Esthetic and functional rehabilitation for oligodontia in the mixed dentition: case report.

Tooth agenesis can be considered the most common anomaly of craniofacial development in humans, with an estimated prevalence reaching up to 20% worldwide. Treatments for tooth agenesis include orthodontic space closure, use of fixed or removable dentures, and placement of dental implants. Some of these options may not be applicable to children in mixed dentition because they can prevent the normal development of facial bones.

Photodynamic therapy with delta-aminolevulinic acid and light-emitting diodes in actinic keratosis.

Background: Photodynamic therapy is a form of treatment in which a photosensitizing substance is applied to tissue and activated by a light source at a specific wavelength, thus selectively destroying cells. New light sources are being evaluated for use in the treatment of actinic keratoses.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of photodynamic therapy with delta-aminolevulinic acid using a light emitting diode device as a light source in the treatment of actinic keratoses of the face and upper limbs.

Sleep and behavior problems among preschoolers.

This study described the relationship between amount of sleep and behavior problems among preschoolers. Participants were 510 children aged 2 to 5 years who were enrolled through 68 private pediatric practices. Parents reported on the amount of sleep their child obtained at night and in 24-hour periods.

Naps in children: 6 months-7 years.

A cohort of 172 children was followed from 6 months to 7 years of age to determine how nap patterns change with age and whether there was individual stability of nap patterns. Results showed that there were no differences in nap patterns based on gender, ordinal position, whether naps spontaneously disappeared or were stopped by the parents, and the number of naps at 6 months of age. Total daytime sleep remained a stable individual characteristic between 6 and 18 months of age.

Melatonin increases cyclic guanosine monophosphate: biochemical effects mediated by porphyrins, calcium and nitric oxide. Relationships to infant colic and the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

It is hypothesized that melatonin, by its actions on porphyrin and nitric oxide biosynthesis, produces an increase in cyclic guanosine monophosphate.

Sudden infant death syndrome: a genetically determined impaired maturation of the photoneuroendocrine system. A unifying hypothesis.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the unexpected, and after autopsy, unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant. SIDS exhibits circannual, circadian, and ontogenetic features which may reflect an impaired maturation of the photoneuroendocrine system caused by a genetic absence or mutation of the enzyme N-acetyltransferase which is the rate-limiting enzyme for the biosynthesis of the hormone melatonin in the pineal gland. The failure of normal pineal gland development and subsequent impaired production of its main secretory product, melatonin, may cause a lethal imbalance in the chemical interactions among serotonin, progesterone, and catecholamines.

The photo-biochemical basis of infant colic: pineal intracellular calcium concentrations controlled by light, melatonin, and serotonin.

Infant crying during the first 3 months of life exhibits a circadian rhythm with peak crying in the evening hours. Intracellular calcium ion within the pineal gland may be influenced by alternating light and dark, melatonin concentrations, and serotonin concentrations which both exhibit circadian rhythmicity. Differences in light by latitude and differences in the ontogenic development of melatonin and serotonin rhythmicity could combine to effect the pineal intracellular concentrations of calcium and result in high levels of infant crying called colic.

Infant colic: the effect of serotonin and melatonin circadian rhythms on the intestinal smooth muscle.

It is hypothesized that in the evening, peak serotonin concentration causes intestinal cramps associated with colic because serotonin increases intestinal smooth muscle contractions. Melatonin has the opposite effect of relaxing intestinal smooth muscles. Both serotonin and melatonin exhibit a circadian rhythm with peak concentrations in the evening.

Colic, sleep inertia, melatonin and circannual rhythms.

Colic is periodic behavior occurring at the end of the day during the first 3 months of life characterized by crying. It is hypothesized that the crying at the end of the day is due to sleep inertia or a state dissociation during which the infant is simultaneously partially awake and partially asleep because of the absence of a melatonin diurnal rhythm. The melatonin timing mechanisms, which codes for day length, is initiated prenatally by the maternal pineal gland, and after 3 months postnatally, the melatonin nocturnal secretion rhythm is maintained by the infant's pineal gland.

[The Leser-Trélat sign associated with carcinoma of the cervix uteri. Report of a case and review of the literature].

The sign of Leser-Trélat in a patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix is reported. This seems to be the first report of this association. Literature was reviewed, try to correlate this entity with acanthosis nigricans and to link this sign with internal malignancy or other kind of epidermal stimuli.

Home pneumograms in normal infants.

To obtain age-specific normative data, we performed home cardiorespiratory recordings (pneumograms) in 56 normal infants at 1 month of age. A repeat pneumogram was performed at 3 months in 39 infants. Total sleep time was determined and all sleep intervals were summed and analyzed for five respiratory pattern variables: frequency of all apneic episodes greater than or equal to 6 seconds in duration (A6/D%), periodic breathing, longest apneic episode, and number of episodes greater than 11 and greater than 15 seconds.

Plasma progesterone concentrations and infant temperament.

Progesterone and its metabolites are potent depressors of the central nervous system. Plasma progesterone concentrations significantly correlated with temperament ratings for approach/withdrawal (r = -0.35, p = 0.

Sleep duration, temperament, and Conners' ratings of three-year-old children.

Parental reports of sleep patterns, ratings on the Behavioral Style Questionnaire, and Conners' Abbreviated Parents' Questionnaire were obtained for 60 three-year-old children. Children who were more adaptable, mild, and positive in mood, or children with an easy temperament, had longer total sleep durations and lower Conners' ratings than children with opposite traits. Adaptability was the temperament characteristic most highly correlated with total sleep duration and the only characteristic which correlated with the number of night wakings.

Treatment of infantile colic with dicyclomine hydrochloride.

We performed a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of dicyclomine hydrochloride using specific diagnostic criteria for infantile colic: spells of unexplained irritability, agitation, fussiness or crying lasting greater than or equal to 3 hours/day, occurring greater than or equal to 3 days/week, and continuing for greater than or equal to 3 weeks. Dicyclomine eliminated colic in 15 of 24 (63%) infants, whereas placebo was effective in six of 24 (25%) (corrected X2 = 5.42, P = 0.

Night waking in 4- to 8-month-old infants.

Parental reports of night waking and sleep patterns were obtained for 141 normal 4- to 8-month-old infants from middle-class families. A group of infants was identified who had a past history of colic and who were perceived to have a current night waking "problem." These infants awoke more often than other infants and also had significantly briefer total sleep duration.

Signs of airway obstruction during sleep and behavioral, developmental, and academic problems.

This case control study of healthy children utilized parents' reports to determine whether behavioral, developmental, or academic problems were associated with signs of partial airway obstruction (snoring, difficult or labored breathing, and mouth breathing) during sleep. Results suggest an association between the signs of airway obstruction during sleep and problems when awake. Children with behavioral, developmental, or academic problems had a significantly later bedtime hour, briefer duration of total sleep, longer night awakenings, and an increased latency to sleep, as compared to children without those problems.

Sleep patterns, attention span, and infant temperament.

Infant temperament ratings and parental reports of sleep patterns and sleep durations were obtained on 105 normal infants. Boys with more difficult temperaments and active sleep patterns had brief attention spans compared to the other children (p = 0.005).