Pediatrics News Articles

Kim HY et al. – SPECT/CT precisely localizes neck iodine uptake. In small numbers of patients, treatment is affected. SPECT/CT should be used when available in thyroid carcinoma patients.

• 20 SPECT/CT and planar studies were reviewed in 13 children with papillary thyroid carcinoma after total thyroidectomy.
• Seven studies used I–123 and 13 used I–131, after elevating TSH by T4 deprivation or intramuscular thyrotropin alfa.
• Eight children had one study and five children had two to four studies.
• Studies were performed at initial post–total thyroidectomy evaluation, follow–up and after I–131 treatment doses.
• SPECT/CT was performed with a diagnostic–quality CT unit in 13 studies and a localization–only CT unit in 7.
• Stimulated thyroglobulin was measured (except in 2 cases with anti–thyroglobulin antibodies).

• In 13 studies, neck activity was present but poorly localized on planar imaging; all foci of uptake were precisely localized by SPECT/CT. Two additional foci of neck uptake were found on SPECT/CT.
• SPECT/CT differentiated high neck uptake from ...read more

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Van Oort FVA et al. - Several child, family, and peer factors measured in preadolescence were risk indicators of high levels of anxiety symptoms throughout adolescence. Some factors (such as rejective parenting) were vulnerability indicators for anxiety in early adolescence only, whereas other factors (such as peer victimization) were indicators of long-term elevated anxiety levels.

• Anxiety symptoms were assessed in a community sample of 2,220 boys and girls at three time-points across a 5-year interval.
• Risk indicators were measured at baseline and include indicators from the child, family, and peer domain.
• Associations with anxiety were measured with multilevel growth curve analyses.

Barben J et al. - Mannitol dry powder (MDP) challenge test is feasible in children and is a suitable alternative for bronchial challenge testing in childhood.

• Children aged 6–16 years, referred to two respiratory outpatient clinics for possible asthma diagnosis, underwent standardized exercise testing followed within a week by an MDP challenge.
• Agreement between the two challenge tests using Cohen's kappa and receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curves was compared.

El–Matary W et al. – In a case–control study, medical records of all children (below 18 y of age) who were diagnosed with any malignancy between January 1988 and December 2008 were reviewed. Children who developed typhlitis during the course of their malignancy were identified. Age and sex–matched ...read more

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Mason K et al. – The need for teenage contraceptive services is highlighted by the relatively poor sexual health of adolescents in the UK. Young people are currently disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted diseases, and although the teenage pregnancy rate is falling, it is still not at the level experienced by ...read more

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Mazur L et al. – Children with spina bifida have a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension than children in the general population. Age, gender, and height based norms are important for the early identification and treatment of hypertension in children.

• All patients (n=123) seen in the Spina Bifida Clinic at Shriners Hospital in Houston, Texas were reviewed for age, gender, ethnicity, type and level of neural tube defect, height, weight, and blood pressure.
• Hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure or diastolic blood pressure >95th percentile for age, gender, and height on >3 occasions.
• Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and from a Houston–based study were used for comparison.

Researchers from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have demonstrated that the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)–alpha inhibitor etanercept is associated with significant increases in height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), according to a study recently...read more

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Soong WJ et al. – A 9–year–old boy who developed a life–threatening anaphylaxis reaction of the airway and subsequent dyspnea and circulation collapse because of instilled the topical lidocaine into the airway within 2min before performing flexible bronchoscopy (FB). FB revealed swollen airway mucosa and extensive foamy secretion that severely compromised the ventilation lumen. Rapid detection with FB and immediate resuscitation, including prompt administration of epinephrine, volume expander, and ...read more

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