Current Pediatric Reviews - Volume 2, Issue 1, 2006

Neonatal brain injury is common, essential to appropriate treatment and prevention is a thorough understanding of the pathogenesis. Two articles in this issue of the journal focus on this important topic. Dr. Xanthou analyses the mechanism through which proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines may lead to neuro-degeneration and brain damage. The vunerability of preterm infants to white matter damage, due to im Read More

During perinatal asphyxia the inflammatory response to tissue injury and the production of cytokines occur after the excitotoxic cascade, at the reperfusion state, as hypoxia upregulates numerous proinflammatory genes of cytokines and chemokines. During perinatal infections CD14 and TLRs expressed on various cells bind to pathogen derived molecules and induce the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines and chemok Read More

This article will review the use of electroencephalographic (EEG) data in children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or symptoms indicative of ADHD, both in research directed at determining the pathophysiology of ADHD, as well as research attempting to use the EEG as a diagnostic tool. In addition, we briefly review concepts important in quantitative analysis of EEG data. Overall, although some studies sho Read More

Although the supine sleep position in infants has greatly reduced SIDS incidence, it has been associated with an increase in referrals of positional, or non-synostotic, plagiocephaly (NSP). Deformation of the soft infant skull may occur in response to the exertion of gravity on the cranium lying on a firm surface, particularly in the presence of a favoured head position. NSP is characterised by patent cranial sutures and unilateral or Read More

Despite ongoing research and new insights into the pathophysiological pathways of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic reperfusion brain injury, effective treatment is not yet available. This review briefly covers the mechanisms of hypoxicischemic reperfusion injury and focuses on promising pharmacological neuroprotective strategies which may become available for clinical use in the near future. Furthermore, the beneficial Read More

Cycling is a healthy activity for children, but accidents do occur and can result in death or disability. In the UK, around 28 children per year die from cycle injuries and most of these are directly attributable to head injury, and figures for permanent brain injury are around 1,000 children a year. What are the potential benefits of legislation on helmet usage and reduction in injury? Early studies from 1996 showed that helmets red Read More

A nosocomial infection (NI) is an infection contracted in a hospital or other health-care facility. An essential requirement for the diagnosis of NI is the lack of evidence of infection (subclinical or within the incubation period) on admission to the hospital. The onset of a NI usually begins 48-72 hours after hospitalization or can be longer in infections with long or variable incubation period such as hepatitis or varicella. Owing to th Read More

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a genetic immunodeficiency that commonly presents in infancy and early childhood. Currently, life expectancy is beyond the fourth decade of life if the disease is promptly diagnosed and treated. CGD is characterized by increased susceptibility to recurrent and often life-threatening infections caused by bacteria and fungi. The hallmark of the disease is the formation of inflammato Read More

Exogenous glucocorticoids are commonly used in the treatment of various conditions including asthma, rhinitis, and a range of renal, gastrointestinal and malignant diseases in children. Glucocorticoid treatment has numerous systemic side effects beside the beneficial effects. An important and well described side effect is growth suppression. Knemometry, i.e. measurement of the lower leg length, is a well establis Read More

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder commonly seen in pediatric age. A large number of anti epileptic Drugs are now available for the treatment of this disease; although many of these drugs have good efficacy in the treatment of both partial and generalized epilepsies, their use can be associated with various endocrinological side effects. During treatment are commonly observed changes in serum levels of many hormo Read More

Idiopathic Hypercalciuria (IH), a heterogenous disorder, is the most common cause of urolithiasis in children. IH patients present frequently with gross or microscopic hematuria, abdominal pain and a variety of urinary tract complaints (frequency-dysuria syndrome, enuresis, recurrent tract infection), with-noncalculus manifestation more prevalent than stone disease. Recently, osteopenia has been found in a high percentage Read More