Minerva pediatrica
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Infantile colic concerns about 10-30% of all newborns and has been defined as a condition characterized by paroxysmal episodes of unexplained full force crying for at least three days a week and continuing for one week or more in a thriving well-nourished infant. The disorder more likely occurs in the evening, without identifiable causes and resolves spontaneously by the fourth month of life. The several factors involved in the etiopathogenesis (food intolerance or allergy to cow's milk protein, intolerance to lactose, intestinal hyperperistalsis, neuro-hormonal immaturity, maternal anxiety and familial stress), make the management of infants with colics difficult. We propose a scoring system for the evaluation of colics in infants based on: 1) crying intensity and duration; 2) accompanying characteristics of crises (e.g. meteorism, family history for allergic disease, type of feeding, type of stools); 3) evaluation of parents' opinion of their infants' crying. Type of management is based on the score: a) crying that is unrelated to colics: treatments referred to specific diagnosis. b) crying that is related to colics but not severe: first and second step of management; c) crying that is related to colics and is severe: third step of management. ⋯ first step: pacifier, rocking, dull continuous background noise, hot water bottle on the abdomen, herbal tea, simethicone. Second step: pharmacological treatment and periodic controls. Pharmacological treatment include antispastic drugs (e.g. cimetropium bromide). Third step: dietary modification and/or pharmacological treatment: mothers of breast-fed infants are given a diet with no milk or products containing its proteins, or fish, or eggs. Infants who are not breast-fed receive soy milk and if symptoms continue soy milk is substituted with hydrolyzed casein milk formula. Pharmacological treatment include antispastic drugs (e.g. cimetropium bromide and in non responders dicyclomine hydrochloride). Dietary modifications appear more suitable than pharmacological treatment in resolving symptoms, since side effects of drugs have been described and our recent results indicate appropriate dietary modifications offer better results than pharmacological treatment in resolving crises. However, before interrupting dietary modifications and reintroducing cow's milk proteins, infant's tolerance to such proteins is tested. In any case because of the good prognosis and rapid regression of symptoms, dietary regimens or pharmacological treatment should only be applied if really necessary and for brief periods under medical supervision.
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Historical Article
[Representations of dwarfism in historical art: knowledge and humanism].
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From January 1988 to October 1991, one hundred and twelve patients with non metastatic Ewing's sarcoma of bone were treated with a 6 drugs neoadjuvant chemotherapy protocol (IOR/Ew2) in which, to the four drugs usually used in the treatment of this tumor (vincristine, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide and dactinomycin), Ifosfamide and VP-16 were added. The local treatment consisted of radiation therapy in 52 cases, a surgical treatment was performed in 27 cases and in the remaining 33 cases both the previous treatments were used. At a mean follow-up of 4.5 years (3-6.5), 62 patients (55.3%) remained continuously free of disease and 50 relapsed: 41 with metastases, 8 with mestastases and local recurrence and 1 with local recurrence alone. ⋯ In IOR/Ew2 a higher DFS rate was observed in the patients with tumor located in the axile bones in comparison with that obtained in the previous study (IOR/Ew2 = 48.6%, IOR Ew1 = 25.6%). Despite the fact that these results came from a not-randomized study, the authors conclude that the addition of Ifosfamide and VP-16 to the four drugs standard regimen do not improve the outcome of patients with Ewing's sarcoma of bone, with the possible exception of the patients with tumor located in the axile bones. This data should be confirmed in further and larger studies.
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Lead poisoning is a major cause of environmental concern in all countries worldwide. Saturnism in children, especially if young and neglected, represents a peculiar phenomenon both in terms of the biology of growing subjects and the epidemiological nature of poisoning. In under five-year-olds, in addition to lead levels in the atmosphere, it is equally important to evaluate the presence of contaminated dust in the house, hand-to-mouth activities and the level of care provided by parents. It has been demonstrated that, in the presence of equivalent environmental lead levels, dust removal from the house and prevention of hand-to-mouth activities can successfully reduce lead blood levels (PbB) in children. ⋯ The PbB levels currently found in children resident in Lucca confirm a low-risk environmental situation. Preventive measures specifically aimed at children do not therefore appear to be justified at present.
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Review Case Reports
[Autoimmune hemolytic anemia with cold antibodies and hemoglobinuria secondary to EBV infection].
The infection caused by EBV can be followed by immunological complications. One of these is autoimmune hemolytic anemia that up to today has been observed during infective mononucleosis only a few times. ⋯ The disease's evolution was spontaneously favorable. For this reason and for the possible risks secondary to transfusions and to other therapeutical interventions, the authors believe that in autoimmune hemolytic anemia a vigil wait is more opportune before beginning the therapy.