Korean journal of pediatrics
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An apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) is defined as the combination of clinical presentations such as apnea, marked change in skin and muscle tone, gagging, or choking. It is a frightening event, and it predominantly occurs during infancy at a mean age of 1-3 months. The causes of ALTE are categorized into problems that are: gastrointestinal (50%), neurological (30%), respiratory (20%), cardiovascular (5%), metabolic and endocrine (2%-5%), or others such as child abuse. ⋯ Regardless of the cause of an ALTE, all infants with an ALTE should require hospitalization and continuous cardiorespiratory monitoring and evaluation for at least 24 hours. The natural course of ALTEs has seemed benign, and the outcome is generally associated with the affected infants' underlying disease. In conclusion, systemic diagnostic evaluation and adequate treatment increases the survival and quality of life for most affected infants.
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Food allergy is common and sometimes life threatening for Korean children. The current standard treatment of allergen avoidance and self-injectable epinephrine does not change the natural course of food allergy. Recently, oral, sublingual, and epicutaneous immunotherapies have been studied for their effectiveness against food allergy. ⋯ In some studies, immunologic changes after immunotherapy for food allergy have been revealed. Adverse reactions to these immunotherapies have usually been localized, but severe systemic reactions have been observed in some cases. Although immunotherapy cannot be recommended for routine practice yet, results from recent studies demonstrate that immunotherapies are promising for the treatment of food allergy.
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While the incidence of nephrotic syndrome (NS) is decreasing in Korea, the morbidity of difficult-to-treat NS is significant. Efforts to minimize treatment toxicity showed that prolonged treatment after an initial treatment for 2-3 months with glucocorticosteroids was not effective in reducing frequent relapses. For steroid-dependent NS, rituximab, a monoclonal antibody against the CD20 antigen on B cells, was proven to be as effective, and short-term daily low-dose steroids during upper respiratory infections reduced relapses. Steroid resistance or congenital NS are indications for genetic study and renal biopsy, since the list of genes involved in NS is lengthening.
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In patients with a language developmental delay, it is necessary to make a differential diagnosis for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), specific language impairment, and mental retardation. It is important that pediatricians recognize the signs and symptoms of ASDs, as many patients with language developmental delays are ultimately diagnosed with ASDs. Pediatricians play an important role in the early recognition of ASDs, because they are usually the first point of contact for children with ASDs. ⋯ In ASD patients, the appropriate behavioral therapies and rehabilitation treatments significantly affect the prognosis. Therefore, this makes early diagnosis and treatment very important. In conclusion, pediatricians need to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of ASDs and be attentive to them in order to make an early diagnosis and provide treatment.
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Asthma comprises a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by airway inflammation, airway obstruction, and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). Airway inflammation, which induces AHR and recurrence of asthma, is the main pathophysiology of asthma. The fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) level is a noninvasive, reproducible measurement of eosinophilic airway inflammation that is easy to perform in young children. ⋯ For example, in one birth cohort study, children with asthma and persistent wheezing at 7 years had higher FeNO levels at 4 years compared to children without wheezing, which suggested that FeNO could be a predictive marker for later development of asthma. Preschool-aged children with recurrent wheezing and stringent asthma predictive indices also had higher FeNO levels in the first 4 years of life compared to children with wheezing and loose indices or children with no wheeze, suggesting that FeNO measurements may provide an additional parameter for predicting persistent wheezing in preschool children. Additional large-scale longitudinal studies are required to establish cutoff levels for FeNO as a risk factor for persistent asthma.