Comparison of Cognitive Function in Children with Stunting and Children with Undernutrition with Normal Stature.

Background: Stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. Children are defined as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median. According to the Indonesia Basic National Health Survey 2013, Indonesia's stunting prevalence reached 37.2%. Various studies have shown that impaired cognitive development is found in children with stunting and undernutrition. This study aims to determine cognitive development in stunted and undernutrition with normal stature children using the Bayley Scale of Infant Development III (Bayley-III). Methods: A cross-sectional study on 51 children aged one month to 3 years who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and who visited the outpatient clinic of Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National General Hospital from June 2017 to January 2018 was performed. Cognitive development was assessed using the Bayley Scale of Infant Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III). Results: 26 children with stunting and 25 children with undernutrition with normal stature participated in this study. There was a statistically nonsignificant trend toward lower median score percentiles in the stunted group compared to that in the undernourished with normal stature group in the motor (median (range) 1 (0.1-75) vs. 4 (0-79); p=0.183), cognitive (12.5 (0.1-75) vs. 16 (0.1-99.9); p=0.550), and adaptive behavior (7 (0.1-75) vs. 12 (0.1-58); p=0.657) domains. Conclusions: There is a trend toward lower cognitive, motor, and adaptive behavior abilities in stunted children compared to undernourished children with normal stature which needs further study. In addition, children with undernutrition have below-average abilities across all domains even before stunting has occurred.

Difficulties in Diagnosis Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy of Childhood: A Case Report.

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy of childhood (ANEC) is a rare condition of encephalopathy which commonly occurs in healthy children. This case report will discuss the diagnostic approach in a female child, three years old, with neurologic deficits. The diagnostic approach of ANEC consists of clinical manifestation, laboratory examination, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, and neuroimaging interpretation. The patient had high liver enzyme, normal CSF analysis with appearances of edema, hemorrhage and necrosis in serial brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Long-Term Effects of Cyclophosphamide in Sustained Remission in Childhood Steroid-resistant Nephrotic Syndrome.

Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a chronic renal disease that can progress into end-stage renal disease within 5 years if no remission occurs. Achieving optimal remission is important to obtain better outcomes of treating childhood steroid-resistant NS (SRNS). This study aimed to determine the survival, long-term outcomes, and factors associated with the sustained remission of SRNS patients after cyclophosphamide therapy. We retrospectively studied 33 children (24 boys) with SRNS treated with cyclophosphamide therapy over 2 years. Relapse-free survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The determinants of long-term remission were assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses using Cox's proportional hazard models. The median age at the onset of NS was 3.0 years (range: 7 months to 14.0 years). The median age at the initiation of cyclophosphamide therapy was 5.0 years (range: 1.0-15.0 years). The mean cumulative cyclophosphamide dose was 155.61 ± 16.31 mg/kg body weight. In total, 18 of 33 (54.5%) children remained in remission for 2 years after cyclophosphamide therapy, and 10 of 15 patients who relapsed (66.67%) became steroid sensitive. Relapse-free survival after cyclophosphamide therapy was 78.8%, 69.7%, and 54.5% after 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively. Cox's proportional hazard regression identified no association between remission 2 years after cyclophosphamide therapy and other factors, such as age at the onset of SRNS, type of resistance, hypertension, hematuria, administration route of cyclophosphamide, and cumulative dose (all P >0.05). Cyclophosphamide therapy appeared to be beneficial for children with SRNS for sustaining 2-year remission with a 54.5% relapse-free survival rate.

Risk Factors for Drug Resistance in Epileptic Children with Age of Onset above Five Years: A Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: Children with epilepsy with onset above five years encompass distinct epidemiological and clinical characteristics that may have specific risk factors for resistance to antiseizure medications (ASMs). Studies on this age group are limited. PURPOSE: To identify risk factors for drug resistance in children with epilepsy with the age of onset above five years. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted on children with epilepsy with the age of onset above five years visiting the Pediatric Neurology Clinic of Cipto Mangunkusumo and Mohammad Hoesin Hospital between September 2015 and August 2016. Cases consisted of drug-resistant children while control consisted of drug-responsive children according to 2010 ILAE classification. Risk factors studied include onset, number of seizures, illness duration before treatment, cause, seizure type, status epilepticus, initial and evolution of EEG, brain imaging, and initial treatment response. RESULTS: Thirty-two pairs of children were included in the study. After logistic regression analysis, symptomatic etiology and failure to achieve early response to treatment were found to be associated with drug resistance with adjusted OR of 84.71 (95% CI: 5.18-1359.15) and 72.55 (95% CI: 7.08-743.85), respectively. CONCLUSION: Poor initial response to ASM and symptomatic etiology are independent risk factors for drug resistance in children with epilepsy with the age of onset above five years.

Extensive Longitudinal Transverse Myelitis Associated With CSF Epstein-Barr Virus Infection: A Case Report.

Background. Acute transverse myelitis (ATM) in children can be secondary to central nervous system infections. Several reports have associated ATM with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Case presentation. We report a previously healthy 10-year-old boy with paraparesis that started 7 days before admission. Spinal T2W MRI revealed extensive hyperintense lesions. Cerebrospinal fluid WBC was 268/µL and PCR examination was positive for EBV. High dose methylprednisolone (1 g/kg) was given for 5 days, the child was symptom free 3 months after presentation. Conclusion. Epstein-Barr infection should be considered in ATM, particularly when CSF WBC count is high.

The Proportion of Bifidobacterium and Escherichia coli in Colon of Children with Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection.

Recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI) in children is a well-known risk factor of chronic kidney disease. Periurethral area is normally inhabited by non-pathogenic flora, such as Bifidobacterium sp., and pathogenic flora from gastrointestinal tract, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), which can cause UTI. Dysbiosis between pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria leads to infections, but studies regarding dysbiosis and recurrent UTI have not yet been documented. To estimate the proportional differences between gastrointestinal E. coli and Bifidobacterium sp. in children with recurrent UTI, a cross-sectional study was conducted in children from age six months to <18 years old diagnosed with recurrent UTI in Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. Healthy children matched in gender and age were recruited as control group. Stool samples were obtained from all the children in the two groups. Stool DNA was extracted using real-time polymerized chain reaction method to count E. coli and Bifidobacterium sp. proportion. Children with recurrent UTI had significantly higher proportion of E. coli compared to control group (10.97 vs. 4.74; P = 0.014) and lower proportion of Bifidobacterium sp. (6.54 vs. 9.33; P = 0.594). In children with recurrent UTI group, E. coli proportion was found higher than Bifidobacterium sp. although not statistically significant (10.97 vs. 6.54; P = 0.819). In healthy controls, Bifidobacterium sp. proportion was significantly higher than E. coli (4.74 vs. 9.33; P = 0.021). The total amount of E. coli (996,004 vs. 1,099,271; P = 0.798) and Bifidobacterium sp. (835,921 vs. 1,196,991; P = 0.711) were higher in secondary UTI compared to the simple UTI. Proportion of E. coli is higher in children with recurrent UTI than in healthy children. The proportion of E. coli is higher than Bifidobacterium sp in the colon of children with recurrent UTI.

Quality of Life in Chronic Kidney disease children using assessment Pediatric Quality Of Life Inventory™.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is still a serious health problem in children with increasing morbidity and affecting children's quality of life (QoL). The prevalence of children with CKD worldwide is approximately 82 cases/year/1 million children. From the Indonesian Basic Health Survey 2013, the prevalence of patients with CKD aged ≥15 years in Indonesia was 0.2%. To assess the QoL in children with CKD as well as its relationship with duration of diagnosis, severity, and related demographic factors, a cross-sectional analytic study was conducted. Individuals were recruited from July 2016 to May 2017 through consecutive sampling. CKD children aged 2-18 years who treated with conservative therapy and hemodialysis were included. Patients and their parents were asked to fill out the PedsQL™ generic score scale version 4.0 questionnaire. A total of 112 children were recruited, and QoL was assessed from parental reports (54.5%) and children's reports (56.3%). The school and emotional aspects were the lowest score parameters studied. Factor related to QoL children with CKD were length of diagnosis >60 months (P = 0.004), female (P = 0.019), and middle school (P = 0.003). More than half of the children with CKD have disturbance of QoL in general from parental reports (54.5%) and children's reports (56.3%). Length of diagnosis >60 months, female, and middle school education were all related to the QoL children with CKD.