ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To compare a group of hospitalized asthmatic children taking theophylline with a similar group of hospitalized nonasthmatic children on standardized measures of distractibility, attention, hyperactivity, and academic achievement. DESIGN: Standardized psychological tests were used to measure cognition, attention, and learning, and results for the two groups were compared. SETTING: All subjects were hospitalized in an intermediate care facility. PATIENTS: Up to 63 asthmatic children taking theophylline were compared with a group of 46 nonasthmatic children matched for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and full-scale IQ. Children with head injuries, mental retardation, or known learning disabilities were not included. INTERVENTIONS: All asthmatic children and none of the nonasthmatic children maintained therapeutic levels of theophylline during the evaluation period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Independent t tests were used to examine differences between groups on psychological tests of cognition, attention, and learning. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between groups on any variables at the 95% level of confidence. CONCLUSIONS: While idiosyncratic side effects of theophylline are possible, most children are not more hyperactive, distractible, short of memory, different in academic achievement, or more impulsive than other children with chronic illness.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior/drug effects , Cognition/drug effects , Learning/drug effects , Theophylline/pharmacology , Adolescent , Asthma/drug therapy , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Psychological TestsSubject(s)
Asthma/drug therapy , Central Nervous System Diseases/physiopathology , Cerebral Cortex/pathology , Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use , Adolescent , Atrophy/chemically induced , Atrophy/diagnostic imaging , Central Nervous System Diseases/chemically induced , Cerebral Cortex/diagnostic imaging , Glucocorticoids/adverse effects , Humans , Male , Psychoses, Substance-Induced/etiology , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
Twenty-three infants with diminished levels of one or more immunoglobulin isotypes, intact antibody producing capacity, and a generally benign clinical course were initially diagnosed as having transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy. Prospective evaluation of these infants, including seven to age 60 months, revealed that acquisition of normal immunoglobulin levels was often delayed beyond infancy. In some cases the diminished immunoglobulin levels were a prodrome of selective lgA deficiency. These children seemed to experience frequent sinopulmonary infections early in life, but fewer with age. None of these children received exogenous gammaglobulin. The designation of transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy is a misnomer, and the diagnosis, even if accepted, can be made only in retrospect. The alternative designation hypogammaglobulinemia of early childhood is suggested, to which can be added "with recovery" or "with development of other dysgammaglobulinemia," depending on the eventual phenotype observed.