gastrointestinal and renal involvement.

Background: Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is a systemic small-vessel vasculitis that occurs mainly in children. The aim was to evaluate the blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and mean platelet volume (MPV) in patients with HSP and to investigate the relationship with gastrointestinal and renal involvement.

Methods: Children with HSP and healthy individuals as controls were included.

The association between obesity, hypertension and left ventricular mass in adolescents.

Background: Obesity and hypertension (HT) are well known cardiac risk factors. Our goal was to show that even if arterial blood pressure (BP) measurements of obese adolescents are normal during clinical examination, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) can be high, may include cardiac involvement and can also detect left ventricular mass indices (LVMI) value for obese adolescents to diagnose left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).

Methods: This study included 130 children (57 obese hypertensive, 36 obese normotensive, 14 normal weight hypertensive and 23 normal weight normotensive).

The effect of colchicine and disease severity on physical growth in children with familial Mediterranean fever.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of colchicine on growth parameters in familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) patients. Fifty-one (29 girls, 22 boys) FMF patients were enrolled in the study. All of the patients were in the prepubertal stage and had not received colchicine treatment before the study.

Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis: a case series and long-term renal outcomes.

Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN) is a common cause of acute renal impairment, characterized by the infiltration of inflammatory cells in the interstitium of the kidney. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 19 acute TIN patients attended to our Pediatric Nephrology department between April 1999 and April 2014. Nineteen patients (7 boys and 12 girls) were evaluated.

Cytomegalovirus-related hemorrhagic cystitis in an immunocompetent child.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections are mostly seen in immunocompromised patients. However, unusual manifestations or complications of acquired CMV infections in immunocompetent patients are rarely reported. CMV-related hemorrhagic cystitis is extremely rare but should be considered even in immunocompetent patients.

Eculizumab therapy in a child with hemolytic uremic syndrome and CFI mutation.

Background: Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is the most common cause of acute renal failure in childhood. It usually occurs after a prodromal episode of diarrhea and it leads to significant morbidity and mortality during the acute phase. However, cases that start as diarrhea-positive HUS whose renal function fail to recover should be screened for genetic disorders of the complement system, which is called atypical HUS (aHUS).