Anaphylaxis in children

Anaphylaxis, though rare, is an increasing emergency especially in children and remains under-diagnosed and undertreated. Boys outnumber girls by 3 : 2 in preschool children, but from the age of 15 females predominate. Food is the main trigger of anaphylaxis in children with the commonest being nuts and milk. The diagnosis is primarily based on the clinical history and clinical criteria. The most to less frequent symptoms concern dermatological, respiratory, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular ones, respectively. Emergency management requires the life support ABCDE approach. Intramuscular adrenalin, repeated as required, is a drug of choice in the case of a severe systemic reaction. Intravenous fluids, oxygen and a certain position of the patient are the next steps of the treatment. When recovered, at the discharge from hospital, the child should be given a prescription for auto-injection with adrenalin and trained (together with his family) how to use it. After a systemic reaction it is obligatory to refer the child to a specialist allergy clinic for careful diagnosis. There is a necessity of constant education and regular assessment of doctors, nurses, patients and their families for adherence with present recommendations

Pulmonary function tests leading to the diagnosis of vascular malformations in school-aged children

Vascular rings are congenital defects of great vessels. They cause compression of the trachea or/and the esophagus and therefore result in symptoms like inspiratory stridor, cough, wheezing, recurrent respiratory tract infections or dysphagia. In some cases, the correct diagnosis can be delayed for many years, especially when vascular rings produce less severe symptoms or symptoms mimicking other diseases (most of all asthma). In this article, we would like to emphasis the usefulness of pulmonary function test (spirometry) in the initial diagnosis of vascular rings in school-aged children, as well as the importance of spirometry in evaluating patients with asthma presumption

Types of laryngomalacia in children : interrelationship between clinical course and comorbid conditions

The aim of this study was to: (1) find out whether laryngomalacia (LM) types are related to clinical course; (2) which patients with LM are at higher risk of other airway malacia [tracheomalacia (TM) and/or bronchomalacia (BM)]; and (3) evaluate the prevalence of LM in our region. Patients with established LM diagnosis and complete clinical and endoscopy records were enrolled. They were classified into different LM types according to classification based on the side of supraglottic obstruction. One hundred ten children were included. The most common LM appearance was type I—58 children, followed by combine types (I + II and I + III)—38. The other airway malacia were found in 47 patients: TM in 31, BM in 10, and TM with BM in 6. Other comorbidities (cardiac, neurological, and genetic disorders) were identified in 30 children. Patients with combine types of LM differ from those with single type of LM in terms of prematurity (13 vs 31 %, p = 0.04) and higher weight on the examination day (p = 0.006). Patients with other airway malacia differ from children with isolated LM in terms of prematurity (40 vs 13 %, p = 0.008), comorbidities (38 vs 19 %, p = 0.024), and lower weight on the examination day (p = 0.014). The prevalence of clinically relevant LM was one in 2600–3100 newborns. Clinical course of LM cannot be anticipated on the basis of solely endoscopic evaluation of the larynx. Comorbidities and prematurity increase the risk of other airway malacia. The prevalence of LM is relatively high in the middle-south part of Poland

Development of parents' of Children with Hymenoptera Venom Allergy Quality of Life Scale (PoCHVAQoLS)

Introduction: Venom allergy in children, as a potentially life-threatening disease, may have a considerable impact on the quality of life of the parents of the affected patients. Aim: To present development of the quality of life scale for such parents. Material and methods: The study sample included 70 parents of children with a history of insect sting reaction, referred for consultations to the allergy centre of the University Children's Hospital of Krakow, Krakow, Poland, in 2000-2010. An initial pool of 56 items divided into 6 domains was prepared. The items with intercorrelations higher than 0.7 were removed from each domain and principal component analysis was conducted for each domain separately to provide a one-dimensional subscale for each domain. Reliability of the subscales was assessed using the Cronbach a coefficient in terms of the Classical Test Theory and with the rho coefficient in terms of the Item Response Theory. The multidimensionality of the scale was tested using multitrait scaling. Results: Two to four items from each domain were selected to constitute five subscales. Both the rho and a coefficients for all the subscales were 0.75 or higher. The multitrait method showed that almost all the items indicated stronger correlations with their own subscale than with other subscales. Correlations between subscales were lower than 0.5. Conclusions: The presented scale consists of high validity and reliability subscales measuring the quality of life of parents of Hymenoptera venom allergic children. As their quality of life is strongly related to the health of their children, such information may be helpful in everyday clinical practice

Add-on treatment with nebulized hypertonic saline in a child with plastic bronchitis after the Glenn procedure

Plastic bronchitis (PB), although a rare cause of airway obstruction, has mortality rates up to 50% in children after Fontan-type cardiac surgery. We present the case of an 18-month-old female patient with PB following pneumonia. At 6 months of age, the patient underwent the Glenn procedure due to functionally univentricular heart. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed complete blockage of the left bronchus by mucoid casts. Pharmacotherapy consisted of glucocorticosteroids, azithromycin, and enalapril maleate. The child also received nebulized 3% NaCl solution, which proved to be beneficial. In children submitted to Fontan-type procedures, physicians must be alert for PB, which can be triggered by respiratory tract infection

Impact of Hymenoptera venom allergy and the effects of specific venom immunotherapy on mast cell metabolites in sensitized children

Introduction and objective. Mast cells (MC) are effector cells during severe systemic reactions (SR) to Hymenoptera stings. Venom specific immunotherapy (VIT) is the treatment of choice for prevention of SR to stings. Tryptase and prostaglandin D2 metabolites (PGD2 ) are the markers of MC activation. The study design was to 1. compare baseline values of serum tryptase concentration (BST) and PGD2 metabolites in children with/without venom sensitization, 2. to evaluate an influence of rush VIT on MC markers in treated children. Materials and methods. Sensitized group: 25 children with SR to Hymenoptera sting. Control group: 19 healthy children. Active treatment: 5-day-rush-VIT. BST was evaluated by ImmunoCAP, PGD2 metabolites in blood and urine by GC-NICI-MS. Results. The baseline blood levels of MC markers were significantly higher, while urinary concentration of 9α,11β-PGF2 was significantly lower in the whole group of venom-sensitized children compared to controls. Severity of SR showed negative correlation with urinary PGD2 metabolites, while positive with plasma 9α,11β-PGF2 and BST concentration The highest sensitivity was obtained for plasma 9α,11β-PGF2 whereas the highest specificity for urinary PGD-M. Conclusions. In children with IgE-mediated SR to Hymenoptera stings, elevation of baseline values of PGD2 metabolites in blood is accompanied by decreased excretion of its urinary metabolites. Assessment of stable PGD2 metabolites might serve as an independent MC marker to identify allergic children. There is an association between urinary PGD2 metabolites and severity of the SR to Hymenoptera stings

Venom allergy treatment practices in Poland in comparison to guidelines : next edition of the national audit

Introduction: Venom immunotherapy treatment (VIT) is the only causal treatment of hymenoptera venom anaphylaxis, which aims to provide long-lasting immunoprotection against severe reactions to subsequent stings. Aim: To reassess the compliance of VIT procedures in the Polish allergy centres with the European guidelines. Material and methods: A structured questionnaire survey conducted in all 33 VIT-centres. The response rate was 94%. Results: The ultrarush initial protocol was the most common protocol (71%, n = 22), usually lasting for 3.5 h (50%, n = 7). The most frequent (36%, n = 11) time interval from the initial to the first maintenance dose (MD) was 14 days, ranging from 7 to 35 days. All centres used an MD of 100 \mug. The most frequent time interval between subsequent MDs was 4 weeks (58%, n = 18). Five years' of VIT was declared by 71% (n = 22). Before the termination of treatment, more than half of the centres (58%, n = 18) performed sIgE and almost half (42%, n = 13) performed skin tests. To confirm VIT efficacy, few centres (26%, n = 8) conducted the sting challenge. About half of centres provided the patients with an adrenalin auto-injector both at the time of initial diagnostics and at the end of treatment. More than half (55%, n = 17) used antihistamines in all patients. Almost half (45%, n = 14) declared to stop treatment with \beta-blockers and almost one fourth (23%, n = 7) discontinued angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors. Conclusions: In the most important procedures, there is a very high compliance with the guidelines. In the areas where the guidelines are not precise, we observed a large spread of results