No abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the construct validity of two questionnaire-based measures of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in children undergoing cancer chemotherapy: the Health Utilities Index (HUI) and the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ). Subjects were children hospitalised for chemotherapy. To examine construct validity: (1) a priori expected relations between CHQ concepts and HUI attributes were examined; (2) HUI and CHQ summary scores were compared to visual analogue scale (VAS) scores. Ease of completion was rated using a 5-point categorical scale and completion time was recorded. A total of 36 subjects were included. The maximum score was seen in 15 (47%) of HUI3 assessments. As predicted, CHQ body pain was moderately correlated with HUI3 pain (r ¼ 0.51), CHQ physical functioning was moderately correlated with HUI2 mobility (r ¼ 0.58) and CHQ mental health was moderately correlated with HUI2 emotion (r ¼ 0.53). Only the CHQ psychosocial subscale (and not HUI) was correlated with VAS (r ¼ 0.44). The CHQ and the HUI were both easy to use. The HUI questionnaires required less time to complete (mean ¼ 3.1, s.d. ¼ 1 min) compared with CHQ (mean ¼ 13.1, s.d. ¼ 3.4 min, Po0.0001). In conclusion, HUI and CHQ demonstrated construct validity in children undergoing cancer chemotherapy. The Health Utilities Index is subject to a ceiling effect whereas CHQ requires more time to complete.

Sturge–Weber syndrome is a rare sporadic condition of mesodermal phakomatosis, characterized by purple-colored flat cutaneous cranial (face) hemangiomas (most commonly along the trigeminal nerve), glaucoma and vascular lesions in the ipsilateral brain and meninges. Klippel–Trenaunay syndrome is also an uncommon mesodermal phakomatosis characterized by a triad of cutaneous and visceral hemangiomas, venous varicosities and soft tissue or bone hypertrophy. Sturge–Weber syndrome in combination with Klippel–Trenaunay syndrome is unusual. Because of the rarity, we report here a 3-year-old boy who presented with overlapping features of both the syndromes.

We assessed the clinical course and biochemical profile of symptomatic children with viral hepatitis A who had atypical manifestations. Of 229 children with hepatitis A, atypical manifestations were found in 32 (14%) subjects. Prolonged cholestasis (n = 14), acute liver failure (9), relapse (9), ascites (8), and hematological problems (8) were the common presentations. Liver histology was suggestive of chronic liver disease in six children with protracted jaundice. Patients with atypical presentations were older (7.7 [1.6] years vs. 6.5 [2.6] years; p=0.012) and had higher total serum bilirubin (13.7 [8.1] mg/dL vs. 7.2 [4.0] mg/dL; p=<0.001) than those with typical presentation. Approximately 15% of children with acute hepatitis A infection have atypical presentation which is associated with increase in morbidity.

No abstract