Value of the liver function test in differential diagnosis of infantile hepatitis syndrome and biliary atresia / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study aimed to investigate the value of the liver function test in the differential diagnosis of infantile hepatitis syndrome (IHS) and biliary atresia (BA) by analyzing seven conventional serological markers in this test using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum levels of seven conventional serological markers: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin (TB), conjugated bilirubin (CB) and serum albumin (ALB) were measured in 103 children with IHS and 60 children with BA. ROC curves were used to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, positive and predictive values and optimal cut-off. The united tests (parallel test and serial test) of gamma-GT, TB and CB were performed to elevate diagnostic efficiency.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the IHS group, the BA group had significantly increased serum ALT, AST, gamma-GT, TB and CB levels (p<0.01). The area under ROC (AUCROC) of AST, gamma-GT, CB and TB was 0.77, 0.881, 0.841 and 0.87, respectively. gamma-GT showed the highest AUCROC, specificity, positive predictive value and positive likelihood ratio in the diagnosis of BA, followed by CB, TB and AST in turn. The negative predictive value of CB was the highest, followed by TB. The negative likelihood ratio of CB was the lowest but its Youden index was the highest. The Youden index of gamma-GT and TB was lower than that of CB. After the parallel tests, the sensitivity and negative predictive value of gamma-GT, CB and TB increased to 100%. After the serial tests, the specificity of gamma-GT, CB and TB increased to 90.4% and the positive predictive value increased to 87.5%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The measurement of gamma-GT, TB and CB levels are valuable in the differential diagnosis of BA and IHS. An imaging examination is required in the parallel test positive patients.</p>

Relationship between the types of Helicobacter pylori strains and chronic upper gastrointestinal diseases in children / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship of the types of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) strains with the classification and the severity of chronic gastro-duodenal diseases in children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and fifteen children with chronic upper gastrointestinal symptoms who were diagnosed as H. pylori infection by gastroscopy were enrolled in this study. H. pylori strains were serotyped by immunoblot technique. The gastric biopsy specimens of all patients were studied histologically.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Type I H. pylori strains were confirmed in 84 cases (73.0%), intermediate type strains in 21 cases (18.3%), and type II strains in 10 cases (8.7%). Type I H. pylori strains infection caused a moderate gastric mucosal inflammation in 83 cases and a severe inflammation in 1 case. Intermediate type H. pylori strains infection caused a moderate gastric mucosal inflammation in 21 cases. Type II H. pylori strains infection caused a mild gastric mucosal inflammation in 2 cases and a moderate inflammation in 8 cases. Different types of H. pylori strains resulted in different severity of gastric mucosal inflammation (x2=15.444, P < 0.01). The gastric mucosal inflammation due to type I H. pylori strains was the most severe, while the inflammation due to type II H. pylori strains was relatively mild. The incidence of nodulus lymphaticus of gastric mucosa due to type I, type II and intermediate type H. pylori strains infection was 76.2%, 47.6% and 40.0%, respectively (x2=10.171, P < 0.01). The classification of chronic gastro-duodenal diseases was not associated with the types of H. pylori strains.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Type I strains were the leading cause of H. pylori infection in children. All of types of H. pylori strains can cause pathohistologic changes of gastric mucosa. Type I H. pylori strains infection can result in the most severe gastric mucosal inflammation and the highest incidence of nodulus lymphaticus. The immunoblot serotyping of H.pylori strains may be useless for the classification of chronic upper gastrointestinal diseases but it is helpful for the evaluation of the severity of the diseases in children.</p>

Endoscopic and histopathological characteristics of chronic gastritis,duodenitis and peptic ulcer in children / 上海第二医科大学学报

Objective To investigate the relationship between the endoscopic characteristics of chronic gastritis,duodenitis,peptic ulcer and their histopathologic findings in children,and explore the relationship between Helicobacter pylori(Hp) infection and the severity of histopathologic changes of gastroduodenal mucosa in children. Methods Three hundreds and sixty-six children with chronic upper gastrointestinal symptoms who were examined by gastroscopy were enrolled.The gastric and duodenal mucosal biopsy specimens of all the patients were studied histopathologically. ResultsTypes of chronic gastroduodenal diseases in all these patients were: chronic gastritis(n=206,56.3%),chronic gastritis combined with duodenitis(n=112,30.6%),chronic gastritis combined with peptic ulcer(n=48,13.1%).There was chronic inflammation in gastric mucosa and duodenal bulb mucosa in all the cases examined by histopathologic examination.Hp infection was found in 106 cases(28.96%).The gastric mucosal inflammation was more severe in those with Hp infection than those without(P0.05).The were significant differences in the incidences of inflammation activity,atrophia and nodulus lymphaticus of gastric mucosa between those with Hp infection and those without(P

Etiology and treatment of eating disorders in adolescents: a report of 6 cases / 中国当代儿科杂志

The occurrence of eating disorders in Chinese adolescents is increasing. However the cause, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of this disorder are rarely reported by pediatricians. This paper investigated the cause and treatment of six cases of eating disorders in adolescent patients. The medical data of six cases of eating disorders in the Shanghai Children's Medical Center from January 2003 to September 2005 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were 5 girls and 1 boy, whose onset ages ranged from 12.4 to 15.8 years. They were initially referred to the clinic between 12.9 to 16.7 years, with a course of disease varying from three to twelve months. The patients' body mass index (BMI) varied from 9.07 to 17.0. Four out of the six patients were hospitalized because of low temperature, low blood pressure, bradycardia, dehydration and multiple systems damages. The other two were treated in the out-patient clinic. Based on the medical history and physical examination as well as laboratory findings, five of them were diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and the other one were bulimia nervosa. All of the patients were under the care of a team consisting of pediatricians, dietitians, psychiatrists and nurses. When the patients whose vital signs were unstable, medical treatment focused on life sustention and they were kept on beds compulsively and given nutrition transfusion. Meanwhile cognition and behavior therapy was administered to help the patients find out the internal and environmental factors related to the development of this disorder, establish a new conception of healthy weight, and correct their abnormal eating behaviors. The patients who had a severe distortion of body image and a big resistance to the treatment were additionally administered with psychiatry drugs. After treatment, three patients set up a healthy eating behavior, their body weights gradually recovered and they had no relapse during a 1-year follow-up. The other three patients retained some abnormal eating behaviors and their body weights were always below normal. It was found that eating disorders in adolescents may be triggered by some environmental factors, such as comments on body shape from their peers, fashion influence, academic pressures, and problems in communication. Since the patients' abnormal eating behaviors were masked or neglected by parents at the early stage of the disease and the clinical presentations were related to multiple systems, it is difficult to make an early diagnosis and treatment. It is important to improve the pediatricians' knowledge of eating disorders of adolescents and perform cooperation between a multidisciplinary team for the early diagnosis and treatment of this disorder.