Correlations Between Values of Articulation Tests and Language Tests for Children With Articulation Disorder in Korea

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate correlations between values of articulation tests and language tests for children with articulation disorder in Korea. METHODS: Data of outpatients with chief complaint of an articulation problem were retrospectively collected. Patients who underwent Urimal Test of Articulation and Phonation (U-TAP) with Assessment of Phonology and Articulation for Children (APAC), Preschool Receptive-Expressive Language Scale (PRES), or Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test (REVT) simultaneously were identified. Patients whose word-level percentages of correct consonants in U-TAP (UTAP_wC) were more than 2 standard deviations below the mean as diagnostic criteria for articulation disorder were selected. Those whose receptive language age (P_RLA), expressive language age (P_ELA), or combined language age (P_CLA) in PRES was delayed more than 24 months compared to their chronological age in months as diagnostic criteria for language disorder were excluded. RESULTS: Thirty-three children aged 3–6 years were enrolled retrospectively. PRES and U-TAP showed significant correlations for most of value relationships. PRES and APAC showed significant correlations for all value relationships except for receptive language age. All values of REVT were significantly correlated with all values from U-TAP, but not with any value from APAC. Articulation tests U-TAP and APAC showed significant correlations between percentages of correct consonants. Language tests PRES and REVT showed significant correlations for all value relationships. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that articulation abilities and language abilities might be correlated in children with articulation disorder.

Clinical Review of Children Diagnosed as Specific Language Impairment

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics of children who had been diagnosed as specific language impairment as outpatients. METHODS: One hundred twenty-five speech- or language-delayed patients were enrolled in Dae-Dong Hospital from July 2007 to June 2008. Fifty-one of 125 children were diagnosed as specific language impairment in whom clinical factors such as duration of therapy and progress after therapy were evaluated. Data were obtained from telephone or direct personal interviews. RESULTS: Among 51 children diagnosed as specific language impairment, 39 (76.5%) had mixed receptive-expressive-type language disorder and 12 (23.5%) had expressive-type language disorder. Thirty children in total were studied as ten children were unavailable for follow-up and eleven dropped out during treatment. The final 30 children consisting of 23 with mixed receptive-expressive type language disorder and seven children with expressive-type language disorder were treated after diagnosis. Total average treatment duration of children with mixed receptive-expressive-type and expressive-type language disorder were 18.1 months and 8.6 months, respectively, a statistically significant difference (P = 0.014). Thirteen (57%) of 23 children with mixed receptive-expressive-type language disorder and all (100%) seven children with expressive-type language disorder completed speech therapy with an average treatment duration of 12.2 and 8.6 months, respectively; however, this difference was not statistically significant(P = 0.287). CONCLUSION: Classifying patients with specific language impairments into mixed receptive-expressive-type and expressive-type language disorder in an outpatient department can be useful for predicting duration of and prognostic effects of language therapy, as our study and other previous articles have shown. More attention is needed from pediatricians to ensure the effective assessment and management of specific language impairment.

A Case of Intestinal Lymphangiectasia

Intestinal lymphangiectasia, one of the protein-losing gastroenteropathies, is an uncommon disease characterized by dilated intestinal lymphatics, enteric protein loss, edema, hypoalbuminemia, and lympocytopenia. Small bowel biopsy and CT have been used to confirm the diagnosis of intestinal lymphangiectasia. Small bowel biopsy shows collections of abnormal dilated lacteals in submucosa with distortion of villi and CT findings have been described as diffuse nodular thickening of the small bowel and as linear hypodense streaking densities in the small bowel caused by dilated lymphatic channels. Demonstration of increased enteric protein loss using 51Cr-, 131I- or 99mTc-labeled albumin, timed measurement of fecal excretion of radioactivity or by measuring fecal clearance of alpha 1-antitrypsin can also help the diagnosis. We experienced a rare case of intestinal lymphangiectasia in an eight year old boy who presented with facial edema, abdominal distension and intermittent diarrhea. We report a patient with intestinal lymphangiectasia, in whom abdominal CT, 99mTc-labeled albumin scintitigraphy, and stool alpha 1-antitrypsin measurement played key roles in determining the diagnosis. A brief review of literature was made.