Pathobiological signatures of dysbiotic lung injury in pediatric patients undergoing stem cell transplantation.

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) uses cytotoxic chemotherapy and/or radiation followed by intravenous infusion of stem cells to cure malignancies, bone marrow failure and inborn errors of immunity, hemoglobin and metabolism. Lung injury is a known complication of the process, due in part to disruption in the pulmonary microenvironment by insults such as infection, alloreactive inflammation and cellular toxicity. How microorganisms, immunity and the respiratory epithelium interact to contribute to lung injury is uncertain, limiting the development of prevention and treatment strategies.

Safety and infectious outcomes in pediatric kidney transplant recipients after COVID-19 vaccination: A pediatric nephrology research consortium study.

Background: Adult kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have substantial morbidity and mortality related to SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with the general population. However, little is known regarding the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccination series in pediatric KTRs.

Methods: A multicenter, retrospective observational study was performed across nine pediatric transplantation centers.

Group A Streptococcus Infections.

Group A Streptococcus causes a variety of clinical manifestations, including pharyngitis and skin and soft tissue infections as well as more invasive disease. There are also multiple nonsuppurative complications of group A Streptococcus infection, including acute rheumatic fever and poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis. Pediatricians should be able to diagnose and treat the various presentations of the infection.

Use of External Control Cohorts in Pediatric Brain Tumor Clinical Trials.

Why, when, and how to consider external control cohorts in pediatric brain tumor clinical trials.

Increase in pediatric recurrent fever evaluations during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in North America.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on new diagnoses of recurrent fevers and autoinflammatory diseases is largely unknown. The Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) PFAPA/AID Working Group aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of pediatric patients evaluated for recurrent fevers and autoinflammatory diseases in North America. The absolute number of new outpatient visits and the proportion of these visits attributed to recurrent fever diagnoses during the pre-pandemic period (1 March 2019-29 February 2020) and the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (1 March 2020-28 February 2021) were examined.

CMV-associated collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis after kidney transplant in a pediatric patient.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a significant cause of morbidity among immunocompromised patients who have undergone kidney transplantation and is known to rarely induce collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) among adults.

Methods: We present the first reported case of CMV-induced collapsing FSGS in a pediatric patient after kidney transplant.

Results: Our patient underwent a deceased donor kidney transplant due to end-stage renal disease secondary to lupus nephritis.

Pharmacotherapy for Pulmonary Hypertension in Infants with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Past, Present, and Future.

Approximately 8-42% of premature infants with chronic lung disease of prematurity, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), develop pulmonary hypertension (PH). Infants with BPD-PH carry alarmingly high mortality rates of up to 47%. Effective PH-targeted pharmacotherapies are desperately needed for these infants.

Invasive rhinosinusitis due to in an adolescent man with new-onset leukaemia: a diagnostic dilemma.

An adolescent boy with newly diagnosed T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia developed right eye and facial pain, and a 1 cm × 2 cm area of black eschar over his hard palate. Initial differential diagnosis included rhinocerebral mucormycosis and aspergillosis, and he was started on liposomal amphotericin B. Later, he underwent nine surgical debridements of his sinus cavities, resection of a third of his palate and right orbital exenteration.

Changes in Distribution of Severe Neurologic Involvement in US Pediatric Inpatients With COVID-19 or Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children in 2021 vs 2020.

Importance: In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, neurologic involvement was common in children and adolescents hospitalized in the United States for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-related complications.

Objective: To provide an update on the spectrum of SARS-CoV-2-related neurologic involvement among children and adolescents in 2021.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Case series investigation of patients reported to public health surveillance hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2-related illness between December 15, 2020, and December 31, 2021, in 55 US hospitals in 31 states with follow-up at hospital discharge.

The children's brain tumor network (CBTN) - Accelerating research in pediatric central nervous system tumors through collaboration and open science.

Pediatric brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer-related death in children in the United States and contribute a disproportionate number of potential years of life lost compared to adult cancers. Moreover, survivors frequently suffer long-term side effects, including secondary cancers. The Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) is a multi-institutional international clinical research consortium created to advance therapeutic development through the collection and rapid distribution of biospecimens and data via open-science research platforms for real-time access and use by the global research community.

Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 regulates SHH-subgroup medulloblastoma progression.

Background: Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common pediatric brain tumor. Although standard-of-care treatment generally results in good prognosis, many patients exhibit treatment-associated lifelong disabilities. This outcome could be improved by employing therapies targeting the molecular drivers of this cancer.

Environmental influences on child health outcomes: cohorts of individuals born very preterm.

The National Institutes of Health's Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program was designed to address solution-oriented research questions about the links between children's early life environment and their risks of pre-, peri-, and post-natal complications, asthma, obesity, neurodevelopmental disorders, and positive health. Children born very preterm are at increased risk for many of the outcomes on which ECHO focuses, but the contributions of environmental factors to this risk are not well characterized. Three ECHO cohorts consist almost exclusively of individuals born very preterm.

Cardiac Complications Associated with COVID-19, MIS-C, and mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination.

The COVID-19 vaccine is now approved for individuals greater than 5 years of age, but vaccination rates remain lower than expected in the pediatric age group. Misinformation and widespread reporting of vaccine-related myocarditis are contributing to vaccine hesitancy. When compared to severe cardiac complications that are associated with COVID-19, vaccine-related myocarditis has a milder presentation, is easily treated, and has a good prognosis.

Rare Presentation of Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome in a Child With Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and Pancreatitis.

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is associated with significant mortality and morbidity, including acute renal injury, anemia and thrombocytopenia. Rare cases of aHUS in a child with acute leukemia before diagnosis or during chemotherapy have been reported. We report a pediatric case of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia complicated by pancreatitis with concomitant aHUS following induction chemotherapy.

American College of Rheumatology Clinical Guidance for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Associated With SARS-CoV-2 and Hyperinflammation in Pediatric COVID-19: Version 3.

Objective: To provide guidance on the management of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a condition characterized by fever, inflammation, and multiorgan dysfunction that manifests late in the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Recommendations are also provided for children with hyperinflammation during COVID-19, the acute, infectious phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: The Task Force is composed of 9 pediatric rheumatologists and 2 adult rheumatologists, 2 pediatric cardiologists, 2 pediatric infectious disease specialists, and 1 pediatric critical care physician.

Use of ofatumumab and eplerenone in post-transplant recurrence of FSGS.

Background: Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) predisposes patients for risk of recurrent disease in allografts.

Methods: We report a case of a recipient of an unrelated living donor renal transplant and discuss considerations for utilization of ofatumumab and eplerenone in treatment for recurrent FSGS.

Results: The recipient was initially managed with scheduled plasmapheresis, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and rituximab post-transplant during index hospitalization.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children - Initial Therapy and Outcomes.

Background: The assessment of real-world effectiveness of immunomodulatory medications for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) may guide therapy.

Methods: We analyzed surveillance data on inpatients younger than 21 years of age who had MIS-C and were admitted to 1 of 58 U.S.

Acral Changes in pediatric patients during COVID 19 pandemic: Registry report from the COVID 19 response task force of the society of pediatric dermatology (SPD) and pediatric dermatology research alliance (PeDRA).

Background/objective: In spring 2020, high numbers of children presented with acral pernio-like skin rashes, concurrent with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Understanding their clinical characteristics/ infection status may provide prognostic information and facilitate decisions about management.

Methods: A pediatric-specific dermatology registry was created by the Pediatric Dermatology COVID-19 Response Task Force of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology (SPD) and Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA) and was managed by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia using REDCap.

Neurologic Involvement in Children and Adolescents Hospitalized in the United States for COVID-19 or Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome.

Importance: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects the nervous system in adult patients. The spectrum of neurologic involvement in children and adolescents is unclear.

Objective: To understand the range and severity of neurologic involvement among children and adolescents associated with COVID-19.

Persistence of symptoms and quality of life at 35 days after hospitalization for COVID-19 infection.

Background: Characterizing the prevalence and persistence of symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection following hospitalization and their impact is essential to planning post-acute community-based clinical services. This study seeks to identify persistent COVID-19 symptoms in patients 35 days post-hospitalization and their impact on quality of life, health, physical, mental, and psychosocial function.

Methods And Findings: This prospective cohort study used the PROMIS® Instruments to identify symptoms and quality of life parameters in consecutively enrolled patients between March 22 and April 16, 2020, in New Jersey.

American College of Rheumatology Clinical Guidance for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Associated With SARS-CoV-2 and Hyperinflammation in Pediatric COVID-19: Version 2.

Objective: To provide guidance on the management of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a condition characterized by fever, inflammation, and multiorgan dysfunction that manifests late in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Recommendations are also provided for children with hyperinflammation during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the acute, infectious phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: The Task Force was composed of 9 pediatric rheumatologists and 2 adult rheumatologists, 2 pediatric cardiologists, 2 pediatric infectious disease specialists, and 1 pediatric critical care physician.