Case report: Presentations and cytokine profiles of inflammatory non-pulmonary COVID-19 and related diseases in children.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has evolved to dynamic waves of different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Initially, children diagnosed with COVID-19 presented pulmonary involvement characterized by mild diseases. In the later waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, life-threatening non-pulmonary inflammatory diseases such as (1) aseptic meningoencephalitis (ME), (2) acute necrotizing encephalopathies (ANE), and (3) multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) have been reported, affecting the pediatric population. To alert timely identification and prevention of the life-threatening non-pulmonary COVID-19, we present the cases of ME, ANE, and MIS-C in terms of clinical manifestation, cytokine profile, and follow-up consequences. Based on the immunopathogenesis and risk factors associated with non-pulmonary COVID-19, we delineate strategies for an early diagnosis and treatment to reduce morbidity and mortality in children.

Hemodynamic and Echocardiographic Characteristics and the Presence of Pulmonary Hypertension in Patent Ductus Arteriosus Patients who Underwent Transcatheter Closure.

We investigated the hemodynamic parameters of pediatric PDA patients and focused on the influence of PDA size on pulmonary arterial pressure and the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension. A total of 52 patients aged between 2 months and 20 years who received transcatheter closure of a PDA from January 2018 to June 2022 in our institution were retrospectively recruited. Their hemodynamic parameters collected both by echocardiography and by cardiac catheterization were analyzed to delineate the influence of PDA size on the pulmonary vascular system. The echocardiographic-based ductal size and indexed PDA size were 1.93 mm (1.15-6 mm) and 4.05 mm/m2 (2.03-25.47 mm/m2), respectively. The pulmonary artery pressure measured was 20.83 mmHg (8-45 mmHg). We found a positive correlation between indexed PDA size and mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.47, p < 0.001). A subgroup analysis showed that 28 patients (53.8%) developed pulmonary hypertension (PH) (defined as mPAP > 20 mmHg). The median age of the PH group was 1.02 years [range: 0.19-8.64], which was significantly younger than the non-PH group's median age of 3.43 years [range: 0.42-19.96] (p = 0.001). The indexed PDA size for the PH group, 4.69 mm/m2, was significantly higher than that of the non-PH group, 3.2 mm/m2 (p = 0.004). The major risk factor for patients with PH was the PDA/BSA index, with an OR of 2.181 (95% CI, 1.224-3.887). Our demographic data showed younger patients with a higher PDA/BSA index are more likely to develop pulmonary hypertension.

Pathogenesis and Preventive Tactics of Immune-Mediated Non-Pulmonary COVID-19 in Children and Beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has evolved to immune escape and threatened small children and the elderly with a higher severity and fatality of non-pulmonary diseases. These life-threatening non-pulmonary COVID-19 diseases such as acute necrotizing encephalopathies (ANE) and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) are more prevalent in children. However, the mortality of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS-A) is much higher than that of MIS-C although the incidence of MIS-A is lower. Clarification of immunopathogenesis and genetic susceptibility of inflammatory non-pulmonary COVID-19 diseases would provide an appropriate guide for the crisis management and prevention of morbidity and fatality in the ongoing pandemic. This review article described three inflammatory non-pulmonary COVID-19 diseases including (1) meningoencephalitis (ME), (2) acute necrotizing encephalopathies (ANE), and (3) post-infectious multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and in adults (MIS-A). To prevent these life-threatening non-pulmonary COVID-19 diseases, hosts carrying susceptible genetic variants should receive prophylactic vaccines, avoid febrile respiratory tract infection, and institute immunomodulators and mitochondrial cocktails as early as possible.

Prediction of Coronary Artery Aneurysms in Children With Kawasaki Disease Before Starting Initial Treatment.

Background: Precisely predicting coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs) remains a clinical challenge. We aimed to investigate whether coronary dimensions adjusted for body surface area (Z scores) on baseline echocardiography and clinical variables before primary treatment could predict the presence of late CAAs. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study including children hospitalized for Kawasaki disease and received intravenous immunoglobulin within 10 days of illness. We defined late CAAs as a maximum Z score (Zmax) ≥2.5 of the left main, right, or left anterior descending coronary artery at 11-60 days of illness. Associations between late CAAs and clinical parameters and baseline maximum Z scores were analyzed. Results: Among the 314 included children, 31 (9.9%) had late CAAs. Male, higher C-reactive protein, and higher baseline Zmax were risk factors of late CAAs. Late CAAs were significantly associated with baseline Zmax ≥2.0 vs. <2.0 (25 [32.5%] vs. 6 [2.5%], P < 0.001). The odds ratio for late CAAs among the patients with baseline Zmax ≥2.0 vs. <2.0 was 18.5 (95% confidence interval, 7.23 to 47.41, P < 0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of baseline Zmax ≥2.0 for the presence of later CAAs were 80.6, 81.6, 32.5, and 97.5%, respectively. Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that Zmax ≥2.0 of coronary arteries on baseline echocardiography may be used to predict children at a high risk of late CAAs and allow for targeted early intensification therapy.

Aortotracheal fistula after slide tracheoplasty in a patient with dextrocardia, left pulmonary artery sling and tracheal stenosis: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Aortotracheal fistula (ATF) is an uncommon and fatal complication of tracheal or aortic surgery, especially among pediatric patients. CASE PRESENTATION: We reported a case in a 1-year-old boy with dextrocardia, left pulmonary artery sling and long segment tracheal stenosis. He received slide tracheoplasty at 9 months of age and had post-operative refractory granulation at distal trachea status post repeated balloon dilatation and laser vaporization. Episodes of hemoptysis occurred on post-operative day 81. Bronchoscopy revealed a pulsating pseudoaneurysm at lower trachea which ruptured during the procedure Urgent surgical repair under cardiopulmonary bypass with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest was done. No recurrent bleeding or significant neurologic deficits noticed at a 4-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: Congenital anomaly that changes the spatial relationship between trachea and aorta could have contributed to formation of ATF. This warrant future attention when managing tracheal granulation with this not uncommon anatomy.

Successful Rescue of a Ruptured Tracheoinnominate Fistula with Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, Endovascular Stents, and Debranching Surgical Bypass.

We reported a case of ruptured tracheoinnominate fistula in a 14-year-old boy with history of repeated sternotomy. Tracheostomy was performed at age 2 years. Slide tracheoplasty was done at age 13 years. He presented to outpatient clinic with episodic hemosputum. Massive blood emanated from stoma during bronchoscopy evaluation. Venous-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was installed for resuscitation. A contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and angiography confirmed the diagnosis. Immediate control of bleeding was achieved by an endovascular stent graft deployed at innominate artery. Massive hemorrhage recurred on day 7. An aortic arch stent was inserted and all arch vessels debranching via supraclavicular collar excision was performed. A covered stent was used to fenestrate the aortic stent and establish antegrade blood flow to all neck vessels via left common carotid artery. The patient remained stable at 10-month follow-up. Combination of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, endovascular intervention, and surgical bypass could be effective in treating critical patients.

The association of congenital tracheobronchial stenosis and cardiovascular anomalies.

OBJECTIVES: Congenital tracheobronchial stenosis (CTBS) is a rare disorder characterized by the presence of focal or diffuse complete tracheal or bronchial cartilage rings resulting in a fixed lumen narrowing. The aim of this study was to expose the association of various cardiovascular (CV) anomalies with various types of CTBS. METHODS: A retrospective review of 58 patients who had bronchoscopically proven CTBS between 1997 and 2011 was conducted. Totally, 48 cases who had received echocardiography, computed tomography and other examinations including cardiac catheterization were enrolled. There were 33 boys and 15 girls, and the median age of diagnosis was 4 months (0-44 months). The image findings of associated CV anomalies were reviewed and analyzed, along with the clinical manifestations and patients' outcome. RESULTS: There were 14 generalized hypoplasia (29.2%), 10 funnel type (20.8%), 15 segmental type (31.3%), and 9 isolated bronchial stenosis cases (18.7%). Among 48 cases of CTBS, 32 patients (66.7%) had various CV anomalies including atrial septal defect (n=9), pulmonary artery sling (n=7), ventricular septal defect (n=7), patent ductus arteriosus (n=6), tetralogy of Fallot (n=3), peripheral pulmonary stenosis (n=3), etc. No significant difference existed in the incidence and types of comorbid CV anomalies among 4 types of CTBS, except that funnel type had significantly higher comorbidity of pulmonary artery sling (50%, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Patients with CTBS had high incidence of various associated CV anomalies. Isolated bronchial stenosis had similar high comorbidity of CV anomalies as did the 3 classical categories of congenital tracheal stenosis. The higher comorbidity of pulmonary artery sling in patients with funnel CTBS might be related to its gradual caudal narrowing of the trachea.

Three types of couplings between asymmetric plasmonic dimers.

We report extensive numerical studies on plasmonic dimers of different configurations and find that their coupling effects can be categorized into three types of phenomena. First, like ordinary mechanical systems, the plasmonic dimers can exhibit positive couplings that show anti-crossing behavior. Second, they can also be arranged to exhibit negative couplings that display opposite trends in resonant frequency shifts. Third, when there are surface currents in proximity to each other, the resonance frequencies of the dimers exhibit unusual redshifts that do not have any analogies in conventional systems. Our work suggests that in addition to the well-known electric and magnetic dipolar interactions, contributions from the inductance of displacement currents in the near field cannot be ignored. Overall, asymmetric plasmonic dimers exhibit better sensitivities than the symmetric counterparts and our extensive studies also enable us to identify the plasmonic dimer with the highest sensing capabilities.

Electronic structures of well-aligned Er-doped ZnO nanorod arrays.

Electronic structures of well-aligned Er-doped ZnO (ZnO:Er) nanorod arrays (NRAs) synthesized by a solution-based hydrothermal process were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS). HRTEM and angular dependent X-ray absorption near-edge structure analysis at O K and Zn L3 edges indicates that the spontaneous polarization is along the [0001] direction. The analysis of Er L3-edge XAFS demonstrates that the local structure around Er in the ZnO:Er NRAs was transformed from O(h) to C(4v), after annealing.