White matter microstructure and functional connectivity in the brains of infants with Turner syndrome.

Turner syndrome, caused by complete or partial loss of an X-chromosome, is often accompanied by specific cognitive challenges. Magnetic resonance imaging studies of adults and children with Turner syndrome suggest these deficits reflect differences in anatomical and functional connectivity. However, no imaging studies have explored connectivity in infants with Turner syndrome.

Cohort study: Neurological and cognitive-behavioral sequelae of acquired Zika virus infection among Nicaraguan children.

Background: ZIKV has neuroinvasive properties, and in utero exposure can cause birth defects, but little is known about the neurological and neurocognitive impacts of acquired ZIKV infection, particularly in children.

Methods: We assessed neurological symptoms frequency among ZIKV-infected children within one year after ZIKV infection. Three to 5 years post-infection, these children and a matched group of uninfected children were assessed via questionnaires, neurological exams, and neuropsychological testing to evaluate the association between prior ZIKV infection and subsequent neurological symptoms, and cognitive-behavioral function.

Psychotropic Medication Usage in Pediatric CKD: Reporting from the CKD in Children Cohort.

Key Points: Psychotropic medication use is prevalent in the pediatric CKD population. Central nervous system stimulant usage was more common in male patients, and antidepressant usage was more frequently reported at follow-up visits during teenage years.

Background: Mental health disorders within the pediatric CKD population are prevalent.

Longitudinal Plasma Metabolome Patterns and Relation to Kidney Function and Proteinuria in Pediatric CKD.

Key Points: Longitudinal untargeted metabolomics. Children with CKD have a circulating metabolome that changes over time.

Background: Understanding plasma metabolome patterns in relation to changing kidney function in pediatric CKD is important for continued research for identifying novel biomarkers, characterizing biochemical pathophysiology, and developing targeted interventions.

Cerebral Palsy and Motor Impairment After Extreme Prematurity: Prediction of Diagnoses at Ages 2 and 10 Years.

Objective: To identify perinatal factors in children born extremely preterm (EP) that were associated with motor impairment (MI) at 2 and 10 years of age and develop a predictive algorithm to estimate the risk of MI during childhood.

Study Design: Participants of the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns Study (ELGANS) were classified as: no MI, MI only at 2 years, MI only at 10 years, and MI at both 2 and 10 years, based on a standardized neurological examination at 2 and the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) at 10 years of age. Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression was used to develop the final predictive model.

Atopic dermatitis, cognitive function and psychiatric comorbidities across early childhood and adolescence in a population-based UK birth cohort.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) may affect cognitive function, but studies are limited and inconsistent. The effect of AD severity on cognition remains underexplored and few previous studies have examined clinically validated or repeated measures of cognition throughout childhood.

Objectives: To evaluate the relationship of AD activity and severity with validated measures of general cognition in a longitudinal birth cohort.

Mental health and social-emotional functioning in children and adolescents with chronic kidney disease.

For children and young adults, living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) poses physical, mental, and social challenges. The mental health functioning of children and adolescents with CKD plays an important role in the medical, educational, vocational, and quality of life outcomes, yet receives little systematic attention in the busy pediatric nephrology clinic. This article will provide an overview of the prevalence of mental illness and symptoms in children and young adults with CKD, strategies to assess for dysfunction, and the long-term outcomes associated with impaired functioning.

The Impact of Pediatric CKD on Educational and Employment Outcomes.

Key Points: This study evaluates educational and employment outcomes in patients with pediatric kidney disease and assesses predictors of educational attainment and employment in young adulthood. Despite high rates of high school graduation, nearly 20% of patients with CKD are unemployed or receiving disability at long-term follow-up.

Background: Pediatric patients with CKD are at risk for neurocognitive deficits and academic underachievement.

Perinatal Factors and Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Dysregulation in Childhood and Adolescence.

Objective: This cohort study assessed perinatal factors known to be related to maternal and neonatal inflammation and hypothesized that several would be associated with emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dysregulation in youth.

Method: The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) is a research consortium of 69 pediatric longitudinal cohorts. A subset of 18 cohorts that had both Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) data on children (6-18 years) and information on perinatal exposures including maternal prenatal infections was used.

Unraveling non-participation in genomic research: A complex interplay of barriers, facilitators, and sociocultural factors.

Although genomic research offering next-generation sequencing (NGS) has increased the diagnoses of rare/ultra-rare disorders, populations experiencing health disparities infrequently participate in these studies. The factors underlying non-participation would most reliably be ascertained from individuals who have had the opportunity to participate, but decline. We thus enrolled parents of children and adult probands with undiagnosed disorders who had declined genomic research offering NGS with return of results with undiagnosed disorders (Decliners, n = 21) and compared their data to those who participated (Participants, n = 31).

Association of prenatal modifiable risk factors with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder outcomes at age 10 and 15 in an extremely low gestational age cohort.

Background: The increased risk of developing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in extremely preterm infants is well-documented. Better understanding of perinatal risk factors, particularly those that are modifiable, can inform prevention efforts.

Methods: We examined data from the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns (ELGAN) Study.

A longitudinal analysis of the effect of anemia on executive functions in children with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease.

Background: Children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at risk for cognitive dysfunction. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between executive functions (EF), anemia, and iron deficiency.

Methods: A total of 688 children > 6 years of age enrolled in the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKiD) study who underwent evaluation for EF were included.

Differential Attention Functioning in Pediatric Chronic Kidney Disease.

Objective: To compare specific attention functions for school-age children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) to those of a typically developing control group.

Methods: A cross-sectional study examined attention dimensions for children and adolescents with CKD ( = 30) in comparison to a typically developing control group ( = 41). The CKD group consisted of those receiving maintenance dialysis ( = 15) and those with mild/moderate CKD treated conservatively ( = 15).

Association of Blood Pressure-Related Increase in Vascular Stiffness on Other Measures of Target Organ Damage in Youth.

Background: Hypertension-related increased arterial stiffness predicts development of target organ damage (TOD) and cardiovascular disease. We hypothesized that blood pressure (BP)-related increased arterial stiffness is present in youth with elevated BP and is associated with TOD.

Methods: Participants were stratified by systolic BP into low- (systolic BP <75th percentile, n=155), mid- (systolic BP ≥80th and <90th percentile, n=88), and high-risk BP categories (≥90th percentile, n=139), based on age-, sex- and height-specific pediatric BP cut points.

Longitudinal changes in uric acid concentration and their relationship with chronic kidney disease progression in children and adolescents.

Background: Elevated serum uric acid concentration is a risk factor for CKD progression. Its change over time and association with CKD etiology and concomitant changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in children and adolescents are unknown.

Methods: Longitudinal study of 153 children/adolescents with glomerular (G) and 540 with non-glomerular (NG) etiology from the CKD in Children (CKiD) study.

Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Target Organ Damage in Adolescents: The SHIP AHOY Study.

Background: Development of cardiovascular disease in adults has been directly linked to an adverse metabolic phenotype. While there is evidence that development of these risk factors in childhood persists into adulthood and the development of cardiovascular disease, less is known about whether these risk factors are associated with target organ damage during adolescence.

Methods: We collected data from 379 adolescents (mean age 15.

Emergent Neuroimaging Findings for Written Expression in Children: A Scoping Review.

Background: There is currently a dearth of research on the neural framework of writing tasks in children, as measured by neuroimaging techniques.

Objective: This paper provides an overview of the current literature examining the neurological underpinnings of written expression in children.

Design: Using a scoping review approach, with thorough searches of key databases, this paper presents the available literature comprising 13 different studies using both structural and functional neuroimaging techniques with the 0-18 English speaking population.