Study Objective: To find out the cytokine profile in blood serum of children with acute bronchiolitis. Study Design: Comparative study. Materials and Methods. We examined 52 patients aged 1 to 12 months who were hospitalised to Pulmonary Department with acute bronchiolitis and respiratory distress of various severity. All children had interleukins (IL) 4, 6, and 18 in their blood measured. Study Results. Patients demonstrated some trends in changes in their cytokine profile changes depending on respiratory distress severity. We have found direct correlations between high IL-18 levels and respiratory distress (r = 0.86), and between a history of allergies and high IL-4 levels (r = 0.78). Patients with rhinovirus had higher IL-6 values at any respiratory distress severity vs children with rhinosyncytial viral infection, who had higher IL-18 level. Conclusion. Acute bronchiolitis is characterised by a clear pattern of interleukin expression depending on presence of confounding factors impacting the course of disease and respiratory distress severity. Patients with bronchiolitis had marked changes in their cytokine profile depending on respiratory distress severity: increased IL-18 concentration and reduced IL-4 levels. Such changes in interleukin concentrations can be used as markers in forecasting the course of pathological process. Keywords: bronchiolitis, interleukins, respiratory distress.

Cough in childhood is one of the most common reasons for and symptoms when contacting a pediatric physician. Chronic (lasting over four weeks) wet/productive cough is of particular diagnostic difficulty when it is caused by protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB). The purpose of this research was to study the etiology, clinical options, X-ray semiotics and comorbid diseases in children with PBB. Materials and methods used: clinical observation and analysis of case histories of 76 children aged starting 4.5 months up to 16 years old with PBB were carried out from Mar. 2017 to Jun. 2022. Research methods: microbiological, radiography and computed tomography (CT) of the chest, bronchoscopy, allergy diagnostics, spirometry. The design of the study was as follows: multicentre, non-comparative, open-label, non-randomized, ambispective pilot study. Results: PBB is more common in boys (57%) aged 3 to 7 y/o (59%) and is rare in infancy (7%). The majority of patients met the clinical definition of PBB (86%) and responded to 2 weeks of antibiotic therapy with amoxicillin/clavulanate (78%). The microbiological diagnosis of PBB was confirmed in 14% of children based on bronchoscopy with microbiological examination of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid or sputum examination. The most common pathogens encountered in BAL, sputum and discharge from the nasopharynx, oropharynx are as follows: S. aureus, M. catarrhalis, H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae. The chest X-ray showed bronchitis changes; the chest CT, which was performed in 10 patients, had showed thickening of the bronchial walls. Bronchial dilatation was found in 3 children, bronchiectasis was found in a single patient. Bronchial asthma was comorbid with PBB, occurred in 22% of PBB cases. Conclusion: it is necessary for a pediatric physician to keep PBB in mind as one of the reasons for chronic wet/productive cough in children in order to correctly and timely diagnose the disease and prescribe its adequate treatment.

Aim. To establish the etiological structure and to present clinical and laboratory and instrumental characteristics of bronchiectasis (BE) not associated with cystic fibrosis (CF) in children. Materials and methods. Sixty-seven hospitalised patients with BЕ not related to CF were followed up between 2017 and 2022. Examination methods: clinical-anamnestic method, general clinical laboratory investigations, investigation of allergological and immune status, phagocytosis system, determination of concentration of specific IgE and IgG to fungi of genus Aspergillus, sweat test, radiological examination and computed tomography (CT) of chest organs, bronchoscopy, Bacteriological examination of sputum and/or tracheobronchial aspirates, nasal and/or bronchial ciliary motility, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, 24-hour pH-metry, intra-esophageal combined impedance-pH-metry, genetic study, lung biopsy. Results. Etiologic factors of BЕ not associated with CF in children were severe pneumonia (22%), primary ciliary dyskinesia (22%), bronchial asthma (13%), Williams-Campbell syndrome (7%), bronchial foreign bodies (7%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (6%), Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (6%), postinfectious bronchiolitis obliterans (5%), allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (3%), chronic granulomatous disease (3%), AIDS (1%), prolonged bacterial bronchitis (1%), brain-lung-thyroid syndrome (1%). The clinical picture is characterized by cough (91%), shortness of breath (67%), fever during exacerbation (48%), chest pain (24%), exercise intolerance (55%), drumstick symptom (9%), moist (76%) and dry wheezing (37%). CT-semiotics of BЕ not associated with CF is characterized by localization in one (58%) or several (42%) lobes; traction (42%), non-traction (49%) B and their combination (9%); increased broncho-arterial ratio 0.9; thickening of bronchial wall; "mosaic perfusion"/"air-trap" symptom (9%); more frequent involvement of lower lungs (64%). The main infectious agents in BЕ not associated with CF were Haemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus. Conclusion. On the basis of a multicentre study, the etiological structure, clinical and laboratory and CT-characteristics of non-CF ВE in children were established.

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