Hypophysis and hypothalamus

Pathologies of hypothalamus–hypophysis axis in children express different clinical presentations, regarding endocrine secretions of numerous hormones. Knowledge of embryology, anatomy, and physiology is mandatory to understand the main features of these diseases. MRI is the best tool to assess the anatomical characteristics of the malformative and acquired pathologies. The main clinical expressions are in relation with isolated GH or combined antehypophysis hormones deficiencies, troubles in relation with puberty development, diabetes insipidus; cranial hypertension and visual disturbances may also reveal the disease. Pathologies include developmental disorders, in relation, in most cases with trouble of embryological brain diverticulation, aplasia or hypoplasia of pituitary gland, pituitary stalk interruption. Intra- and suprasellar masses can be a craniopharyngioma, a germinoma, and, mainly after 10 years of life, a pituitary adenoma. Systemic and inflammatory diseases include Langerhans cell histiocytosis, and, rarely in children, lymphocytic hypophysitis, sarcoidosis, and tuberculosis

Nephrol Ther

La néphrocalcinose est définie par des dépôts de phosphate de calcium ou d’oxalate de calcium dans le parenchyme rénal, en particulier dans les cellules épithéliales des tubules rénaux et dans le tissu interstitiel. Il faut la différencier des néphrolithiases où les dépôts calciques se situent dans les cavités excrétrices rénales. La néphrocalcinose chez l’enfant n’est pas si rare, avec une augmentation de son incidence chez les enfants nés prématurément. Souvent de découverte fortuite, ses étiologies sont multiples et peuvent être classées en fonction du type radiologique de néphrocalcinose : médullaire, corticale ou mixte (diffuse). Les causes principales retrouvées chez l’enfant concernent la néphrocalcinose médullaire et comportent les tubulopathies héréditaires, en particulier l’acidose tubulaire distale et la maladie de Dent, les anomalies métaboliques telles que l’hypercalciurie idiopathique et les hyperoxaluries, et les formes iatrogènes secondaires, notamment aux surdosages en vitamine D. Chez le nouveau-né, il s’agit principalement de l’hypercalciurie du prématuré dont l’origine, multifactorielle, est en grande partie iatrogène. L’hyperoxalurie primitive, qui entraîne une néphrocalcinose diffuse d’apparition précoce et conduit à une insuffisance rénale chronique, ne doit pas être méconnue et systématiquement être recherchée. Afin de pouvoir établir un diagnostic spécifique, il est essentiel de prendre en compte l’anamnèse familiale, le contexte clinique ainsi que les données biologiques complètes. Instituer précocement un traitement étiologique adapté permettrait de prévenir ou de retarder l’évolution vers une insuffisance rénale chronique.Nephrocalcinosis is defined by calcium phosphate or calcium oxalate deposits in the kidney parenchyma, particularly in tubular epithelial cells and interstitial tissue. It should be differentiated from urolithiasis where calcium salts deposits are located in the kidney and urinary tract. The epidemiology of nephrocalcinosis in children is unknown but the condition is not so rare, with an increased incidence in preterm infants. Often detected as an incidental finding, nephrocalcinosis may be classified according to the radiological type: medullary, cortical or diffuse. Nephrocalcinosis in children can be caused by a variety of etiology. The most common causes concern medullary nephrocalcinosis and include hereditary tubular disorders, in particular distal renal tubular acidosis and Dent disease, metabolic disorders such as idiopathic hypercalciuria and hyperoxaluria, and iatrogenic causes such as vitamin D intoxication. In the newborn, the main cause is hypercalciuria of the premature baby, whose multifactorial origin is largely iatrogenic. Primary hyperoxaluria which can lead to early onset nephrocalcinosis and usually to chronic kidney disease should always be considered and further investigated. In order to provide a specific diagnosis, it is essential to take into account the family history, the clinical context and complete laboratory data. Early initiation of an appropriate etiological treatment is recommended and may prevent or delay the progression to chronic kidney disease in some cases

Intracranial empyema complicating sinusitis in childhood: Epidemiology, imaging findings and outcome

BACKGROUND: To describe clinical presentations of intracranial sinusitis complications in childhood, their pitfalls and imaging findings. MATERIEL AND METHODS: This retrospective IRB-approved single-center study included infants diagnosed with sinusitis and empyema and/or other intracranial complications who underwent imaging between September 2008 and September 2019. Three radiologists individually reviewed clinical charts and imaging findings, including sinusitis complications and at-risk anatomical variations. RESULTS: 21 children (76% males and 24% females, mean age 13±3.1 years) with imaging pansinusitis were included. Headache (95%) and fever (90%) were the main clinical nonspecific signs. Ten (48%) children presented an extradural empyema, nine (43%) children had a subdural empyema and two (10%) children had both. Frontal location sinusitis was the most common (76%). In MRI, all empyema presented as a hypo intensity on pre-contrast T1-WI, a hyperintensity on T2-WI, a reduced apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) on diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and a peripheral contrast enhancement on post-contrast T1-WI. CT or MRI revealed intracranial complications such as a collection size increase (52%), a midline shift (62%), intraparenchymal abscesses (24%), a cerebral venous thrombosis (29%), an intracranial pressure increase (29%), cerebral ischemia (43%) and Pott's Puffy Tumor (10%). Imaging highlighted sinus anatomical abnormalities in 52% of cases. All children were treated with sinus drainage and/or neurosurgery. Long-term follow-up was favorable in 14 cases (67%). CONCLUSION: Complications of sinusitis are life threatening in the studied population. Empyema and cerebral complications may be misleading. Brain contrast-enhanced CT covering sinuses and orbits, is mainly the first examination done but MRI is mandatory

Arch Pediatr

AIM: To investigate the clinical, laboratory, electrophysiological, and imaging features associated with death or neurological impairment at 1 year of age in term neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) treated by therapeutic hypothermia (TH). METHODS: This was a single-center retrospective and descriptive study conducted over a period of 2 years. We included consecutive term newborns with moderate or severe HIE who were treated by TH initiated within the sixth hour after birth and continued for 72 h,. For all patients, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed before the eighth day and a score was established; furthermore, at least two electroencephalograms were recorded. RESULTS: Among the 33 patients included, 20 neonates had a favorable outcome and 13 had an unfavorable outcome. Early clinical seizures (15% vs. 53.8%, p = 0.047), the persistence of a poor prognosis according to the electroencephalogram pattern after TH (0% vs. 69.2%, p = 0.0001), and an elevated score on the early brain MRI (2 vs. 11, p < 0.001) combined with a high lactate/N-acetyl-aspartate ratio (0.52 vs. 1.33, p = 0.008) on spectroscopy were associated with death and a poor outcome. CONCLUSION: A combination of tools can help the medical team to establish the most reliable prognosis for these full-term neonates, to guide care, and to inform parents most appropriately and sincerely

Neuroprotective role of lactate in rat neonatal hypoxia-ischemia

International audienc

Lung morphology assessment of cystic fibrosis using MRI with ultra-short echo time at submillimeter spatial resolution

Objectives We hypothesized that non-contrast-enhanced PETRA (pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition) MR (magnetic resonance) sequencing could be an alternative to unenhanced computed tomography (CT) in assessing cystic fibrosis (CF) lung structural alterations, as well as compared agreements and concordances with those of conventional T1-weighted and T2-weighted sequences. Material and methods Thirty consecutive CF patients completed both CT and MRI the same day. No contrast injection was used. Agreement in identifying structural alterations was evaluated at the segmental level using a kappa test. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis were used to assess concordances and reproducibility in Helbich-Bhalla disease severity scoring. Results Agreement between PETRA and CT was higher than that of T1-or T2-weighted sequences, notably in assessing the segmental presence of bronchiectasis (Kappa = 0.83; 0.51; 0.49, respectively). The concordance in Helbich-Bhalla scores was very good using PETRA (ICC = 0.97), independently from its magnitude (mean difference (MD) =-0.3 [-2.8; 2.2]), whereas scoring was underestimated using both conventional T1 and T2 sequences (MD =-3.6 [-7.4; 0.1]) and MD =-4.6 [-8.2;-1.0], respectively). Intra-and interobserver reproducibility were very good for all imaging modalities (ICC = 0.86-0.98). Conclusion PETRA showed higher agreement in describing CF lung morphological changes than that of conventional sequences , whereas the Helbich-Bhalla scoring matched closely with that of CT

Neuroprotective Effect of Maternal Resveratrol Supplementation in a Rat Model of Neonatal Hypoxia-Ischemia

Neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (nHI) is a major cause of death or subsequent disabilities in infants. Hypoxia-ischemia causes brain lesions, which are induced by a strong reduction in oxygen and nutrient supply. Hypothermia is the only validated beneficial intervention, but not all newborns respond to it and today no pharmacological treatment exists. Among possible therapeutic agents to test, trans-resveratrol is an interesting candidate as it has been reported to exhibit neuroprotective effects in some neurodegenerative diseases. This experimental study aimed to investigate a possible neuroprotection by resveratrol in rat nHI, when administered to the pregnant rat female, at a nutritional dose. Several groups of pregnant female rats were studied in which resveratrol was added to drinking water either during the last week of pregnancy, the first week of lactation, or both. Then, 7-day old pups underwent a hypoxic-ischemic event. Pups were followed longitudinally, using both MRI and behavioral testing. Finally, a last group was studied in which breastfeeding females were supplemented 1 week with resveratrol just after the hypoxic-ischemic event of the pups (to test the curative rather than the preventive effect). To decipher the molecular mechanisms of this neuroprotection, RT-qPCR and Western blots were also performed on pup brain samples. Data clearly indicated that when pregnant and/or breastfeeding females were supplemented with resveratrol, hypoxic-ischemic offspring brain lesions were significantly reduced. Moreover, maternal resveratrol supplementation allowed to reverse sensorimotor and cognitive deficits caused by the insult. The best recoveries were observed when resveratrol was administered during both gestation and lactation (2 weeks before the hypoxic-ischemic event in pups). Furthermore, neuroprotection was also observed in the curative group, but only at the latest stages examined. Our hypothesis is that resveratrol, in addition to the well-known neuroprotective benefits via the sirtuin's pathway (antioxidant properties, inhibition of apoptosis), has an impact on brain metabolism, and more specifically on the astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle (ANLS) as suggested by RT-qPCR and Western blot data, that contributes to the neuroprotective effects