general pediatrics

This systematic review evaluates the scientific literature on pediatric periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), adhering to PRISMA guidelines and utilizing PICOS criteria. The search across PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus yielded 331 articles, with 17 meeting inclusion criteria. Diagnostic criteria evolved, with polysomnography and PLMS index ≥5 required since 2003. Also, PLMD diagnosis mandates clinical consequences like insomnia, hypersomnia, and fatigue, excluding comorbidities causing sleep disruption...

BACKGROUND: Patient-accessible electronic health records (PAEHRs) are assumed to enhance the quality of care, expressed in terms of safety, effectiveness, timeliness, person centeredness, efficiency, and equity. However, research on the impact of PAEHRs on the perceived quality of care among parents, children, and adolescents is largely lacking. In the Netherlands, a PAEHR (Iuvenelis) was developed for preventive child health care and youth care. Parents and adolescents had access to its full content, could manage appointments, ask questions, and comment on written reports...

The maintenance of oral health is a crucial aspect of general well-being; however, a significant proportion of the worldwide population experiences a range of oral diseases. Dental caries is a highly prevalent non-communicable disease globally, especially in children and adolescents. Fluoride is involved in the control of dental caries, primarily by decreasing the critical pH for dental hard tissue dissolution and decreasing enamel solubility. Due to the substantial data supporting the efficacy of fluoride in controlling dental caries, many community-level fluoridation initiatives have been devised and executed as global public health preventive interventions...

BACKGROUND: Neuroglial heterotopia is a rare lesion composed of differentiated neuroectodermal cells that manifest in extracranial locations, with the majority of cases predominantly occurring in the head and neck region. Retroperitoneal neuroglial heterotopia is exceptionally rare, with isolated cases published in the scientific literature. CASE REPORT: Here, we present the case of a 3-year-old girl who was admitted without clinical signs but presented with a palpable abdominal mass...

Vaccines are one component to the public health strategies to alleviate the COVID-19 pandemic. Hesitancy regarding COVID-19 vaccines in the United States has been problematic, which is not surprising given increasing overall vaccine hesitancy in recent decades. Most vaccines are administered during childhood years. Consequently, understanding hesitancy toward administration of vaccines in this age group may provide insight into possible interventions to reduce vaccine hesitancy. The present study analyzed a subset of over 130,000 public comments posted in response to a notice of meeting of the vaccine advisory group to the Food and Drug Administration...

BACKGROUND: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is becoming increasingly crucial in the Pediatric Emergency Department for objective patient examination. However, despite its growing interest and wide-ranging applications, POCUS remains relatively unexplored in general pediatric training and education. Many physicians still find it challenging to comprehend and implement. METHODS: A theoretical-practical POCUS course for pediatric residents was conducted at the University of Catania, Italy...

OBJECTIVES: Continuous curriculum improvements reveal the dedication of policy-makers to raising the quality of education and student learning. This study aims to report the impact of curriculum changes to the three-month pediatric course curriculum at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU) on the satisfaction levels of medical students. METHODS: One hundred eighteen 4th -5th years medical students, who had completed their pediatric clinical rotation in SBMU-affiliated teaching hospitals including Mofid Children Hospital, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital, and Imam Hossein Hospital from January to December 2022 were included in this cross-sectional study...

PURPOSE: Neurotoxicity concerns have been raised over general anesthesia and sedation medication use in children. Such concerns are largely based on animal studies, historical anesthetic agents, and assessment tools, thus warranting further investigations. Blood biomarkers in detecting neuronal inflammation and apoptosis are novel methods for detecting neuronal damage. Therefore, the aim of this feasibility study was to assess the usefulness of the levels of four plasma biomarkers in dental general anesthesia (DGA) as surrogate markers of neurotoxicity in children...

Male lacrosse and female lacrosse have differences in history, rules, and equipment. There is current debate regarding the need for enhanced protective headwear in female lacrosse like that worn by male lacrosse players. To inform this discussion, 17 high school lacrosse players (6 female and 11 male) wore the Stanford Instrumented Mouthguard during 26 competitive games over the 2021 season. Time-windowing and video review were used to remove false-positive recordings and verify head acceleration events (HAEs)...

BACKGROUND: Post streptococcal acute glomerulonephritis (PSAGN) patients have favorable prognosis, in which most patients showed full recovery in terms of kidney function. However, there is a slight chance ranging from 3 to 6% that PSAGN patients develop chronic kidney diseasewhich may progress into end-stage kidney disease in later life. It is important to identify the factors that can predict the development of chronic glomerulonephritis following PSAGN. Therefore, early intervention can be performed to halt the progression of chronic kidney disease...

BACKGROUND: Isolated fallopian tube torsion (IFTT) is a rare form of adnexal torsion that is more difficult to diagnose, which may lead to delays in treatment. Our objectives were to identify clinical and radiologic factors associated with surgically-confirmed IFTT and compare them with those of patients without torsion and with adnexal torsion (AT) in a large pediatric population. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients who underwent surgery for suspected adnexal torsion from 2016 to 2019...

PURPOSE: Children with anorectal malformation (ARM) and Hirschsprung's disease (HD) often experience bowel symptoms into adulthood, despite definitive surgery. This study evaluates the quality of life (QOL) and bowel functional outcome of children treated for ARM and HD in comparison to healthy controls. METHODS: Between December 2020 and February 2023, we recruited patients with ARM and HD aged 3-17 years at four tertiary referral centres, who had primary corrective surgery done >12 months prior...

Arachnoid cysts are the most common incidentally discovered intracranial lesions on imaging and the most common cystic intracranial lesions. They may be developmental or secondary. A relative lack of recent literature and any comprehensive radiological review on arachnoid cysts has led to a general lack of awareness among radiologists of symptomatic or complicated arachnoid cysts. This is particularly concerning in pediatric patients. While arachnoid cysts are asymptomatic in most cases, they can cause clinical symptoms in a minority of cases, especially when they occur in unusual sites...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the individual and community factors that contribute to dental utilization among young children on Medicaid utilizing the Anderson Model and the Socio-Ecological Framework. METHODS: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted using baseline data (socio-demographics, clinical dental need) from a cluster-randomized hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial among 1021 child-parent dyads recruited from primary care practices across northeast Ohio...

BACKGROUND: The pediatric sizes of BlockBuster supraglottic airway (SGA) have been introduced recently. Its efficacy as a conduit for endotracheal intubation in children has not been assessed. Newer devices are often compared with Air-Q SGA to assess their intubating capability. AIMS: The primary objective was to compare the time taken for fiber-optic-guided intubation through the BlockBuster and the Air-Q SGAs. METHODS: Sixty children aged 6 months to 12 years with normal airways were randomized into two groups: Air-Q SGA (Group A) and Blockbuster SGA (Group B)...

BACKGROUND: Pediatric femoral fractures are common in emergency rooms, with treatment options varying by age. This study compares elastic stable intramedullary nailing (ESIN) and plate fixation for diaphyseal femoral fractures in children aged 5-10. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Conducted at Al-Kindi Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, from December 2017 to December 2019, this prospective study included 32 children with closed transverse diaphyseal femoral fractures. Patients were divided into two groups: 16 treated with ESIN (Group 1) and 16 with plate fixation (Group 2)...

Persistent junctional reciprocating tachycardia is a rare form of refractory atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia that accounts for <1% of supraventricular tachycardia in pediatrics. The accessory pathways are generally isolated with few reported underlying structural heart defects. We present a case of a five-month-old male with refractory tachyarrhythmia found to have cor triatriatum sinister, which to our knowledge, is the first reported case of these two rare anomalies coexisting.

BACKGROUND: Children with disabilities generally face poorer oral health outcomes compared with their non-disabled peers due to a range of factors including inadequate oral hygiene, infrequent dental visits and systemic barriers in accessing care. AIM: This ethnographic study explored the perspectives of caregivers and professionals to identify the ways that children with disabilities are included in oral health. DESIGN: A purposive sample of 10 caregivers, all mothers with disabled children aged 9-15 years, five healthcare providers and five educators in Saudi Arabia, participated...

Inborn errors of bile acid metabolism (IEBAM) cause cholestasis during the neonatal period, and 8 types of IEBAM have been reported to date. IEBAM accounts for approximately 2% of cases of cholestasis of unknown cause. As only 10 patients have been identified in Japan, IEBAM presents diagnostic challenges due to the similarity of clinical symptoms with biliary atresia, thus necessitating precise differentiation to avoid unnecessary invasive procedures. Laboratory tests in IEBAM are characterized by normal γ -glutamyltransferase (GGT) and serum total bile acid (STBA) levels despite the presence of cholestasis; therefore, measuring STBA and GGT is essential to distinguishing biliary atresia from IEBAM...

In pediatric-aged patients, hyperthyroidism generally results from the autoimmune disorder, Graves' disease (GD). Excessive levels of thyroid hormones (triiodothyronine and thyroxine) result in irritability, emotional lability, nervousness, tremors, palpitations, tachycardia, and arrhythmias. The risk of morbidity and mortality is increased when surgical intervention is required in patients with hyperthyroidism due to the potential for the development of thyroid storm (TS). A 3-year, 1-month-old child with a past medical history of GD presented for total thyroidectomy when pharmacologic control with methimazole was not feasible due to intolerance following development of a serum sickness-like illness...