Pediatrics international : official journal of the Japan Pediatric Society
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There are only a few reports discussing the characteristics of intussusception developing in school-age children. The characteristics of these cases are discussed, with reference to previous literature. ⋯ In school-age children intussusception is generally believed to be commonly secondary to underlying organic abnormality, but in the present study only one of eight school-age children had underlying organic abnormality; in the remaining children, the condition was labeled idiopathic. The major symptom in school-age intussusception was abdominal pain. Therefore this may need to be differentiated from appendicitis in children of school age. It is considered that abdominal ultrasonography (USG) is a simple and useful method for making the diagnosis of intussusception, and that diagnostic USG should be conducted in all school-age children presenting with acute abdominal pain.
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Comparative Study
Obesity and associated cardiovascular risk factors in Iranian children: a cross-sectional study.
Obesity is a growing public health problem in developing countries considering its association with cardiovascular risk factors. Relationship between childhood obesity and these risk factors has not been attested in the Iranian population before. The aim of the present study was to investigate frequency of cardiovascular risk factors and their association with severity of obesity in a sample of Iranian obese children. ⋯ The high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in overweight and obese children and positive correlation of these factors with severity of obesity emphasizes the need for prevention and control of childhood obesity from early stages.
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The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between labor (preterm and term) and umbilical blood serum regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and melanoma growth stimulatory activity/growth-related oncogene-a (MSGA/GRO-alpha) concentration, and to determine whether early sepsis and pneumonia are associated with changes in concentrations of the chemokines (RANTES and MSGA/GRO-alpha) in umbilical blood serum. ⋯ Preterm neonates had constitutively lower RANTES concentrations than term ones and it seems that during infection RANTES concentrations did not increase. MGSA/GRO-a concentrations were constitutively higher in preterm than term neonates, and septic events further increased its concentrations in preterm neonates.
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Combined therapy of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) with pulmonary surfactant replacement was reported to improve oxygenation in patients or animal models of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn with pulmonary surfactant deficiency lung. To evaluate the potential of iNO for the treatment of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) was measured during iNO before and after pulmonary surfactant replacement in an animal model of pulmonary hypertension with surfactant deficiency. ⋯ These results suggest that iNO is still a potent pulmonary arterial vasodilator even under pulmonary surfactant deficiency in an animal model of pulmonary hypertension.
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Periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis, chronic lung disease and retinopathy of prematurity have been referred to as oxygen radical diseases (ORD) because they are thought to be related to excess oxidant stress relative to anti-oxidant defenses in premature infants. 8-Isoprostane is a product of lipid peroxidation that can be used as a measure of free radical exposure or injury. The aim of the present study was to determine whether fetal oxidant stress is associated with adverse effects in preterm infants. ⋯ Oxidant stress in utero may be an important determinant of mortality and morbidity in preterm infants. Elevated umbilical venous isoprostane levels suggest that oxidative injury to maternal and placental tissues predispose to adverse neonatal outcomes.