Relevance of Serology for Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Infection Among Children with Persistent Cough

Abstract Background. Mycoplasma pneumoniae is an important cause of upper and lower respiratory tract infections. cough and tracheobronchitis are the commonest features of M. pneumoniae infection but diagnosis based on clinical symptoms that may be due to other respiratory pathogens is impossible. Thus laboratory testing for M. pneumoniae is particularly important. correct and rapid diagnosis of M. pneumoniae infections is of prime importance to introduce appropriate antibiotic treatment. Objectives. evaluation of the incidence of IgM and IgG antibodies specific to M. pneumoniae among children with pneumonia and/or chronic cough. Material and Methods. Serum samples from 148 children with a history of chronic cough (lasting at least one month), recurrent respiratory tract infections, allergic rhinitis, and/or inflammatory changes on X-chest ray. first, all sera were screened for specific anti-M. pneumoniae antibodies using agglutination test following the detection of specific IgM and IgG anti-M. pneumoniae antibodies using immunoenzymatic assays. Results. Out of the 148 serum samples, 57 (38.5%) gave positive screening results. However, the presence of M. pneumoniae-specific IgM and/or IgG antibodies was confirmed by immunoenzymatic assays in only 30 (52.6%) of these 57 positive samples. These results indicated that in as many as 27 (47.4%) out of the 57 serum samples screened, false-positive results occurred. Conclusions. evaluation of acute-and convalescent-phase sera is necessary to make possible accurate interpretation of the serological testing results (Adv Clin Exp Med 2014, 23, 2, 185-190)

Heart ventricular activation in VAT difference maps from children with chronic kidney disease

Children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are affected by cardiovascular complications, including disturbances in the intraventricular conduction system. Body surface potential mapping (BSPM) is a non-invasive method of assessing the cardioelectrical field. Our aim was to investigate conduction disturbances in young CKD patients using ventricular activation time (VAT) maps. Our study comprised 22 CKD children (mean age: 13.1 ± 2.5 years) treated conservatively and 29 control patients. For each child 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) readings were taken, and blood pressure and serum concentrations of iPTH, Pi, t-Ca, creatinine, Fe+3, ferritin, and Hb, as well as eGFR were measured. All children underwent registration in the 87-lead BSPM system, and group-mean VAT maps and a difference map, which presents statistically significant differences between the groups, were created. The VAT map distribution in CKD patients revealed abnormalities specific to left anterior fascicle block. The difference map displays the areas of intergroup VAT changes, which are of discriminative value in detecting intraventricular conduction disturbances. Intraventricular conduction impairments in the left bundle branch may occur in children with CKD. BSPM enables conduction disturbances in CKD children to be detected earlier than using 12-lead ECG. The difference map derived from the group-mean isochrone maps precisely localizes the sites of disturbed conduction in the heart intraventricular conduction system

Organization of geriatric care and trainingin geriatrics in Poland

specjalist, lekarz, pacjen

Dent’s disease type 1 in a boy with severe hyperopia and mental dysfunction: a case report

Dent’s disease is a rare X-linked recessive proximal tubulopathy. It is typically characterized by low-molecular-weight (LMW) proteinuria, hypercalciuria, nephrocalcinosis, nephrolithiasis, hypophosphatemia, rickets and slowly progressive renal failure. The laboratory and clinical features may occur in various combinations. The early diagnosis of Dent’s disease is often problematic because affected children may have mild clinical and biochemical signs, detecting LMW proteinuria is not available in many laboratories, and genetic results are not clear in all cases. We report on a 12- year-old boy with Dent’s disease type 1, severe hyperopia, and psychological dysfunction. To the best of our knowledge, he is the first patient with mutation in CLCN5 gene and extrarenal symptoms described so far

Emotions and their cognitive and adaptive functions

Emotions appeared very early in phylogenetic and ontogenetic development. The word emotion originates from the Latin verb movere. However, attempts to distinguish and name the concept represented by the phrase emotion reach back to the beginnings of human language. The compound and subjective nature of emotions stress an essential aspect of this phenomenon, which leads to changes in physiological, psychological, and behavioral issues. World literature dedicates significant attention to the mutual associations between the cognitive and adaptive processes and emotions. Emotions help to estimate the adaptational meaning of stimuli. Its cognitive aspect is, however, just as significant. The review of the literature presented herein is an attempt to classify and evaluate particular emotions, both positive and negative, and the influence they have on physical and mental health. Paul Ekman, the author of one of the more esteemed classification attempts, has distinguished six basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. These universal emotions are recognized based on emotional facial expressions, the automatic reactions that unfold within microseconds. Robert Plutchik, on the other hand, devised his „emotion wheel” upon which he organized eight basic emotions by grouping them in pairs comprising a combination of positive and negative emotions. He is also the author of one of the best framed emotional combination theories. In this respect, emotions play a crucial role as compound model reactions to everyday situations such as a long-lasting effort ensuring survival and individual development