Search

Copyright of Revista Chilena de Pediatría is the property of Revista Chilena de Pediatria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Idiopathic acute renal failure (IARF) is an uncommon but severe complication in children with relapsing nephrotic syndrome and may require long-term dialytic support until recovery of renal function takes place. Due to limited understanding of the pathophysiology of IARF, specific guidelines for its prevention and therapy have not been developed. Among triggering factors, peritonitis was present in half of all pediatric patients with this complication described in the English literature over the past 15 years. We report an additional nephrotic child who developed IARF following spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. The renal biopsy showed tubular epithelial changes consistent with acute tubular necrosis. A discussion of related literature and possible pathogenesis of this association is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) or IgA Vasculitis is the most common childhood vasculitis. The classic tetrad of signs and symptoms include palpable purpura, arthralgia, abdominal pain and renal disease. The occurrence of hemorrhagic bullae in children with HSP is rarely encountered. Objec tive: To report an unusual cutaneous manifestation of HSP in children., Case Report: A 14-year-old girl complained about a 2-week painful bullous rash in both lower extremities and multiple arthral gias. There was no history of abdominal pain or urinary symptoms. In both lower extremities, there were numerous palpable purpura and hemmorrhagic bullae. In light of clinical findings, laboratory tests and skin biopsy are requested. The histopathology described intraepidermal blisters, acanthosis, spongiosis and perivascular dermal infiltrate. Direct immunofluorescence (IFD) (+) for IgA. The diagnosis of bullous HSP was made and treatment with endovenous corticosteroids was initiated. Three days after overlapping to oral corticosteroids, new ecchymotic lesions appeared in both legs. Due to the persistence of cutaneous involvement and negative control tests, azathioprine was associa ted obtaining a good response., Conclusion: Although bullous lesions in HSP does not add morbidity, it is often an alarming phenomenon with multiple differential diagnoses. The anti-inflamatory effect of corticoids is likely to be beneficial in the treatment of patients with severe cutaneous involvement through inhibition of proinflammatory transcription factors and decreasing the production of the metalloproteinases.

Pyomyositis (PM) is an uncommon pyogenic infection of skeletal muscle and, when not properly treated, it can progress to a high-risk clinical situation with high mortality. Because it usually has a subacute presentation, diagnosis is often delayed. We present two cases of PM of the paraspinal muscles in healthy children and discuss the current state of knowledge of this disease.

Urinary tract infection is a frequent event in children. The correct diagnosis, management and study has been involved in major controversies in the last decade as a result of better design of scientific studies and evidence-based medicine in this area. A significant amount of our knowledge must be subjected to critical analysis because of new information available. This article describe some of the controversies in pediatric urinary tract infection that should be considered by the health team, highlighting the relevance of sample collection and the significant number of bacterial colonies, the type and duration of antibiotic treatment, the prescription of antibiotic prophylaxis and the required imaging study.

Background: Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is one of the main causes of acute renal failure in the Chilean pediatric population., Aim: To report the features of patients with HUS, admitted to the pediatric ward of a clinical hospital., Material and Methods: Retrospective review of medical records of patients admitted with the diagnosis of HUS between 1995 and 2002., Results: During the period, 58 patients were admitted with the diagnosis of HUS but only 43 (age range 1 month to 6 years, 22 females) had complete medical records for review. Ninety five percent presented with prodromic diarrhea, mainly dysenteric. Antibiotics were administered to 70%, in the previous days. Acute renal replacement, mainly peritoneal dialysis, was required in 40%. The clinical signs and laboratory parameters that correlated better with the indication for dialysis were anuria, hypertension, initial and permanently high serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen. Four patients with blood urea nitrogen over 100 mg/dl but without anuria or hyperkalemia, were treated conservatively, and experienced an uneventful course (permissive azotemia). Hospital stay was almost 3 times greater in dialyzed than in non dialyzed children. No deaths related to HUS were reported in the study period. In an average follow up of 54 months, 11.6% of the patients developed chronic renal failure of diverse magnitude., Conclusions: Despite the fact that our study group behaved clinically similar to published HUS patients in other series, no mortality was observed in a retrospective analysis of patients with this disease.

The urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the major causes of bacterial infection in children. Therefore an opportune diagnosis, an adequate treatment and a close follow up will prevent chronic renal damage. In this brief article UTI clinical characteristics and recommendations for diagnosis and treatment according to children age are reviewed.

Background: Congenital hepatic fibrosis (CHF) is an autosomic dominant disease that has been associated with polycystic kidney disease., Aim: To describe the medical management of 5 children with CHF and to evaluate the presence and extension of the associated renal disease., Patients and Methods: Retrospective review of the medical charts of 5 children with CHF, aged 2 to 14 years., Results: Three children presented autosomic recessive polycystic kidney disease, which was diagnosed before the appearance of liver disease manifestations. They presented a more severe liver damage, with a more aggressive clinical course requiring use of transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunts (TIPS) or surgical porto-systemic shunts to control portal hypertension. The other two children, in whom the diagnosed was based on asymptomatic hepatomegaly, had normal renal function and structure with a more benign clinical course., Conclusions: The diagnosis of CHF should be suspected not only in children with polycystic kidney disease but in those children with persistent, hard consistency, left lobe predominance hepatomegaly.

Background: The early and accurate diagnosis of obstructive uropathy in the newborn, prevents secondary complications and kidney damage., Aim: To study the usefulness of Tc99M MAG3 diuretic renogram in newborns with hydronephrosis., Material and Methods: Forty newborns, aged 1 to 30 days, with hydronephrosis, were studied. A Tc99M MAG3 diuretic renogram (DR) was done and its results were compared with clinical features and other imaging studies. Each kidney and its ureter, were considered a renal unit., Results: Seventy six renal units were evaluated. Twenty six were normal on prenatal ultrasound examination and DR. In 11 of the 50 renal units with hydronephrosis, renal function was impaired. Thus, it was impossible to obtain an excretory curve. In 17 of the 39 remaining renal units, the absence of obstructive uropathy was demonstrated clinically. In 16 of these, the DR showed absence of obstruction. In 20 of 21 renal units with confirmed obstructive uropathy, DR showed an obstructive pattern., Conclusions: In newborns, there is an adequate Tc99M MAG3 uptake and diuretic response. Thus, DR becomes a good functional assessment method in newborns with hydronephrosis.

Background: In children, urinary tract infection (UTI) is a very common disease, and can cause permanent kidney damage., Aim: To determine risk factors for permanent kidney damage, in children with UTI., Patients and Methods: In 337 children with UTI (237 female, mean age 4.2 years) a static renal scintigraphy was performed to assess the presence of permanent kidney damage. The history of vesicoureteral reflux and number of episodes of UTI was obtained., Results: One hundred three children had a history of one episode of infection and the rest had recurrent infections. Permanent kidney damage was observed in 161 children (48%). This damage was observed in 39% of children of less than one year of age, in 43% of children aged 1 to 5 years of age and in 58% of children older than 5 years (p = 0.02). Sixty three percent of 122 children with vesicoureteral reflux had permanent kidney damage, compared with 27% of children without this condition (p < 0.001). Likewise, damage was observed in 36% of children with one episode of infection and 47% of children with recurrent infections (p < 0.01). No gender differences were observed., Conclusions: Vesicoureteral reflux, recurrence of UTI and age are associated with permanent renal damage in children with UTI.

Background: Close to one half of patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) will require a dialytic therapy, mainly peritoneal dialysis (PD). In some cases, PD may have relative or absolute contraindications, usually when HUS is associated to severe intraabdominal complications., Aim: To report the results of continuous hemofiltration use, in children with abdominal complications of HUS., Material and Methods: Retrospective review of the files of 40 patients that were admitted to our pediatric unit with HUS, since 1995. Six children had relevant intra-abdominal complications and were treated with continuous hemofiltration (CHF). Four additional children, with similar HUS related complications and treated with CHF before 1995, were included in the analysis., Results: The age of the patients ranged from 5 to 66 months old. An arterio-venous CHF was performed in four and veno-venous CHF in six children. The duration of CHF was 93.2 hours in average. Adequate control of volemia was achieved in every patient; diafiltration with peritoneal dialysis solution was added in five patients, to improve azotemia. Four patients had complications related to the vascular access or the anticoagulation procedure. The procedure was terminated due to improvement of diuresis in five cases, transfer to PD in four and a cardiorespiratory arrest in one. Only one patient developed a chronic renal failure during the follow up., Conclusions: CHF is an effective and safe alternative of acute renal replacement therapy in the management of renal failure in pediatric cases with HUS, aggravated with abdominal complications.