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OBJECTIVE. We aimed to detect biliary atresia (BA) in early infancy to prevent additional liver damage because of the delay of referral and surgical treatment and to investigate the incidence rate of BA in Taiwan. METHODS. A pilot study to screen the stool color in infants for the early diagnosis of BA was undertaken from March 2002 to December 2003. We had designed an "infant stool color card" with 7 numbers of different color pictures and attached it to the child health booklet. Parents were then asked to observe their infant's stool color by using this card. The medical staff would check the number that the parents chose according to their infant's stool color at 1 month of age during the health checkup and then send the card back to the stool color card registry center. RESULTS. The average return rate was ~65.2% (78 184 infants). A total of 29 infants were diagnosed as having BA, and 26 were screened out by stool color card before 60 days of age. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value were 89.7%, 99.9%, and 28.6%, respectively. Seventeen (58.6%) infants with BA received a Kasai operation within 60-day age period. The estimated incidence of BA in screened newborns was 3.7 of 10 000. CONCLUSIONS. The stool color card was a simple, efficient, and applicable mass screening method for early diagnosis and management of BA. The program can also help in estimating the incidence and creating a registry of these patients. Key Words biliary atresia, infant stool color card, incidence, Kasai operation Abbreviations BA--biliary atresia NH--neonatal hepatitis, BILIARY ATRESIA (BA) is one of the most common causes of cholestasis in infants To get effective bile drainage after surgery and improve the prognosis of infants with BA, early […]

Background: Prior to the introduction of rotavirus vaccines, rotavirus was the leading cause of severe gastroenteritis in infants and young children, and it continues to be the leading cause in countries without vaccination programs. Rotavirus gastroenteritis results in substantial economic burden and has a pronounced effect on the family of those who are ill. Both in Taiwan and in Vietnam, rotavirus illness is viewed as a priority disease. This study assessed, in Taiwan and Vietnam, the impact of rotavirus gastroenteritis on the family among a group of parents whose children had recently been hospitalized for this illness. Methods: In the first half of 2013, parents of children who had been hospitalized due to rotavirus infection were recruited from hospitals in Taiwan (n = 12) and Vietnam (n = 22), and participated in focus group sessions or in-depth ethnographic interviews. Results: In both countries, the results point to a substantial burden on the parents concerning emotions and logistics of daily tasks, and to considerable disruptions of the family routine. Taiwanese parents reported satisfaction with the health care system, a great deal of effort to suppress emotions, a fair amount of knowledge about rotavirus, and little extra costs related to the illness. On the other hand, parents in Vietnam expressed concern about the emotional well-being of and the health care treatments for their children, were less knowledgeable regarding rotavirus infection, and experienced a substantial financial burden due to indirect costs that were related to accessing treatment. Conclusions: Families in Taiwan and Vietnam suffer from a considerable economic and emotional burden related to rotavirus gastroenteritis. One way to substantially reduce this burden is to provide universal and affordable rotavirus vaccination to susceptible children, especially since cost-effectiveness studies have demonstrated that universal vaccination would be safe and efficacious against severe rotavirus gastroenteritis in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Purpose: Capsule endoscopy (CE) is a noninvasive examination for excellent visualization of small bowel mucosal lesions. We aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of CE in pediatric patients., Methods: From April 2014 to December 2022, CE procedures performed in children younger than 18 years of age at Taichung Veteran General Hospital were analyzed retrospectively., Results: Among 136 procedures, the completion rate was 95.6% (n = 130), with a median age of 14 years old. Suspicion or evaluation of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) (41%) was the most common indication for CE. Other common indications of CE were chronic unexplained abdominal pain (35%) and obscure gastrointestinal bleeding or iron deficiency anemia (21%). No procedure-related complications occurred. The diagnosis of those patients with incomplete study were CD with small bowel stricture, graft-versus-host disease and duodenal ulcers. A total of 86 CE procedures showed positive findings, and the overall diagnostic yield rate was 63.2%. Small bowel ulcers (65.12%) were the most common findings. Overall, 26.5% of CE examinations resulted in a new diagnosis and 44.9% of CE exams led to a change in therapy. For patients with IBD, CE findings resulted in an even higher therapeutic change rate of 48.1%., Conclusions: CE is a safe and feasible diagnostic method to study the small intestine in children, especially for IBD. Incomplete study could be an indicator of positive finding and can potentially be a guide to identify the site of possible strictures., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The pathogenesis of biliary atresia (BA) is unclear, but epidemiological studies may help to elucidate possible causes. The goals of this study were to identify BA incidence changes in Taiwan in 2004-2009 and to survey the factors that might influence incidence changes to elucidate the possible causes of BA., Methods: A Taiwan national registry system for BA has been established since 2004. By using data from the national registry system for BA, we identified BA incidence changes in 2004-2009. We also evaluated the correlations between BA incidences and estimated rotavirus vaccine coverage rates and between BA incidences and the gross domestic product., Results: A total of 185 patients with BA were identified in 2004-2009 in Taiwan, whereas the number of live births was 1 221 189. Compared with the incidence of BA in 2004-2006 (1.79 cases per 10,000 live births), the incidence of BA in 2007-2009 (1.23 cases per 10,000 live births) was decreased significantly (P = .01). BA incidences were negatively correlated with the gross domestic product (P = .02) and marginally negatively correlated with rotavirus vaccine coverage rates (P = .07)., Conclusions: A significant decrease in BA incidence in Taiwan since 2007 has been noted and may be related to improvements in the general socioeconomic status and the popularity of rotavirus vaccination. Although more evidence is needed to establish a direct correlation, this phenomenon may shed light on possible causes of and preventive interventions for BA.

Budd-Chiari syndrome is a rare, heterogenous and potentially lethal condition due to hepatic venous outflow obstruction. Classic triads include hepatomegaly, ascites and abdominal pain. Most cases are caused by abnormal coagulopathy, infection, inflammation or tumor invasion. Status post liver transplantation was rarely mentioned in the pediatric group. Here we report a case of 4-year-old girl with biliary atresia status post living donor liver transplantation. Marked ascites developed 2 months later and Budd-Chiari syndrome was diagnosed. Cardiac catheterization showed significant stenoses of the hepatic vein and inferior vena cava. Initial balloon angioplasty of inferior vena cava only resulted in mild improvement. After successful balloon angioplasty of the hepatic vein stenosis, the stenosis of the inferior vena cava improved significantly. The ascites resolved soon, and no more happened up to 8 months' follow-up.

Ever since percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy (PEG) was used for the first time in 1980 by Gauderer, Ponsky, Izant et al., It has been widely used in patients incapable of oral feeding. It is a safe and effective technique for long-term nutritional support in children, and easy to perform, as only local anesthesia or heavy sedation is required PEG can prevent children from suffering from nasopharyngeal and esophageal erosions due to repeated insertion of nasogastric tubes and the complication of aspiration pneumonia. It is therefore an alternative for children who need long-term feeding. In this article we review the literature on PEG and give a full description of its indications, complications, as well as advice on when to change gastrostomy tubes, and on nursing care, in the hope that this will be useful reference material for medical staff.

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection frequently leads to end-stage liver diseases and extrahepatic complications. Combination therapy with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) and ribavirin is now recommended as the first-line therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C in adults. However, the benefit of such combination therapy in children with hepatitis C is still under investigation. We report here on a 6-year-old boy admitted with chronic active hepatitis C infection and treated with interferon-alpha and ribavirin. After treatment for 12 months, his serum showed negative HCV RNA, and normal alanine aminotransferase, and there was a sustained response. The patient's serum soluble CD30 (sCD30) level was higher than that of controls (>100 U/mL vs 46 +/- 11 U/mL) before combination therapy but there was no difference in soluble CD26 (sCD26) [103 ng/mL vs 119 +/- 28 ng/mL]. The sCD30 decreased and sCD26 increased at 6 months (45 U/mL and 188.3 ng/mL, respectively) using combined therapy as well as at 4 months after discontinuing it (33 U/mL and 167.8 ng/mL, respectively) in our patient. The results indicate that combined treatment with IFN-alpha and ribavirin may be used as the first-line treatment for children with chronic hepatitis C. The changes of sCD30 and sCD26 may be helpful in estimating of HCV infection activity.