Effects of Anticonvulsant Monotherapy on Bone Mineral Density in Children / 대한소아신경학회지

PURPOSE: The use of anticonvulsants can cause side effects such as reduction of bone mineral density, requiring attention in growing children. The aim of our study is to investigate the effects of different anticonvulsants on bone mineral density in epileptic patients treated with monotherapy. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 60 subjects who visited the Pediatric Epilepsy Clinic of Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital from January 2013 to December 2017. Bone mineral density was measured with dual photon absorptiometry every 6 months. RESULTS: The number of patients treated with oxcarbazepine, valproate and levetiracetam was 31, 16 and 13, respectively. Reduction of bone mineral density was seen in 8 out of 31 patients (25.8%, P=0.10) treated with oxcarbazepine, 9 out of 16 patients treated with valproate (56.3%, P=0.04) and 4 out of 13 patients treated with levetiracetam (30.8%, P=0.50). CONCLUSION: There was a significant reduction of bone mineral density in patients treated with valproate compared to the other anticonvulsants in our study. We believe attention to bone mineral density is required in children treated with anticonvulsants.

Outcomes of the Monoconversion to Valproate or Lamotrigine for Absence Seizures

PURPOSE: Ethosuximide (ESX) is currently not available due to various reasons in Korea. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of valproate (VPA) and lamotrigine (LTG) when ESX monotherapy was replaced by VPA or LTG. METHODS: A retrospective study was done for a total of 34 patients treated with ESX in 5 different hospitals affiliated with Catholic University of Korea from January, 2010 to December, 2012. They all were initially treated with ESX, but later switched to VPA or LTG. The subjects were selected based on clinical symptoms and electroencephalography findings. RESULTS: Among 34 patients, VPA was prescribed to 17 patients (50.0%) and LTG to 17 patients (50.0%). Twenty patients (58.8%) achieved the seizure freedom after 3 months of the treatments, 13 patients (76.5%) by VPA and 7 (41.2%) by LTG respectively. Four patients (23.5%) with VPA and 10 (58.8%) with LTG were replaced by other anticonvulsants due to ineffectiveness and/or side effects of medication. When we compare the efficacy of seizure reduction between VPA and LTG after 3 month period of the treatment, the efficacy of VPA was better than that of LTG (P=0.04). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the VPA is a better alternative anticonvulsant than LTG for the patients with absence epilepsy who are unable to continue ESX.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease Neurologic Complications: Clinical Features and Parameters

PURPOSE: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common childhood illness. Enterovirus 71 (EV71) epidemics have recently been associated with HFMD-based neurologic complications in the Asia-Pacific region. This study described HFMD clinical features, and investigated clinical parameters in patients presenting with acute neurologic complications associated with HFMD. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records from 235 hospitalized patients who developed HFMD with or without neurologic complications (22 and 213 cases, respectively) in Uijengbu, Korea between 2010 and 2013. Clinical manifestations, radiologic findings, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses, virological analyses, and treatment regimens were summarized. Additionally, routinely collected baseline data from 235 patients were retrospectively analyzed to identify clinical parameters associated with neurologic complications. RESULTS: Brainstem encephalitis was the most frequent neurologic complication (11 cases), followed by aseptic meningitis (seven cases). We also found acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and meningitis retention syndrome. Both have rarely been reported in EV71-associated HFMD. Virological analyses were performed for 15 cases, and 14 demonstrated EV71 infection, while one patient demonstrated Coxsackievirus B3 infection. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated patients were more likely to develop neurologic complications if they experienced nausea/vomiting (OR= 13.65, P<0.001) and lethargy (OR=10.68, P=0.003). Males were more likely to develop neurologic complications compared to females (OR=2.12, P=0.005). In addition, neurologic complications were associated with a higher peak heart rate (OR=1.13, P=0.001). CONCLUSION: This study revealed usual and unusual findings of HFMD-associated neurologic complications. Male gender, nausea/vomiting, lethargy, and peak heart rate parameters predicted HFMD-associated neurologic complications. However, laboratory findings did not reliably predict HFMD-associated neurologic complications.

Articulation error of children with adenoid hypertrophy / 소아과

PURPOSE: Adenoid hypertrophy is a physical alteration that may affect speech, and a speech disorder can have other negative effects on a child's life. Airway obstruction leads to constricted oral breathing and causes postural alterations of several oro-facial structures, including the mouth, tongue, and hyoid bone. The postural modifications may affect several aspects of speech production. METHODS: In this study, we compared articulation errors in 19 children with adenoid hypertrophy (subject group) to those of 33 children with functional articulation disorders independent of anatomical problems (control group). RESULTS: The mean age of the subject group was significantly higher (P=0.016). Substitution was more frequent in the subject group (P=0.003; odds ratio [OR], 1.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23-2.62), while omission was less frequent (P<0.001; OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.27-0.67). Articulation errors were significantly less frequent in the palatal affricative in the subject group (P=0.047; OR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.07-0.92). The number of articulation errors in other consonants was not different between the two groups. Nasalization and aspiration were significantly more frequent in the subject group (P=0.007 and 0.014; OR, 14.77 and 0.014; 95% CI, [1.62-135.04] and NA, respectively). Otherwise, there were no differences between the two groups. CONCLUSION: We identified the characteristics of articulation errors in children with adenoid hypertrophy, but our data did not show the relationship between adenoid hypertrophy and oral motor function that has been observed in previous studies. The association between adenoid hypertrophy and oral motor function remains doubtful.

Characteristics of Children with Epilepsy and Concomitant Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence of ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) in children with epilepsy and to determine the difference of characteristics in patients with epilepsy and concomitant ADHD as opposed to the patients without ADHD for better management. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 184 patients diagnosed as epilepsy and treated with antiepileptic drugs in pediatric neurology department of Seoul St. Mary's hospital from March, 2009 to May, 2012. Their ages ranged from 6 to 18 years. The subjects were included in the study those who made a regular visit for more than a year. RESULTS: 1) Out of 184 patients, 69 patients (37.5%) had both ADHD and epilepsy. 2) In epilepsy children with ADHD, male outnumbered female by almost two fold (male 67: female 33) (P=0.022). 3) In epilepsy children with ADHD, epileptiform discharges on EEG was focused in central regions in 39% of them (P=0.014). 4) In 56% of patients without ADHD, their seizures remained under the control with single anticonvulsant, as opposed to 36% of patients with both ADHD and epilepsy (P=0.001). Therefore, the presence of ADHD in patients with epilepsy might be related to the therapeutic response to anticonvulsants, and be a useful predictive factor for the response to early treatment. CONCLUSION: Patients with epilepsy and concomitant ADHD showed a significant difference and poor response to epilepsy treatment, as opposed to patients without ADHD. Therefore, early detection and establishment of countermeasures for ADHD is necessary.

Articulation Patterns of Children who Developed Articulation Disorders Associated with Ankyloglossia

PURPOSE: We investigated articulation patterns in children with ankyloglossia who developed articulation disorders in order to determine the relationship between ankyloglossia and articulation disorders, and to clinically detect children who have articulation disorders associated with ankyloglossia. METHODS: The participants of this study were 23 children with articulation disorders that accompanied ankyloglossia and 55 controls with functional articulation disorders independent of anatomical problems, who were admitted to our hospital from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2012. All children underwent speech-language pathologic evaluation using the Picture Consonant Articulation Test (PCAT; Young-Tae Kim, 1994). We retrospectively compared collected data between the subject and control groups using Fisher's exact test and odds ratio tests with a 95% confidential interval for categorical variables and the independent Mann-Whitney U-test for continuous variables. RESULTS: The number of patients with articulation errors in the velar nasal was lower significantly only in the subject group (P=0.038). The total numbers of articulation errors in the bilabial plosive, velar plosive and velar nasal also were lower (P=0.007, P<0.001, and P=0.034, respectively). There were no differences in the numbers of patients with articulation errors according to phonological changes between the two groups. However, the total numbers of fronting and frication were lower in the subject group (both P<0.001), but the total numbers of plosivation and tensing were higher (P=0.002 and P=0.008, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study showed that the relationship between an articulation disorder and ankyloglossia is doubtful, although some results suggest that ankyloglossia may cause articulation errors only in certain individuals. Therefore, clinicians should be careful when determining the relationship between ankyloglossia and articulation disorders and use caution when making a treatment decision.

Clinical Aspects of Children with Developmental Stuttering

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics of developmental stuttering. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 28 children diagnosed with developmental stuttering from January 2001 to December 2010 who had been admitted to the Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital. RESULTS: We observed a strong male predominance. The M:F ratio was 13:1 in this study. And the onset age converged on 2-5 years (71.4%). Seven patients (25%) had a family history of language disorders. Among them, 5 cases (17.8%) was about to developmental stuttering. As for associated disorders, 5 patients (17.8%) had another language disorder as articulation disorder or developmental language delay; respectively 4 patients (14.2%) and 1 patient (3.6%). Three patients (10.7%) had psychologic disorder as ADHD or anxiety disorder; respectively 2 patients (7.1%) and 1 patient (3.6%). In addition, 2 patients (7.1%) had ankyloglossia including 1 case accompanying with articulation disorder. Another 2 patients (7.1%) had adenoid-hypertrophy also including 1 case accompanying with articulation disorder. The proportion of moderate-to-severe and severe cases was 63.6%. And we observed remarkable improvement of stuttering in 92.9% (13/14) patients during repetitive speech or text reading. CONCLUSION: Several distinctive characteristics of developmental stuttering were observed in this study. The value of this study is that it's the clinical report on developmental stuttering by pediatrician and we expect this study will contribute to the basis of forward investigation.

A Case of Brainstem Encephalitis Associated with Epstein-Barr Virus Infection

A case of brainstem encephalitis associated with a reactivated infection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in a 7-year-old boy is reported. The patient was diagnosed based on the compatible clinical, cerebrospinal fluid and radiological findings and the serological results for EBV, had a favorable clinical course and showed a discrepancy between the course of the neurological features and the evolution of the imaging alterations. The apparent diffusion coefficient imaging revealed the brain stem lesion suggesting an autoimmune mechanism in the pathogenesis of the illness.

A Case of Antithyroid Drug-Induced Agranulocytosis Treated with Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) and Methylprednisolone / 대한소아내분비학회지

Although rare, agranulocytosis is the most serious, potentially fatal side effect of antithyroid drug. We experienced a 13-year-old girl who developed methimazole-induced agranulocytosis at 1 month after the initiation of treatment. Her granulocyte count recovered after discontinuation of methimazole and treatment with broad spectrum-antibiotics, G-CSF, and methylprednisolone. After recovery from agranulocytosis she was treated with radioiodine ablation therapy. Early detection and proper management of antithyroid drug-induced agranulocytosis is very important.