Metabolic and nutritional repercussions of liver disease on children: how to minimize them? / Repercussões metabólicas e nutricionais da doença hepática em crianças: como minimizá-las?

ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the metabolic and nutritional repercussions of chronic liver disease (CLD), proposing strategies that optimize nutritional therapy in the pre- and post-liver transplantation (LT) period, in order to promote favorable clinical outcomes and adequate growth and development, respectively. Data sources: Bibliographic search in the PubMed, Lilacs and SciELO databases of the last 12 years, in English and Portuguese; target population: children from early childhood to adolescence; keywords in Portuguese and their correlates in English: "Liver Transplant," "Biliary Atresia," "Nutrition Therapy," "Nutritional Status," and "Child"; in addition to Boolean logics "and" and "or," and the manual search of articles. Data synthesis: Malnutrition in children with CLD is a very common condition and an important risk factor for morbidity and mortality. There is an increase in energy and protein demand, as well as difficulties in the absorption of carbohydrates, lipids and micronutrients such as fat-soluble vitamins and some minerals. An increase in the supply of energy, carbohydrates and proteins and micronutrients, especially fat-soluble vitamins, iron, zinc and calcium, is suggested, except in cases of hepatic encephalopathy (this restriction is indicated for a short period). Conclusions: Based on metabolic changes and anthropometric and body composition monitoring, a treatment plan should be developed, following the nutritional recommendations available, in order to minimize the negative impact of malnutrition on clinical outcomes during and after LT.

RESUMO Objetivo: Revisar de forma descritiva as repercussões metabólicas e nutricionais da doença hepática crônica, propondo estratégias que aperfeiçoem a terapia nutricional nos períodos pré e pós transplante hepático (TxH), para promover desfechos clínicos favoráveis e crescimento e desenvolvimento adequados, respectivamente. Fontes de dados: Pesquisa bibliográfica nas bases de dados PubMed, Lilacs e SciELO dos últimos 30 anos em língua inglesa e portuguesa; população-alvo: crianças da primeira infância até a adolescência; palavras-chave em português e seus correlatos em inglês: "transplante de fígado", "atresia biliar," "terapia nutricional", "estado nutricional" e "criança"; além das lógicas booleanas and e or e da busca manual de artigos. Síntese dos dados: A subnutrição em crianças com doença hepática crônica é uma condição muito comum e um importante fator de risco para a morbimortalidade. Ocorre aumento das demandas de energia e proteínas, bem como dificuldades na absorção de carboidratos, lipídeos e de micronutrientes como vitaminas lipossolúveis e alguns minerais. Sugere-se incremento no aporte de energia, carboidratos, proteínas e micronutrientes, sobretudo de vitaminas lipossolúveis, ferro, zinco e cálcio, exceto em casos de encefalopatia hepática (a restrição é indicada por um curto período). Conclusões: Com base nas alterações metabólicas, no monitoramento antropométrico e na composição corporal, um plano terapêutico deve ser elaborado, seguindo as recomendações nutricionais disponíveis, com o objetivo de minimizar o impacto negativo da subnutrição nos desfechos clínicos durante e após o transplante hepático.

Lymphocyte count as a sign of immunoparalysis and its correlation with nutritional status in pediatric intensive care patients with sepsis: A pilot study

OBJECTIVES: Developing malnutrition during hospitalization is well recognized worldwide, and children are at a relatively higher risk for malnutrition than adults. Malnutrition can lead to immune dysfunction, which is associated with a higher mortality rate due to sepsis, the most frequent cause of death in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). The aim of this study was to investigate whether malnourished patients are more likely to have relative or absolute lymphopenia and, consequently, worse prognoses. METHODS: We enrolled 14 consecutive patients with sepsis whose legal representatives provided written informed consent. Patients were classified as normal or malnourished based on anthropometric measurements. As an additional evaluation of nutritional status, serum albumin and zinc were measured on the 1st and 7th days of hospitalization. Lymphocyte count was also measured on the 1st and 7th days. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02698683. RESULTS: Malnutrition prevalence rates were 33.3% and 42.8% based on weight and height, respectively. Laboratory analyses revealed a reduction of serum albumin in 100% of patients and reduction of zinc in 93.3% of patients. A total of 35% of patients had fewer than 500 lymphocytes/mm3 on their first day in the PICU. Lymphocyte counts and zinc concentrations significantly increased during hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional evaluations, including anthropometric measurements, were not correlated with lymphocyte counts. Lymphocyte counts concomitantly increased with zinc levels, suggesting that micronutrient supplementation benefits patients with sepsis.

Nutritional risk and anthropometric evaluation in pediatric liver transplantation

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the nutritional status of pediatric patients after orthotopic liver transplantation and the relationship with short-term clinical outcome. METHOD: Anthropometric evaluations of 60 children and adolescents after orthotopic liver transplantation, during the first 24 hours in a tertiary pediatric intensive care unit. Nutritional status was determined from the Z score for the following indices: weight/age height/age or length/age, weight/height or weight/length, body mass index/age, arm circumference/age and triceps skinfold/age. The severity of liver disease was evaluated using one of the two models which was adequated to the patients' age: 1. Pediatric End-stage Liver Disease, 2. Model for End-Stage Liver Disease. RESULTS: We found 50.0% undernutrition by height/age; 27.3% by weight/age; 11.1% by weight/height or weight/ length; 10.0% by body mass index/age; 61.6% by arm circumference/age and 51.0% by triceps skinfold/age. There was no correlation between nutritional status and Pediatric End-stage Liver Disease or mortality. We found a negative correlation between arm circumference/age and length of hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Children with chronic liver diseases experience a significant degree of undernutrition, which makes nutritional support an important aspect of therapy. Despite the difficulties in assessment, anthropometric evaluation of the upper limbs is useful to evaluate nutritional status of children before or after liver transplantation.

Nutrição enteral em pediatria / Enteral nutrition in children

A desnutricao hospitalar é frequente no mundo todo e a prevençäo desta condiçäo clínica tem um grande impacto e efeito sobre a diminuiçäo das taxas de morbimortalidade. Para tal, é de extrema importância identificar os pacientes de risco e, entäo, instituir a terapia nutricional mais adequada. A alimentaçäo enteral tem avançado, nos últimos anos, como forma de terapia nutricional, na medida em que evoluem as tecnologias (equipamentos) e o maior conhecimento sobre os nutrientes. O conceito de que o alimento constitui importante estímulo para manter a funçäo e a estrutura intestinal da mucosa, liberando secreçoes pancreáticas, biliares e fatores hormonais - além da possibilidade de melhor oferta de nutrientes, menor custo e menor risco de infecçöes e lesoes hepaticas - fazem com que a via digestiva seja cada vez mais utilizada.