{"title":"Prednisolone oral solution plus inhaled procaterol for acute asthma in children: a double-blind randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Li-Hsin Huang, Shyh-Dar Shyur, Da-Chin Wen, Yi-Chi Chang, Yi-Chun Ma, Sheng-Chieh Lin, Wen-Chiu Wu, Jiunn-Yi Wu","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>To evaluate the efficacy of prednisolone sodium phosphate oral solution plus inhaled procaterol in the treatment of acute asthma in children.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Forty-three patients aged 6 to 12 years with an acute exacerbation of asthma were double-blind randomized into one of two treatment groups in a 1:1 ratio:1) prednisolone oral solution +placebo tablets + procaterol MDI or 2) prednisolone tablets +placebo oral solution + procaterol MDI, all given three times daily for 7 days. Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), 24-hour reflective asthma symptom scores, spirometry and pulmonary index score (PIS) were recorded before and after treatment. Net changes in PEFR, symptom score, PIS, Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second (FEV1), FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75 percent of the forced vital capacity (FEF(25-75%)) (before and after treatment) and global assessment by the investigator and the subjects or their parents were analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The two groups were statistically similar at baseline values of these parameters. After a 7-day course of treatment, the net change of PEFR before and after treatment was significantly improved in both groups, but there was no significant difference in the net change of PEFR between the two groups (57.27+/-31.44 L/min vs. 54.29 +/-30.04 L/min, difference 2.99 +/-30.76 L/min, mean +/-SD, P=0.752). The net change in PIS and total symptom score did not differ between the two groups (P=0.091 and 0.827, respectively). Similarly, the FEV1, FEV1/FVC and FEF25-75% all improved with either treatment, and neither group was significantly superior to the other group (P=0.162, 0.48 and 0.081, respectively). Global assessment by the investigator and the subjects or their parents at the end of study indicated an essentially comparable result.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Prednisolone sodium phosphate oral solution plus inhaled procaterol is as efficacious as prednisolone tablets plus inhaled procaterol in the management of acute asthma in children.</p>","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27247320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Helicobacter pylori infection and childhood idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.","authors":"Kuan-Sheng Wu, Chih-Cheng Hsiao, Hong-Ren Yu, Eng-Yen Huang, Wan-Li Mai, Jiunn-Ming Sheen","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Several studies showed some chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) patients with complete platelet recovery after Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication and cited the cause of persistent thrombocytopenia as inability to eradicate H. pylori. So we studied H. pylori infection status in pediatric ITP patients at diagnosis and address whether such infection played a role in the development of childhood ITP.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We compared H. pylori infection status by stool H. pylori antigen test of an ITP group including 32 childhood ITP patients at diagnosis from September 2004 to June 2006 and a control group including 30 unselected patients with no history of thrombocytopenia seen consecutively with clinical manifestations of pharyngotonsillitis, bronchitis, or bronchopneumonia in our ward during a one-month span. We further analyzed parameters between H. pylori infection-positive (H. pylori(+)) and H. pylori infection-negative (H. pylori(-)) childhood ITP patients.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The H. pylori-positive (H. pylori(+)) rate was 19% in the study group and 17% in the control group, with not statistically significant difference. As for the characteristics and treatment response about H. pylori status, they were also not statistically different. Although the ratio of chronic ITP cases showed higher tendency in H. pylori(+) patients (2/6) than the H. pylori(-) ones (3/26), it was not statistically significant.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>It seems that H. pylori infection played a minor role in the development of childhood ITP in this small-scale study. A large-scale study is necessary to further confirm the relationship between H. pylori infection and the development of childhood ITP.</p>","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27247321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Endothelial dysfunction links cardiovascular disease to pediatric chronic kidney disease: the role of nitric oxide deficiency.","authors":"You-Lin Tain","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in pediatric patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Both types of traditional and CKD-related risk factors for CVD are prevalent in children with CKD. Many of these factors are associated with endothelial dysfunction (ED) and nitric oxide (NO) deficiency. ED with NO deficiency is both a cause and consequence of CKD. Hence, ED links CVD to pediatric CKD because ED plays a major role in the development of CVD. This review discusses how the risk factors for CVD contribute to ED and NO deficiency, leading to CVD in pediatric CKD. With early detection of ED by new non-invasive methods and restoration of NO bioavailability through different therapeutic approaches, the morbidity and mortality of CVD in pediatric CKD patients can be reduced.</p>","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27247318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clinico-pathological features of intussusception in children beyond five years old.","authors":"Wen-Pin Lai, Yao-Jong Yang, Chao-Neng Cheng, Jiann‐Shiuh Chen","doi":"10.7097/APT.200710.0267","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7097/APT.200710.0267","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND\u0000The pathoetiology and outcomes of intussusception in older children are different from those in young children. This study aims to investigate the characteristics and outcomes of intussusception in children older than 5 years in a tertiary referring hospital.\u0000\u0000\u0000METHODS\u0000A retrospective review of patients aged older than five years having received a postoperative or roentgenographic diagnosis of intussusception between 1988 and 2005 was conducted. The clinical presentations, diagnostic and treatment methods, and outcomes of all cases were reviewed.\u0000\u0000\u0000RESULTS\u0000A total of 12 cases were recorded. They were eight males and four females, with a median age of 7.6 years (range 5.0-11.1 years). Four (33.3%) children had symptoms lasting more than one week before a prompt diagnosis was made. The most commonly encountered symptom was abdominal pain (100%), followed by nausea/vomiting (75.0%). Recurrent intussusception occurred in 33% of cases. Abdominal sonogram identified intussusceptum in all patients when this procedure was performed. Six patients were treated operatively. Lead lesions including two malignant lymphomas, one Meckel diverticulum, and one colon polyp were found in 4 cases. Three of the four lead points were diagnosed and treated by colonoscopy preoperatively. Complications after operations were adhesive ileus (33.3%) and recurrent intussusception (16.7%). All patients remained well, including those who had lead points identified after prompt treatments.\u0000\u0000\u0000CONCLUSIONS\u0000Intussusception in older children presents a higher frequency of persistent symptoms, lead points, and recurrence. Pediatricians need to be aware of the etiology and treatment options for intussusception in older children.","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88160510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intrapleural streptokinase for the treatment of childhood empyema.","authors":"Man-Yau Ho, Hsiang-Yin Chen, Yu-Hsuan Yen, Yao-Shun Yang, Shao-Hung Lien","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Pleuritis with empyema is a serious complication of bacterial pneumonia, which often causes substantial morbidity and mortality among pediatric patients. Currently percutaneous catheter drainage is the mainstay therapy for loculated empyema. Intrapleural instillation of streptokinase, urokinase, and recombinant tissue plasminogen activator has been reported to facilitate the drainage of viscous fluid and fibrinous debris or multiple loculations from the pleural space of such patients.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, we compared with the treatments of pleural empyema by instillation of streptokinase through the chest tube and using the conventional chest tube drainage alone.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We collected 21 cases from 1999 through 2005. The results of the study showed that streptokinase (SK) group patients revealed a larger volume of drainage in the beginning days of the instillation and required fewer days of drainage than tube drainage (T) group patients [8 (4.5 - 10) days vs. 16 (5.8 - 20.3) days, p = 0.02]; that the SK group patients required average 2.6 instillations. The SK patients had a shorter febrile course than the T group [12.5 (9.5 - 15.5) days vs. 16 (9.5 - 22.5) days, p = 0.14]. None of the SK patients needed additional video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) whereas 5 patients in the T group did. The length of hospitalization in the SK group was 21.5 days and the T group patients was 24 days.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Intrapleural instillation of streptokinase seldom caused clinical adverse effect and appears to be a safe adjunctive therapy to facilitate the drainage of empyema in pediatric patients. Further studies with better research design to compare the fibrinolytic agent instillation and the VATS as the first step treatment of childhood empyema are needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27247319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pheochromocytoma complicated with severe ventricular tachycardia: report of one case.","authors":"Yu-Chih Huang, Chao-Hsiang Chang, Chung-Hsing Wang, Jeng-Sheng Chang","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pheochromocytoma in children shows much worse complications than that in the adult patients. An 11-year-old girl was transferred to our emergency room after suffering from headache, dizziness, cold sweating and palpitation for 3 days. Severe hypertension, remarkable blood pressure fluctuation between 260/160 and 65/50 mmHg, decrease of cardiac contractility, as well as abnormal electrocardiogram findings including ST-T segment elevation and QT interval prolongation were noted soon after admission. Later, a 4x4.5x2.5 cm tumor in the right adrenal gland area was found by computed axial tomogram study. Assessment of the urine catecholamine metabolites showed high levels of vanillylmandelic acid, normetanephrine and norepinephrine indicating an active adrenal pheochromocytoma produced mainly norepinephrine. Although several antihypertensive drugs were used, ventricular tachycardia and Torsade de pointe still occurred on her for 3 times, each was preceded by a period of blood pressure fluctuation and burst out concomitantly at the peak of a hypertension crisis. From this case, we found that when the specific alpha-blocker like phenoxybenzamine or phentolamine was not available to us, labetalol by continuous intravenous infusion was the only effective drug to protect the patient from attacks of hypertensive crisis and ventricular tachycardia. Her right adrenal gland was resected smoothly when BP was well under control. Histological examination showed the adrenal medulla was full of pheochromocytoma cells.</p>","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27247775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intussusception in children.","authors":"Hung-Chang Lee","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27247317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clinico-pathological features of intussusception in children beyond five years old.","authors":"Wen-Pin Lai, Yao-Jong Yang, Chao-Neng Cheng, Jiann-Shiuh Chen","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The pathoetiology and outcomes of intussusception in older children are different from those in young children. This study aims to investigate the characteristics and outcomes of intussusception in children older than 5 years in a tertiary referring hospital.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective review of patients aged older than five years having received a postoperative or roentgenographic diagnosis of intussusception between 1988 and 2005 was conducted. The clinical presentations, diagnostic and treatment methods, and outcomes of all cases were reviewed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 12 cases were recorded. They were eight males and four females, with a median age of 7.6 years (range 5.0-11.1 years). Four (33.3%) children had symptoms lasting more than one week before a prompt diagnosis was made. The most commonly encountered symptom was abdominal pain (100%), followed by nausea/vomiting (75.0%). Recurrent intussusception occurred in 33% of cases. Abdominal sonogram identified intussusceptum in all patients when this procedure was performed. Six patients were treated operatively. Lead lesions including two malignant lymphomas, one Meckel diverticulum, and one colon polyp were found in 4 cases. Three of the four lead points were diagnosed and treated by colonoscopy preoperatively. Complications after operations were adhesive ileus (33.3%) and recurrent intussusception (16.7%). All patients remained well, including those who had lead points identified after prompt treatments.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Intussusception in older children presents a higher frequency of persistent symptoms, lead points, and recurrence. Pediatricians need to be aware of the etiology and treatment options for intussusception in older children.</p>","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27247322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Mu, Cheng‐Hui Lin, Tseng-Chen Sung, Yi-Ling Chen, Yi-Chieh Lin, Chin-Cheng Lee, Tong Chen, Ming-I. Lin, G. Jow
{"title":"Neurodevelopmental outcome of very-low-birth-weight infants with chorioamnionitis.","authors":"S. Mu, Cheng‐Hui Lin, Tseng-Chen Sung, Yi-Ling Chen, Yi-Chieh Lin, Chin-Cheng Lee, Tong Chen, Ming-I. Lin, G. Jow","doi":"10.7097/APT.200708.0207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7097/APT.200708.0207","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND\u0000Chorioamnionitis (CAM) is one of the main causes of preterm labor and has been associated with an adverse perinatal outcome in preterm infants.\u0000\u0000\u0000OBJECTIVE\u0000The specific aim of our study was to evaluate whether there is significant difference in the Bayley developmental index scores at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months of corrected age for very-low-birthweight (birth body weight <1500 gm, VLBW) infants with or without placental CAM.\u0000\u0000\u0000METHODS\u0000Ninety-five cases (54 in CAM and 41 in non-CAM groups) available for the study were all VLBW infants with adequate histologic placental material for analysis. Neonatal characteristics and morbidities were recorded. The infants were followed up prospectively with Bayley Scales of Infant Development in the Neonatal Follow-up Clinic for 2 years.\u0000\u0000\u0000RESULTS\u0000We found that 56.8% of placentas presented a picture of CAM. In comparison of the neonatal characteristics, VLBW infants with CAM had shorter gestational age (27.9 +/- 2.8 vs. 30.0 +/- 3.7 weeks, p = 0.003), lower Cesarean delivery rate (48.1% vs. 73.2%, p = 0.011), more maternal steroid use (44.4% vs. 12.2%, p = 0.004) and higher incidence of preterm premature rupture of membrane (PPROM, 37.0% vs. 12.2%, p = 0.009). In comparison of neonatal outcomes, the CAM group had higher incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD, 40.7% vs. 19.5%, p = 0.044), more mechanical ventilation (87.0% vs. 27/41, p = 0.023) and intubation (68.5% vs. 46.3%, p = 0.049), and more median days of ventilation (23.1 +/- 29.1 vs. 7.8. +/- 13.7 days, p = 0.001). As for the follow-up, at any test age, either the mean (Mental Development Index (MDI) / (Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) scores of Bayley test or the incidence of score below 85, there was no significant difference in both groups.\u0000\u0000\u0000CONCLUSIONS\u0000The VLBW infants with histologic chorioamnionitis were not associated with an increased risk of lower MDI or PDI scores at the corrected ages of 6, 12, 18 and 24 months compared with the non-CAM control group.","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72915496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Thyroid dysfunction in patients with Down syndrome.","authors":"Ming-Hua Chen, Shyh-Jye Chen, L. Su, Winnie Yang","doi":"10.7097/APT.200708.0191","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7097/APT.200708.0191","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND\u0000The close relationship between thyroid disorder and Down syndrome (DS) had been widely reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence rate and the pattern of thyroid dysfunction in DS in Taiwan.\u0000\u0000\u0000METHODS\u0000A total of 50 Down syndrome (DS) patients from Yang-Ming Home for Disabled, were recruited. In all patients, serum T3, T4, free T4, TSH, thyroid peroxidase antibody (anti-TPO) and anti-TSH receptor antibody were measured. The control group consisted of 212 healthy adults who underwent routine health examination in this hospital.\u0000\u0000\u0000RESULTS\u0000Among 50 DS patients, 8 had subclinical hypothyroidism and one had hyperthyroidism. There was no statistically significant in gender and age between DS and control groups, however, TSH anomaly was significantly higher in the DS group (p = 0.008). Regarding thyroid autoantibodies, anti-TPO was positive in 13 cases (26%) and anti-TSH receptor was positive in 2 cases (4%). Statistically, there was no significant difference in TSH anomaly (p = 0.7), positive anti-TPO antibody (p = 0.097) and positive anti-TSH receptor antibody (p = 1.0) between males and females. The increased TSH levels had no statistically positive correlation with anti-TPO (p = 0.386) or anti-TSH receptor antibody (p=1) in this study. The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction was 18% (9/50) in DS patients in Taiwan. Most of them showed subclinical compensated hypothyroidism (16%, 8/50), and one (2%, 1/50) showed hyperthyroidism.\u0000\u0000\u0000CONCLUSIONS\u0000Thyroid dysfunction is common in DS patients, so periodic thyroid function tests should be performed and early treatment should be given to prevent further intellectual deterioration and improve overall development.","PeriodicalId":7156,"journal":{"name":"Acta paediatrica Taiwanica = Taiwan er ke yi xue hui za zhi","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77353484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}