[Promotion of breast feeding: it's the role of pediatricians...].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Turck.
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BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to determine the circumstances of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, to evaluate its importance by measurement of urinary cotinine, and to study the relationship with the children's medical history. POPULATION AND METHODS: It was a prospective investigation realized in 20 outpatient pediatric clinics. The parents answered a questionnaire to assess the child's exposure as well as the child's medical and surgical history. Cotinine was measured in urine samples collected during the visit. Concentrations > 6 ng/mL were considered to be positive. RESULTS: Two hundred and one children were included in the study (mean age 17 months, extremes: 1-72 months), 107 of whom were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. Urinary cotinine was found to be positive in 27 cases (13%). There was a positive relation between passive tobacco exposure and positive urinary cotinine (P < 0.001). Eighty of 201 mothers and 135 of 185 fathers smoked. There was a relation between positive urinary cotinine and the mother's smoking, as well as with a history of upper respiratory tract infection (rhinitis, otitis media) or adenoidectomy. No relation was found between a history of bronchiolitis and passive smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Passive tobacco exposure is very frequently encountered in our region. Urinary cotinine, which can be easily measured, might constitute an efficient tool in order to convince the parents of the reality of passive smoking.
Iodine is a trace element essential for the synthesis of thyroid hormones. It is present in the human body in minute amounts (15-20 mg in adults). The thyroid is very sensitive to iodine deficiency in newborns and infants because of its very low iodine content. Daily iodine requirements in humans vary from 40 micrograms in neonates to 150 micrograms in adults. Iodine deficiency represents the first cause of avoidable mental deficiency in developed countries; it has not yet disappeared in Europe, especially in the East, where it is responsible for a high prevalence of goiter. Iodine deficiency during pregnancy increases the risk of neonatal transient hypothyroidism, with a high recall rate in programs of systematic screening for congenital hypothyroidism. Data available in France suggest that screening for iodine deficiency should be performed during pregnancy, and that the minimal iodine concentration in formula milk should be increased to 10 micrograms/100 kcal for term infants and 20 micrograms/100 kcal for premature infants. Iodine deficiency is ideally prevented by the use of iodized salt. Because of the risk of iodine overexposure and secondary transient hypothyroidism, the use of iodinated antiseptics must be avoided in premature babies and neonates as well as in pregnant and lactating women. The fight against iodine deficiency, associated with oral stable preventive iodine administration, decreases sharply the risk of thyroid cancer in case of nuclear exposure, by diminishing thyroid uptake of iodine radioactive isotopes.
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Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) can be assessed in children using several methods: the double-labelled water technique (DLW); indirect whole-body calorimetry; activity diary; accelerometry and heart rate (HR) monitoring. This last, low-cost and convenient technique has been validated against the DLW technique that is normally considered the reference method. The main advantages of HR monitoring are its social acceptability, and the examination of the time spent in specific activities or intensive exercise sessions. The aim of this study was to assess a new method for computing energy expenditure (EE) with the HR monitoring technique in children, using an open-circuit ventilated hood indirect calorimetry system. Eleven healthy children participated in this study, with a mean age of age 8.9+/-3 years. Seven of them were studied again 6 months later, so that 17 measurements were available for analysis. The calibration period was used to collect simultaneous data from HR and EE measured by indirect calorimetry (IC). Measurements were made when the children were resting (REE=Resting Energy Expenditure), during 30 min of a post-prandial period, and during two different activity levels on a cyclergometer (two periods of 15 min at 20 and 60 W output). Results of EE during a longer calibration period (2.5 h) were compared with those of a shorter period (1.5 h), for a group of six subjects. Results of nightly EE measurements of five subjects were recorded using IC and compared with the HR predicted method. Results of EE measurements estimated with different regression equations were compared to EE measured by IC. The short calibration period (1.5 h) gave similar results to a longer period (2.5 h), with a mean difference of less than 3%. The polynomial third-order relationship between HR and EE gave the highest correlation coefficient, the smallest mean square error and the best agreement (Bland-Altman method). EE predicted with this model gave the best results during the total calibration period, the post-prandial period and the medium and high activity periods. Comparison between measured and predicted nightly EE showed that REE - REE/10 was the best formula to assess nightly EE, and the mean difference was less than 4%. This study demonstrates the validity of a shortening of the calibration period and the reliability of the REE - REE/10 formula to compute nightly EE. The best model for computing daily EE is a polynomial third-order regression equation.
In the past 40 years there has been an increase in the median age of survival of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), attributed to advances in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with this disease. This progress was also due to the level of care provided by pediatricians and now by adult physicians in CF care centers. They centralize and integrate knowledge and skills of pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology, nutrition, nursing, respiratory therapy, social work, and genetics to provide specialized care to patients with CF from childhood to adulthood. They are also expected to develop teaching and research, particularly the development of new life-extending therapies. The continuity of care of this multisystemic disease is best carried out through a close collaboration between the patient's primary care physician or pulmonologist and the specialized staff of the CF care center.
A patient with short gut syndrome presented with end-stage liver disease. She underwent an isolated liver transplantation at the age of 3.5 years. Parenteral nutrition was discontinued 1.5 years after surgery. At 7 years of age, the patient has maintained normal nutritional indices and growth while on a normal oral diet. This observation suggests that liver transplantation alone can be a valuable alternative to the combined small bowel/liver transplantation in short bowel syndrome when intestinal adaptation is expected and if the ileocecal valve is present and that improvement of gut function can occur after successful liver transplantation.
High fat containing diets lower VCO(2)in patients with impaired pulmonary function fed at a high level of energy intake. We tested the effect of a high fat enteral nutrition on VCO(2)and substrate oxidation in cystic fibrosis patients fed enterally 130% RDA. VCO(2)and substrate oxidation were studied in a group of eight 6-19 year old patients while receiving for 1 month and in a random order isocaloric (1000 kcal/m(2)), isonitrogenous enteral diet with a normal fat and a high fat content (40% and 67% of non-protein energy intake). Substrate oxidation and net balance were estimated using indirect calorimetry at the end of each study period. Overnight high fat enteral infusion resulted in no significant change in VCO(2)and VO(2)but lowered RQ (0.84 +/- 0.01 vs 0.88 +/- 0.01, P= 0.02) and non-protein RQ (0.83 +/- 0.01 vs 0.88 +/- 0.01). In spite of a higher glucose oxidation rate (8.1 +/- 0.5 vs 6.3 +/- 0.5 g. h(-1), P= 0.04), glucose net balance was significantly higher during normal fat formula administration (+2.5 +/- 0.8 v -0.3 7plusmn; 0.7 g/h, P< 0.05). The present study failed to show any benefit of a high fat diet on VCO(2)in non oxygenodependant cystic fibrosis children and adolescents fed slightly above RAD. Normal fat enteral formula led to higher glycogen repletion.
Acute and chronic stress conditions affecting critically ill children are characterized by severe protein breakdown and growth failure. This paper describes the disorders of protein metabolism, and gives recommendations for protein and energy intakes during stress conditions in children.
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Nutritional support is often necessary in chronic liver disease in childhood, and when enteral nutrition is insufficient, parenteral nutrition (PN) can be envisaged as a last resort. Pediatric experience is still limited in this indication. Seven children with severe liver disease received PN for a mean duration of 105 d, with additional enteral nutrition. Clinical tolerance was assessed and anthropometric and biological data were compared at the beginning and at the end of the study by the paired non-parametric test of Wilcoxon. Weight change, expressed as weight-for-age or weight-for-height Z-scores, increased. Conjugated bilirubin increased significantly. This retrospective study suggests that PN is a well-tolerated method for maintaining nutritional status in pediatric chronic liver disease when enteral nutrition has failed.
METHODS: A multicentre, parallel-group, double-blind, double-placebo study was carried out to compare the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of racecadotril and loperamide in children aged 2 to 10 years who were suffering from acute diarrhoea. Patients received racecadotril (1.5 mg/kg) or loperamide (0.03 mg/kg) three times daily plus matching placebo until recovery. Fifty-two children received racecadotril and 50 loperamide. RESULTS: Patients on racecadotril passed a mean (+/- S.E.M.) of 2.7 +/- 0.4 stools before recovery compared with 2.1 +/- 0.4 stools for loperamide. The duration of diarrhoea was similar with both treatments. The incidence of adverse events was lower with racecadotril than with loperamide (11.5% vs. 22%), and significantly more patients on loperamide suffered from constipation (58% vs. 36.5%; P = 0.03). Moreover, significantly more children receiving loperamide required concomitant medication during the study (38% v 19.2%; P = 0.047). Measurement of abdominal circumference at the final consultation, 6 days after entry to the study, revealed no significant differences between treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Racecadotril and loperamide were equally effective in treating acute diarrhoea in these children, and racecadotril had a superior tolerability and safety profile.
OBJECTIVE: Because in children Helicobacter pylori colonization could differ as compared to that in adults, gastric metabolism of urea and the reliability of the breath test must be evaluated. The aim of this study was to quantify the relationship between breath test and colonization. METHODOLOGY: We studied data from 50 endoscopies performed in 39 children and adolescents (20 girls, 19 boys, aged 3-18 years); 28 were infected with H. pylori. Biopsies were analyzed for histological and microbiological diagnosis of infection and for quantitative antral culture of H. pylori. A 13C urea breath test was performed on the same day as that of endoscopy (n = 33) or delayed between 2 and 90 days (n = 17). RESULTS: Using a cut-off value of 3 delta/1000, sensitivity was 96.5%, and specificity was 91.5%. The three children showing discrepancies between breath test and biopsy results had a delta/1000 value close to the cut-off. For the 26 cases with a positive culture, we noted a significant correlation (r = 0.63; p < .001) that was not affected by the delay between breath test and gastroscopy. CONCLUSION: This quantitative relation between bacterial density and delta/1000 permits increasing the reliability of the test by interpreting carefully those results that approach the cut-off value.
BACKGROUND: The ideal medication to administer to children before gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures has yet to be found. The efficacy of using inhaled nitrous oxide during endoscopy in children was assessed in a pilot study. METHODS: Patients aged 5 to 17 years, referred to our hospital for diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy or rectosigmoidoscopy procedures, were eligible for enrollment in this study. All received 50% nitrous oxide in oxygen (Entonox; AGA, Rueil-Malmaison, France) before endoscopy and some of them again during endoscopy. The pediatric endoscopist and the nurse performing the procedure were separately asked to rate cooperation, emotional state, drowsiness and overall efficacy of sedation. Oxygen saturation and adverse effects were recorded throughout the procedure. After endoscopy, children scored their degree of pain during the procedures on a visual analog scale (0, no pain; 100, agony) and on a body outline (projective method). Any adverse effects were noted. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients were enrolled in the study. Thirty patients underwent diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and seven diagnostic rectosigmoidoscopy. The median time from administration of nitrous oxide until insertion of the endoscope was 5 minutes (range, 3-8 minutes). Good or excellent efficacy of the sedation was noted in 92% of children by the endoscopist and in 89% by the nurses. Good or excellent cooperation was noted in 92% of the children by the endoscopist and in 78% by the nurses. The children's pain score on the visual analog scale ranged from 5 to 100 (median, 20) for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and from 0 to 30 (median, 0) for rectosigmoidoscopy. The time of discharge after endoscopy, defined as the time elapsed between the end of the endoscopy and discharge from the endoscopy suite, varied from 1 to 7 minutes (median, 1.5 minutes). CONCLUSION: Entonox provides rapid and effective analgesia without heavy sedation, leads to adequate relaxation and cooperation, and facilitates quick and efficient endoscopy. The effect of Entonox was of short duration, allowing the children to leave the endoscopy unit without need for a long recovery period. The adverse effects of Entonox appeared to be minor, and their duration was always brief. Nitrous oxide-oxygen inhalation may provide a valuable alternative to conventional sedation regimens during gastrointestinal endoscopy in children, but randomized and prospective studies comparing nitrous oxide sedation and conventional sedation regimens are necessary.
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BACKGROUND: Helicobacter heilmannii, described in 1983 as a new cause of chronic gastritis, has been reported rarely in children. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics and the prevalence of H. heilmannii infection, in comparison with Helicobacter pylori infection in children undergoing upper digestive endoscopy. METHODS: Diagnosis of H. heilmannii was based on its morphologic characteristics in gastric biopsy specimens (two from the antrum, one from the fundus), whereas H. pylori infection was defined by histology and/or culture (one specimen from the antrum, one from the fundus). Respective prevalences of H. heilmannii and H. pylori were calculated in 518 patients studied prospectively who underwent systematic biopsies. RESULTS: The prevalence of H. pylori was 8.9% (46/518) and increased with age (from 2% before 3 years of age to 18% after 10 years). On the contrary, the prevalence of H. heilmannii infection was low, 0.4% (2/518), and no different from that published in adults. After completion of the study period, a third H. heilmannii-infected child was diagnosed. Characteristics of H. heilmannii infection could be studied in these three children 5, 9, and 14 years old. Two of three had abdominal pain and one had dysphagia. Nodular gastritis was observed at endoscopy in two children. H. heilmannii chronic active gastritis (n = 3) was localized in the antrum, associated with an interstitial infiltrate, and could not be distinguished from H. pylori gastritis (n = 46). CONCLUSION: Clinical characteristics, endoscopic features and gastric histopathology did not allow H. heilmannii to be distinguished from H. pylori gastritis in our pediatric population. H. heilmannii infection should be considered and carefully looked for during histologic examination of gastric specimens in cases of H. pylori-negative gastritis.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It is known that Helicobacter pylori can be acquired in early childhood. There is not enough data to know whether or not infected children should be treated. A better knowledge of the natural outcome and implications of H pylori infection may provide evidence that eradication therapy is beneficial in childhood. This prospective study looks at clinical symptoms, endoscopic, microbial, and histologic changes during a 2-year period in infected asymptomatic children. It is hoped that some prognostic indicators will be found that select out the children that later need therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During epidemiologic study of the prevalence of H pylori infection, 18 children aged 7 +/- 4 years (mean +/- 1 SD) were discovered to have H pylori infection and enrolled in the 2-year follow-up study. These patients had received no eradication therapy because they were asymptomatic. The follow-up for each patient consisted of an initial assessment, a clinical examination every 6 months, and an endoscopic reevaluation at the end of the first and second years. Gastric mucosal samples were analyzed for bacteriologic and histologic changes. Various factors were initially recorded: individual factors included sex, age, and housing conditions; microbial factors included bacterial load and the presence of the CagA gene. Inflammatory changes were also noted, such as the presence of active gastritis and nodular formation, and these were correlated with the histology which was described using the Sydney classification. Typing polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was performed to check the persistence of the same strain of H pylori in each patient. RESULTS: All of the children were still infected after 2 years with the same strain as in the initial assessment with the exception of 1 child whose infection cleared spontaneously. The density of antral and fundal mucosal colonization with H pylori also remained stable. There were progressive inflammatory changes in this cohort, particularly between the first and second year (histologic score, 3.5 +/- 1.3 vs 5 +/- 1). Active antral gastritis occurred in 3 out of 14 and 1 out of 8 children during the first and second year, respectively. Gastritis became active in the fundus in 2 out of 14 and 2 out of 8 children during the same period. Increases in the histologic score were found particularly in male children, and children colonized by cagA- strains of H pylori during the follow-up. The frequency of nodular gastritis significantly rose from 11% (2 out of 18 children) to 64% (9 out of 14 children) after 1 year, and to 80% (8 out of 10 children) after 2 years. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate a deterioration in the histologic features of the gastric mucosa of infected children despite stable H pylori colonization and the absence of symptoms.