In young children, benign vascular tumors (VT) are most often manifested as congenital hemangioma and infantile hemangioma. There are considered clinical variants, pathogenesis, evaluation of severity and approaches to assessing the effectiveness of laser surgical treatment for VT in infants. For the first time, there are presented numerical criteria for selecting the optimal laser system to provide the relevant photo-obstruction of the pathological vascular bed, reducing the risk for the development of side effects in the early and remote period after the laser radiation exposure. Comparison of the values of the coefficients of complete absorption of oxyhemoglobin and hemoglobin at different stages of vascular tumor development shows the optimal laser treatment of vascular tumors can be realized by the laser radiation with a wavelength of 578 nm, since it is absorbed to the maximum extent by the main vascular photothermophores - oxyhemoglobin and hemoglobin. Taking into account the features of the angioarchitecture of the pathological vascular bed of the papillary dermis, to prevent the occurrence of petechial hemorrhages (purpura) immediately after the procedure, laser irradiation should be carried out in a pulsed mode with a pulse duration of 15-20 ns. To prevent thermal damage to the reticular layer of the dermis, it is advisable to use a laser pen with a diameter of 0.6-1 mm. The choice of optimal conditions for radiation exposure ensures high efficiency of the laser treatment of vascular tumors, which have been becoming one of the most promising directions in modern hospital-replacing technologies in pediatric laser surgery.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a major cause of the morbidity and high mortality in preterm infants. With the ELISA method there were determined cytokine concentrations of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), macrophage inflammatory protein1β (MIP-1β), matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, -3, -8, -9) and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in low birthweight (LBW) premature infants with NEC. There were examined 68 infants at the conservative and surgical stages of NEC. In all patients on admission at 3rd and 7th day of the treatment the concentration of these compounds was determined in blood serum and tissues from damaged ileum and colon. There were established divergent differences in TGF-β content (reduction by 1,9-3 times) and MIP-1β (1.3-1.5 fold increase) in serum as compared with the control. More pronounced changes in the blood concentrations of these biomarkers in patients at the surgical stage of the NEC due to a decrease in TGF-β content, a significant increase in MIP-1β concentrations, MMP-8, TIMP-1 and the lack of the decrease in their content in the course of treatment, are associated with the severe course of NEC in LBW premature infants and prove to be indices of the unfavorable course of NEC, which requires to revise and optimize the therapeutic approach timely in such patients.

There is presented a brief analysis of the history and development of pediatric societies of Russia, there are shown the main stages of the establishment of the Union of pediatricians of Russia. There are reflected peculiarities of the legislative, educational, publishing, international, scientific and tutorial activities of the leading professional association of Russian pediatricians, concrete examples of their efforts to protect the children’s rights and health are given. Scientific substantiation of the state system of children’s health, which has proven to be highly effective, was both repeatedly discussed and improved on Congress and Convention of the Union of pediatricians of Russia, was shown to be historically important. The basis of the new children’s health care system was consisted of the state nature, preventive orientation, the priority of primary medical care for children as a pediatrician according to the district scheme. Particular attention in the article is paid to efforts of pediatricians of Russia on construction of an effective system of health and social care for children’s population.

The formation of hay fever as a form of allergic pathology in children is determined by the sensitization of the growing organism to pollen allergens with the production of specific IgE and significant influence of atopy. Comprehensively there were examined 45 adolescents of 10-17 years, suffering from hay fever. Serum cytokine content was determined by ELISA. Adolescents suffering from hay fever, in the remission of the disease were established to show an increase of production IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-12, accompanied by an increase in total serum IgE level. It indicates to the prevalence of Th2-immune response and participation of atopy in their development. The elevation of the IL-12 serum level in adolescents suffering from hay fever, more pronounced in patients with chronic inflammatory pathology of the upper respiratory tract, is possibly aimed at the reinforcement of the synthesis of IFN-a and suppression of the excessive Th2- immune response. The development of Th1/Th2 imbalance with predominance of Th2 immune response and changes in the cytokine status in examined adolescents are the determining factors for the occurrence of diseases due to pollen sensitization in them. The study of the assembly of various cytokines in pollenoses permits to destine about the functional activity of various cells of the immune system, the severity of the allergic process, the degree of activation of Th2 and Th1 lymphocytes, which should be considered in the treatment of these forms of allergic diseases in children.