Eosinophil cell count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in early childhood wheezing: is it predictive of future asthma?

: Increased eosinophil level in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) characterizes asthma in school-age children and adults and has been suggested as a marker for disease severity and response to treatment. We aimed to investigate the occurrence and yield of BALF eosinophil cell count in preschool children with recurrent wheezing and its possible relation to future diagnosis of asthma. : BALF was retrospectively studied in young wheezy children and its relation to asthma at age 6 years was evaluated.

Collecting clinical data in primary ciliary dyskinesia- challenges and opportunities.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is under diagnosed and underestimated. Most clinical research has used some form of questionnaires to capture data but none has been critically evaluated particularly with respect to its end-user feasibility and utility. To critically appraise a clinical data collection questionnaire for PCD used in a large national PCD consortium in order to apply conclusions in future PCD research.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia in Israel: Prevalence, clinical features, current diagnosis and management practices.

Background: Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) is rare and its features in Israel have not been described.

Aims: to assess prevalence utilizing state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques, and describe clinical features, diagnostic and management practices in Israel.

Methods: A national multicenter study from 2012 to 2013 recruited patients diagnosed or suspected of having PCD.

Pulmonary functions in children with inflammatory bowel disease.

Objective: To investigate fractional exhaled nitric-oxide (FeNO) levels in children with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) and their correlation to disease activity.

Materials And Methods: Children with CD and UC (aged 8-18 years) and age-matched healthy controls without respiratory symptoms were recruited. Disease activity was assessed using validated scores.

Ultrafine particle content in exhaled breath condensate in airways of asthmatic children.

Air pollution triggers and exacerbates airway inflammation. Particulate material (PM) in ambient is characterized as being coarse (PM 10, aerodynamic diameter range 2.5-10 µm), fine (PM 2.

Pediatric pulmonologists approach to the pre-operative management of the asthmatic child.

Objective: No consensus guidelines exist for the respiratory treatment of asthmatic children referred for elective surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitude of pediatric pulmonologists regarding the pre-operative management of these children.

Methods: A survey of pre-operative management of asthmatic children was conducted.

Biological monitoring of particulate matter accumulated in the lungs of urban asthmatic children in the Tel-Aviv area.

Purpose: Lung inflammation from exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) may be responsible for morbidity in asthma, but several studies using environmental monitoring data showed inconsistent results. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of induced sputum (IS) technology in order to biologically monitor PM in the lungs of urban asthmatic children.

Methods: We collected clinical, demographic, biological and environmental monitoring data on 136 children referred for asthma evaluations.

MCIDAS mutations result in a mucociliary clearance disorder with reduced generation of multiple motile cilia.

Reduced generation of multiple motile cilia (RGMC) is a rare mucociliary clearance disorder. Affected persons suffer from recurrent infections of upper and lower airways because of highly reduced numbers of multiple motile respiratory cilia. Here we report recessive loss-of-function and missense mutations in MCIDAS-encoding Multicilin, which was shown to promote the early steps of multiciliated cell differentiation in Xenopus.

The effect of a single dose of acetaminophen on airways response in children with asthma.

Unlabelled: Accumulating evidence suggests that the use of acetaminophen increases the risk of developing asthma and that its widespread use has contributed to the increasing prevalence of asthma.

Study Design: To investigate the immediate effect of a single dose of acetaminophen on airways reactivity and inflammation in asthmatic and controls. A double blind placebo-controlled study was conducted on 42 asthmatic children and 21 healthy age-matched controls.

Exhaled nitric oxide in acute respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis.

Objective: To investigate fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels in infants during acute respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis and during convalescence.

Design: Prospective cohort study. Comparison of FeNO levels between infants with laboratory-confirmed acute RSV bronchiolitis and 2 control groups: healthy infants and infants with recurrent wheezing.

Use and yield of chest computed tomography in the diagnostic evaluation of pediatric lung disease.

Objective: Computed tomography is commonly used in the diagnosis of pediatric lung disease. Although the radiation is not negligible, the yield has never been studied.

Methods: Clinical and imaging data were collected for all children who underwent chest computed tomography, as part of the diagnostic process.

The use of exhaled nitric oxide in the diagnosis of asthma in school children.

Objectives: To evaluate the yield of the fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in the diagnosis of asthma compared with spirometry and induced sputum cytologic study in school-age children.

Study Design: Consecutive children referred for evaluation of possible asthma were included. At referral, all children completed FeNO measurement, sputum induction for eosinophil count (eos%) and spirometry.

HsCRP levels: measurement of airway inflammation in asthmatic children.

Background: The inflammatory marker, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (HsCRP), is known to be related to non-allergic asthma, obesity, cardiovascular disease and smoking in adults. The aim of the present study was to determine whether HsCRP is related to respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function test findings in asthmatic children.

Methods: HsCRP was measured in 63 asthmatic children aged 2-12 years.

Interleukin-12 peripheral blood levels in asthmatic children.

: Interleukin-12 (IL-12) was measured in 45 asthmatic children aged 3 to 16 years. The assessments were performed on 20 children during an episode of acute exacerbation and on 25 children during remission. There was no significant difference between the mean IL-12 level during exacerbation (1.

Diagnosis of laryngomalacia by fiberoptic endoscopy: awake compared with anesthesia-aided technique.

Rationale: Fiberoptic flexible laryngoscopy (FFL) is the diagnostic procedure of choice in patients with laryngomalacia. Two techniques can be applied, either when the infant is awake or using anesthesia/sedation. The choice of technique may effect the diagnosis.

Immunopathophysiologic mechanisms of cystic fibrosis lung disease.

Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening autosomal recessive disorder with a highly variable clinical presentation. The pathophysiology is related to the mutant transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a chloride channel that is encoded by the CF single gene located on chromosome 7. The variability of the clinical presentations, even among patients carrying the same mutation, is extensive enough to justify the hypothesis that other pathophysiologic mechanisms participate in the evolution of the disease phenotype.

Cystic fibrosis and neonatal calcified scrotal masses.

We report a case of an infant who presented with failure to thrive and in whom the identification of calcified scrotal masses led us to the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis.

Soluble CD14 as a predictor of subsequent development of recurrent wheezing in hospitalized young children with respiratory syncytial virus-induced bronchiolitis.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in infancy that causes severe bronchiolitis had been implicated as potentially responsible for the subsequent development of asthma. The CD14 receptor responds to the microbial burden in the environment and modulates the development of the allergic phenotype.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the serum level of soluble CD14 (sCD14) in children hospitalized because of RSV-induced bronchiolitis and the subsequent development of recurrent wheezing.

Effects of inhaled corticosteroids and inhaled cromolyn sodium on urinary growth hormone excretion in asthmatic children.

Over the past few years there has been an increasing awareness that asthma is a chronic inflammatory airways disease. The current therapeutic strategies for treating asthma focus on suppressing the inflammatory process by using cromones or inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). The beneficial effects of ICS in asthma are now well known, but its detrimental effect on linear growth remains a controversial issue.

Rapid induction of clinical response with a short-term high-dose starting schedule of budesonide nebulizing suspension in young children with recurrent wheezing episodes.

Background: There are no data currently available on the correct schedule for the initiation of treatment with nebulized suspension of budesonide in children with recurrent wheezing episodes. We compared the efficacy and safety of starting with a high dose followed by a stepwise decrease to a continuous low dose.

Methods: In a double-blind design, 42 children aged 6 months to 3 years were randomly allocated to receive either a high starting dose of 1 mg budesonide twice daily followed by a stepwise decrease of 25% every second day for 1 week (group A) or a low dose of 0.

Familial nasal acilia syndrome.

Mucociliary dysfunction can be caused by the absence of cilia or by abnormalities in their ultrastructure. A family in which some members were suffering from respiratory morbidity due to lack of cilia is described.

Low-dose adrenocorticotropin test reveals impaired adrenal function in patients taking inhaled corticosteroids.

The aim of the present study was to examine the use of low-dose ACTH-(1-24) stimulation for assessment of adrenal function and the detection of mild adrenal insufficiency. The criteria for normal response to ACTH-(1-24) are a peak cortisol level of more than 500 nmol/L (18.1 micrograms/dL) and an increment of the cortisol level above the basal one of more than 200 nmol/L (7.