Acta paediatrica
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Nebulized budesonide versus oral steroid in severe exacerbations of childhood asthma.
The aim of this study was to assess whether nebulized budesonide may substitute for oral prednisolone in the management of children whose asthma is severe enough to warrant hospital admission, but who have no life threatening features. In a prospective, double-blind, randomized study nebulized budesonide (2 mg 8 hourly) was compared with oral prednisolone (2 mg/kg at entry and again at 24 h) in 46 children admitted to hospital with severe asthma exacerbations. ⋯ FEV1 improved significantly compared to baseline in patients who received nebulized budesonide compared to the prednislone group. The data show nebulized budesonide to be at least as effective as oral steroid in improving lung function and symptom severity in severe exacerbations of childhood asthma.
-
A 6-y-old girl with right atrial myxoma presented with remittent fever attacks, general arthralgia and laboratory investigations mimicking rheumatic or autoimmune disease. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) serum concentration was markedly elevated before and normal after tumour resection, whereas myxoma cells stained negatively for IL-6. IL-6 should be considered a myxoma marker: overproduction by myxoma cells and consecutive systemic passage are assumed to cause immunological features.
-
The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of clinically symptomatic central venous catheter (CVC)-related deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in newborns and small infants and to try to identify clinical and genetic risk factors for catheter-related DVT among children with thrombotic complications. CVC was inserted in 44 consecutive infants (age range 0-90 d) during the period January 1990 to December 1995 in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Kuopio University Hospital in Kuopio. The symptoms of DVT were: syndrome of superior vena cava in 2, swelling at the CVC puncture site in 6 and repeated CVC obstructions in 2. ⋯ We detected no deficiencies in protein S, protein C or antithrombin III. One child was heterozygous for the point mutation (R506Q) in the factor V gene known to cause activated protein C resistance (APCR). We conclude that newborns with CVC are at great risk of DVT and that the aetiology of DVT can rarely be identified via measurements of coagulation inhibitors.
-
The accurate assessment of pain in children constitutes a challenge for health professionals and, in the case of young children, parents are generally the main source of information. The objective of this study was to validate and to compare three pain scales in preschool children and their parents. A total of 104 children between 4 and 6 y of age and their parents participated in the study while undergoing an immunization procedure in the outpatient department of a tertiary pediatric care hospital. ⋯ Parents tended to underestimate their child's pain when using HPCT or MSPCT. It seems that both HPCT and MSPCT measure a similar dimension of pain, whereas the FAS addresses a different aspect of pain. Although parents play an important role in their child's pain assessment, they tend to underestimate the intensity of pain when using HPCT or MSPCT.