Developmental Period Medicine

Ankyloglossia is defined as a congenital malformation that alters lingual mobility and function. It is listed as one of the possible reasons behind problems with breastfeeding. Due to current WHO recommendations that encourage mothers to breastfeed exclusively up to 6 months of age, quick recognition of any obstacles in the suction mechanism and determining the possible reasons for problems should be a priority. A review of the literature was conducted concerning the diagnosis of ankyloglossia, possible methods of treatment and their efficacy in improving breastfeeding quality...

Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) is a non-IgE-mediated food allergy with varying degrees of severity. The acute form of the disease is manifested by vomiting, lethargy and pallor, which usually appear within 1-4 hours after food ingestion, and can lead to shock. The most common trigger foods are: cow's milk, soy, rice and oats. Chronic FPIES is typical for infants fed with cow's milk or soy infant formula and is manifested by chronic vomiting, diarrhea and failure to thrive. In the vast majority of patients with FPIES, the analysis of the clinical history is sufficient to diagnose and identify trigger foods...

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is a group of disorders that can occur in children whose mothers consumed alcohol in pregnancy. Diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome is based on the appearance of growth deficiency, the presence of the three key features of facial dysmorphism (short palpebral fissures, thin upper lip, smooth or flattend philtrum) and/or disorders in the central nervous system (minimum 3) and prenatal exposure to alcohol (confirmed if possible). Early diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome - after birth or in infancy - is very often impossible or very difficult due to the incomplete manifestation of the key dysmorphic features...

The quality of birth is assessed by means of a comprehensive approach to the process of coming into the world, taking into account the perspective of the mother and the child and the influence of labour on their future health and life. According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the delivery of every child should be consistent with the mother's personal and socio-cultural beliefs and should meet her expectations as to the care provided.

OBJECTIVE: Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a Romanian version of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R21 for children and adolescents CTFEQ-R21, and to assess its psychometric properties and factor structure. Associations between the present version of the CTFEQ-R21 and anthropometric measures as well as body composition were also examined. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Material and methods: 153 children and adolescents (68 boys and 95 girls; 10...

OBJECTIVE: Background: Patients with Ewing sarcoma have a dismal outcome. Maintenance treatment with trofosfamide has been proposed as an effective regimen for some paediatric malignancies. Aim: We sought to evaluate the schedule of trofosfamide for patients with high-risk primary bone Ewing sarcoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: Fifteen patients with primary bone Ewing sarcoma received treatment with trofosfamide (150 mg/m2 p.o. days 1-10) every 28 days...

The present paper discusses the case of a patient who was surgically treated for a rare calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumour (Pindborg tumour) at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, F. Chopin Clinical Voivodeship Hospital in Rzeszow. Calcifying Epithelial Odontogenic Tumour (CEOT) is a benign odontogenic tumour arising from the remnants of the dental lamina epithelium. The first three cases of this tumour were recognized by the Danish pathologist J.J. Pindborg in 1955. Since then Calcifying Epithelial Odontogenic Tumour has been commonly referred to as the Pindborg tumour...

Vomiting is a common sign of illness in the pediatric population. Its etiology is diversified, ranging from mild functional disorders to severe life-threatening systemic diseases. Vomiting most often occurs in the course of gastrointestinal tract diseases, however, it may also coexist with numerous other ailments located outside the GI tract. Due to its diverse etiology encompassing various systems and organs, it can sometimes cause diagnostic difficulties. The present paper illustrates a case of Panayiotopoulos syndrome, which is an early-onset childhood occipital epilepsy (EOCOE)...

OBJECTIVE: Aim: To evaluate how useful it is to make measurements of gentamicin concentrations in newborns' blood in order to optimize antibiotic therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Material and methods: 73 newborns empirically treated with gentamicin, in doses consistent with the Neofax® guidelines. There were 152 measurements of maximum and minimum serum gentamicin concentrations. Samples were determined based on the chemiluminescence technique on the Siemens Advia Centaur analyzer...

OBJECTIVE: Introduction: Epileptic spasms are seizures usually associated with a severe developmental epilepsy syndrome with onset in the first year of life, peaking between 3 and 10 months of age [12]. A variety of disorders can cause epileptic spasms, with the etiology driving management, prognosis, and overall outcome. Preexisting brain damage has been demonstrated in 60% to 90% of the cases reflecting pre-, peri-, or postnatal brain injury that may usually be determined by history and clinical neurologic examination...

OBJECTIVE: Background: Glycemic variability (GV) has been a matter of interest in recent years. However, glycemic variability in preterm infants has not been adequately investigated. Objectives: To evaluate the impact of glycemic variability obtained from continuous glucose monitoring on mortality and neurologic outcomes: grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) requiring treatment among very low birth weight infants...

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by recurrent flares, intense itching, erythema, dry skin resulting from skin barrier defects, and staphylococcal infections. Multiple factors may affect the skin`s normal barrier function, including filaggrin gene mutations, immune dysregulation, altered skin microbiome, altered lipids in stratum corneum, or deficiency of antimicrobial peptides AMPs. The disease mainly affects children, causing a considerable impact on the quality of their life; its first manifestations occur with up to 90% of cases before the age of 5...

Malignant tumors of the ovary are characterized by late detection which is the chief factor responsible for their poor prognosis. Almost 70% of ovarian cancers are diagnosed at clinical stage III or IV. At present, effective methods for early detection of ovarian cancer are lacking. One accepted approach to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer is bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. However, it is increasingly widely believed that even a more limited surgery of bilateral salpingectomy may be also used prophylactically as an effective means to reduce cancer risk...

Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis is caused by mutations in the ABCB4 gene and belongs to the family of familial intrahepatic cholestais disorders inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. To date, about 200 patients with various hepatobiliary disorders associated with ABCB4 gene mutations have been described in the literature. The aim of this manuscript was to describe the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnostic process and treatment of progressive familial intrahepatic cholestais type 3, based on the literature review...

Besides gastro-esophageal reflux, eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), is the most frequently diagnosed chronic inflammatory disease both in children and adults. Clinical symptoms depend on the age of the patient and the time of the disease. In infants and younger children feeding disturbances, physical development retardation, vomiting and abdominal pain are most frequent. Difficulty in solid food swallowing, food impaction in the esophagus and chest pain are the most frequent symptoms in older children and adults...

Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease involving the occurrence of disturbances in the mitogene-activated kinases pathway (MAPK). At present, it is known that the appearance of such disorders is usually connected with a more aggressive form of the disease, more frequently resistant to conventional chemotherapy, as well as characterised by a higher probability of relapse and progression. Since recently, it has been possible to apply BRAF inhibitors in the treatment of LCH patients, however, there are no clear guidelines regarding the criteria for implementing this type of therapy...

The incidence of horseshoe kidney is 1 per 400-800 live births. From 44-52% of the patients with horseshoe kidney have other coexisting abnormalities of the urinary tract, such as hydronephrosis, vesicoureteral reflux and a duplex collecting system. Our patient, a 5-year old boy, was admitted to a pediatric nephrology department because of abdominal pain and vomiting. He had ultrasonography of the abdomen performed for the first time at the age of 9-months and horseshoe kidney was shown. In a control ultrasonography, a mild dilatation of the pyelocalyceal system in the left kidney was described...

Chronic abdominal pain is a very common complaint in the population of children and adolescents. In most cases, the usual cause are functional gastrointestinal disorders. However, in a few percent of children, the reason for persistent chronic stomach pain are organic diseases occurring in the gastrointestinal tract, as well as parenteral diseases, including uro-genital tract abnormalities, inflammation of the lower respiratory tract and cancer processes. Among organic causes, in addition to those commonly encountered, such as: intolerances and food allergies, gastroesophageal reflux disease, chronic gastritis or duodenitis, or urinary tract infections, the diagnosis should also include very rare causes, for example, neoplastic diseases, among them tumors of the abdominal cavity...

The aim of this paper is a clinical and anatomopathological demonstration of a malignant lesion, a gastrointestinal neuroectodermal tumor (GNET), as an exceedingly rare cause of ileus in the pediatric population. Specifically, we present the case of a 12-year-old boy who showed dramatic weight loss, hypochromic anemia, fever, dehydration, exaggerated granulation of the terminal ileum, and mechanical ileus due to the obstruction by an intramural tumor of the small intestine. A 50cm-long part of the small intestine with pathological stricture was surgically removed, sampled and routinely fixed and stained with hematoxylin and eosin...

OBJECTIVE: Aim: To assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) components in overweight or obese children and adolescents, as well as analyze the risk factors of its occurrence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Material and methods: The study was conducted in a group of 70 children and adolescents aged 5-18 hospitalized in the Department of Gastroenterology, Allergology and Pediatrics, Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital - Research Institute in Lodz (Poland) based on the results of medical histories, physical examination, biochemical investigation, and calculation of the Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) index...