The Journal of pediatrics
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The Journal of pediatrics · Jun 1981
Variation in plasma ketone bodies during a 24-hour fast in normal and in hypoglycemic children: relationship to age.
The variations in blood ketone bodies, blood glucose, and insulin were studied in 19 normal and 14 hypoglycemic children, 4 months to 13 years of age, during a 24-hour fast. Except in four patients (two with hyperinsulinism and two with congenital defect in ketogenesis), a significant increase in blood ketone bodies was observed in both controls and patients. A progressive decrease in glucose concentrations was observed up to but not after 20 hours. ⋯ There was a positive correlation between age and blood glucose from hour 21 on, and an inverse relationship between age and blood ketone bodies from hour 15 on. The same high inverse relationship between age and blood ketone bodies was again observed when the variable of glucose concentration was factored out, demonstrating that the variation in blood ketone bodies is indeed related to age. These findings need to be taken into account in the interpretation of fasting blood ketone bodies, especially when used as an aid in the diagnosis of the various forms of childhood hypoglycemia, and of hypoketotic states.
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The Journal of pediatrics · Jun 1981
Supraventricular tachycardia in children: clinical features, response to treatment, and long-term follow-up in 217 patients.
We reviewed the records of 217 children whose first episode of supraventricular tachycardia occurred before 18 years (median age 24 months). There were 112 males and 105 females. Of the 49 with congenital heart disease, SVT began before any operation in 26 and greater than 2 weeks postoperatively in 23. ⋯ We conclude that long-term status was difficult to predict, but SVT was present in fewer patients whose age at onset was less than 4 months and in those with unoperated CHD. Early recurrence was not a poor prognostic sign. We recommended treatment for at least one year in all patients with SVT, whether or not the first episode terminates spontaneously.