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Purulent pericarditis in children is a life-threatening condition causing cardiac tamponade and disrupting the hemodynamic status of the patient. It has been associated with high mortality if treatment is delayed. Furthermore, purulent pericarditis may lead to constrictive pericarditis in the long term if not fully treated. Acute purulent pericarditis should be seriously considered in every septic child presenting with signs of right heart decompensation. Echocardiography is important for diagnosis. Diagnostic pericardiocentesis should be performed. Recent experience shows that excellent results can be obtained when adequate surgical drainage and antibiotic therapy are combined. We report a case of purulent bacterial pericarditis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an immunocompetent young child presenting with sepsis. The patient was successfully treated with a combined medical and early surgical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aim: In addition to increased survival rates, systemic complications which can impair the quality of life have been seen in 25-30% of childhood and adolescent cancer cases. The respiratory system is one of the severely affected systems. We aimed to evaluate late respiratory complications and risk factors in pediatric and adolescent cancers. Materials and Methods: We examined the pulmonary complications of 50 cancer patients and 40 control cases. We asked about environmental exposures, physical examinations performed, and pulmonary function tests (PFT) spirometry, diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon). X-ray was performed on all patients in the patient group and on patients with indications in the control group. Results: In the patient group, there was impairment of pulmonary function in 52%, [24% small airway disease (SAD)], 14% diffusion disorders (DD) and 14% combined disorders (CD) compared to 22.5% in the control group (p=0.007). There was a higher risk of restrictive disorder and/or SAD in those cancer patients who were diagnosed prior to 2 years of age. Additionally, there was a higher rate of SAD in those patients with soft tissue sarcomas and a higher rate of restrictive disease in those patients who had received high-dose alkylating agents. No significant PFT impairment was observed in the other patient groups. Conclusion: There is a high incidence of respiratory impairment in childhood and adolescent cancer survivors. They need to be followed up by a multidisciplinary team and be informed about the additional risk factors which may cause lung function loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: In the present study, the relationship between neonatal morbidity and cord vitamin D levels is investigated. Materials and Methods: Premature infants who were born before 32 weeks of gestation and admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit between January 2014 and January 2015 were included in the study. Vitamin D levels in the cord blood of infants were measured. Serum calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase levels were recorded in the first 24 hours. All neonates were followed up for neonatal morbidities until discharge. Results: The mean gestational age of the study subjects was 29.2±2.6 (23-32). The mean vitamin D level was 27.4±19.3 ng/mL (4-76). Fourteen (46.7%) infants had normal vitamin D levels; 2 infants (6.7%) had vitamin D insufficiency (20-30 ng/mL), 14 infants (46.7%) had vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL), and 7 infants had severe vitamin D deficiency (23.3%). In 60% of infants with intrauterine growth restriction had vitamin D deficiency of p<0.05. Serum phosphorus levels on the first day of life were significantly lower in infants with vitamin D deficiency (p<0.001). Conclusion: In more than half of the study population vitamin D deficiency was determined. Infants with intrauterine growth restriction had vitamin D deficiency in more than half of the cases. Low levels of phosphorus may be a marker of vitamin D deficiency in the first days of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is not exactly known the risks from infection with pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 in children with leukemia. Here the authors present their experience in 5 children with leukemia. Pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 was detected in 5 patients (F/M: 3/2) at their institution. The ages of these patients were between 2 and 16 years. Four had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 1 acute myeloblasic leukemia (AML). Three of the ALL patients had the diagnosis of pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 at the same time as they were diagnosed with ALL. The remaining 2 patients were receiving intensive chemotherapy. All patients had fever, rhinorrhea, and cough. Although bronchopneumonia was seen in 3 patients, only 1 revealed respiratory distress. Stomachache and diarrhea was seen in the patientwho had no pneumonia. All treated as inpatients, but none of them required hospitalization in intensive care unit. One to 3 days after the symptoms of influenza appeared, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) was given to all patients in combination with broad-spectrum antibiotics. Fever declined to normal ranges in 1 to 3 days after treatment was started. The patients received oseltamivir for 5 to 7 days. Cell culture tests were found to be positive for influenza A and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed H1N1 for all 5 patients. Although this is a very small case series, pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 did not seem to be very dangerous for children with leukemia if the oseltamivir treatment was given early when symptoms of influenza appeared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]