Background
Nutrition markers may be useful for diagnosis and monitoring and, also, as additional indicators of estimating death risk. We tested the association of body composition indicators (mid–upper arm circumference and phase angle) with pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) length of stay and mortality in critically ill pediatric patients.
Methods
Data from children aged 2 months–18 years were collected, and bioelectrical impedance was performed to obtain phase angle. Severity was evaluated by scoring the Pediatric Index of Mortality. Descriptive statistics were reported for nominal variables. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to analyze the association of phase angle with 30‐day mortality and to find the best cutoff. Survival probabilities and PICU length of stay were estimated using the Kaplan‐Meier method.
Results
We evaluated 247 children with a median age of 4.8 years whose main cause of admission was sepsis. Survival curves showed higher survival in patients with phase angle >2.8° compared with patients with phase angle ≤2.8° (P < .0001). Kaplan‐Meier time‐to‐event analysis showed that children with lower phase angle values were more likely to remain in the PICU (hazard ratio, 1.84; P = .003). Lower survival was also observed in patients who presented mid–upper arm circumference values ≤5th percentile (P < .03).
Conclusions
Mid–upper arm circumference and phase angle were associated with mortality and morbidity in critically ill children, suggesting that these parameters may be useful not only for nutrition diagnosis and monitoring, but also as an additional indicator in estimating prognosis.
Therapeutic approaches to chronic actinic cheilitis focus on the removal or destruction of diseased epithelium. The CO(2) laser has become an important therapeutic alternative, achieving clinical resolution in around 90% of patients. Although many laser physical parameters have been reported, some are known for their low potential for scar induction without compromising the success of the results. The aim of this clinicohistological study was to compare the therapeutic responses to two low-morbidity protocols involving a single laser pass. A total of 40 patients with chronic multicentric and microscopically proven disease were randomly submitted to two conservative CO(2) laser protocols using a bilateral comparative model. The degree of histological atypia of the epithelium was determined in 26 patients both pre- and postoperatively for both protocols. Other histological phenomena were assessed in addition to this central analysis parameter. Clinical recurrence occurred in 12.5% of patients for each protocol, together with a significant reduction in the degree of epithelial atypia (p < 0.001), which was occasionally complete. However, no difference was found between the protocols (p > 0.05). Using these morphological parameters it was not possible to determine whether postoperative epithelial atypias in part of the sample were reactive or residual in nature. A few patients may show minor postoperative lesions. Due to their potential to achieve clinical and importantly microscopic resolution, the studied protocols may be used for mild through moderate dysplastic epithelium and clinically diffuse disease.
In hypertensive children and adolescents, HBP and ABP present comparable results. HBP appears to be a useful diagnostic test for the detection of MH and WCH in pediatric patients.
this study showed that the cut-off point detected for whole cow's milk revealed a better discriminatory capacity for CMA diagnosis without the necessity of the milk components testing.
The interest in quality of life (QoL) studies has increased as they are useful instruments to evaluate and compare medical care delivery and the impact of health interventions. The perception of QoL differs among individuals. Its characterization is especially difficult in the pediatric age group as each developmental stage presents specific demands. The prevalence of congenital lower urinary dysfunction is high and their management changes the daily routine of the patients and their families. In a cross-sectional study, we evaluated the QoL of 28 children and adolescents with urinary malformations and their caregivers using the Autoquestionnaire Qualité de Vie Enfant Imagé (AUQUEI) and Short-Form 36 (SF-36), respectively, and compared the results with 38 healthy control age-paired children/caregivers. Four questions were added to patients' questionnaire to evaluate issues related to their urological management. Our results show lower AUQUEI total scoring in the patients' group (p<0.0213, Fisher's exact test), who also present problems in dealing with social aspects, such as being at classroom, manifest negative feelings in relation to diurnal urinary losses but seem to be well adapted to intermittent urethral catheterization. A tendency for worse QoL scores in the patients' group caregivers was detected in the SF-36 pain and physical limitation domains.
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