Pediatric pulmonology
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Pediatric pulmonology · Dec 2014
Sarcoidosis in children: HRCT findings and correlation with pulmonary function tests.
High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) plays an important role in the diagnosis and staging of pulmonary sarcoidosis, but implies radiation exposure. In this light, we aimed to describe HRCT findings as well as their relationship with pulmonary function tests (PFT) in children with pulmonary sarcoidosis. ⋯ Radiologic findings in children with pulmonary sarcoidosis were similar to those in adults. HRCT and PFT are both essential investigations at diagnosis; however, the correlation between HRCT pulmonary parenchymal findings and PFT over time suggests the possibility of reducing the number of HRCT during follow-up to decrease unnecessary radiation exposure.
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Pediatric pulmonology · Dec 2014
Tidal-breathing measurement of exhaled breath temperature (EBT) in schoolchildren.
Non-invasive assessment of airway inflammation is particularly useful in children. The exhaled breath temperature (EBT) may reflect inflammatory vasodilation and serve to assess respiratory symptoms and therapy with inhaled corticosteroids (ICs). ⋯ Tidal-EBT measurements are easy to perform, reproducible, though symptom misclassification may affect the results obtained regarding the effect of IC therapy. Factors influencing EBT should be addressed in further epidemiological studies.
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Pediatric pulmonology · Dec 2014
Case ReportsSonographic dynamic assessment of lung injury in a child with hypoplastic left heart syndrome undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Performed for many years in clinical settings, pleural and lung ultrasound (PLUS) has emerged to be an invaluable tool to diagnose underlying conditions of respiratory failure, to monitor disease progression and to ensure appropriate therapeutic intervention. PLUS basically relies on the analysis of two prevalent ultrasound artefacts: A-lines and B-lines. A-lines are hyperechoic reverberation artefacts of the pleural line. A-lines combined with lung sliding show that lungs are well aerated. B-lines are vertical hyperechoic reverberation artefacts arising from pleural line extending to the bottom of the screen. The prevalence of B-lines indicates a pathologic parenchyma. Since PLUS is readily available, easily affordable, and biologically non-invasive, it is especially suitable for bedside clinical care in critically ill and unstable adult patients. Several authors have recently proposed PLUS for application in critically ill neonates and children. We report a case in which PLUS was used to clinically monitor a complex lung lesion during treatment of a child with congenital heart disease suffering from severe lung injury. ⋯ Due to its non-ionizing nature, low cost, easy availability, easy repeatability and real-time results, PLUS is a feasible and beneficial bedside imaging technique for critically ill and unstable adult and pediatric patients. A reliable monitoring of ongoing treatments is certainly helpful to provide appropriate intervention, correctly schedule chest X-ray and CT-scan, and optimize ECMO weaning. The present case suggests that PLUS may be a successful and useful tool for monitoring lung diseases in children with CHD with severe post-operative complex lung injury.
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Pediatric pulmonology · Dec 2014
Effects of dietary induced weight loss on exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in overweight and obese children.
Previous studies showed that obesity in asthmatic children is associated with more severe exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), compared with non-obese asthmatic children. This study investigates the effect of weight loss on EIB in overweight and obese asthmatic children. ⋯ Dietary induced weight loss in overweight and obese asthmatic children leads to significant reduction in severity of EIB and improvement of the quality of life. The reduction in BMI z-score is significantly related to the improvement of EIB.
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Pediatric pulmonology · Nov 2014
FiO2 predicts outcome in infants with respiratory syncytial virus-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in infants. ARDS is a life-threatening condition that is characterized by severe hypoxemia, defined as PaO(2)/FiO(2) ratio <300 mmHg. This ratio is used in many trials as the sole oxygenation criterion for ARDS. Recently, however, it has been shown in adults with ARDS that FiO(2), independently of the PaO(2)/FiO(2) ratio predicts mortality. Because epidemiology and outcome of ARDS differ strongly between children and adults, we determined if FiO(2) on admission (baseline FiO(2)) independently predicted the duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) and length of stay (LOS) in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in infants with RSV-induced ARDS. ⋯ FiO(2) level independently predicted outcome in infants with RSV-induced ARDS, whereas both PEEP and the PaO(2)/FiO(2) ratio did not. This suggests that FiO(2) should be taken into account in defining disease severity in infants with RSV-induced ARDS.