Primary cerebral arteritis in a young girl: An unusual cause of acute recurrent neurological deterioration

BackgroundPrimary angiitis of the central nervous system (PACNS) is an idiopathic, usually recurrent vasculitis confined to the brain. PACNS has been reported rarely in children, although the disease is probably underdiagnosed.Clinical case: We report the clinical history of a 3-year-old girl who presented subacute neurological deterioration characterised by headache, speech regression, and altered level of consciousness. Brain MRI revealed severe inflammatory lesions involving both grey and white matters. All blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests for inflammatory or infectious processes were negative. Over the next 10 years, the patient relapsed eight times. Brain biopsy confirmed lesions suggestive of cerebral vasculitis. Based on histopathological features and due to the absence of systemic vasculitis, the patient was considered to have PACNS. She developed partial epilepsy, and clinical stabilisation was finally achieved via continuous oral corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents.ConclusionPACNS may be the cause of subacute and relapsing inflammatory encephalopathy in children after excluding other diagnoses, such as multiple sclerosis, sarcoidosis, recurrent acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), and primary central nervous system lymphoma. Brain biopsy is necessary to confirm the diagnosis of PACNS and exclude diseases with similar symptoms. Neurological outcome remains poor.     

Aseptic osteonecrosis in children and adolescents treated for hemato-oncologic diseases: a 13-year longitudinal observational study

Aseptic osteonecrosis (AON) is a serious long-term complication of childhood cancer therapy. A retrospective study was undertaken to describe treatment and long-term follow-up of patients with AON. Between 1990 and 2003, 630 consecutive children with various malignancies were treated at the University Children's Hospital in Graz, Austria. In nine of these patients presenting with skeletal symptoms, MRI revealed AON. All nine had hematologic malignancies. The median age at diagnosis of malignancy was 15.8 years (range 13.7-18.6 years), and the median interval between diagnosis of malignancy and onset of osteonecrosis-related symptoms was 16 months (range 6-53 months). All patients had received previous corticosteroid therapy. Treatment of AON included restriction of weight-bearing, physiotherapy, and analgesics. Three patients were treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy combined with the prostacyclin analog iloprost, and one patient also received pamidronate, a second-generation bisphosphonate. This conservative treatment resulted in alleviation of symptoms in all patients. One patient had to undergo bilateral hip replacement and two had to undergo arthrotomy with sequestrotomy due to subsequent deterioration of symptoms. Close monitoring for skeletal symptoms is mandatory during follow-up of patients with hematologic malignancies. Previous corticosteroid treatment and age older than 10 years seem to be major risk factors. Early detection of AON leading to prompt intervention may prevent more severe morbidity.     

儿童特发性膜性肾病临床病理特点及治疗探讨

目的 了解儿童特发性膜性肾病(IMN)的临床病理特点,探讨其治疗方案.方法 回顾性分析25例病理确诊的IMN患儿的临床病理特点,总结其不同治疗方法 的疗效.结果 儿童IMN占同期所有肾穿刺活检(简称肾穿)患儿的3.81%.25例IMN中男9例,女16例;起病年龄2～14岁,平均(9.4±3.4)岁;肾穿时病程0.4～11.0个月,中位数2.5个月.临床表现为肾病综合征肾炎型21例(84%),肾小球肾炎4例(16%).全部患儿均伴血尿,其中肉眼血尿7例,高血压4例,并发血栓2例,肾功能不全1例.病理分期IMNⅡ期21例(84%).伴中重度小管间质损害者6例,伴局灶节段硬化2例.22例肾病综合征及肾病水平蛋白尿患儿中,21例首选糖皮质激素治疗,其中20例符合评价激素疗效标准:激素敏感1例(复发后转为激素耐药),19例为激素耐药(95%).后续治疗包括继续单纯激素减量隔日治疗8例,其中完全缓解5例,部分缓解3例;激素联合免疫抑制剂治疗12例,该12例连同首选联合免疫抑制剂治疗1例、激素治疗5周联合免疫抑制剂治疗1例,共14例.结论 本组患儿IMN临床表现以肾病综合征为主,均伴有不同程度血尿.绝大多数初治激素耐药,但部分病例减量隔日治疗过程中获缓解,联合免疫抑制剂治疗及疗效尚需进一步临床验证.

Abstract：

Objective To investigate the clinicopathological feature and treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy(IMN)in children.Method A retrospective analysis of 25 cases of biopsyproven IMN seen between January 2004 and December 2009.Result The incidence of IMN was 3.81% in all the children patients who underwent renal biopsy.Of 25 patients with IMN,nine were boys and sixteen were girls.The mean age at onset was(9.4±3.4)years with a range of 2-14 years.Renal biopsies were performed at a median 2.5 months(range 0.4-11 months)after onset.The clinical manifestations included nephrotic syndrome(NS)nephritic type in 21 cases(84%)and glomerulonephritis in 4 cases.All patients presented with hematuria,and 7 had macroscopic hematuria.Hypertension was noted in 4 patients.Two patients were complicated with thrombosis.One patient was in a chronic renal insufficiency(CRI)state.According to the MN staging criteria,21 cases were in stage Ⅱ IMN(84%).Six patients showed moderate or severe tubulointerstitial lesion.Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis(FSGS)was found in two patients.Of the 22 patients with NS and nephrotic proteinuria,21 cases were treated with prednisone initially and in 20 of them the efficacy of corticosteroid therapy was evaluated:one of them was steroid sensitive(became steroidresistant after relapse)and all the others were steroid-resistant(95%).The subsequent treatment:eight of them were treated with prednisone followed by a taper to alternate-day therapy.Five of them had complete remission and three partial remission.Twelve cases were treated with combined therapy of prednisone and immunosuppressive agents. Of these 12 cases together with one case who received initially combined treatment with prednisone and immunosuppressive agent and one case treated with prednisone initially for five weeks then with combined therapy contained another immunosuppressive agent,totally 14 cases,5 had complete remission,2 partial remission,3 did not achieve remission,and 3 had unknown response.Conclusion Of the patient cohort,the predominant presenting feature was nephrotic syndrome,and with different degree hematuria.Almost all of them were steroid resistant,but followed by a taper to alternate-day therapy,some could achieve remission.The effect of a combination of prednisone and immunosuppressive agent is needed to be further proven in children.     

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??Objective??To describe the clinical features and neurologic outcome of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis??ADEM?? in children.Methods??A study on medical record and follow-up information of prospective efficacy was conducted in 68 children with ADEM. Results????1??The age of patients at onset ranged from 1 to 15.3 years?? with a median of 6.5 years??with the inpatients numbers increasing year by year. ??2??An infectious event preceded the onset of illness in 57.4% of patients?? and a vaccination event in 4.4% of patients?? while the others were cryptogenic. ??3??Clinical classification?? 42??61.8%??cases had presentations of the brain?? 18??26.4%??of the brain and spinal cord?? 8??11.8%??of the spinal cord?? the most common presenting symptoms were fever?? palsy?? seizures??changes in mental status ??extrapyramidal syndrome??consciousness impairment?? cognitive handicap?? sphincter muscle disturbance and ataxia and some patients appeared linguistic functional disturbance and cranial palsy. ??4??Increased IgG index and/or oligoclonal band positive were present in the cerebrospinal fluid of 77.2% of cases.??5?? prognosis?? ??near-future curative effect of corticosteroid treatment?? 55.9% of cases showed initiation effective in 3 days?? 26.5% in 7 days?? 17.6% after 1 week?? 48.5% of cases improved in 1 week?? and 11.2% improved spontaneously ??while one case died. ??prospective efficacy ?? 48 cases whose course was longer than one year and 20 cases less than one year course. At the end of follow-up?? 38 cases recovered?? 9 cases had disability??whose course longer than one year???? relapse was seen in 7 cases?? 8 cases were in follow-up??5 cases lost follow-up. Conclusion??ADEM in childhood often occur at the age of 3 to 12 years. The presenting symptoms are various and complicated?? the states of the illness vary from slight to severe and the course varies from short to long. Neuroimaging??especially brain MRI?? is extremely important in early diagnosis of ADEM when a patient presenting a polysymptomatic encephalopathy. Most children with ADEM present a good outcome in long-term follow-up?? some patients with severe condition recover after 6 months?? and a few have disability of nervous system.     

Acute and chronic hepatitis in childhood leukemia: a multicentric study from the Italian Pediatric Cooperative Group for Therapy of Acute Leukemia (AIL-AIEOP)

The incidence of acute and chronic liver damage and its relation to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was evaluated in 164 consecutive children with acute leukemia seen in ten Italian hemato-pediatric units. Thirteen out of 164 children (7.9%) had acute hepatitis (AH) during treatment, while 8/90 (8.8%) showed an acute exacerbation of liver damage within 6 months after therapy withdrawal. Seven of the 13 children with AH while on therapy were HBsAg positive. In 12/13 cases, liver disease progressed to chronicity. Five of eight children who developed AH after completion of treatment were HBsAg positive. Eighty-nine patients (54.2%) developed biochemical evidence of chronic hepatitis during therapy; 48/89 were followed after cessation of treatment and 33 of them showed persisting evidence of liver cell necrosis. Thirty-three out of 133 children (24.8%) tested for serum HBsAg were found positive: 26 (78.7%) of them developed chronic hepatitis. Sixty-four out of 133 patients were evaluated after cessation of treatment: Chronic hepatitis persisted in 16/22 HBsAg-positive (72.7%) and in 17/42 HBsAg-negative (40.4%) children during follow-up. The outcome of these liver diseases after treatment withdrawal did not differ significantly in relation to HBV serology, suggesting that viral rather than toxic agents were responsible for liver damage also in most HBsAg-negative patients. The high incidence of chronic HBV infection in children with leukemia found in this multicentric study could suggest a need for active immunization with HBV vaccine, but the efficacy of such approach in this clinical setting is still to be validated.     

A syndrome of irreversible leukoencephalopathy following pediatric allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

BACKGROUND: Despite decreases in overall mortality following bone marrow transplantation (BMT), a number of complications such as neurotoxicity have been described and often associated with immunosuppressive agents. The syndrome of reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy has been described in patients receiving cyclosporin and FK-506. We report here a subset of children who developed a syndrome of previously undescribed irreversible leukoencephalopathy following allogeneic BMT. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 1996 and 2002, 138 pediatric patients received an allogeneic BMT at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. Six cases of irreversible leukoencephalopathy were observed. Cases were defined as children who exhibited progressive and continued, severe neurologic deterioration lasting greater than 2 weeks and consistent with non-localizing, central nervous system abnormalities. Medical records and magnetic resonance images (MRIs) were reviewed. RESULTS: Median age of the affected patients at BMT was 7.8 years. All six received cyclosporine, and [corrected] one had elevated drug levels. Encephalopathy occurred at a median of 53 days (range 14-77) following BMT. Symptoms at onset of leukoenceophalopathy included confusion and altered mental status, sluggish pupillary responses, abnormal movements, and seizures. Two patients died during their neurologic decline. Four patients remain alive with persistent encephalopathy. MRI showed abnormalities in all patients including periventricular or subcortical white matter involvement in all, and basal ganglia lesions in three. CONCLUSIONS: We report a syndrome of irreversible neurologic deficits and cerebral white matter abnormalities following allogeneic BMT, yet not associated with elevated cyclosporin levels. A precise mechanism for this syndrome is lacking and warrants further consideration.     

儿童韦格纳肉芽肿10例临床分析

目的 分析儿童韦格纳肉芽肿的特点,提高对该病的认识.方法 对10例韦格纳肉芽肿患儿的临床表现、辅助检查、病理结果、治疗等资料进行总结分析.结果 10例患儿中上呼吸道、肺脏受累10例,肾脏受累6例,关节、皮肤、眼及神经系统等也有不同程度受累.实验室检查胞浆型抗中性粒细胞胞浆抗体(cANCA)阳性8例;5例行病理检查(肾脏1例,鼻黏膜2例,皮肤2例),均表现血管炎和(或)肉芽肿性改变,肾活检有新月体形成.7例患儿给予糖皮质激素(甲基泼尼松龙冲击)联合环磷酰胺治疗,1例进行糖皮质激素联合氨甲蝶呤治疗,患儿临床表现均有不同程度的改善.结论 儿童韦格纳肉芽肿临床表现多样,误诊率高;主要累及呼吸道及肾脏,ANCA检查有特异性;糖皮质激素结合免疫抑制剂治疗有效.     

神经母细胞瘤相关的眼阵挛-肌阵挛综合征研究进展

眼阵挛-肌阵挛综合征(OMS)是一种罕见的神经系统疾病,临床以不自主、快速、无规律眼球运动,肌阵挛,共济失调为特征,常有发育和行为异常后遗症。OMS与恶性肿瘤相关,在儿童,约50%的OMS并神经母细胞瘤(NB),NB是儿童常见的一种颅外恶性实体肿瘤。伴有OMS的NB患儿大多数能长期存活。其确切发病机制尚不十分清楚,多数学者认为是一种自身免疫性疾病。关于OMS的治疗,目前尚无统一的治疗方法,多应用免疫抑制剂和免疫调节剂。由于切除肿瘤、免疫抑制治疗未能有效阻止神经系统发育与行为异常后遗症的发生,如何通过有效的治疗改变预后,其观点仍有争议。     

强化免疫抑制治疗儿童再生障碍性贫血疗效分析

探讨强化免疫抑制治疗儿童再生障碍性贫血(再障)的疗效。方法总结我院1991～1999年 儿童再障31例,根据治疗方法不同分3组对比观察基础治疗组(康力龙、654-2等),单用环孢菌素A(CSA)治 疗组,强化免疫抑制治疗组。结果基础治疗组、单用CSA组、强化免疫抑制治疗组有效率分别为27.27％,57.14％,76.92％;重型再障(SAA)有效率分别为11.11％,50.00％,75.00％;SAA-Ⅰ有效率分别为14.29％, 60.00％,88.89％。单用CSA组及强化免疫抑制治疗组疗效明显优于基础治疗组,强化免疫抑制组对SAA及 SAA-Ⅰ疗效更佳,有效率分别达75.00％和88.89％。结论以CSA为主的免疫抑制治疗比单用康力龙、654-2 等治疗更有效;对于SAA,CSA联合ALG/ATG、HDIVIG、HDMP等强化免疫治疗能提高疗效,对SAA-Ⅰ更明显。     

Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome associated with non-metastatic neuroblastoma. Long-term survival. Study of the French Society of Pediatric Oncologists]

Opsoclonus-myoclonus is a rare syndrome characterized by multidirectional chaotic eye movements, myoclonus and ataxia. In children, it could be a paraneoplastic syndrome in association with neuroblastoma, usually with a high survival rate, but having a high frequency of neurologic and psychologic sequelae. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe oncologic outcome (prospectively) and neurologic outcome (retrospectively) in children with non-metastatic neuroblastoma, and to determine its best treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were collected on 21 children diagnosed with localized neuroblastoma and opsoclonus-myoclonus between 1990-1999 from the French Society of Pediatric Oncology institutions. RESULTS: Median age at diagnosis was 18 months. Location of the tumor was abdominal in 14 cases, thoracic in three cases, pelvic in three cases, and cervical in the last case. There was a majority of small tumors with a maximal diameter < 5 cm in 13 cases. Only four tumors were initially considered as unresectable tumors and received first-line chemotherapy. Complete macroscopic resection was performed in 20 cases (four after primary chemotherapy). Nine children received chemotherapy. Twenty children remained in first complete remission, and one relapsed and died (the unique NMYC amplified case). Treatment for opsoclonus-myoclonus varied widely. Only one child received no medical treatment for opsoclonus-myoclonus, because of complete resolution of neurologic symptoms after exclusive surgery. The following agents were used: corticosteroids in 18 cases, intravenously immune globulin in five cases, and antiepileptic drugs in seven cases. Ten patients experienced relapses of opsoclonus-myoclonus symptoms, mainly related to the decrease of steroid therapy (5/10). Ten of 16 assessable children had persistent neurologic deficits including speech delay or cognitive deficits (8/16), ataxia (6/16), motor delay (2/16), and behavioral problems (2/16). There is no correlation between neurologic outcome, and either age at diagnosis or duration of neurologic symptoms, or type of treatment of the tumor, particularly chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Persistent neurologic deficits are characteristic for children with neuroblastoma and opsoclonus-myoclonus. Neurologic outcome seems unrelated to the treatment of neuroblastoma, which should exclusively be conducted according to oncological criteria. The treatment of opsoclonus-myoclonus should be standardized, mainly based on high-dose hydrocortisone, with a very low decreasing dosage, associated to intravenously immune globulin in severe cases. A biological immunologic work-up of the disease and cautious neurologic and psychologic standardized follow-up should be performed.     

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??Objective??To approach the performance of digital subtraction angiography??DSA?? in the early diagnosis and treatment with drug perfusion therapy in children with cerebral infarction after the congenital heart disease surgery??then assess the outcome. Methods??From January 2015 to December 2016??6 patients with cerebral infarction developed neurologic symptoms??including facial paralysis??physical activity disorders or convulsions within 12 hours to 3 days after surgery for congenital heart disease. After being diagnosed with ischemic cerebrovascular disease by initial magnetic resonance imaging??MRI???? patients were made a definite diagnosis through DSA and given intravenous infusion of internal carotid artery at the same time. Patients were treated to improve circulation??anticoagulation??intravenous thrombolysis and rehabilitation after DSA. Clinical symptoms were observed at 6 hours??1 day??3 days??1 week and 1 month after operation. Patients were followed up for 1 month to 3 months. Results??After successful DSA surgery and drug perfusion therapy??neurologic symptoms in patients were improved. Facial paralysis was improved in 5 of 6 patients at 6 h??1 d and 2 d of DSA??and limb muscle strength was also improved. Physical activity was gradually improved in 2 patients at the third day after DSA surgery. All cases had no signs of recurrence??serious complications or sequalae??no DSA perioperative bleeding??infection??cognitive dysfunction or physical disability?? in the follow-up??and muscle strength was significanthy improved. Conclusion??The early diagnosis is crucial to children with cerebral infarction after the surgery for congenital heart disease.     

Immunosuppressive therapy for aplastic anemia: indications, agents, mechanisms, and results

Autoimmune phenomena may be detected in patients with aplastic anemia. In the etiology of aplastic anemia, it is not known whether these processes are primary factors (causative), perpetuating factors (following other causative factors), or merely epiphenomena. Response to immunosuppressive therapy would suggest a causative or perpetuating role for autoimmunity in development of this disease. We have reviewed trials of immunosuppressive therapy, including the use of antilymphocyte globulin, cyclophosphamide, high-dose corticosteroids, cyclosporine, and apheresis, as well as combinations of these agents, for treatment of aplastic anemia. Responses occur in 40-70% of patients who receive various preparations of antilymphocyte globulin. Responses to other immunosuppressive regimens have been less frequent. Responses to all immunosuppressive regimens are usually incomplete, and late complications, such as relapse, paroxymal noctural hemoglobinuria, or leukemia, are being reported with increasing frequency. For all treatments, potential mechanisms of action other than immune suppression are possible. HLA-matched sibling-donor bone marrow transplantation is the treatment of choice for children with severe aplastic anemia. For children without a matched sibling, antilymphocyte globulin is the best current therapy. No treatment has been shown to alter the long-term course of mild aplastic anemia. Other immunosuppressive agents and transplant regimens should be considered experimental. The therapeutic value of these modalities can only be established by well-monitored trials performed at centers with special clinical and laboratory expertise.     

Complications of corticosteroid therapy.

The complications of corticosteroid therapy in children are protean. Perhaps the most important of these are adrenal insufficiency after withdrawal of steroids, immunosuppression, and growth failure. The physician who is caring for a child receiving corticosteroids must be aware of these common complications as well as the many less frequent side effects, such as cataracts, pseudotumor cerebri, pancreatitis, and steroid myopathy, to name a few. In all children, the risk of using corticosteroids should be weighed carefully before therapy with these agents is begun.     

Retrospective study of plasma exchange in patients with idiopathic rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and vasculitis

A retrospective study of 48 patients was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of plasma exchange in children with idiopathic rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (IRPGN), and renal or non-renal vasculitis. All patients were followed up at a single centre over a 15 year period. Treatment consisted of corticosteroids and/or cytotoxic agents. Plasma exchange was used in all patients because of severe renal involvement and/or clinical deterioration. One hundred per cent of patients with renal vasculitis who started plasma exchange within one month of disease onset and 58% of cases with IRPGN had significant improvement in renal function. No relapses of vasculitis were observed after treatment with plasma exchange in patients with renal and non-renal vasculitis. The results suggest that plasma exchange associated with immunosuppressive treatment could be of benefit in cases of IRPGN or vasculitis in terms of both renal and extrarenal recovery.     

儿童韦格纳肉芽肿病10例临床分析

目的 探讨韦格纳肉芽肿病(WG)的临床特征和预后。 方法 回顾性收集1990年10月至2010年7月在北京协和医院儿科确诊为WG、年龄<18岁且随访时间>3个月的患儿,提取临床表现、实验室检查、影像学检查、病理学检查和随访等资料进行分析。 结果 10例确诊WG患儿进入分析,其中男6例,女4例。发病年龄7~17.1岁,中位年龄13.9岁。从发病至确诊WG的病程为2~24个月。随访时间4个月至19年。①起病时发热7例,乏力3例,体重下降2例。病程中上呼吸道、肺脏和肾脏受累分别为10、8和4例,皮肤和眼部受累各3例,关节、消化系统和神经系统受累各2例。②所有患儿均行抗中性粒细胞胞质抗体(ANCA)检查,8例c-ANCA阳性,其中1例c-ANCA和p-ANCA均为阳性。③9例行鼻窦X线或CT检查,其中表现为鼻窦炎4例,鼻窦占位3例,侵犯眶内2例。8例行胸部CT检查,表现为肺内多发结节伴或不伴空洞形成5例,浸润性病灶2例,胸腔积液1例。2例行头颅MRI检查,均提示有异常信号,为脑缺血性改变。④10例患儿均行病理学检查,其中鼻黏膜活检7例,肺部活检2例,肾脏活检1例,病理改变主要为坏死性肉芽肿和（或）血管炎。⑤10例患儿均给予糖皮质激素联合环磷酰胺诱导缓解治疗,治疗后均达到临床缓解,维持治疗除给予糖皮质激素外分别加用环磷酰胺、甲氨蝶呤或环孢素等治疗。⑥随访期间7例患儿出现病情复发。1例患儿治疗17个月后因合并肺部感染和消化道出血死亡。1例出现了肾功能不全,需长期透析治疗。 结论 儿童WG临床表现多样,主要累及上呼吸道、肺脏和肾脏,c-ANCA阳性有助于诊断,组织活检可提供病理学诊断依据。糖皮质激素联合免疫抑制剂治疗可取得较好的疗效。     

Retrospective study of plasma exchange in patients with idiopathic rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and vasculitis.

A retrospective study of 48 patients was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of plasma exchange in children with idiopathic rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (IRPGN), and renal or non-renal vasculitis. All patients were followed up at a single centre over a 15 year period. Treatment consisted of corticosteroids and/or cytotoxic agents. Plasma exchange was used in all patients because of severe renal involvement and/or clinical deterioration. One hundred per cent of patients with renal vasculitis who started plasma exchange within one month of disease onset and 58% of cases with IRPGN had significant improvement in renal function. No relapses of vasculitis were observed after treatment with plasma exchange in patients with renal and non-renal vasculitis. The results suggest that plasma exchange associated with immunosuppressive treatment could be of benefit in cases of IRPGN or vasculitis in terms of both renal and extrarenal recovery.     

Diabetes induced by corticoids in 6 children after renal transplantation

We studied the occurrence of diabetes mellitus in 6 children receiving corticosteroid therapy after renal transplantation. The first hyperglycemic episode occurred in all cases before the fortieth day of treatment but other episodes were observed thereafter. All children were glycosuric, without ketonuria. The diabetes has always been transient, and easily managed with insulin treatment and usual diabetic diet. A glucose tolerance test was performed 3 to 6 months after these episodes; glycemic response to glucose was abnormal in 2 of 6 children; in all cases, the insulin response to the glucose load was inadequate. In 2 children, the fasting blood glucose is still abnormal after a follow-up of 3 years. The other patients have recovered despite sustained corticotherapy. No specific background (genetics, HLA groups) or specific circumstances of treatment were identified. Therefore, we recommend to follow closely glycemia in children after renal transplantation, with a daily glycemic determination especially during the first 3 weeks.     

Use of radiation in treatment of central nervous system juvenile xanthogranulomatosis

Juvenile xanthogranulomatosis (JXG) represents a subset of non-Langerhan cell histiocytosis that typically manifests in younger children with skin lesions. Unresectable central nervous system (CNS) disease is difficult to treat. We describe the case of a 13-year-old successfully treated with adjuvant radiation therapy for symptomatic intracranial and leptomeningeal JXG. An extensive literature review was performed to identify all previous CNS JXG cases utilizing radiation, of which six of eight total patients demonstrated temporary or long-term improvement of neurologic disease. This suggests that radiation should be considered in cases unresponsive to conventional treatment options.     

Risk factors for cognitive decline in children treated for brain tumors

The long term effects of central nervous system therapy for children with brain tumors have been the subject of research since the 1970s. Many studies have demonstrated that children treated for brain tumors with surgery and standard radiation therapy have developed intellectual decline which is progressive over at least a decade. Risk factors for this cognitive deterioration have been identified and include perioperative complications, possibly hydrocephalus, high radiation dose, large volume radiation, chemotherapy (especially methotrexate), radiation vasculopathy and young age at the time of treatment. In an effort to reduce long-term neurotoxicity, efforts have been made to develop treatment regimens that reduce the impact of these risk factors. Some of these include reduced neuraxis radiation with and without adjuvant chemotherapy, conformal radiation, chemotherapy only protocols for children with optic pathway-hypothalamic tumors and a series of baby brain tumor studies in which chemotherapy (standard and high dose) has allowed radiation to be delayed, reduced or omitted. Whether these changes in therapy will ultimately improve the quality of life of the long-term survivors is uncertain. Close follow-up of these children will be required throughout their lives.     

Alternate day corticosteroid therapy and growth in renal transplant children

Corticosteroid therapy is probably the main factor inducing stunted growth in pediatric renal transplant recipients. Results of a randomized study in 35 children who received their kidney between 1981 and 1984 are reported. All patients had normal renal function and were taking azathioprine and prednisone to ensure immunosuppression. Eighteen months after transplantation, patients with normal renal biopsy results were randomized to receive further daily corticosteroid therapy (group A) for an additional year or to alternate-day corticosteroid therapy (group B). Chronologic age, bone age, renal function, and previous growth retardation were strictly comparable, in the two groups. During the first year, only prepubertal children in group B exhibited catch-up growth. In children undergoing puberty, annual statural gain was greater in group B (5.6 cm versus 3.2 cm in group A: p less than 0.001). Group A children were switched to alternate-day corticosteroid therapy one year after initiation of the study and exhibited improved growth after this change. No patient had renal function deterioration under alternate-day corticosteroid therapy, throughout the study period. Alternate-day prednisone should be offered to pediatric renal transplant recipients with satisfactory renal function as a mean for protecting growth potential.