Pediatric Clinical Practice Research Articles

Biosimilars for Pediatric Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Pediatric Gastroenterology Clinical Practice Survey.

Biosimilars are biological agents that have been demonstrated to have similar safety and efficacy profiles as the originator. The objective of this study was to evaluate the perspectives of pediatric gastroenterologists in the United States (U.S.) toward biosimilar use and to explore factors that impact their comfort level with prescribing infliximab biosimilars. A cross-sectional survey was developed and distributed to pediatric gastroenterology physicians from the U.S. via a listserv (Pediatric gastroenterology Bulletin Board). Respondent's demographics were recorded. Using a 6-point Likert scale, the survey assessed the respondent's perceptions toward biosimilars and initiating switches from the originator to biosimilar agent along with factors impacting provider's comfort level. Fischer exact tests were used to detect statistically significant differences in responses for hypotheses of interest. One hundred thirty-nine pediatric gastroenterologists completed the online survey (response rate 5.4%). Eighty-seven percent of respondents reported being comfortable prescribing infliximab biosimilars to anti-tumor necrosis factor naive patients, and 69% reported being comfortable doing a one-time switch if the patient was in clinical remission. Factors that negatively impacted a respondent's comfort level included respondents not practicing at an ImproveCareNow (ICN) center and managing less than 50 patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Nearly 90% of pediatric gastroenterologists felt comfortable prescribing an infliximab biosimilar, and 70% felt comfortable with a one-time switch to the biosimilar if the patient was in clinical remission. Involvement in ICN a learning health system and caring for higher numbers of patients with IBD was associated with increased provider comfort with biosimilar use.

Validación al español del cuestionario PEDI-EAT-10 para el cribado de disfagia

IntroductionThe Pedi-EAT-10 is a quick and simple validated tool for screening for dysphagia in the paediatric age group. The objective of our study was to translate and adapt the scale to Spanish and assess its psychometric properties, level of difficulty and speed of completion. Patients and methodsFollowing the forward and back translation and the approval by the research team of the Spanish version of the Pedi-EAT-10, we carried out a prospective study in a group of patients with dysphagia and a group of children who were healthy or had minor disease. Their legal guardians completed the questionnaire and reported the duration and difficulty of the test. ResultsThe study included 87 cases of dysphagia and 91 controls. The Cronbach alpha for internal consistency was 0.87. Most correlations between single item scores and the total scale score were greater than 0.65 (P<.001). The Pedi-EAT-10 scores were significantly higher in patients with dysphagia in every age group (P<.001), evincing a high sensibility and specificity for the screening of dysphagia. In the control group, the mean time taken to complete the questionnaire was 2.18±1.98 minutes, and all participants found it easy. ConclusionsWe verified the validity, reliability and internal consistency of the Spanish version of the Pedi-EAT-10. It is an easy and quick instrument that can be used for screening of dysphagia in paediatric clinical practice.

Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPS) in pediatric primary care

Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to global health. Optimizing the use of antibiotics is a key measure to prevent and control this problem. Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) are designed to improve clinical outcomes, minimize adverse effects and protect patients, and to ensure the administration of cost-effective treatments. Inappropriate use of antibiotics also occurs in pediatric clinical practice. For this reason, ASPs should include specific objectives and strategies aimed at pediatricians and families. Implementing these programs requires the involvement of institutions and policy makers, healthcare providers as well as individuals, adapting them to the characteristics of each healthcare setting. Pediatric primary care (PPC) faces specific issues such as high demand and immediacy, scarce specialized professional resources, difficulties to access regular training and to obtain feedback. This requires the design of specific policies and strategies to achieve the objectives, including structural and organizational measures, improvement of the information flow and accessibility to frequent trainings. These programs should reach all health professionals, promoting regular trainings, prescription support tools and supplying diagnostic tests, with adequate coordination between health care levels. Periodic evaluations and surveillance tools are useful to assess the impact of the actions taken and to provide feedback to health providers in order to adapt and improve their clinical practice to meet ASPs objectives.

Psychosocial Staffing and Implementation of the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes Psychological Care Guidelines in U.S. Pediatric Diabetes Clinics.

Few studies have examined the implementation of the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines for the Psychological Care of Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes. To collect benchmark data on psychosocial staffing and implementation of the ISPAD guidelines across U.S. pediatric diabetes clinics. Medical (n = 95; 77 endocrinologists and 18 advance practice providers) and psychosocial (n = 86; 43 social workers and 43 psychologists) providers from 98 of 115 contacted clinics completed an online survey (85% response rate). Providers reported the number of psychosocial staff and rated the adequacy of psychosocial staffing, quality of psychosocial care, and adherence to the ISPAD guidelines in their clinics. χ2 Tests and ANOVA were used to examine differences across clinic size and across medical and psychosocial providers. Clinics averaged a total of ∼4 hours per week of psychosocial provider time per 100 patients with type 1 diabetes. Only 27% of providers agreed that psychosocial staffing was adequate, and 35% described their psychosocial care as comprehensive. Implementation of the ISPAD guidelines varied across clinics, with minimal differences across clinic size. Medical providers reported that evidence-based psychological assessment and interventions were delivered consistently by <55% of clinics. Psychosocial, compared with medical, providers were more likely to report frequent implementation of psychosocial assessment and intervention guidelines. Psychological care in U.S. pediatric type 1 diabetes clinics does not consistently meet the ISPAD guidelines, and many clinics lack adequate psychosocial staff. These benchmark data are a foundational step to improve psychosocial care for pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes.

Programas de optimización del uso de antibióticos (PROA) en pediatría de atención primaria

Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to global health. Optimizing the use of antibiotics is a key measure to prevent and control this problem. Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) are designed to improve clinical outcomes, minimize adverse effects and protect patients, and to ensure the administration of cost-effective treatments. Inappropriate use of antibiotics also occurs in pediatric clinical practice. For this reason, ASPs should include specific objectives and strategies aimed at pediatricians and families. Implementing these programs requires the involvement of institutions and policy makers, healthcare providers as well as individuals, adapting them to the characteristics of each healthcare setting. Pediatric primary care (PPC) faces specific issues such as high demand and immediacy, scarce specialized professional resources, difficulties to access regular training and to obtain feedback. This requires the design of specific policies and strategies to achieve the objectives, including structural and organizational measures, improvement of the information flow and accessibility to frequent trainings. These programs should reach all health professionals, promoting regular trainings, prescription support tools and supplying diagnostic tests, with adequate coordination between health care levels. Periodic evaluations and surveillance tools are useful to assess the impact of the actions taken and to provide feedback to health providers in order to adapt and improve their clinical practice to meet ASPs objectives.

Addressing adherence to guidelines on prevention of acute chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in pediatric patients.

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is a distressing adverse effect in children receiving cancer treatment. There are evidence-based pediatric clinical practice guidelines (CPG) on chemotherapy emetogenicity and acute CINV prevention, but adherence to these guidelines is low. A quality improvement-based study was conducted at McMaster Children's Hospital. The SMART aim was to increase adherence to guidelines on prevention of acute CINV in hospitalized patients receiving high (HEC) and moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC) from baseline 25% to more than 70% by June 2021. Barriers were identified by process mapping, and a series of interventions were implemented. Guideline adherence was assessed in 270 inpatient chemotherapy administrations (HEC, MEC). Data were collected on 131 charts pre interventions and 139 charts post interventions. Interventions included education, addition of guideline-recommended anti-emetics to the inpatient formulary, and implementation of a standardized CPG tool. Initial rates of total CINV guideline adherence were 25%, which improved to 72% post intervention (p<.001). In subgroup analysis, guideline adherence in the MEC group improved from 13% to 34% (p=.015), and in the HEC group from 32% to 93% (p<.001). The most common reason for nonadherence in the HEC group was failure to use aprepitant as anti-emetic, and in MEC was option for ondansetron monotherapy prophylaxis. Using quality improvement methodology, barriers to guideline adherence were identified and interventions implemented. Guideline adherence for prevention of CINV improved, particularly in the HEC group but less for the MEC group. Future steps will include sustainability of interventions and addressing adherence in the MEC group.

Prevalence of Hypertension among Children Based on the New American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Practice Guidelines.

In 2017, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of hypertension in children. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of hypertension in Iranian children based on the latest guidelines. Data on 7301 student participants (3589 boys and 3712 girls) aged between 7-12 yr were assessed. The data were extracted from the fifth Childhood and Adolescence Surveillance and Prevention of Adult Non-communicable Disease (CASPIAN V) school-based study conducted in the 30 provinces of Iran in 2015. Blood pressure (BP) was classified as normal, elevated BP, and stage 1 and 2 hypertension using weighted analysis and the 2017 AAP guidelines. All analyses were performed in STATA 14.0 statistical software, with findings presented in terms of prevalence. The overall prevalence of high BP in Iranian children was 14.7%. In addition, 15.1% of boys had high BP, with 9.4% and 1.7% of them with stage 1 and 2 hypertension, respectively. Moreover, 14.3% of girls had high BP, of which 10% had stage 1 and 1.3% with stage 2 hypertension. For elevated hypertension, it was observed in 4% of boys and 3% of girls. Using the 2017 AAP guidelines demonstrated a higher prevalence of hypertension in children (14.7%) in Iran. The prevalence of hypertension in boys was slightly higher compared to girls.

S-43-1: THE CHANGING EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HYPERTENSION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Some scientific concepts take time to overcome initial disbelief before they are finally embraced by the research community. One of these concepts is hypertension in children and adolescents. Little was known about childhood hypertension until the early 1980 s, mainly because blood pressure was not commonly measured in pediatric clinical practice. In the few cases blood pressure levels were determined to be abnormal in children, they were considered to be secondary hypertension resulting from an underlying condition. Even though secondary causes of hypertension tend to occur more often in hypertensive children than in adults, its prevalence is only about 1 percent overall, leaving primary hypertension especially in adolescents as the most frequent type. Even when there are many studies that have assessed the prevalence of hypertension in children and adolescents, scientists have faced difficulties to state this prevalence for three main reasons. To begin with, blood pressure normally changes with increasing age and body size. This makes establishing a fixed cutoff for values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure elevation rather challenging. This difficulty has led to the use of percentiles based on age, sex, and height to define the normal distribution, with a hypertensive level of blood pressure in the 95th percentile or higher. Another obstacle is that there is a variety of different definitions of hypertension used by the three most recent clinical practice guidelines coming from Europe, the United States and Canada. The last challenge is focused on the beat-to-beat blood pressure variability, the definition of hypertension requires that systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure to be persistently higher than the established thresholds on three separate occasions. Many cross-sectional studies with only one single measurement of blood pressure have not been able to define the prevalence of hypertension. The epidemiology of hypertension in childhood and adolescence can be linked to the worldwide obesity epidemic. Hypertension is more prevalent than before, with primary hypertension being the main type. It is well known that the factors related to primary hypertension can be modified, therefore childhood is a period in which prevention could be effective. If prevention is followed throughout childhood, it could contribute to a healthier young adulthood in the long run. Therefore, primordial prevention is an opportunity not to be missed.

PS-BPC11-2: PEDIATRIC BLOOD PRESSURE CATEGORY PREDICTS LONGITUDINAL VARIABILITY IN BLOOD PRESSURE IN YOUTH

Objectives: In order to identify risk factors that cause elevated blood pressure during adolescence, we aimed to evaluate the predictive effect of childhood factors on longitudinal variability of individual blood pressure during youth. Methods: Childhood data were obtained from medical checkups of Japanese male and female junior high school students aged 12–13 years during the period from 2009 to 2010. Childhood measurements were height, body weight, body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressures, complete blood counts, uric acid, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Childhood blood pressure was categorized as normal, elevated blood pressure, or hypertension according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) clinical practice guideline. Linear mixed-effects models for repeated measures were used to estimate the effect of baseline childhood factors on longitudinal changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Results: A total of 1304 participants were followed up to the 10th year. At baseline, the mean age was 12.6 years [SD, 0.3] and 26.2% were female. Among male participants, 6.3% were categorized as having elevated blood pressure and 8.8% were categorized as having hypertension, while among female participants 6.1% were categorized as having elevated blood pressure and 8.5% were categorized as having hypertension. Boys in the hypertension category had higher BMI, higher uric acid, and lower HDLC compared with those in the normal blood pressure category, but this trend was not statistically significant in girls. Of each childhood factor, the baseline blood pressure category according to AAP clinical practice guideline fit best with longitudinal changes in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the linear mixed-effects models. Conclusion: These results suggest that the AAP pediatric blood pressure category is the strongest predictor of longitudinal variability in individual blood pressure in youth.

S-15-5: GAPS AND ADVANCES FOR THE PREVENTION OF HYPERTENSION IN AFRICA: INSIGHTS FROM THE EXAMIN YOUTH SA STUDY

Paediatric hypertension is becoming a global health problem which is paralleled by overweight and obesity in children and adolescents, and tracks into adulthood. Therefore, promoting primary prevention of hypertension at early ages will reduce the increasing trends of hypertension in Africa. The prevalence of hypertension in South African children ranges between 7.5% and 22.3%, while care and treatment of hypertension remains a major challenge and health crisis. From the Exercise, Arterial Modulation and Nutrition in Youth South Africa (ExAMIN Youth SA) study using the latest 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Practice Guidelines, we reported unique sex and ethnic differences of blood pressure (BP) in 5–9 year old children (n = 1062) and identified 14.1% children with elevated BP and almost 23% within the range of stage 1 or 2 hypertension. We also reported that 15.2% of the children were overweight and 4.4% obese according to the age and sex standardized body mass index (BMI) z-scores. Overweight and obesity were more prevalent in white children, while diastolic BP and total vascular resistance were higher in black children. The odds of having elevated BP were 60% higher with every standard deviation increase of BMI z-score. We analysed cortisol reactivity in relation to physical fitness to underpin the role of environmental stressors and physiological responses after inducing physical stress. We showed that white children had lower cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) compared to children of African ancestry. However, African children had lower cortisol reactivity and unfavourable lower morning cortisol levels compared to white children. We demonstrated that lower CRF and higher BP are associated with lower cortisol responses in young children. In the same children and in comparison with a Swiss cohort, we investigated the role of high BP, obesity and ethnicity on retinal microvascular phenotype. We reported that obesity, hypertension and African ancestry are the main factors contributing to arteriolar narrowing. Since the microvasculature is also well represented by the kidneys, and the kidneys regulate BP, we also analysed a marker of proximal tubular function, alpha-1 microglobulin (A1 M), to identify early pathways of hypertension development in children. A1 M levels increased with higher BP, especially in children of African ancestry. With childhood lifestyle and behavioural risk factors being the most important for the prediction of cardiovascular events in adulthood, we argue that targeting health behaviour and optimising health education in early life are the most promising prospects to prevent early cardiovascular disease development in Africa.

Sensitivity to Sweet and Salty Tastes in Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes

Taste function impairment is observed in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). It is most often related to sweet taste. It is associated with such factors as diabetic neuropathy, smoking, age, duration of the disease and a rigorous diet that eliminates easily digestible carbohydrates. The aim of the study was to compare sensitivity to sweet and salty tastes between healthy children and adolescents and children and adolescents with T1D. The study group consisted of children with T1D (n = 35), with at least 5 years of disease history, while the group of healthy children included 46 individuals selected in terms of age, gender and BMI. A study concerning the perception of sweet and salty taste was carried out with the use of the specific gustometry method (examining the recognition and assessment of the intensity of taste sensations, performing a hedonic assessment). Children and adolescents from both groups had trouble recognising tastes. Children and adolescents with T1D were more likely to recognise sweet taste correctly even at its lower concentrations compared to healthy individuals (p = 0.04). Salty taste was significantly more often correctly identified by healthy children compared to T1D patients (p = 0.01). Children and adolescents with T1D reported a stronger intensity of perceived tastes than healthy ones. No significant differences in perceived pleasure were noted at lower sucrose concentrations in any group. The intensity score was higher in individuals with T1D at higher sucrose concentrations. No significant differences occurred in the assessment of salty taste intensity. The hedonic scoring of solutions with higher concentrations of sweet taste was higher in people with T1D than in healthy ones, while salty taste was assessed neutrally. Children and adolescents with T1D were demonstrated to have some taste recognition disorders. Therefore, monitoring taste function in pediatric diabetic clinical practice seems relevant, as it may be associated with important implications for the intake of a particular type of food and for the development of eating habits and preferences.

Standardisation of intravenous infusion therapy for paediatrics: big challenges for the little patients

BackgroundWorldwide organisations advocate standardising the management of intravenous drugs as an essential strategy to increase safety in paediatric healthcare settings. Intravenous administration is a route associated with some potential complications....

Blood Pressure Classification Status in Children With CKD Following Adoption of the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics Guideline

Accurate detection of hypertension is crucial for clinical management of pediatric chronic kidney disease (CKD). The 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) clinical practice guideline for childhood hypertension included new normative blood pressure (BP) values and revised definitions of BP categories. In this study, we examined the effect of applying the AAP guideline's normative data and definitions to the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKiD) cohort compared with use of normative data and definitions from the 2004 Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. Observational cohort study. Children and adolescents in the CKiD cohort. Clinic BP measurements. BP percentiles and hypertension stages calculated using the 2017 AAP guideline and the Fourth Report from2004. Agreement analysis compared the estimated percentile and prevalence of high BP based on the 2017 guideline and 2004 report to clinic and combined ambulatory BP readings. The proportion of children classified as having normal clinic BP was similar using the 2017 and 2004 systems, but the use of the 2017 normative data classified more participants as having stages 1-2 hypertension (22% vs 11%), with marginal reproducibility (κ=0.569 [95% CI, 0.538-0.599]). Those identified as having stage 2 hypertension by the 2017 guideline had higher levels of proteinuria compared with those identified using the 2004 report. Comparing use of the 2017 guideline and the 2004 report in terms of ambulatory BP monitoring categories, there were substantially more participants with white coat (3.5% vs 1.5%) and ambulatory (15.5% vs 7.9%) hypertension, but the proportion with masked hypertension was lower (40.2% vs 47.8%, respectively), and the percentage of participants who were normotensive was similar (40.9% vs 42.9%, respectively). Overall, there was good reproducibility (κ=0.799 [95% CI, 0.778-0.819]) of classification by ambulatory BP monitoring. Relationship with long-term progression and target organ damage was not assessed. A greater percentage of children with CKD were identified as having hypertension based on both clinic and ambulatory BP when using the 2017 AAP guideline versus the Fourth Report from 2004, and the 2017 guideline better discriminated those with higher levels of proteinuria. The substantial differences in the classification of hypertension when using the 2017 guideline should inform clinical care.

Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Pediatrics, an Update on Interpretation and Classification of Hypertension Phenotypes.

This review highlights the major changes reflected in the 2022 American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Statement on Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) in Children and Adolescents with a specific focus on the newly defined phenotypes of hypertension and their epidemiology and associated outcomes. The 2022 AHA guidelines' most notable changes include the following: (1) alignment of blood pressure (BP) thresholds with the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) clinical practice guidelines, 2017 American College of Cardiology (ACC)/AHA hypertension guidelines, and 2016 European Society of Hypertension (ESH) pediatric recommendations; (2) expansion of the use of ABPM to diagnose and phenotype pediatric hypertension in all pediatric patients; (3) removal of BP loads from diagnostic criteria; and (4) simplified classification of new hypertension phenotypes to prognosticate risks and guide clinical management. Recent studies suggest that utilizing the 2022 AHA pediatric ABPM guidelines will increase the prevalence of pediatric ambulatory hypertension, especially for wake ambulatory hypertension in older, taller males and for nocturnal hypertension in both males and females ≥ 8years of age. The new definitions simplify the ambulatory hypertension criteria to include only the elements most predictive of future health outcomes, increase the sensitivity of BP thresholds in alignment with recent data and other guidelines, and thus make hypertension diagnoses more clinically meaningful. This guideline will also aid in the transition of adolescents and young adults to adult medical care. Further studies will be necessary to study ambulatory BP norms in a more diverse pediatric population and evaluate the impact of these guidelines on prevalence and future outcomes.

Management of routine postoperative pain for children undergoing cardiac surgery: a Paediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative Clinical Practice Guideline.

Pain following surgery for cardiac disease is ubiquitous, and optimal management is important. Despite this, there is large practice variation. To address this, the Paediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative undertook the effort to create this clinical practice guideline. A panel of experts consisting of paediatric cardiologists, advanced practice practitioners, pharmacists, a paediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, and a paediatric cardiac anaesthesiologist was convened. The literature was searched for relevant articles and Collaborative sites submitted centre-specific protocols for postoperative pain management. Using the modified Delphi technique, recommendations were generated and put through iterative Delphi rounds to achieve consensus. 60 recommendations achieved consensus and are included in this guideline. They address guideline use, pain assessment, general considerations, preoperative considerations, intraoperative considerations, regional anaesthesia, opioids, opioid-sparing, non-opioid medications, non-pharmaceutical pain management, and discharge considerations. Postoperative pain among children following cardiac surgery is currently an area of significant practice variability despite a large body of literature and the presence of centre-specific protocols. Central to the recommendations included in this guideline is the concept that ideal pain management begins with preoperative counselling and continues through to patient discharge. Overall, the quality of evidence supporting recommendations is low. There is ongoing need for research in this area, particularly in paediatric populations.

Abstract 10153: Cord Blood Metabolite Signatures for Elevated Blood Pressure in Childhood and Adolescence

Background: Risk factors for high blood pressure (BP) in children start in utero . Cord blood metabolites reflect exposures of the developing fetus to the in utero environment. No studies have examined whether cord blood metabolites are associated with BP in children. Objectives: To examine prospective associations of cord blood metabolites with systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), and risk of elevated BP in childhood and adolescence. Methods: We used data from the Boston Birth Cohort. Metabolites were measured in cord blood plasma samples collected at birth. SBP and DBP were measured at clinic visits between 3 to 18 years. We calculated BP percentiles per the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Practice Guideline. We examined associations of cord metabolites with SBP and DBP percentiles using linear mixed models and with elevated BP using mixed-effects Poisson regression. We used the False Discovery Rate (FDR) method to adjust for multiple comparisons. Results: Our study included 902 mother-child dyads (60% Black, 23% Hispanic, 45% female). Children were followed for a median of 9.2 (IQR: 6.7-11.7) years, and the median number of BP observations per child was 7 (IQR: 4-11). After FDR adjustment, 3, 94, and 22 metabolites were respectively associated with SBP, DBP, and risk of elevated BP; 2 metabolites (1-methylnicotinamide, dimethylguanidino valeric acid) were associated with all three outcomes, and 22 metabolites were associated with both DBP and risk of elevated BP. After multivariable adjustment, 48 metabolites remained significantly associated with DBP. Metabolites that showed the strongest associations with SBP, DBP, and risk of elevated BP included nucleotides (e.g., xanthosine, hypoxanthine, xanthine) and acylcarnitines (e.g., C6 and C7 carnitines), which represent fatty acid oxidation and purine metabolism pathways. Conclusions: In this predominantly urban, low-income, minority cohort, cord blood metabolites were prospectively associated with BP and risk of elevated BP from childhood to adolescence. Acylcarnitines and purine metabolism may be involved in the early life origins of hypertension. Cord metabolites may explain the intergenerational effects of in utero environments on BP in childhood and adolescence.

Long-Awaited AAP Hyperbilirubinemia Guidelines Have Arrived.

Long-Awaited AAP Hyperbilirubinemia Guidelines Have Arrived.

Cardiovascular Risks of Hypertension: Lessons from Children with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Hypertension is the most common complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children, having a strong association with subsequential cardiovascular disease (CVD). In pediatric CKD, a considerable percentage of children with hypertension are undiagnosed or undertreated. Prior research has evaluated structural and functional markers of subclinical CVD and biomarkers in adults with CKD, while ideal biomarkers in pediatrics are still insufficiently studied. The ultimate goal of this review is to summarize what is currently known about state of hypertension, cardiovascular risk factors, and potential CVD markers/biomarkers in children with pre-dialysis CKD. We discuss omics-related biomarkers and the pathophysiologic processes of endothelial dysfunction, kidney injury, oxidative stress and inflammation that are classified by specific biomarkers. Moreover, we illustrate the existing challenges and highlight the paucity of pediatric CKD research to evaluate these CVD biomarkers for future clinical pediatric practice. Thus, achieving clinical utility of CVD biomarkers for use in pediatric CKD remains a significant challenge requiring additional efforts.

Nasal eosinophilia as a preliminary discriminative biomarker of non-allergic rhinitis in every day clinical pediatric practice.

Non-allergic rhinitis (NAR) in children, named local allergic rhinitis (LAR) and non-allergic rhinitis with eosinophilia syndrome (NARES), are recently termed entities in childhood characterized by symptoms suggestive of allergic rhinitis in the absence of systemic atopy. Nasal eosinophils (nEo) are the principal cells involved in the allergy inflammation and nasal allergen provocation test is the gold standard method for the diagnosis, albeit with several limitations. The aim of this study was to validate the presence of nEo in combination with the therapeutic response to nasal steroids, as a preliminary discriminator of NAR in real life data. In a prospective cohort study, 128 children (63.3% male, aged 72 ± 42m) with history of NAR were enrolled and followed up for 52 ± 32m. Nasal cytology was performed and nasal steroids trial was recommended initially in all and repeatedly in relapsing cases. Response to therapy was clinically evaluated using 10-VAS. Significant nEo was found in 59.3% of the cases and was related to reported dyspnea episodes. 23.4% had no response to therapy, whereas 51.5% were constantly good responders. Response to therapy was related to nEo and a cutoff point of 20% was defined as the most reliable biological marker with 94% sensitivity and 77% specificity. In children with symptoms of NAR, the presence of nEo > 20% constantly responding to nasal steroid therapy, is a clear indicator of atopy. In an everyday clinical setting, it emerged as an easy, preliminary, cell biomarker suggestive of further investigation such as NAPT, to discriminate LAR from NARES.

Pathogenetic role of inflammation and insulin resistance in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese children

The hypothesis of primacy between insulin resistance (IR) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains debatable, which requires additional research. Aim. To examine the differences between cytokine profile and IR markers in children with NAFLD depending on liver damage degree compared to children with normal weight and obesity without NAFLD and to study their association with anthropometric and instrumental parameters. Materials and methods. 170 patients aged 6–17 years (mean 12.15 ± 2.51 years) were included. Hepatic steatosis was determined by transient elastography. Patients were divided into 4 groups according to the presence of hepatic steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and obesity: group 1 – 37 obese patients with NASH; group 2 – 53 obese patients with simple steatosis; group 3 – 65 obese patients without NAFLD; group 4 (control) – 15 patients with normal weight without NAFLD. Anthropometric parameters, carbohydrate metabolism with the HOMA-IR calculation, and cytokine profile were examined. Results. An increase in serum IL-6 and TNFα levels in NAFLD children compared to the control group (P ˂ 0.05), a decrease in IL-10 level in NAFLD children (P ˂ 0.05), and an increase in TNFα/IL-10 ratio (P ˂ 0.05) in NASH children compared to obese children without steatosis were demonstrated. In NAFLD children, a progressive increase in HOMA-IR was found compared to the control group and obese children without steatosis (P ˂ 0.05). The serum IL-6, TNFα levels, TNFα/IL-10 ratio, and HOMA-IR were positively correlated with obesity degree, adipose tissue distribution parameters, hepatic steatosis degree, CAP, while IL-10 level was negatively correlated with the hepatic steatosis degree. Conclusions. In obese NAFLD children, a significant increase in HOMA-IR, IL-6, TNFα is correlated with excessive fat accumulation, adipose tissue distribution parameters, hepatic steatosis degree, and CAP that may be useful for early diagnosis of NAFLD in children. A significant increase in the TNFα/IL-10 ratio in NASH children allows to consider this indicator as a probable marker for diagnosis of different NAFLD forms in pediatric clinical practice.