Can we screen for heart disease in children at public health centres? A multicentre observational study of screening for heart disease with a risk of sudden death in children.

Sudden cardiac death in children is a rare event, but of great social significance. Generally, it is related to heart disease with a risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), which may occur with cardiovascular symptoms and/or electrocardiographic markers; thus, a primary care paediatrician (PCP) could detect them. Therefore, we proposed a study that assesses how to put into practice and conduct a cardiovascular assessment within the routine healthy-child check-ups at six and twelve years of age; that reflects cardiovascular signs and symptoms, as well as the electrocardiographic alterations that children with a risk of SCD in the selected population present; and that assesses the PCP's skill at electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation. In collaboration with PCPs, primary care nurses, and paediatric cardiologists, an observational, descriptive, multicentre, cross-sectional study was carried out in the Balearic Islands (Spain), from April 2021 to January 2022, inclusive. The PCPs gathered patient data through forms (medical record, electrocardiogram, and physical examination) and sent them to the investigator, together with the informed consent document and electrocardiogram. The investigator passed the electrocardiogram on to the paediatric cardiologists for reading, in an identical form to those the paediatricians had filled in. The variables were collected, and a descriptive analysis performed. Three paediatric cardiologists, twelve PCPs, and nine nurses from seven public health centres took part. They collected the data from 641 patients, but 233 patients did not participate (in 81.11% due to the PCP's workload). Therefore, the study coverage was around 64%, representing the quotient of the total number of patients who participated, divided by the total number of patients who were eligible for the study. We detected 30 patients with electrocardiographic alterations compatible with SCD risk. Nine of these had been examined by a paediatric cardiologist at some time (functional murmur in 8/9), five had reported shortness of breath with exercise, and four had reported a family history of sudden death. The physical examination of all the patients whose ECG was compatible with a risk of SCD was normal. Upon analysing to what extent the ECG results of the PCP and the paediatric cardiologist agreed, the percentage of agreement in the final interpretation (normal/altered) was 91.9%, while Cohen's kappa coefficient was 31.2% (CI 95%: 13.8-48.6%). The sensitivity of the ECG interpretation by the PCP to detect an ECG compatible with a risk of SCD was 29% and the positive predictive value 45%.     Conclusions: This study lays the foundations for future SCD risk screening in children, performed by PCPs. However, previously, it would be important to optimise their training in reading and interpreting paediatric ECGs. What is Known: • In Spain at present, there is a programme in place to detect heart disease with a risk of sudden death [1], but it targets only children who are starting on or are doing a physical activity as a federated sport. Implementing such screening programmes has proven effective in several countries [2]. However, several studies showed that the incidence of sudden cardiac death is no higher in children competing in sport activities than in those who do not do any sport [3]. This poses an ethical conflict, because at present, children who do not do any federated sport are excluded from screening. According to the revised literature, so far, only in two studies did they screen the child population at schools, and in both, they successfully detected patients with heart disease associated to the risk of sudden death [4, 5]. We have found no studies where the screening of these features was included within the routine healthy-child check-ups by primary care paediatricians. What is New: • We did not know whether-in our setting, at present-the primary care paediatrician could perform a screening method within the routine healthy-child check-ups, in order to detect presumably healthy children at risk of sudden cardiac death, as they present one of the SCD risks. In this regard, we proposed our project: to assess how to put into practice and conduct a cardiovascular assessment via SCD risk screening in the healthy child population by primary care paediatricians and appraise primary care paediatricians' skills in identifying the electrocardiographic alterations associated with SCD risk. The ultimate intention of this pilot study was to make it possible, in the future, to design and justify a study aimed at universalising cardiovascular screening and achieving a long-term decrease in sudden cardiac death events in children.

Segmental hair testing to disclose chronic exposure to psychoactive drugs. / Análisis segmentario del pelo para detectar la exposición crónica a drogas psicoactivas.

This study presents the case of a 4-year-old healthy child admitted to the paediatric ward for suspected accidental intoxication due to ingestion of narcoleptic drugs (methylphenidate, sertraline and quetiapine), taken on a regular basis by his 8-year-old brother affected by Asperger syndrome.Intoxication can be objectively assessed by measurements of drugs and metabolites in biological matrices with short-term (blood and urine) or long-term (hair) detection windows. At the hospital, the child's blood and urine were analysed by immunoassay (confirmed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry), and sertraline and quetiapine and their metabolites were identified. The suspicion that the mother administered drugs chronically prompted the analysis of six, consecutive 2-cm segments of the child's hair, using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, thereby accounting for ingestion over the previous 12 months. Quetiapine was found in the first four segments with a mean concentration of 1.00 ng/mg ± 0.94 ng/mg hair while sertraline and its metabolite, desmethyl-sertraline, were found in all segments with a mean concentration of 2.65 ± 0.94 ng/mg and 1.50 ± 0.94 ng/mg hair, respectively. Hair analyses were negative for methylphenidate and its metabolite (ritalinic acid). Biological matrices testing for psychoactive drugs disclosed both acute and chronic intoxication with quetiapine and sertraline administered by the mother.

Se presenta el caso de un niño sano de 4 años de edad que ingresa en la sala de hospitalización pediátrica por la sospecha de una intoxicación accidental debido a la ingesta de fármacos narcolépticos (metilfenidato, sertralina y quetiapina), que tomaba de forma pautada su hermano de 8 años de edad que padecía un síndrome de Asperger.La evaluación objetiva de la intoxicación se puede realizar con la determinación de los fármacos y sus metabolitos en matrices biológicas con una ventana de tiempo corta (sangre y orina) o larga (pelo).En el hospital se realizó un análisis de sangre y orina mediante inmunoanálisis (confirmado mediante espectrometría líquida-cromatografía de masas) y se identificó la presencia de sertralina y quetiapina y sus metabolitos. Con la sospecha de administración crónica de fármacos al niño, se procedió al análisis del pelo con cromatografía líquida de ultra-alto rendimiento-espectrometría de masas en tándem. El pelo se dividió en 6 segmentos consecutivos de 2 cm de longitud, de forma que permitieron estudiar la ingesta de los fármacos durante los últimos 12 meses. En los primeros 4 segmentos se encontró quetiapina con una concentración media de 1,00 ng/mg ± 0,94 ng/mg de pelo y en todos los segmentos se encontraron sertralina y su metabolito, desmetil-sertralina, con una concentración media de 2,65 ± 0,94 ng/mg y 1,50 ± 0,94 ng/mg de pelo, respectivamente. El análisis de pelo resultó negativo para metilfenidato y su metabolito (ácido ritalínico).La detección en matrices biológicas de fármacos psicoactivos demostró la intoxicación aguda y crónica por quetiapina y sertralina, administradas por la madre.

Análisis segmentario del pelo para detectar la exposición crónica a drogas psicoactivas / Segmental hair testing to disclose chronic exposure to psychoactive drugs

Se presenta el caso de un niño sano de 4 años de edad que ingresa en la sala de hospitalización pediátrica por la sospecha de una intoxicación accidental debido a la ingesta de fármacos narcolépticos (metilfenidato, sertralina y quetiapina), que tomaba de forma pautada su hermano de 8 años de edad que padecía un síndrome de Asperger. La evaluación objetiva de la intoxicación se puede realizar con la determinación de los fármacos y sus metabolitos en matrices biológicas con una ventana de tiempo corta (sangre y orina) o larga (pelo). En el hospital se realizó un análisis de sangre y orina mediante inmunoanálisis (confirmado mediante espectrometría líquida-cromatografía de masas) y se identificó la presencia de sertralina y quetiapina y sus metabolitos. Con la sospecha de administración crónica de fármacos al niño, se procedió al análisis del pelo con cromatografía líquida de ultra-alto rendimiento-espectrometría de masas en tándem. El pelo se dividió en 6 segmentos consecutivos de 2 cm de longitud, de forma que permitieron estudiar la ingesta de los fármacos durante los últimos 12 meses. En los primeros 4 segmentos se encontró quetiapina con una concentración media de 1,00 ng/mg ± 0,94 ng/mg de pelo y en todos los segmentos se encontraron sertralina y su metabolito, desmetil-sertralina, con una concentración media de 2,65 ± 0,94 ng/mg y 1,50 ± 0,94 ng/mg de pelo, respectivamente. El análisis de pelo resultó negativo para metilfenidato y su metabolito (ácido ritalínico). La detección en matrices biológicas de fármacos psicoactivos demostró la intoxicación aguda y crónica por quetiapina y sertralina, administradas por la madre

This study presents the case of a 4-year-old healthy child admitted to the paediatric ward for suspected accidental intoxication due to ingestion of narcoleptic drugs (methylphenidate, sertraline and quetiapine), taken on a regular basis by his 8-year-old brother affected by Asperger syndrome. Intoxication can be objectively assessed by measurements of drugs and metabolites in biological matrices with short-term (blood and urine) or long-term (hair) detection windows. At the hospital, the child’s blood and urine were analysed by immunoassay (confirmed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry), and sertraline and quetiapine and their metabolites were identified. The suspicion that the mother administered drugs chronically prompted the analysis of six, consecutive 2-cm segments of the child’s hair, using ultra-high performance liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry, thereby accounting for ingestion over the previous 12 months. Quetiapine was found in the first four segments with a mean concentration of 1.00 ng/mg ± 0.94 ng/mg hair while sertraline and its metabolite, desmethyl-sertraline, were found in all segments with a mean concentration of 2.65 ± 0.94 ng/mg and 1.50 ± 0.94 ng/mg hair, respectively. Hair analyses were negative for methylphenidate and its metabolite (ritalinic acid). Biological matrices testing for psychoactive drugs disclosed both acute and chronic intoxication with quetiapine and sertraline administered by the mother

The effects of varying protein and energy intakes on the growth and body composition of very low birth weight infants.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of high dietary protein and energy intake on the growth and body composition of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. STUDY DESIGN: Thirty-eight VLBW infants whose weights were appropriate for their gestational ages were assessed for when they could tolerate oral intake for all their nutritional needs. Thirty-two infants were included in a longitudinal, randomized clinical trial over an approximate 28-day period. One control diet (standard preterm formula, group A, n = 8, 3.7 g/kg/d of protein and 129 kcal/kg/d) and two high-energy and high-protein diets (group B, n = 12, 4.2 g/kg/d and 150 kcal/kg/d; group C, n = 12, 4.7 g/kg/d and 150 kcal/kg/d) were compared. Differences among groups in anthropometry and body composition (measured with bioelectrical impedance analysis) were determined. An enriched breast milk group (n = 6) served as a descriptive reference group. RESULTS: Groups B and C displayed greater weight gains and higher increases in fat-free mass than group A. CONCLUSION: An intake of 150 kcal/kg/d of energy and 4.2 g/kg/d of protein increases fat-free mass accretion in VLBW infants.