Topic Review
Italian Experts’ Statements on Paracetamol/Ibuprofen in Children Fever/Pain
Fever and pain are challenging symptoms in children and adolescents and are common reasons for consultations in primary care and hospital. Paracetamol and ibuprofen are currently the only recommended drugs for treating fever in Italy, but the therapeutic approaches are discrepant in the different settings.
  • 1.1K
  • 08 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) Hypothesis
The “developmental origins of health and disease” (DOHaD) hypothesis refers to the influence of early developmental exposures and fetal growth on the risk of chronic diseases in later periods. 
  • 1.1K
  • 11 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Aneurysm prevention in Kawasaki Disease
 A form of systemic vasculitis that affects mostly small and medium-sized vessels, Kawasaki disease (KD) is most commonly found in children under the age of 5 years old. Though its etiology is unknown, KD has been the most frequent acquired heart disease in developing countries. The most severe complications of KD are coronary artery lesions (CAL), including dilation, fistula, aneurysm, arterial remodeling, stenosis, and occlusion. Aneurysm formation has been observed in 20-25% of KD patients that do not receive intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment, and in 3-5% that do receive it. Coronary artery dilation has been found in about 30% of KD patients in the acute stage, although mostly in the transient form. Diminishing the occurrence and regression of aneurysm is a vital part of treating KD. This review is focuing on coronary artery aneurysm prevention in KD.
  • 1.0K
  • 02 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Chromosomal instability in Fanconi anemia
Fanconi anemia (FA), a chromosomal instability syndrome, is caused by inherited pathogenic variants in any of 22 FANC genes, which cooperate in the FA/BRCA pathway. This pathway regulates the repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) through homologous recombination. In FA proper repair of ICLs is impaired and accumulation of toxic DNA double strand breaks occurs. To repair this type of DNA damage, FA cells activate alternative error-prone DNA repair pathways, which may lead to the formation of gross structural chromosome aberrations of which radial figures are the hallmark of FA, and their segregation during cell division are the origin of subsequent aberrations such as translocations, dicentrics and acentric fragments. The deficiency in DNA repair has pleiotropic consequences in the phenotype of patients with FA, including developmental alterations, bone marrow failure and an extreme risk to develop cancer.
  • 996
  • 15 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Brain
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), the most frequent phakomatosis and one of the most common inherited tumor predisposition syndromes, is characterized by several manifestations that pervasively involve central and peripheral nervous system structures. 
  • 968
  • 20 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Paroxysmal Movement Disorders
Paroxysmal movement disorders (PMDs) are rare neurological diseases typically manifesting with intermittent attacks of abnormal involuntary movements.
  • 933
  • 06 Nov 2020
Topic Review
LC-MS/MS for the Diagnosis of Organic Acidemias
Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has already been used in many clinical laboratories for a broad range of clinical tests, such as therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and the analysis of hormones and vitamins, as well as organic acid analysis.
  • 927
  • 06 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Feeding Problems in Patients with Noonan Syndrome
Noonan syndrome (NS) belongs to the group of Noonan syndrome spectrum disorders (NSSD), which is a group of phenotypically related conditions. Feeding problems are often present not only in infancy but also in childhood, and even beyond that period. More than 50% of infants with NS develop feeding problems, and up to half of these infants will be tube-dependent for some time. Although, in general, there is a major improvement between the age of 1 and 2 years, with only a minority still having feeding problems after the age of 2 years, as long as the feeding problems continue, the impact on the quality of life of both NS infants and their caregivers may be significant. Feeding problems in general improve faster in children with a pathogenic PTPN11 or SOS1 variant. The mechanism of the feeding problems is complex, and may be due to medical causes (gastroesophageal reflux disease and delayed gastric emptying, cardiac disease and infections), feeding-skill dysfunction, nutritional dysfunction with increased energy demand, or primary or secondary psychosocial dysfunction. Many of the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. The treatment of the feeding problems may be a medical challenge, especially when the feeding problems are accompanied by feeding-skill dysfunction and psychosocial dysfunction. 
  • 848
  • 17 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Second-Hand and Prenatal Tobacco Smoke
Children are commonly exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS) in the domestic environment or inside vehicles of smokers. Unfortunately, prenatal tobacco smoke (PTS) exposure is still common, too. SHS is hazardous to the health of smokers and non-smokers, but especially to that of children. SHS and PTS increase the risk for children to develop cancers and can trigger or worsen asthma and allergies, modulate the immune status, and is harmful to lung, heart and blood vessels. Smoking during pregnancy can cause pregnancy complications and poor birth outcomes as well as changes in the development of the foetus. Lately, some of the molecular and genetic mechanisms that cause adverse health effects in children have been identified. It has been found in children that SHS and PTS exposure is associated with changes in levels of enzymes, hormones, and expression of genes, micro RNAs, and proteins. PTS and SHS exposure are major elicitors of mechanisms of oxidative stress. Genetic predisposition can compound the health effects of PTS and SHS exposure. Epigenetic effects might influence in utero gene expression and disease susceptibility. Hence, the limitation of domestic and public exposure to SHS as well as PTS exposure has to be in the focus of policymakers and the public in order to save the health of children at an early age. Global substantial smoke-free policies, health communication campaigns, and behavioural interventions are useful and should be mandatory.
  • 812
  • 06 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Growth and Puberty in IBD
Inflammatory bowel diseases are characterized also by retarded growth and delayed puberty. The underlying mechanism of these and other extra-intestinal manifestations are partially known: the main hypotheses are malnutrition and inflammatory response.
  • 798
  • 06 Nov 2020
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