Background. Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is the most common childhood vasculitis with an incidence of approximately 10 per 100 000 children. There is some evidence to support steroid therapy in the treatment of severe abdominal pain, severe nephritis, and central nervous system involvement. However, the routine use of corticosteroids is controversial. Frequent relapses, lack of response to steroid, steroid dependency, and steroid side effects may occur in some patients. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) gains increasing popularity in the treatment of autoimmune disorders, but hitherto, the available evidence to support the use of MMF in HSP is limited to some case study reports. Case Presentation. We report six children with HSP who failed to respond to systemic steroid therapy, whereas MMF successfully treated the manifestations of the disease. Conclusion. The manifestations of HSP disappeared mainly during the first week of treatment with MMF and all the patients were in a complete remission at the end and after discontinuation of the therapy. In our experience, MMF appeared to be safe and effective for the maintenance of remission in the HSP patients.

Steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) in children carries a significant risk of progression to end-stage renal failure (ESRF). We report a two-step protocol adapted in children with SRNS. Thirty-seven SRNS were treated with cyclosporine A (CyA) in association with prednisolone (alternate day) for 6 months (first-step treatment). Twelve patients (32.4%) went into complete remission, and 2 (5.4%) got partial remission. The other 23 cases who were steroid and CyA resistant entered a second-step treatment with withdrawing steroids, with CyA (5 mg/kg/day) in association with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) 30 mg/kg/day for 6 months. Complete remission was observed in 11 cases (47.82%) and partial remission in 2 cases (8.7%). After two steps of treatment, 27/37 children went into total remission. In steroid and CyA-resistant INS, the association of MMF with CyA was able to induce remission in about half cases without relevant side effects.

Nocturnal enuresis is a common problem among children. Hypercalciuria has been proposed as an important etiology of bedwetting. We investigated the incidence of hypercalciuria among children with nocturnal enuresis and age- and sex-matched healthy controls. In this case–control study 118 children with nocturnal enuresis and 100 age-, sex-, and educational district-matched healthy controls were recruited. Urine samples were obtained from each subject twice: immediately after awakening and 2 hours later at school. Urinary calcium and creatinine levels were measured and the subjects with a urinary calcium/creatinine ratio more than 0.2 were considered as hypercalciuric. Serum Ca, P, Na, K, and PTH levels were measured for all hypercalciuric subjects. The mean urine calcium to creatinine ratio in the second urine sample was 0.070±0.06 mg/mg and 0.050±0.046, respectively in the case and control groups (P=0.008). There were 12/118 and 3/100 hypercalciuric subjects in the case and control groups respectively (P=0.032). The serum Ca, P, Na, K, and PTH levels were in normal range in all hypercalciuric subjects. In our study there was a significant difference in the frequency of hypercalciuria among children with nocturnal enuresis and healthy controls, so we can suggest adding the measurement of urine electrolytes especially the calcium level in patients with nocturnal enuresis.

Blood infection is one of the causes of morbidity in hospitalized patients. While some scholars have identified procalcitonin (PCT) as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of blood infection, others have questioned its diagnostic value. Thus, the present study was conducted to compare the diagnostic values of PCT with C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR), white blood cell (WBC) count, and blood culture in patients with bacterial blood infections. In a prospective case–control study, 45 septic patients (6 months–5 years old), who were hospitalized in Shahid Motahhari Hospital of Urmia over the year 2016 and 45 patients with noninfectious diseases, whose gender and age range were similar to the members of the septic group, were examined. The participants’ blood samples were taken for the sake of blood culture and measurement of PCT level, ESR, and CRP. Finally, the collected data were analyzed through the SPSS-21 software. the results indicated that the average PCT, ESR, CRP, and WBC count was significantly higher in septic patients. Moreover, the blood culture of patients with negative or intermediate serum PCT levels was negative, while 50% of blood culture results in patients with positive PCT were positive and the rest were negative. Finally, a significant relationship was detected between the frequency of blood culture results and results of serum PCT tests (P = 0.003). serum PCT level can be considered a diagnostic marker of bacterial infections. If used in conjunction with tests of CRP, ESR, and WBC count, the PCT test can enhance the diagnosis of bacterial infections.

Objective In this study we aimed to assess the attitudes and practices of medical students regarding hepatitis A immunization and also adverse reactions of associated with vaccine and effect on acceptability. Methods The study was performed on 103 medical students with ages between 20 and 26 years old. All the students vaccinated by the same nurse at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine on 14 days in December and answered a questionnaire and follow-up form. Results The mean student age was 21.69±0.97 years. Pain with movement (58.3%) and pain with touch (38.8%) were the most common side effects at vaccination site. Despite the side effects, all of the vaccinated students wanted to receive the following dose of vaccine. Twelve of the vaccinated students (11.7 %) indicated that the reason of their vaccination was the recommendation of a pediatric infectious disease specialist. One of the major reason for not wishing vaccination was the cost for 60 of them (58.3%).