Acta paediatrica
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To highlight the diagnostic difficulties involved in elucidating the aetiology of recurrent abdominal pain and to evaluate the use of special premises and criteria for the diagnosis of psychosomatic pain. ⋯ The presented premises and criteria for the diagnosis of psychosomatic pain can be helpful when diagnosing recurrent abdominal pain, but further validation is needed. According to these criteria, a psychosomatic diagnosis was common in this series, accounting for nearly half of the cases. A medical diagnosis was evident in a quarter of the cases.
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To present a possible association between cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) and infection with Escherichia coli. ⋯ E. coli infections in neonates may predispose to CVT, a finding that has clinical implications.
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Comparative Study
Effect of perinatal asphyxia on thyroid-stimulating hormone and thyroid hormone levels.
To compare serum concentrations of thyroid hormones--T4, T3, free T4 (FT4) and reverse T3 (rT3)--and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) found in the umbilical cord blood of term newborns with and without asphyxia and those found in their arterial blood collected between 18 and 24 h after birth. A further aim of the study was to assess the association between severity of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and altered thyroid hormone and TSH levels, and between mortality and FT4 levels in the arterial blood of newborns between 18 and 24 h of life. ⋯ Serum concentrations of TSH, T4, T3 and FT4 are lower in asphyxiated newborns than in normal newborns between 18 and 24 h of life; this suggests central hypothyroidism secondary to asphyxia. Asphyxiated newborns with moderate/severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy present a greater involvement of the thyroid function and consequently a greater risk of death.