Stress-system activation in children with chronic pain: A focus for clinical intervention.

Accumulating evidence indicates that psychological and neurophysiological processes interconnect and interact to activate the body's stress system and to trigger and maintain functional somatic symptoms. This study used the Early Life Stress Questionnaire, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and biological markers (heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance, C-reactive protein (CRP) titre, respiratory rate, and accuracy and reaction time in an emotion-face identification task), to examine childhood adversity, psychological distress and stress-system activation in 35 children and adolescents (23 girls and 12 boys, 9-17 years old) disabled by chronic pain (vs two groups of age- and sex-matched healthy controls). Patients reported more early-life stress (U = 798.5, p = .026) and more psychological distress (U = 978, p < .001). They showed activation of the autonomic system: elevated heart rate (U = 862.5, p = .003), elevated electrodermal activity (U = 804.5, p = .024) and lower heart rate variability in the time domain (U = 380.5, p = .007) and frequency domain (U = 409.5, p = .017). The group showed an upward shift of CRP titres (with 75th and 90th CRP percentiles of 4.5 and 10.5 mg/L, respectively), suggesting the activation of the immune-inflammatory system. Elevated CRP titres were associated with elevated heart rate (p = .028). There were no differences in respiratory rate or in accuracy and reaction time in the emotion-face identification task. The results indicate that interventions for children and adolescents with chronic pain need a multidisciplinary mind-body approach that concurrently addresses psychological distress, physical impairment and stress-system dysregulation.

Stroke and nonstroke brain attacks in children.

OBJECTIVES: To determine symptoms, signs, and etiology of brain attacks in children presenting to the emergency department (ED) as a first step for developing a pediatric brain attack pathway. METHODS: Prospective observational study of children aged 1 month to 18 years with brain attacks (defined as apparently abrupt-onset focal brain dysfunction) and ongoing symptoms or signs on arrival to the ED. Exclusion criteria included epilepsy, hydrocephalus, head trauma, and isolated headache. Etiology was determined after review of clinical data, neuroimaging, and other investigations. A random-effects meta-analysis of similar adult studies was compared with the current study. RESULTS: There were 287 children (46% male) with 301 presentations over 17 months. Thirty-five percent arrived by ambulance. Median symptom duration before arrival was 6 hours (interquartile range 2-28 hours). Median time from triage to medical assessment was 22 minutes (interquartile range 6-55 minutes). Common symptoms included headache (56%), vomiting (36%), focal weakness (35%), numbness (24%), visual disturbance (23%), seizures (21%), and altered consciousness (21%). Common signs included focal weakness (31%), numbness (13%), ataxia (10%), or speech disturbance (8%). Neuroimaging included CT imaging (30%), which was abnormal in 27%, and MRI (31%), which was abnormal in 62%. The most common diagnoses included migraine (28%), seizures (15%), Bell palsy (10%), stroke (7%), and conversion disorders (6%). Relative proportions of conditions in children significantly differed from adults for stroke, migraine, seizures, and conversion disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Brain attack etiologies differ from adults, with stroke being the fourth most common diagnosis. These findings will inform development of ED clinical pathways for pediatric brain attacks.