Effects of the Integration of Dynamic Weight Shifting Training Into Treadmill Training on Walking Function of Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine whether applying an assistance force to the pelvis and legs during treadmill training can improve walking function in children with cerebral palsy.

Design: Twenty-three children with cerebral palsy were randomly assigned to the robotic or treadmill only group. For participants who were assigned to the robotic group, a controlled force was applied to the pelvis and legs during treadmill walking.

Words matter: distinguishing "personalized medicine" and "biologically personalized therapeutics".

"Personalized medicine" has become a generic term referring to techniques that evaluate either the host or the disease to enhance the likelihood of beneficial patient outcomes from treatment interventions. There is, however, much more to personalization of care than just identifying the biotherapeutic strategy with the highest likelihood of benefit. In its new meaning, "personalized medicine" could overshadow the individually tailored, whole-person care that is at the bedrock of what people need and want when they are ill.

Statin-dependent activation of protein kinase Cδ in acute promyelocytic leukemia cells and induction of leukemic cell differentiation.

Statins are HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A) reductase inhibitors, which block the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate and have potent cholesterol lowering properties. Beyond their importance in the generation of lipid lowering effects, the regulatory effects of statins on the mevalonate pathway have a significant impact on multiple other cellular functions. There is now extensive evidence that statins have anti-inflammatory and anti-neoplastic properties, but the precise mechanisms by which such responses are generated are not well understood.

Long-term etanercept in pediatric patients with plaque psoriasis.

Background: No systemic therapies are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of psoriasis in children and adolescents.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of etanercept in pediatric patients (aged 4-17 years) with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Methods: Patients who completed or received substantial treatment benefit in a 48-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (N = 211) evaluating the efficacy and safety of once-weekly etanercept (0.

A complicated hospitalization following dilute ammonium chloride ingestion.

Introduction: Unintentional ingestions of dilute (<7.5%) cleaning solutions containing ammonium chloride typically do not cause serious harm. We present a case of an intentional ingestion of a dilute ammonium chloride solution resulting in significant morbidity.

Patient selection for percutaneous mitral valve repair: insight from early clinical trial applications.

Surgical valve repair for mitral regurgitation (MR) has been used for decades. Percutaneous approaches to mitral valve repair have been undergoing evaluation in trials over the last few years, and could offer less-invasive alternatives to surgery for the treatment of MR. Patient selection for surgical repair has been defined not only by the pathophysiology of MR, but also by the likelihood of successful repair for degenerative compared with functional MR.

Intracranial vascular abnormalities in patients with Alagille syndrome.

Objectives: To define the spectrum of intracranial events and cerebrovascular lesions in patients with Alagille syndrome using magnetic resonance imaging with angiography of the head and medical histories and to correlate the presence of lesions with the clinical outcome of bleeding or ischemic intracranial events.

Methods: 26 patients with Alagille syndrome underwent magnetic resonance imaging with angiography of the head; 22 had no symptoms and underwent study for screening purposes and 4 were symptomatic with neurologic changes. The results of studies and the history of ischemic intracranial events were reviewed.

Platelet-activating factor concentration in the stool of human newborns: effects of enteral feeding and neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis.

Epidemiologic studies have identified enteral feedings as a risk factor for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Enteral feedings provide the substrate for colonization of the newborn gut with gram-negative bacteria with endotoxin production, which may trigger the production of endogenous inflammatory mediators, including platelet-activating factor (PAF). In this prospective study, we examined the effect of enteral feeding on PAF concentration in the stool of preterm and full-term human newborns.

Diagnostic efficiency and material specificity of the Warrington Recognition Memory Test: a collaborative multisite investigation.

Two studies examined the Warrington Recognition Memory Test (RMT) discrepancy index (Words-Faces) in a large sample of patients heterogeneous with respect to age, education, gender, and neurological diagnosis. In Study 1 (N = 504) we used cutoffs from the Words-Faces discrepancy scores derived from Warrington's original validation sample to attempt to accurately classify patients with left, right, or diffuse brain damage. Sensitivity for left hemisphere patients (Faces > Words) was 10% with a specificity of 88%, whereas sensitivity for right hemisphere patients (Words > Faces) was 48% with a specificity of 86%.

Timed Pediatric Risk of Mortality Scores predict outcomes in pediatric liver transplant recipients.

More reliable methods are needed to identify children at risk for poor outcomes following liver transplantation. The Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) Score is a physiology-based scoring system used to quantify risk of mortality in pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) populations. We evaluated the PRISM Score as a predictor of outcomes including survival in the pediatric liver transplant (LT) population.

Troponin I elevation and cardiac events after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Serum troponins are sensitive markers of myonecrosis and ischemia and are now widely used in clinical practice. Although percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)-related creatine kinase-myocardial band isoenzyme (CK-MB) elevation has been associated with future cardiac events, the significance of troponin elevation in this setting is unknown. We sought to determine whether serum troponin I (Tn-I) elevation after PCI is associated with future cardiac events.

Biphenotypic acute leukemia with coexpression of CD79a and markers of myeloid lineage.

Acute leukemias demonstrating immunophenotypic features of more than 1 cell lineage are referred to as acute leukemias of ambiguous lineage in the new World Health Organization classification system. A subtype of leukemia of ambiguous lineage is biphenotypic acute leukemia in which the malignant cell population expresses markers of 2 different lineages, most commonly myeloid and either B- or T-lymphoid lineages. This entity has been defined by a scoring system proposed by the European Group for the Immunological Characterization of Acute Leukemias (EGIL), with various markers assigned a score of 2, 1, or 0.

Evaluation of the Vitek 2 system for rapid identification of clinical isolates of gram-negative bacilli and members of the family Streptococcaceae.

Accuracy of the Vitek 2 automated system (bioMérieux Vitek, USA) for rapid identification of bacteria was evaluated using a collection of 858 epidemiologically unrelated gram-negative and 99 gram-positive clinical isolates. Isolates were tested after subculturing to ensure purity. Conventional agar-based biochemical tests (Steers replicator) were used as a reference method of identification.

Inhaled prostacyclin for term infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension refractory to inhaled nitric oxide.

We report the use of inhaled prostacyclin (PGI(2)) in 4 neonates with persistent pulmonary hypertension and hypoxemia refractory to inhaled nitric oxide. Oxygenation rapidly improved after inhalation of PGI(2) in all infants. The condition of one infant subsequently deteriorated, and alveolar capillary dysplasia was found at autopsy.

Neural larva migrans caused by the raccoon roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis.

Baylisascaris procyonis, the common raccoon roundworm, is a rare cause of devastating or fatal neural larva migrans in infants and young children. We describe the clinical features of two children from suburban Chicago who developed severe, nonfatal B. procyonis neural larva migrans.

Recognizing clinical faculty's contributions in education.

Objective: A faculty productivity profile system was designed to recognize faculty's contributions to administrative, educational, and research activities. It has long been recognized that clinical faculty receive little recognition or compensation for their efforts in education. Our surgery department previously had in place a recognition program for research achievements, but not for educational contributions.

Long-term evaluation of hypersensitivity pneumonitis: a case study follow-up and literature review.

This study reports a 3-year follow-up of a classic presentation of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), originally reported elsewhere, after removal of the causative antigens. The literature is reviewed and this case is compared with outcomes of series previously reported. The patient was reevaluated by clinical, serologic, radiographic, and pulmonary function testing 3 years after removal of her home's contaminated humidifier, cleaning of the home, and administration of a course of prednisone.

Intravenous ribavirin treatment for severe adenovirus disease in immunocompromised children.

Background: Adenovirus is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the immunocompromised host. The incidence of severe adenovirus disease in pediatrics is increasing in association with growing numbers of immunocompromised children, where case fatality rates as high as 50% to 80% have been reported. There are no approved antiviral agents with proven efficacy for the treatment of severe adenovirus disease, nor are there any prospective randomized, controlled trials of potentially useful anti-adenovirus therapies.

Extensive myxoid change in well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma of the pelvic peritoneum.

We present a unique case of papillary mesothelioma of the pelvic peritoneum with extensive myxoid change in a 44-year-old woman. The patient presented with lower abdominal pain; imaging studies revealed a pelvic mass. Microscopic examination of the surgically resected specimen showed extensive areas of myxoid stroma and only focal areas of classical papillary mesothelioma.

Churg-Strauss syndrome: survival for 26 years.

Background: Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS), a necrotizing vasculitis characterized by asthma and eosinophilia, was described initially in 1951. Before the use of oral corticosteroids, the average patient survived for only a few months. Today with the use of oral corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, survival has increased significantly.

Positive changes among very low birth weight infant Apgar scores that are associated with the Neonatal Resuscitation Program in Illinois.

Objective: The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Heart Association sponsored Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) was started in Illinois 1987 to standardize knowledge and skills for successful resuscitation to decrease newborn morbidity and mortality. This study evaluated the hypothesis that the statewide NRP in Illinois hospitals was associated with positive outcomes in the Apgar scores among very low birth weight newborns.

Study Design: A retrospective design was used to compare the (a) different rates of lower (0-6) and higher (7-10) 1- and 5-minute Apgar scores and (b) positive change from a lower 1-minute to a higher 5-minute Apgar score before and after NRP was started.

The effect of standard care, ibuprofen, and distraction on pain relief and patient satisfaction in children with musculoskeletal trauma.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of nursing interventions in decreasing pain for children with minor musculoskeletal trauma and moderate pain and to examine patient satisfaction.

Methods: Children were assigned to 1 of 3 intervention groups: (1) standard care (ice, elevation, and immobilization) only; (2) standard care and ibuprofen; or (3) standard care and distraction. Children were monitored for pain ratings for 60 minutes.

Oppositional defiant disorder with onset in preschool years: longitudinal stability and pathways to other disorders.

Objective: To examine the stability and change in oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) with onset among preschool children in a pediatric sample.

Method: A total of 510 children aged 2-5 years were enrolled initially in 1989-1990 (mean age 3.42 years); 280 participated in five waves of data collection over a period of 48 to 72 months (mean wave 5 age, 8.