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Introduction: Congenital central nervous system tumors are seldomly seen, with just few reported cases of neonatal craniopharyngioma (NCP). Albeit being a benign tumor arising from epithelial vestiges along the adenohypophysis migration, NCP may have an aggressive behavior due to its location.Case Report: We report a two-month-old female infant referred to the Pediatric ward due to recurrent sepsis episodes, uncontrollable crying, large fontanelle and signs of adrenal insufficiency. Laboratory evaluation showed low serum cortisol 0.11 μg/dL(REF: 6.2-19.4 μg/dL), ACTH 6.66 pg/mL(REF: 7.2-63.3pg/mL) and Na 133 mEq/L(REF: 136-145mEq/L), normal Free T4 1.01 ng/dL(REF: 0.93-1.7 ng/dL) and a slightly elevated prolactin 59.43 ng/mL(REF: 4.79-23.3ng/mL). A transfontanelar ultrasound demonstrated a cystic and calcified sellar/suprasellar tumor. Encephalus Magnetic Resonance Imaging described a 36x42x33 mm multicystic sellar/suprasellar mass extending to the middle line and occupying all sellar space, leading to a deformed and compressed third ventricle, and displacing the mesencephalus, the cerebral pedunculus and the optic chiasm. Imaging evaluation suggested a craniopharyngioma. She started hydrocortisone therapy due to hypercortisolism and was submitted to transsphenoidal surgery, but just a partial resection of the tumor was possible. She needed levothyroxine and desmopressin replacement after surgery. On the 10th post-operative day she died due to infectious complications. The histological analysis of the tumor diagnosed an adamantinomatous-type grade I craniopharyngioma.Comments: Central nervous system tumors developing in the first 60 days of life are considered congenital. Besides being a rare condition, NCP are challenging and life-threatening. Although for some groups the complete resection of the tumor is considered the gold standard approach to those patients, sometimes it cannot be performed due to limitations intrinsic to the tumor biology and due to the patient’s age, worsening the prognosis of the infant. Multihormonal deficits and shortened survival of this patient were consequences of the tumor characteristics, delayed diagnosis of craniopharyngioma and the poor results during and after the surgical intervention.

Background: Hypophosphatemic rickets (HR) is usually an inherited disorder, but it may also occur in several clinical settings as an acquired condition due to phosphate absorption and internal distribution issues. Recently it was described the association between the use of the elemental amino-acid based formula (AAF) and HR. Herein we report two male twins presenting this condition. Clinical case: Two monozygotic preterm (28 weeks + 5 days) brothers, born with extremely low birth weight (895 and 995 grams, -1,4 SDS and -0.9 SDS, respectively), received total parental nutrition from the 1st to the 7th day of life. Afterwards they started oral diet with milk and human milk fortifier FM85 for preventing metabolic bone disease of prematurity. After some weeks they developed abdominal distension, vomiting and hematochezia. Allergy to cow milk protein was suspected and the infants started receiving extensively hydrolyzed milk formula. So, FM85 was suspended and they were put on tricalcium phosphate (12.9%) supplementation from the 4th week of life on. As the gastrointestinal symptoms persisted, the formula was exchanged for elemental formula Neocate at 2 months of age, with improvement of those symptoms. After the 5th week of life the patients developed hypophosphatemia (2.8 mg/dL, reference 4.8-7.4 mg/dL), hyperphosphatasemia (1,619 IU/L and 2,173 IU/L; reference 70-350 IU/L) and low urinary phosphate excretion, keeping normal calcium and PTH ser um levels. Radiographic skeletal inventory showed under mineralized bones with irregular metaphyseal margins, but no signs of fractures. Calcium and phosphate supplementation doses were increased in attempt to correct the metabolic disturbances, and calcitriol was also started. Nevertheless, hypophosphatemia, hyperphosphatasemia and hypophosphaturia persisted. At 4 months of age, Neocate was switched to Alfamino, still an AAF. After that, phosphate serum levels went up until normalization and alkaline phosphatase started to decrease. Calcium and phosphate supplementation were decreased to keep their serum levels at the normal range for age. The boys were then discharged from hospital when they were 4 months old (45 days of life of corrected age), but the family could not afford Alfamino, switching back to Neocate. After that their phosphate serum levels went below normal range again. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first report on monozygotic twins presenting AAF Neocate-related HR. The underlying mechanisms of Neocate induced hypophosphatemia is still elusive, since its content of phosphate and calcium:phosphate ratio are similar to other AAFs. These cases reinforce the importance of evaluating phosphate metabolism in infants receiving AAF while the pathophysiology of this condition is not entirely understood.

Summary Background The sepsis burden on acute care services in middle-income countries is a cause for concern. We estimated incidence, prevalence, and mortality of sepsis in adult Brazilian intensive care units (ICUs) and association of ICU organisational factors with outcome. Methods We did a 1-day point prevalence study with follow-up of patients in ICU with sepsis in a nationally representative pseudo-random sample. We produced a sampling frame initially stratified by geographical region. Each stratum was then stratified by hospitals' main source of income (serving general public vs privately insured individuals) and ICU size (ten or fewer beds vs more than ten beds), finally generating 40 strata. In each stratum we selected a random sample of ICUs so as to enrol the total required beds in 1690 Brazilian adult ICUs. We followed up patients until hospital discharge censored at 60 days, estimated incidence from prevalence and length of stay, and generated national estimates. We assessed mortality prognostic factors using random-effects logistic regression models. Findings On Feb 27, 2014, 227 (72%) of 317 ICUs that were randomly selected provided data on 2632 patients, of whom 794 had sepsis (30·2 septic patients per 100 ICU beds, 95% CI 28·4–31·9). The ICU sepsis incidence was 36·3 per 1000 patient-days (95% CI 29·8–44·0) and mortality was observed in 439 (55·7%) of 788 patients (95% CI 52·2–59·2). Low availability of resources (odds ratio [OR] 1·67, 95% CI 1·02–2·75, p=0·045) and adequacy of treatment (OR 0·56, 0·37–0·84, p=0·006) were independently associated with mortality. The projected incidence rate is 290 per 100 000 population (95% CI 237·9–351·2) of adult cases of ICU-treated sepsis per year, which yields about 420 000 cases annually, of whom 230 000 die in hospital. Interpretation The incidence, prevalence, and mortality of ICU-treated sepsis is high in Brazil. Outcome varies considerably, and is associated with access to adequate resources and treatment. Our results show the burden of sepsis in resource-limited settings, highlighting the need to establish programmes aiming for sepsis prevention, early diagnosis, and adequate treatment. Funding Fundacao de Apoio a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP).

Background: Pathologic pituitary hyperplasia (PH) in Pediatrics may be observed in several clinical settings. In PH secondary to primary hypothyroidism the increased TRH levels, due to a long-standing hypothyroidism state and loss of negative thyroxin feedback, causes thyrotroph and lactotroph cells hypertrophy, leading to an enlarged pituitary gland. Herein we report on two pediatric patients presenting this condition. Patient 1: A 9 year-old female was referred due to severe short stature (height Z-score: -5 SDS), face myxedema and a suprasellar mass on MRI. She had a past of headache, fatigue and learning disabilities. Laboratory evaluation showed anaemia and dyslipidemia (total cholesterol 282 mg/ dL, LDL 222 mg/dL); severe hypothyroidism: TSH 1,300 IU/L (NR 0.27-4.2), fT4 0.14 ng/dL (NR 0.93-1.7), negative thyroid antibodies TgAb 0.9 mcg/L (NR

Nanoparticles (NP) and nanoparticulated drug delivery promise to be the breakthrough for therapy in medicine but raise concerns in terms of nanotoxicity. We present quantitative murine biokinetics assays using polyelectrolyte-multilayer-coated gold NP (AuNP, core diameter 15 and 80 nm; (198)Au radio-labeled). Those were stably conjugated either with human serum albumin (alb-AuNP) or apolipoprotein E (apoE-AuNP), prior to intravenous injection. We compare the biokinetics of protein-AuNP-conjugates with citrate-stabilized AuNP (cit-AuNP). Biokinetics was complemented with histology in organs with high AuNP content using 15 nm double fluorescently-labeled alb-AuNP-conjugates. Protein conjugation massively reduced liver retention (alb-AuNP: 52%, apoE-AuNP: 72%, cit-AuNP: >95%, at 19 h and 48 h) when compared to cit-AuNP. The protein conjugates were retained in lungs (alb-AuNP (18%) and spleen (alb-AuNP (16%), apoE-AuNP (21%) at 19 h. Alb-AuNP show significantly increased fractions in lungs (factors: 60 (30 min); 111 (19 h); 235 (48 h) and brain (factors: 70 (30 min); 90 (19 h); >200 (48 h) compared to cit-AuNP (control) - or even to apoE-AuNP. The influence of protein conjugation on the biodistribution disappears for 80 nm AuNP comparing to control. Histologically, the 15 nm alb-AuNP are mainly located in the endothelium of brain, lungs, liver and kidneys after 30 min, while at 19 h they moved deeper into the parenchyma e.g. in hippocampus. Our study clearly suggests that stable conjugation of AuNP with albumin and apoE prior to intravenous administration increases specificity and efficiency of NP in diseased target-organs thus suggesting a potential role in nanomedicine and nanopharmacology.

Previous studies of the prevalence and fatality for sepsis in patients admitted to Brazilian intensive care units (ICU)([1]-[3]) were based on a small convenience sample, with most ICUs located in the wealthiest regions of the country. Thus, the current national sepsis prevalence, fatality rates and its associated risk factors are unknown.

Checklists, daily goal assessments, and clinician prompts have been proposed as quality improvement (QI) strategies in intensive care units (ICU). However, their effectiveness in improving safety climate, adherence to care processes and clinical outcomes is uncertain.