Paradoxical use of corticosteroids in steroid-phobic patients Brief report

Background: Childhood-onset eczema is a common condition associated with pruritus, sleep disturbance and disrupted quality of life. The mainstay of treatment is usage of emollients and topical corticosteroid (CS). Nevertheless, many steroid-phobic parents are very skeptical about western medicine that may contain CS. Furthermore, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular among Chinese patients in Asia and many citizens idolize CAM and believe that traditional Chinese medicine and herbs are without any side effects. Pressed by public's quest for efficacious and safe treatment, and lucrative profits, CAM practitioners may take the risks of prescribing steroids and "western medicine" in the name of traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Methods: We report a series of illustrative cases of uninformed systemic and topical corticosteroid usage for eczema by steroid-phobic parents to alert the public of this risk. The drugs were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography with diodearray detection, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, gas chromatography mass spectrometry, or liquid chromatography ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Results: Five cases of uninformed corticosteroid usage for moderate-to-severe eczema by steroid-phobic parents were reported. Conclusions: The physician caring for children with skin disease should also be aware that even steroidphobic parents might indeed be using potent CS without awareness. The patient usually suffers chronic relapsing eczema of moderate-to-severe degree. The steroidphobic parent is usually non-compliant in following advice on usage of emollient, topical CS, and avoidance of triggers in accordance with western doctors. The CAM practitioner, when confronted by an anxious steroidophobic parent who demands efficacious topical and/or systemic treatment, may knowingly or unknowingly be forced into prescribing potent albeit illegal products containing corticosteroids in the name of traditional Chinese herbal medicine. World J Pediatr 2012;8(3):263-26

Neonatal Lupus Erythematosus

Neonatal lupus erythematosus (NLE) refers to a clinical spectrum of cutaneous, cardiac, and systemic abnormalities observed in newborn infants whose mothers have autoantibodies against Ro/SSA and La/SSB. The condition is rare and usually benign and self-limited but sometimes may be associated with serious sequelae. We review the pathophysiology, clinical features, and management of infants with this condition. Neonates with NLE should be managed at a tertiary care center. Multidisciplinary team involvement may also be indicated. In mothers with anti-Ro/SSA and/or anti-La/SSB antibodies and infants with congenital heart block, the risk of recurrence in subsequent offspring is 17–25%. Therefore, careful monitoring of subsequent pregnancies with serial ultrasonography and echocardiography is essential

Spot diagnosis: An ominous rash in a newborn

Purpura fulminans (PF) is an ominous cutaneous condition usually associated with meningococcemia. PF in the newborn is rarely reported. We report the case of a female preterm infant with extensive PF due to group B streptococcus (GBS) septicemia. She developed multi-organ system failure despite neonatal intensive care support and succumbed 9 days later. GBS, sensitive to penicillin, was isolated from the blood cultures of the mother and the infant. Invasive early GBS infection is common in the newborn and is empirically treated with prompt institution of intravenous antibiotics. PF associated with GBS is a rare cutaneous sign that must not be missed. Mortality remains high despite aggressive treatment and ICU support

Be Careful, Mom and Doc: Hepatotoxicity Associated with Prescribed Medications in Young Infants

Accidental poisonings in young infants are relatively uncommon, and the careless caregiver is usually the culprit. We report two cases of hepatotoxicity due to prescribed medications. An infant was given 15 mL instead of 1.5 mL of paracetamol by his mother because she omitted the decimal point on the label of the drug bottle. The infant became symptomatic, and liver enzyme and clotting profile were abnormal, necessitating treatment with N-acetyl cysteine. Another infant was prescribed oral ketoconazole for thrush, resulting in elevation of liver enzymes. The serum alanine aminotransferase levels were transiently elevated but returned to normal, and both infants recovered uneventfully. This report serves to alert the doctor to avoid using decimal points in drug labeling and to avoid prescribing excessive amount of drug for trivial acute illness. Thrush in infancy is common and usually treated with oral nystatin. Other oral antifungals such as ketoconazole may be associated with liver derangement and should be avoided in infants

Mongolian spot with involvement of the frontal area

Mongolian spots are congenital hyperpigmented macules of varying size and shape and are usually grayish in color. They occurcommonly in the sacrococcygeal area, followed by the gluteal and lumbar areas. We report a Chinese infant with a Mongolian spotin the frontal area; the occurrence of a Mongolian spot in this location is considered exceptional. Awareness of such an occurrence isimportant, and hence that a false accusation of child abuse is not made

Chinese herbal medicine research in eczema treatment

Eczema is a chronic relapsing atopic dermatitis (AD) associated with pruritus, sleep disturbance and poor quality of life of the patient. Treatment of eczema includes use of emollient, topical and systemic antimicrobial agents, corticosteroid or immunomodulating agents. Many patients also seek alternative treatments such as dietary avoidance, supplementation or both. This article reviews the basic pathophysiology of eczema and clinical trials involving Chinese medicine in the treatment of eczema. Research reports on Chinese herbal medicine for eczema were retrieved from PubMed and the Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews for this review. Only a few RCTs demonstrated the efficacy (or lack of efficacy) of Chinese medicinal herbs in treating atopic eczema. Further larger scale trials are warranted

Prune belly syndrome – Case report and review of the literature

We describe a 2-year-old boy seen in Kenya who presented with fever, dysuria, foul smelling urine, anddiarrhea. His previous ultrasonography showed an overdistended bladder and hydronephrosis. Physicalexamination revealed a distended abdomen, loose abdominal wall muscles with thin, flabby, and wrinkledskin on the abdominal wall, hypoplastic scrotum, and bilateral cryptorchidism. A diagnosis of prune bellysyndrome was promptly made. The urinary tract infection was duly treated with intravenous ceftriaxoneand the child followed by pediatric urology

Megapneumonia Coinfection: pneumococcus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae,

We report a young girl who died of Streptococcus pneumoniae 19A pneumonia, septic shock, and hemolytic uremic syndrome despite prior pneumococcal vaccination, appropriate antibiotics, and aggressive intensive care support. Serotype 19A is not covered by the 7- or 10-valent pneumococcal vaccines. Mycoplasma pneumoniae and metapneumovirus were simultaneously detected by PCR in the nasopharyngeal and tracheal aspirates. The pneumococcus is penicillin sensitive. Although infections with each of these pathogens alone are typically mild, this case highlights that co-infection with the triple respiratory pathogens possibly contributed to the fatal outcome of this child. Also, the new policy in Hong Kong to use PCV13 may help prevent further cases of serotype 19A infections

Treatment with Methylphenidate for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the Risk of All-Cause Poisoning in Children and Adolescents:A Self-Controlled Case Series Study

BACKGROUND: Children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at higher risk of all-cause poisoning by drugs and chemicals (intentional or accidental). Currently, there is limited data on whether medication treatment for ADHD can reduce the risk of all-cause poisoning. METHODS: Patients aged 5–18 years with a methylphenidate (MPH) prescription and an incident poisoning diagnosis between January 2001 and June 2020 were identified from the Hong Kong Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System. A self-controlled case series study design was used to compare the incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of all-cause poisoning during different risk windows (30 days before the first MPH prescription, exposure periods within 30 days of the first prescription, and periods of subsequent exposure) compared with the reference window (other non-exposure periods). RESULTS: 42,203 patients were prescribed ADHD medication in Hong Kong during the study period. Of these, 417 patients who had both an MPH prescription and poisoning incident recorded were included in the main analysis. Compared with other non-exposed periods, a higher risk of poisoning was found in the 30 days before the first prescription (IRR 2.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.33–5.22) and exposure periods within 30 days of the first prescription (IRR 2.18, 95% CI 1.06–4.48), but not during prolonged exposure. However, compared with 30 days before the first prescription as well as exposure periods within 30 days of the first prescription, there was a lower risk during the subsequent exposure (IRRs 0.49 and 0.60, respectively). Similar results to the main analysis were also found in the subgroup analysis of intentional poisoning and females, but not in that of accidental poisoning and males. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of all-cause poisoning was higher shortly before and after the first MPH prescription and became lower during the subsequent prescription period. Our results do not support an association between the use of MPH and an increased risk of all-cause poisoning in children and adolescents and, in fact, suggest that longer-term use of MPH may be associated with a lower risk of all-cause poisoning, although this latter finding requires further study. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40263-021-00824-x

Immunoregulatory Protein Profiles of Necrotizing Enterocolitis versus Spontaneous Intestinal Perforation in Preterm Infants

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP) are the most common acute surgical emergencies associated with high morbidity and mortality in preterm infants. We aimed to compare the profiles of immunoregulatory proteins and identify novel mediators in plasma of NEC and SIP infants. We also investigated the expression of target genes in resected intestinal tissues and an enterocyte cell line. Using Cytokine Antibody Array assay, we reported the first comparative profiles of immunoregulatory proteins in plasma of NEC and SIP infants, and showed that dysregulated proteins belonged to functionally diversified categories, including pro- and anti-inflammation, angiogenesis, cell growth, wound healing, anti-apoptosis, cell adhesion and extracellular matrix reorganization. Validation by ELISA confirmed significantly higher concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6, angiopoietin (Ang)-2, soluble type II interleukin-1 receptor (sIL-1RII), and soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) in NEC infants compared with gestational age-matched control, and a lower level of an epidermal growth factor receptor, secreted form of receptor tyrosine-protein kinase ErbB3 (sErbB3), compared with SIP infants. mRNA expressions of IL1-RII and uPAR were up-regulated in resected bowel tissues from NEC infants, indicating that immunoregulation also occurred at the cellular level. In FHs-74 Int cells, Ang-2, IL1-RII and uPAR mRNA expressions were significantly induced by the combined treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and platelet activating factor (PAF). Our study provided plasmatic signatures of immunoregulatory proteins in NEC and SIP infants, and demonstrated involvement of multiple functional pathways. The magnitude of changes in these proteins was significantly more extensive in NEC infants, reflecting the different nature of injury and/or severity of inflammation. We speculate that dysregulation of IL-6, Ang-2, IL-1RII and uPAR occurred at both systemic and cellular levels, and probably mediated via LPS and endogeneous PAF signals. Such exaggerated immunologic responses may account for the high morbidity and mortality in NEC compared with SIP patients