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Objective To assess the association of serum Vitamin D (vitD) levels with asthma control and severity in children and adolescents in different seasons of the year. Method Longitudinal, prospective study with 7- to 17-year-old children and adolescents diagnosed with asthma. All participants underwent two assessments conducted in opposite seasons of the year which included a clinical assessment, a questionnaire for classification of asthma control (Asthma Control Test), spirometry, and blood collection to measure serum vitD levels. Results In total, 141 individuals with asthma were evaluated. The mean vitD was lower in females (p = 0.006) and sunlight exposure appears not to be an influencing factor for vitD levels. We found no differences in mean vitD of patients with controlled and uncontrolled asthma (p = 0.703; p = 0.956). However, the severe asthma group had lower mean Vitamin D than the mild/moderate asthma group for both assessments (p = 0.013; p = 0.032). In the first assessment, the group with vitD insufficiency had a higher prevalence of severe asthma (p = 0.015). Vitamin D was positively correlated with FEV.sub.1 in both assessments (p = 0.008; p = 0.006) and with FEF.sub.25-75% in the first assessment (p = 0.038). Conclusion In a tropical climate zone, there is no evidence of association between seasonality and serum vitD levels or between serum vitD levels and asthma control in children and adolescents. However, vitD and lung function were positively correlated and the group with vitD insufficiency had a higher prevalence of severe asthma., Author(s): Ana Paula G. Malheiro [sup.1] [sup.2], Lívea Gianfrancesco [sup.1] [sup.2], Roberto José N. Nogueira [sup.3] [sup.4], Milena B. Grotta [sup.2] [sup.3], André M. Morcillo [sup.3], José Dirceu Ribeiro [sup.2] [...]

The human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) stimulation test that evaluates gonadal steroidogenesis is crucial in the assessment of patients with 46,XY disorders of sex development (DSD). This study aimed to determine a testosterone (T) cutoff level that indicates an adequate testicular function using LC-MS/MS after stimulation with recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (rhCG) in a single dose. Nineteen prepubertal children with 46,XY DSD and normal T secretion were evaluated. T and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels were measured by liquid chromatography technique with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) before and 7 days after rhCG application at 250 µg. We suggest 0.89 ng/mL as the cutoff point for T after rhCG stimulation analyzed by LC-MS/MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) stimulation test that evaluates gonadal steroidogenesis is crucial in the assessment of patients with 46,XY disorders of sex development (DSD). This study aimed to determine a testosterone (T) cutoff level that indicates an adequate testicular function using LC-MS/MS after stimulation with recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (rhCG) in a single dose. Nineteen prepubertal children with 46,XY DSD and normal T secretion were evaluated. T and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels were measured by liquid chromatography technique with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) before and 7 days after rhCG application at 250 µg. We suggest 0.89 ng/mL as the cutoff point for T after rhCG stimulation analyzed by LC-MS/MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current literature presents no consensus regarding which aspects influence health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) of women with Turner syndrome (TS). The objective of the present study was to compare HRQoL in the TS and control group, using components and domains of the Medical Outcomes Study 36‐Item Short Form Health Survey (SF‐36). Observational, descriptive, and cross‐sectional study with 44 women with TS aged between 18 and 30 years (TS group) and 44 healthy women of the same age which were sisters, relatives, or friends of the TS group (control group). A registration form and the SF‐36 questionnaire were used to analyze HRQoL in TS in relation to the control group. The TS group presented better scores in the mental component summary and in the role physical, bodily pain, general health, social function, and role emotional domains compared to the control group. This study presented some unexpected results, different from those found in the current literature, showing the possibility of TS patients presenting better coping strategies. It is necessary to develop a specific questionnaire to assess QoL in TS and analyze in great detail which factors may influence the HRQoL of these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: To evaluate growth and body composition of patients with the salt wasting form of classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency and to compare them with healthy children. Methods: Twenty-one prepubertal patients (eight boys and 13 girls) between 2.1 and 10.2 years and 67 prepubertal healthy controls (36 boys and 31 girls) between 1.2 and 11.7 years were included. Weight, height, upperarm circumference, skinfolds, body composition determined by bioimpedance, and bone age were measured. The following data were obtained from the medical records: parents' height, serum levels of 17-hydroxyprogesterone and Δ4-androstenedione, prescribed hydrocortisone doses, weight and length at birth, in the beginning of the treatment, and at 2 years. Results: Patients had lower weight and length z scores at the first appointment compared with the same data at birth, showing recovery after the beginning of the treatment without advanced bone age. Mean height z score was higher in controls (0.28±0.86) than in patients (-0.61±0.99, p < 0.001); this difference disappeared when the patients' height was adjusted to their bone age (0.33±1.68, p = 0.912). Patients had higher body mass index (p < 0.001), fat mass (p < 0.001), and fat mass index (p < 0.001) than controls. There was no difference in the skinfolds between the two groups (p = 0.157). Conclusions: Patients had growth recovery with mean height similar to the general population; however, they had higher body fat, which seems to be visceral, since there was no difference between the skinfolds of both groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To gain further knowledge on the subject we evaluated Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) gene expression and TCD4+, TCD8+, and B lymphocyte counts in lung tissue samples from 20 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children with chronic lung disease. Twenty HIV-1 infected children with chronic pulmonary disease underwent open lung biopsy to define the diagnosis. Histological section of this material was submitted to nonisotopic in situ hybridization (ISH) using EBV-encoded RNA (EBER) 1/2 probes and TCD4+, TCD8+, and CD20+ Bcell counts by immunohistochemistry. The histology of 16 out of the 20 children (median age 53.5 months) proved to be examples of pulmonary lymphoid hyperplasia/ lymphoid interstitial pneumonitis (PLH/LIP) complex, 13 of which were EBER positive, but no significant association was found (Fisher exact test P 5 0.439). Four patients had non-LIP diseases (3, nonspecific interstitial pneumonia; 1, diffuse advanced alveolar damage), two being EBER negative. Nineteen children showed a predominant T-CD8+ cell response (CD4+/CD8+ ,1) in lung tissue. The mean TCD4+ and theTCD4/TCD8 ratio in lung tissue were significantly higher in the sections with PLH/LIP complex, but without significant difference between EBER positive and EBER negative samples. EBV gene expression was detected in the majority of the lung samples but without significant association with PLH/LIP complex or with TCD4+, TCD8+, B cells and the TCD4+/TCD8+ ratio. Regarding the pattern of lung disease in HIV-1 infected children, associated or not to EBV, the findings are of importance concerning the possible role of EBV in the pathogenesis of PLH/LIP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To detect factors associated with greater risk of death in infants after an apparent life-threatening event (ALTE)., Methods: This cross-sectional, retrospective, descriptive and analytic study evaluated infants younger than 12 months who had a sudden event of cyanosis, pallor, hypotonia or apnea and were seen in the emergency department of a tertiary university hospital. Forward stepwise logistic regression (Wald) was used to calculate and adjust odds ratios to evaluate associations., Results: Mean age of the 145 patients included in the study was 105 days (median = 65 days). Eleven (7.6%) died, and their mean age was 189 days (median = 218 days). Mean age of survivors was 98 days (median = 62 days) (p = 0.003). Activity before the event, prematurity and number of events were not associated with death. A significant association was found with pallor. Of the 11 infants, 3 had spontaneous resolution of ALTE, whereas 8 patients [27.6%; p < 0.001; OR = 14.3 (95%CI 3.51-58.3)] did not. The associations with respiratory or cardiovascular disease were also significant. In multivariate analysis, immediate spontaneous resolution [p = 0.015; OR = 6.06 (95%CI 1.02-35.94)] and diagnosis of cardiovascular disease [p = 0.047; OR = 164.27 (95%CI 7.34-3.673.78)] remained statistically significant., Conclusion: Infants who experienced an ALTE had a higher risk of subsequent death when their age was greater than 6 months and the event had a long duration, particularly when ALTE was associated with cardiovascular disease.

Objective: To determine final height (FH) in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) patients and investigate conditions allowing better height outcome., Methodology: 13 salt-wasting (SW) and 14 simple virilizing (SV) patients were studied. FH and target height (TH) were transformed into standard deviation score (z). Data were analyzed according to sex, clinical form, age at treatment onset and length of treatment before attaining FH., Results: zFH (n = 27) was -1.57 +/- 1.01. FH (-1.50 +/- 1.03) was below TH (-0.78 +/- 0.84) (n = 25, p < 0.001). FH has not differed according to sex, clinical form and age at therapy onset although there was a trend towards better FH in SW patients and in early treated cases; there was significant difference (p = 0.018) between patients treated for less than 5 years (-2.49 +/- 1.03) and those accompanied longer than 10 years (-1.21 +/- 0.88) before attaining FH., Conclusions: There was a FH impairment and adult height improvement seems to depend mainly on early diagnosis and treatment.

Objective: The first Brazilian study aimed to evaluate body proportions in patients with Turner Syndrome (TS) with no growth hormone treatment., Methods: A cross-sectional study with 50 TS patients (5 to 43 years) evaluating age, karyotype, pubertal development, height, sitting height, arm span, weight, BMI, head circumference, length of hand, foot and leg, waist to hip ratio, biacromial and biiliac diameters. The data were transformed in score z. A descriptive analysis was done and Mann-Whitney test and analysis of variance was applied., Results: Twenty-eight patients were pubertal and 22 nonpubertal, and all of the absolute measurements were significantly increased in the former. There were no significant differences of the anthropometric findings according to the karyotype and puberty, in relation to score z data. The SD scores of all variables showed means above -2, except height and arm span in the nonpubertal patients and also sitting height and hand in the pubertal patients. The same result was observed when only the patients > 20 years were analyzed, being only weight, BMI, and biacromial and biiliac diameters significantly smaller in relation to the Danish data of Gravholt and Naeera from 1997., Conclusion: The retardation of growth in TS occurs mainly on the longitudinal axis, and the results showed in this study are similar to the Danish report.

Background: Describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics of pediatric patients diagnosed with acute diarrhea and shock, admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit, in order to compare the evolution of clinical data between the survival and non-survival groups, thereby identifying the risk factors of death., Methods: In the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Clinical Hospital at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), a non-controlled, descriptive and retrospective study was carried out from February 1994 to January 1998 The epidemiological and clinical/evolution data were analyzed and the groups of those who survived (56) and did not survive (15) were compared. For continuous variables, the Chi-Square test was used and for categorical variables, the Fisher's Exact test, for values lower than five., Results: Seventy one children aged from 0.4 to 13.9 months were admitted, 15 of them died (21.2%). Low birth weight was found in 18.1% and the mean breast-feeding time was 1.1 months. The average length of stay was 5.6 days. 52/71 children needed mechanical ventilation, use of vasoactive drugs and sodium bicarbonate was necessary in 23/71 and 15/71, respectively. 93% of children were given antibiotics. The use of sodium bicarbonate, vasoactive drugs and mechanical ventilation showed an association with risk of death, but only vasoactive drugs (OR=18.56) and an age less than 3 months (OR=0.10) showed a statistically significant difference in multivariate analysis., Conclusions: Acute diarrhea and shock occurred mainly in children under 3 months of age with a severe clinical/laboratorial condition. During clinical evolution, the high risk of death was related to the use of vasoactive drugs, a support therapy used in critical patients.