Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

J Perinat Med 2021 Jun 11. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.

After more than 1 year of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a great deal of knowledge on how this virus affects pregnant women, the fetus and the newborn has accumulated. The gap between different guidelines how to handle newborn infants during this pandemic has been minimized, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)'s recommendations are now more in accordance with those of the World Health Organization (WHO). In this article we summarize present knowledge regarding transmission from mother to the fetus/newborn. Read More

Am J Perinatol 2021 Jun 11. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Division of Hematology and Oncology, Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Erciyes University, School of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey.

Objective:  T-cell receptor excision circles are expensive for neonatal severe combined immunodeficiency screening in developing countries. We aimed to detect immunodeficiencies presenting with lymphopenia to enable screening in the general population and to improve awareness regarding lymphopenia among clinicians.

Study Design:  This study was conducted prospectively. Read More

Pediatr Emerg Care 2021 May 18. Epub 2021 May 18.

From the Section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.

Abstract: We report the case of a 3-year-old boy who presented to the pediatric emergency department in undifferentiated shock with an acute abdomen. Point-of-care ultrasound revealed viscous perforation with a large amount of free fluid. Intraoperatively, a single magnet was discovered as the likely cause of bowel perforation and the resulting state of shock. Read More

Pediatr Emerg Care 2021 Jun 11. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The Children's Hospital of San Antonio San Antonio, TX

Pediatr Emerg Care 2021 Jun 11. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

From the Stanford University, Stanford, CA Department of Pediatrics, University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, HI.

Single-sided (1-tailed) and double-sided (2-tailed) probabilities are products of statistical tests that can be crucial to drawing accurate conclusions in scientific studies. In a review of articles published in issues of Pediatric Emergency Care from 2020, we identified 2 where single-sided versus double-sided probability issues potentially reversed a conclusion of study investigators. The purpose of this study is to describe single-sided versus double-sided probability issues found in Pediatric Emergency Care 2020 articles to increase awareness surrounding these issues. Read More

J Neurosurg 2021 Jun 11:1-8. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

1Department of Neurological Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio.

Objective: The Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF) provides research support for in-training and early career neurosurgeon-scientists. To define the impact of this funding, the authors assessed the success of NREF awardees in obtaining subsequent National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.

Methods: NREF in-training (Research Fellowship [RF] for residents) and early career awards/awardees (Van Wagenen Fellowship [VW] and Young Clinician Investigator [YCI] award for neurosurgery faculty) were analyzed. Read More

Am J Emerg Med 2021 Jun 8;49:148-152. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Brooke Army Medical Center, USA.

Background: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a dangerous pediatric complication of COVID-19.

Objective: The purpose of this review article is to provide a summary of the diagnosis and management of MIS-C with a focus on management in the acute care setting.

Discussion: MIS-C is an inflammatory syndrome which can affect nearly any organ system. Read More

J Psychiatr Res 2021 May 30;140:132-140. Epub 2021 May 30.

Hyogo Regional Center for the Japan Environment and Children's Study, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan; Department of Public Health, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan. Electronic address:

Feelings about pregnancy and mother-infant bonding are associated with maternal mental health before and after childbirth. The current study examined factors associated with persistent distress at 12 months after childbirth among mothers with psychological distress in the first trimester, using data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). Feelings about pregnancy were assessed using a questionnaire in the first trimester, and maternal mental health was assessed using the Kessler 6 (K6) in the first trimester and at 12 months after childbirth. Read More

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2021 May 4;101(1):115417. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital; Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Electronic address:

Nasal carriers of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) are at increased risk for health-care associated infections with this organism. Timely detection of SA and Methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA) and subsequent decolonization are important components of infection control. While performance of nucleic acid amplification-based tests for detection of SA/MRSA in adults has been well-described, limited data are available in children. Read More

Clin Imaging 2021 Jun 1;79:213-218. Epub 2021 Jun 1.

Ondokuz Mayis University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Samsun, Turkey.

Purpose: To investigate the utilization of 3-Tesla (3 T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detection of pulmonary abnormalities in children with pneumonia.

Materials And Methods: Forty-seven children with pneumonia prospectively underwent 3 T thoracic MRI and posteroanterior (PA) chest radiography (CR). Of these, 15 patients also underwent contrast-enhanced thorax computed tomography (CT) or high-resolution CT (HRCT). Read More

Clin Imaging 2021 Jun 7;79:207-212. Epub 2021 Jun 7.

Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Mansoura Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura, Egypt.

Purpose: To assess diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the vertebral bone marrow (BM) in children with Gaucher's disease (GD) types I and III before and after therapy.

Methods: Prospective study was conducted upon 25 children with GD type I (n = 17) and III (n = 8) and 13 age and sex-matched controls underwent DTI of vertebral BM. Mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of vertebral BM was calculated and correlated with genotyping, chitotriosidase, hemoglobin (HB) and, platelet count. Read More

Int J Food Microbiol 2021 May 30;352:109261. Epub 2021 May 30.

State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China; Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China. Electronic address:

Listeria monocytogenes, a fatal foodborne pathogen has the extraordinary capacity to survive in harsh conditions and is a potential threat to public health. A novel 91 kb plasmid pLM1686 was found in the prevalent L. monocytogenes sequence type (ST) 87 strain in China. Read More

Travel Med Infect Dis 2021 Jun 8:102095. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Robina, QLD, Australia (AU); Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia (AU); General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology, Dubai Police, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE); Dubai Future Council on Community Security, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE); Dubai Police Scientists Council, Dubai Police, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Introduction: Mobile phones are used the world over, including in healthcare settings. This study aimed to investigate the viable microbial colonisation of mobile phones used by healthcare personnel.

Methods: Swabs collected on the same day from 30 mobile phones belonging to healthcare workers from three separate paediatric wards of an Australian hospital were cultured on five types of agar plate, then colonies from each phone were pooled, extracted and sequenced by shotgun metagenomics. Read More

Clin Immunol 2021 Jun 8:108779. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Department of Pediatrics, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany; German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich, Germany; Munich Centre for Rare Diseases (M-ZSE), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany. Electronic address:

CTLA4-haploinsufficiency is a complex disease of immune dysregulation presenting with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. CTLA4-Fc fusion proteins such as abatacept have been described to alleviate immune dysregulation in several adult cases of CTLA4-haploinsufficiency. However, until now only few cases of pediatric CTLA4-haploinsufficiency treated with abatacept have been described. Read More

Genomics 2021 Jun 8. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; MS Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address:

The prevalence of familial multiple sclerosis (FMS) is increasing worldwide which endorses the heritability of the disease. Given that many genome variations are ethnicity-specific and consanguineous marriage could affect genetic diseases, hereditary disease gene analysis among FMS patients from Iran, a country with high rates of parental consanguinity, could be highly effective in finding mutations underlying disease pathogenesis. To examine rare genetic mutations, we selected three Iranian FMS cases with ≥3 MS patients in more than one generation and performed whole exome sequencing. Read More

Am J Infect Control 2021 Jun 8. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Department of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Health Sciences Dr. Behçet Uz Children's Hospital, İzmir, Turkey.

Background: The study aimed to evaluate the distribution of circulating respiratory viral pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2 during the first year of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with especially focusing on the effects of the national-based mitigation strategies.

Methods: This single-center study was conducted between March 11, 2020-March 11, 2021. All children who were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 and other common respiratory viral pathogens were included in the study. Read More

J Invest Dermatol 2021 Jun 8. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Toyama Regional Center for JECS, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan; Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Academic Assembly, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan.

Am J Pathol 2021 Jun 8. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Department of Pediatrics(,) The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), TX. Electronic address:

Given the increasing number of people living with OA, due to population aging and rising rates of obesity, there is an urgent need to identify effective treatment and preventions. Two top risk factors for OA, age and obesity, are associated with ER stress. The I-ERS mouse, an ER stress driven model of primary OA, was developed to study the role of ER stress in primary OA susceptibility. Read More

Clin Chim Acta 2021 Jun 8. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address:

Renal function is associated with postoperative residual hypertension in aldosterone-producing adenoma(APA) patients. Cystatin C-based glomerular filtration rate (GFR) can more accurately estimate renal function than creatinine-based methods. However, which renal function estimation method can more accurately predict postoperative hypertension in APA patients is still unknown. Read More

Ann Thorac Surg 2021 Jun 8. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Department of Surgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

Background: For the >40,000 US children undergoing congenital heart surgery annually, the relationship between hospital quality and costs remains unclear. Prior studies report conflicting results and clinical outcomes have continued to improve over time. We examined a large contemporary cohort, aiming to better inform ongoing initiatives seeking to optimize healthcare value in this population. Read More

Cell 2021 Jun 5. Epub 2021 Jun 5.

Institute for Immunodeficiency, Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency (CCI), University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany; Center for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center, 79106 Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address:

Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) have co-evolved with their mammalian hosts for millions of years, leading to remarkable host specificity and high infection prevalence. Macrophages, which already populate barrier tissues in the embryo, are the predominant immune cells at potential CMV entry sites. Here we show that, upon CMV infection, macrophages undergo a morphological, immunophenotypic, and metabolic transformation process with features of stemness, altered migration, enhanced invasiveness, and provision of the cell cycle machinery for viral proliferation. Read More

Immunity 2021 Jun 10. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, UCSD, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), an inflammatory condition with high mortality rates, is common in severe COVID-19, whose risk is reduced by metformin rather than other anti-diabetic medications. Detecting of inflammasome assembly in post-mortem COVID-19 lungs, we asked whether and how metformin inhibits inflammasome activation while exerting its anti-inflammatory effect. We show that metformin inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome activation and interleukin (IL)-1β production in cultured and alveolar macrophages along with inflammasome-independent IL-6 secretion, thus attenuating lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- and SARS-CoV-2-induced ARDS. Read More

Diabetes Technol Ther 2021 Jun 11. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

University of Colorado Denver Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, 21610, Department of Medicine and Pediatrics, 1775 Aurora Court, MS A140, Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045;

In exploratory analyses, we evaluated glycemic variability (GV) and gestational outcomes in pregnant women (n=28) with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Gestational age at delivery was higher for women with lower glycemic measures, including eHbA1c (0.14% decrease in HbA1c per 1-week greater gestational age, p=0. Read More

Mol Oncol 2021 Jun 11. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Sarcoma Biology Laboratory, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

T-lymphokine-activated killer (T-LAK) cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK) is an emerging target with critical roles in various cancers; however, its expression and function in osteosarcoma remain unexplored. We evaluated TOPK expression using RNA sequencing and gene expression data from public databases (TARGET-OS, CCLE, GTEx and GENT2) and immunohistochemistry in an osteosarcoma tissue microarray (TMA). TOPK gene expression was significantly higher in osteosarcoma than normal tissues, and directly correlated with shorter overall survival. Read More

Int J Clin Pract 2021 Jun 11:e14494. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, 576104, India.

Aim: The primary objective of this article is to understand the various complications caused by the coronavirus in the pediatric population.

Method: An electronic search was conducted using PubMed and incorporated forward and backward research methods on clinical trials, case reports, case series guidelines, and reports from the centre for disease control and prevention (CDC) and the keywords included Covid-19, Paediatrics, Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), Complications, Acute kidney injury, Heart failure. Secondary resources included one study from pre-print servers (www. Read More

PLoS One 2021 11;16(6):e0252646. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Laboratorium of Experimental Medicine and Pediatrics and Member of the Infla-Med Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.

In this study, we investigated serum epidermal growth factor (EGF) in an oncological population of head- and neck and pulmonary neoplasms and whether serum EGF could serve as a prognostic marker of survival and as a predictive marker for treatment response to platinum-based chemotherapy. A total of 59 oncological patients and a control group of age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were included in this study. Pre-treatment serum EGF from both groups was determined. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021 Jun 11;15(6):e0009399. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Introduction: Intramuscular benzathine penicillin G (BPG) injections are a cornerstone of secondary prophylaxis to prevent acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Uncertainties regarding inter-ethnic and preparation variability, and target exposure profiles of BPG injection are key knowledge gaps for RHD control.

Methods: To evaluate BPG pharmacokinetics (PK) in patients receiving 4-weekly doses in Ethiopia, we conducted a prospective cohort study of ARF/RHD patients attending cardiology outpatient clinics. Read More

Shock 2021 Jun 10. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Dana-Dwek Children's Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Department of Pediatric Critical Care, Tel-Aviv, Israel Division of Critical Care Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Abstract: In the last few decades, obesity became one of the world's greatest health challenges reaching a size of global epidemic in virtually all socioeconomic statuses and all age groups. Obesity is a risk factor for many health problems and as its prevalence gradually increases is becoming a significant economic and health burden. In this manuscript we describe how normal respiratory and cardiovascular physiology is altered by obesity. Read More

Eur J Emerg Med 2021 Jun 3. Epub 2021 Jun 3.

Department of Internal and Emergency Medicine, Buergerspital Solothurn, Solothurn and Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

Objective: Despite an established gender gap in academic medicine, evidence on gender diversity in emergency medicine is scarce. In the present study, gender distribution of editorial boards and among editors-in-chief of 31 emergency medicine journals was investigated in 2020/2021 and compared to 2015 and 2010. Additionally, gender distribution in editorial boards of emergency medicine journals was compared to editorial boards in five different medical specialties. Read More

Dermatitis 2021 Jun 9. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

From the Departments of Dermatology Pediatrics, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH.