Frontiers in pediatrics
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Frontiers in pediatrics · Jan 2017
ReviewPrimary Ciliary Dyskinesia: An Update on Clinical Aspects, Genetics, Diagnosis, and Future Treatment Strategies.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an orphan disease (MIM 244400), autosomal recessive inherited, characterized by motile ciliary dysfunction. The estimated prevalence of PCD is 1:10,000 to 1:20,000 live-born children, but true prevalence could be even higher. PCD is characterized by chronic upper and lower respiratory tract disease, infertility/ectopic pregnancy, and situs anomalies, that occur in ≈50% of PCD patients (Kartagener syndrome), and these may be associated with congenital heart abnormalities. ⋯ Standardized care at specialized centers using a multidisciplinary approach that imposes surveillance of lung function and of airway biofilm composition likely improves patients' outcome. Pediatricians, neonatologists, pulmonologists, and ENT surgeons should maintain high awareness of PCD and refer patients to the specialized center before sustained irreversible lung damage develops. The recent creation of a network of PCD clinical centers, focusing on improving diagnosis and treatment, will hopefully help to improve care and knowledge of PCD patients.
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Frontiers in pediatrics · Jan 2017
Review3D Printing in Surgical Management of Double Outlet Right Ventricle.
Double outlet right ventricle (DORV) is a heterogeneous group of congenital heart diseases that require individualized surgical approach based on precise understanding of the complex cardiovascular anatomy. Physical 3-dimensional (3D) print models not only allow fast and unequivocal perception of the complex anatomy but also eliminate misunderstanding or miscommunication among imagers and surgeons. Except for those cases showing well-recognized classic surgical anatomy of DORV such as in cases with a typical subaortic or subpulmonary ventricular septal defect, 3D print models are of enormous value in surgical decision and planning. Furthermore, 3D print models can also be used for rehearsal of the intended procedure before the actual surgery on the patient so that the outcome of the procedure is precisely predicted and the procedure can be optimally tailored for the patient's specific anatomy. 3D print models are invaluable resource for hands-on surgical training of congenital heart surgeons.
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Frontiers in pediatrics · Jan 2017
ReviewEchocardiographic Evaluation of Hemodynamics in Neonates and Children.
Hemodynamic instability and inadequate cardiac performance are common in critically ill children. The clinical assessment of hemodynamic status is reliant upon physical examination supported by the clinical signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, capillary refill time, and measurement of the urine output and serum lactate. Unfortunately, all of these parameters are surrogate markers of cardiovascular well-being and they provide limited direct information regarding the adequacy of blood flow and tissue perfusion. ⋯ Like any other investigation, it has certain limitations and the most important limitation is its intermittent nature. Sometimes acquiring high quality images for precise functional assessment in a ventilated child can be challenging. Therefore, it should be used in conjunction with the existing tools (physical examination and clinical parameters) for hemodynamic assessment while making clinical decisions.
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Frontiers in pediatrics · Jan 2017
ReviewPersonalized Medicine in Allergic Asthma: At the Crossroads of Allergen Immunotherapy and "Biologicals".
Major allergic disease can be viewed as clinical syndromes rather than discrete disease entities. Emerging evidence indicates that allergic asthma includes several disease phenotypes. Immunological deviation toward high T helper cell type 2 cytokine levels has been demonstrated for a subgroup of pediatric asthma patients, and now, several novel monoclonal antibodies have been approved for treatment of this subgroup as a stratified approach of "personalized" medicine in allergy. ⋯ Improved responder criteria, which identify treatment-responders previous to therapy, might foster this stratification and even individualized AIT might have an impact for tailor-made therapy in the future. Furthermore, combining antibody-based treatment with AIT could help to establish more rapid AIT protocols even for allergens with a high risk of anaphylactic reactions. Efforts to advance such "personalized" medicine in pediatric allergy might be challenged by several issues including high costs for the health-care system, increasing complexity of allergy therapy, the need for physician allergy expertise, and furthermore ethical considerations and data safety issues.
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Frontiers in pediatrics · Jan 2017
ReviewVenous Thromboembolism in Critical Illness and Trauma: Pediatric Perspectives.
Critically ill children and those sustaining severe traumatic injuries are at higher risk for developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) than other hospitalized children. Multiple factors including the need for central venous catheters, immobility, surgical procedures, malignancy, and dysregulated inflammatory state confer this increased risk. As well as being at higher risk of VTE, this population is frequently at an increased risk of bleeding, making the decision of prophylactic anticoagulation even more nuanced. ⋯ There are no trials in children showing efficacy of mechanical compression devices or prophylactic anticoagulation in reducing the rate of VTE. Risk stratification using clinical factors has been shown to identify those at highest risk for VTE and allows targeted prophylaxis. It remains unproven if such a strategy will mitigate the risk of VTE and its potential sequelae.