Can myofunctional therapy increase tongue tone and reduce symptoms in children with sleep-disordered breathing?

Purpose: Data in the literature suggest that myofunctional therapy (MT) may be able to play a role in the treatment of children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Our study investigated the effectiveness of MT in reducing respiratory symptoms in children with SDB by modifying tongue tone.

Methods: Polysomnographic recordings were performed at baseline to assess obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity in 54 children (mean age 7.

Oropharyngeal exercises to reduce symptoms of OSA after AT.

Purpose: This study evaluated the efficacy of oropharyngeal exercises in children with symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) after adenotonsillectomy.

Methods: Polysomnographic recordings were performed before adenotonsillectomy and 6 months after surgery. Patients with residual OSA (apnea-Hypopnea Index, AHI > 1 and persistence of respiratory symptoms) after adenotonsillectomy were randomized either to a group treated with oropharyngeal exercises (group 1) or to a control group (group 2).

Does a parent-reported history of pneumonia increase the likelihood of respiratory symptoms needing therapy in asthmatic children and adolescents?

Background: Asthmatic children and adolescents attending outpatient clinics often have a history of pneumonia. Whether respiratory symptoms, lung function, and airway inflammation differ in asthmatic patients with and without a history of pneumonia remains controversial.

Aims: To compare clinical, lung functional, and inflammatory variables in asthmatic outpatients with and without a history of pneumonia.

8-Isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in asthmatic children and adolescents.

Background: Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) in the asthmatic child is associated with persistent airway inflammation and poor disease control. EIB could arise partly from airway oxidative stress. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) levels of 8-isoprostane (IsoP), which is a known marker of oxidative stress, might therefore be helpful for monitoring asthma noninvasively.

Reduced exhaled nitric oxide in children after testing of maximal expiratory pressures.

Spirometry in adult subjects can induce a fall in concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FE(NO)). Scarce information is available on the FE(NO) decrease after spirometry or after other forced lung-function maneuvers in children. We compared changes in FE(NO) induced by repeated spirometry and testing of maximal expiratory pressures (P(Emax)).

Why Chlamydia pneumoniae is associated with asthma and other chronic conditions? Suggestions from a survey in unselected 9 yr old schoolchildren.

Despite numerous studies demonstrating an association between asthma and many other chronic conditions and signs of Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cp) infection, the role of Cp in the pathogenesis of these illness remain still unclear. We investigated the prevalence of Cp antigen in the upper airways and the prevalence of detectable Cp serum antibodies in an unselected population of 207 9-yr-old schoolchildren. We also sought the presence of asthma, chronic or recurrent respiratory symptoms by means of questionnaire completed by the parents.

Additive effect of eosinophilia and atopy on exhaled nitric oxide levels in children with or without a history of respiratory symptoms.

Although atopy and blood eosinophilia both influence exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) measurements, no study has quantified their single or combined effect. We assessed the combined effect of atopy and blood eosinophilia on eNO in unselected schoolchildren. In 356 schoolchildren (boys/girls: 168/188) aged 9.

Skin reactivity to histamine and codeine in unselected 9-year-old children from Italy, Poland and Libya.

Background: Previous studies have shown that histamine skin reactivity (the dimensions of a skin wheal elicited by a prick with histamine 10 mg/ml) in unselected school children has increased in Italy during the past two decades and is higher in Italy than in Poland. Hence this variable can probably be influenced by a changing or different lifestyle. The aim of this study was to compare skin reactivity to histamine and codeine (a marker of histamine releasability from mast cells) in schoolchildren from countries with different lifestyles.

Skin reactivity to histamine and to allergens in unselected 9-year-old children living in Poland and Italy.

Several studies have shown a higher prevalence of positive skin-prick tests to airborne allergens in Western than in Eastern European countries. We have recently reported that skin histamine reactivity significantly increased in Italy over the past 15 years. Population differences in skin histamine reactivity could, at least in part, explain the reported differences in positive allergen skin tests.

Nasal cellularity in 183 unselected schoolchildren aged 9 to 11 years.

Objective: Although rhinitis is extremely frequent in children, methods for assessing the severity of nasal inflammation produce results with wide variability and hence weak clinical significance. We designed this epidemiologic investigation to define the clinical usefulness of assessing nasal cellularity in children.

Methods: We studied 183 of 203 eligible unselected schoolchildren who were aged 9 to 11 years and whose parents gave informed consent and completed a questionnaire on the history of atopic and respiratory symptoms.