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Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) are a relatively recently identified group of multisystem disorders caused by defective glycosylation of N-glycosylated proteins. They mainly involve the central and peripheral nervous system, but other organ systems are involved as well. Type CDG Ia accounts for over 80% of cases, characterized by decreased activity of the enzyme phosphomannomutase caused by mutations in chromosome 16 PMM2 gene. Treatment of CDG Ia remains symptomatic.

The prevalence of eating problems in otherwise healthy infants is a common problem in Western countries. Peptide hormones such as adiponectin, ghrelin and resistin have been shown to play an important role in the regulation of satiety and hunger in several diseases and states. The aim of this study was to evaluate the peptide hormone levels in children with eating problems. In this study, 12 otherwise healthy infants (mean age 10.4 months) with eating problems and 12 healthy controls were studied. At their first hospital visit samples for analysis of adiponectin, ghrelin and resistin were obtained and a careful physical examination was carried out. To exclude any possible anatomic or metabolic reason for eating problems necessary investigations were also performed. Adiponectin levels were significantly higher in the cases than in the controls (p = 0.033), and the difference was still significant after adjustment for weight (p < 0.05). Resistin and ghrelin concentrations showed no significant differences. Conclusions. For the first time we were able to show in this pilot study that adiponectin concentrations were elevated in the infants with eating problems. Cross-sectional association does not necessarily imply causal relationship. Thus, further studies with larger number of cases will be needed to clarify the role of adiponectin in the eating problems in infants.

Status epilepticus is a medical emergency. Most epileptic seizures last for 1-4 minutes and seizures lasting over five minutes, should be treated as status epilepticus. EEG is essential for diagnostics and the monitoring of treatment effect. The treatment for status epilepticus, irrespective of aetiology, can be divided into first-aid medications, such as buccal midazolam or rectal diazepam, first-line medications such as intravenous diazepam or lorazepam, and second-line medications such as fosphenytoin and valproate for adults and phenobarbital for children. Third-line treatment is suppressive general anaesthesia, monitored by continuous EEG. Antiepileptic medication of patients with epilepsy should be carefully re-evaluated after episode of status epilepticus.

Factors contributing to the duration of a single convulsive seizure > 5 minutes were analyzed in 157 children. The medically treated episodes were compared with seizure episodes resolving without treatment (n = 27). Major differences were in age (p = 0.016) and etiology (p = 0.003), and the association between treatment delay and response became significant after 30 minutes when this was analyzed as a single variable (p = 0.003) in Cox regression analysis.

Prematurity is known to be associated with reduced bone mineral density (BMD) in childhood, but whether this condition has long-term detrimental consequences on adult bone structure is not known. In this study, we measured with peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) the total bone cross-sectional area, cortical area and wall thickness, cortical and trabecular density, and a density-weighed polar section modulus as a bone strength index (BSI) at distal and shaft sites of right radius and tibia in a group of 40 prematurely born, otherwise normally developed and healthy young adults (17 women and 23 men, aged 18 to 27 years) and compared their data to corresponding data obtained from a group of 42 control subjects born term (20 women and 22 men, aged 18 to 28 years). Body height and weight were similar in both groups, but the preterm group had significantly lower BSI values at distal sites of tibia (approximately -16%) and radius (approximately -13%) and at tibial shaft (approximately -11%) as compared to control group. In the weight-bearing tibia, BMC was lower and the lower BSI values were mainly due to smaller total bone cross-sectional area. For unknown reason, this prematurity-associated detrimental effect seemed to concern more men than women. In contrast, prematurity was not associated with volumetric trabecular and cortical densities at any measured bone site while the typical sex differences in bone density were observed. We conclude that prematurity is associated with somewhat smaller cross-sectional bone dimensions in terms of body size in young adulthood. Due to the cross-sectional design, this study could not reveal specific reasons but they may pertain to nutrition during the neonatal period and living habits in general.

Pearson syndrome is a rare multiorgan mitochondrial disorder that causes substantial disability and usually leads to premature death. We describe an infant with Pearson syndrome who showed, in addition to the typical features of the syndrome, cleft lip and palate and hypospadias.

Early childhood wheezing is associated with asthma later in life. However, the high spontaneous recovery rate and the lack of firm predictors for persistence of wheezing complicates the development of evidence-based guidelines for long-term management of wheezy infants and toddlers. Our aim was to define variables that could be used to identify wheezy individuals younger than 3 years of age who would continue to be symptomatic at school age. The method used was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey of 2,027 randomly chosen, 6-13-year-old school children. Altogether 1,829 (90%) questionnaires were returned. Emergency medical care had been sought for 186 (10.2%) children for wheezing during the first 3 years of life, and only 17.2% of these children had received similar emergency treatment during the 12 months preceding the survey. The total proportion of children with current asthma at school age was 11.4%. A logistic regression analysis indicated that for the early wheezers, a family history of asthma, an itchy rash or food allergy, and exposure to tobacco smoke at home before the age of 3 years, were all independently associated with symptom persistence until school age. Among all wheezy children younger than 3 years, those who have a history of food allergy, itchy rash, asthma occurrence in a sibling or parent, or are exposed to tobacco smoke during the first years of life are at highest risk for symptom persistence until school age.

Objective: To evaluate whether infants treated in neonatal intensive care units have stress-induced bleeding from gastrointestinal tract or gastric lesions and to define risk factors for these findings., Design: Part one: retrospective; part two: prospective., Setting: Tampere University Hospital, neonatal intensive care unit., Patients and Interventions: In part one, 100 consecutive newborn infants treated in intensive care were retrospectively evaluated for gastrointestinal tract bleeding and risk factors, and in part two 89 gastroscopied and mechanically ventilated infants were prospectively evaluated for further risk factors for gastric mucosal lesions. The statistical evaluation of risk factors was made by multivariate analysis using logistic regression modeling., Main Results: Of infants treated in the neonatal intensive care unit 20 % had signs of gastrointestinal bleeding. Mechanical ventilation was the only risk factor (OR = 4.06, 95 % confidence interval 1.21-12.3). In part two, when mechanically ventilated infants were prospectively evaluated, 53 % had remarkable gastric mucosal lesions. The analysis showed three other risk factors: abnormal and delayed delivery and hypotension after birth., Conclusions: Newborn infants treated in the intensive care unit had a high frequency of stress-induced gastric hemorrhage with gastric lesions similar to adults and children treated in intensive care. Mechanical ventilation is the main risk factor. Also mode of delivery and hypotension after birth increase the risk of stress-induced gastric lesions. These infants should be the target for prophylactic gastroprotective treatment.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of enamel defects in both primary and permanent dentitions of the same preterm children, and to elucidate the role of early dietary mineral and vitamin D intake in the etiology of the enamel defects. The status of the primary and permanent teeth was evaluated in 32 preterm children and in 64 control children. The prevalence of enamel defects in children born preterm was clearly higher as compared with controls in both the primary (78% vs 20%, P<0.001) and permanent (83% vs 36%, P<0.001) dentitions. Neither the mineral supplementation used nor a vitamin D dose of 1000 IU/day, as compared with a lower dose of 500 IU/day, reduced the prevalence of enamel defects in the primary or permanent dentitions. Further studies are needed to clarify whether achieving near optimum intra-uterine mineral retention would lower the prevalence of subsequent enamel defects in infants born prematurely.

Aims: To elucidate the development of primary and permanent teeth and to interpret the effect of different calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D supplementation in the neonatal period on dental maturation in preterm children., Methods: Preterm infants were randomised to four groups to receive a vitamin D dose of 500 or 1000 IU/day and calcium and phosphorus supplemented or unsupplemented breast milk. The maturity of the primary and permanent teeth was recorded in 30 preterm children. Sixty children aged 2 years and 60 children aged 9-11 years served as controls. Bone mineral content/density was assessed in the preterm infants., Results: The median (range) corrected teething age was 7 (2-16) months in preterm infants and 6 (2-12) months in controls (p = 0.43). The median (range) number of erupted teeth at 2 years of age was 16 (11-19) in preterm infants and 16 (12-20) in controls (p = 0.16). Maturation of the permanent teeth in the preterm infants was not delayed compared with the controls (mean Demirjian SDS 0.16 v 0.49, p = 0.14). Early dietary intake of either mineral or vitamin D did not affect maturation of the primary dentition in preterm children. Children receiving the higher vitamin D dose in the neonatal period had more mature permanent dentition than those receiving the lower dose, but mineral intake did not affect maturation of the permanent teeth. Dental maturation did not correlate with bone mineral status., Conclusions: This is the first longitudinal study to follow primary and permanent tooth maturation in the same preterm children. Premature birth has no appreciable late sequelae in tooth maturation.

Unlabelled: We wanted to improve detection of low bone mineral density in preterm infants by combining serum measurements of total alkaline phosphatase, its bone-type isoenzyme and serum inorganic phosphate in a prospective design. The subjects were 43 preterm infants. Total and bone isoenzyme activity of alkaline phosphatase was determined at 3 wk chronological age and at 3 and 6 mo corrected age. The main outcome measure, apparent bone mineral density (BMAD) at the distal forearm and forearm shaft, was assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry at 3 and 6 mo corrected age. An apparent density below 95 mg/cm3 at 3 mo corrected age was considered to indicate bone disease, based on the distribution of BMAD values of children with non-complicated courses of prematurity. At 3 mo corrected age, total alkaline phosphatase activities exceeding 900 IU/l revealed low bone mineral density with 88% sensitivity and 71% specificity. Measurements of bone isoenzyme activity did not improve diagnostic performance. Serum inorganic phosphate levels below 1.8 mmol/l reflected low bone density with high specificity (96%), but the sensitivity was only 50%., Conclusion: A combination of the criteria "serum total alkaline phosphatase activity above 900 IU/l" and "serum inorganic phosphate concentrations below 1.8 mmol/l" yielded a sensitivity of 100% at a specificity of 70%. This was the best available screening method for low bone mineral density in preterms.

The aim of this study was to compare bambuterol oral solution (10 mg) administered once daily in the evening with terbutaline oral solution (0.075 mg/kg body weight) administered three times daily in 2-5-year-old children and to compare bambuterol tablets (10 mg or 20 mg) administered once daily in the evening with terbutaline tablets (2.5 mg) administered three times daily in 6-12-year-old children with asthma. The study was of an open, randomized, parallel-group design, and lasted 1 year. The primary objective was to evaluate safety (pulse rate, blood pressure, adverse events, hematology, and clinical chemistry). Plasma terbutaline concentrations were also measured. Evaluation of efficacy (FEV(1)) was a secondary objective. A total of 141 patients (83 boys, 58 girls) were randomized and treated with the study drugs, i.e., 43 patients in the terbutaline group (30 on oral solution and 13 on tablets) and 98 patients in the bambuterol group (62 on oral solution and 36 on tablets). A total of 11 patients discontinued the study: 3 were on terbutaline, and 8 were on bambuterol. There were no clinically important differences between treatment groups regarding pulse rate, or systolic or diastolic blood pressure. There were no clinically important findings in the laboratory tests (hematology and clinical chemistry). Both terbutaline and bambuterol were well-tolerated, and the reported adverse events were mostly mild or moderate. Mean steady state plasma terbutaline concentrations at the visits ranged between 8.0-11.5 nmol/L in the bambuterol tablet group and between 10.6-15.2 nmol/L in the terbutaline tablet group. The corresponding values in children on oral solution were 10.3-11.3 nmol/L in the bambuterol group and 7.5-9.7 nmol/L in the terbutaline group. FEV(1) measured in the 6-12-year-old children increased by more than 0.2 L in both treatment groups during the year in the study. In conclusion, bambuterol tablets or oral solution once daily and terbutaline tablets or oral solution three times daily showed a comparable and favorable safety profile., (Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

The aim of this study was to compare safety and efficacy of bambuterol hydrochloride (10 mg) oral solution administered once daily in the evening with terbutaline sulphate (0.075 mg/kg body weight) oral solution administered three times daily in 2-5-year-old children with asthma. There were two treatment groups: (2/3) of the patients received bambuterol and (1/3) received terbutaline. The study was double-blind, randomized, and of a parallel group design, and it lasted for 3 months after a 2-week run-in period. The primary objective was to evaluate safety (adverse events, and changes in blood pressure, pulse rate, hematology, and clinical chemistry parameters). Plasma concentrations of terbutaline and/or bambuterol were also measured. Evaluation of efficacy (diary card data) was a secondary objective. A total of 155 patients (range, 2-6 years; 3 patients were 6 years old at randomization) were treated with the study drugs; 104 patients received bambuterol and 51 patients received terbutaline. Both treatments showed a good safety profile with respect to clinical and laboratory tests, and they were generally well tolerated. Reported adverse events were mild to moderate. There were no statistically significant differences between treatment groups in any of the efficacy variables (diary variables: peak expiratory flow (PEF), asthma symptoms, restlessness, other reported symptoms, use of inhaled bronchodilators, and nighttime awakenings). For morning PEF, the mean increase from run-in to treatment was 16.9 L/min in the terbutaline group and 23.3 L/min in the bambuterol group. For evening PEF, the mean increase was 20.2 L/min in the terbutaline group and 20.6 L/min in the bambuterol group. In conclusion, once-daily bambuterol is as safe and effective as terbutaline given three times daily. The study also confirmed that bambuterol has a 24-hr duration of action, and therefore its once daily administration, makes it a preferred bronchodilator agent. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2000:29:194-201., (Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background: Although the short-term benefits of mineral supplementation in preterm infants has been established, the long-term benefits are less clear. The purpose of the study was to evaluate effects of early-life mineral, vitamin D, and breast milk intake on bone mineral status in children 9 to 11 years of age who were born prematurely., Methods: Seventy preterm infants born 1985 through 1987 were randomized into four groups: to receive a vitamin D dose of 500 or 1000 IU/day and calcium- and phosphorus-supplemented or unsupplemented breast milk. At 3 months of age, radial bone mineral content was determined by single-photon absorptiometry and vitamin D metabolites were assessed. At 9 to 11 years of age, the bone mineral status of the radius and lumbar spine was assessed using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry., Results: At the age of 3 months, the preterm infants with diets supplemented with minerals had 36% higher bone mineral content than the preterm infants whose diet was not supplemented with minerals. At the age of 9 to 11 years, in contrast, bone mineral status was comparable among the groups, irrespective of different mineral supplementation during the neonatal period. Interestingly, the lumbar bone mineral apparent density was positively related to lactation in mineral-supplemented children. There was neither short-term nor long-term benefit to bone mineral status of a vitamin D dose of 1000 IU/day compared with 500 IU/day., Conclusions: The short-term benefit to bone mineral density in preterm infants of mineral supplementation of the early diet is obvious, but, in the long term, the effects seem to disappear. The results also imply that a relatively long period of breast-feeding may be needed to optimize long-term bone mineral acquisition in the lumbar spine.

Aims: To test the hypothesis that a vitamin D dose of 200 IU/kg, maximum 400 IU/day, given to preterm infants will maintain normal vitamin D status and will result in as high a bone mineral density as that attained with the recommended dose of 960 IU/day., Methods: Thirty nine infants of fewer than 33 weeks of gestational age were randomly allocated to receive vitamin D 200 IU/kg of body weight/day up to a maximum of 400 IU/day or 960 IU/day until 3 months old. Vitamin D metabolites, bone mineral content and density were determined by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, and plasma ionised calcium, plasma alkaline phosphatase, and intact parahormone measurements were used to evaluate outcomes., Results: The 25 hydroxy vitamin D concentrations tended to be higher in infants receiving 960 IU/day, but the differences did not reach significance at any age. There was no difference between the infants receiving low or high vitamin D dose in bone mineral content nor in bone mineral density at 3 and 6 months corrected age, even after taking potential risk factors into account., Conclusions: A vitamin D dose of 200 IU/kg of body weight/day up to a maximum of 400 IU/day maintains normal vitamin D status and as good a bone mineral accretion as the previously recommended higher dose of 960 IU/day. Vitamin D is a potent hormone which affects organs other than bone and should not be given in excess to preterm infants.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in forearm measurements of preterm and newborn term infants. The accuracy and linearity of DXA in measuring low mineral content levels (ranging from 30 to 300 mg) was assessed using bone-simulating K2HPO4 phantoms. For in vivo precision, DXA was performed twice on left forearms of four new-born term babies, 21 preterm infants at corrected age 3 mo, and 20 at corrected age 6 mo. Bone mineral content (BMC in mg) and areal bone mineral density (BMD in mg/cm2) at distal forearm and forearm shaft were measured. A special software program allowing a free adjustment of the bone detection threshold was used in the analysis of the scan data. The threshold level affected the overall ability of analysis to detect bone tissue and altered significantly the BMC and BMD values too. Given absolute success in detecting low amounts of bone mineral (BMC > 100 mg), the lowest bone detection threshold evaluated (0.040 g/cm2) became the preferable choice. The relationships between the actual and measured data were highly linear (r was 0.94 for BMC and 0.97 for BMD) but showed underestimation (corresponding slopes were 0.66 and 0.64). In vivo precision expressed as 95% limits of agreement was approximately +/-45 mg for BMC and +/-16 mg/cm2 for BMD. We conclude that DXA provides adequate reliability for in vivo determinations of BMC and areal BMD in the distal and shaft sites of forearm in term and preterm infants and thus strongly supports the clinical utility of DXA in the diagnosis and monitoring of metabolic disease of prematurity. Movements during scanning are typical of pediatric measurements and may decrease the precision considerably. Therefore, every effort must be made to prevent movement artefacts. In addition, special attention must be paid to keeping the analysis procedures consistent.

Aim: To determine the optimal doses of ranitidine for both preterm and term infants., Method: The effect of ranitidine treatment was measured from the long-term intraluminal gastric pH in 16 preterm (gestational age under 37 weeks) and term infants treated in neonatal intensive care. The infants received three different bolus doses of ranitidine: 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, and 1.5 mg per kilogram of body weight to keep the intraluminal gastric pH above 4 on a 24 hour basis., Results: Critically ill neonates, including very low birth weight infants, were capable of gastric acid formation, and ranitidine treatment increased the intraluminal gastric pH. The effect of a single dose lasted longer in preterm than in term infants. The time needed for reaching the maximum gastric pH was significantly longer in preterm than in term infants. The ranitidine given correlated with the duration of increased gastric pH in a dose dependent manner both in preterm and term infants., Conclusion: Preterm infants need significantly smaller doses of ranitidine than term neonates to keep their intraluminal gastric pH over 4. The required optimal dose of ranitidine for preterm infants is 0.5 mg/kg/body weight twice a day and that for term infants 1.5 mg/kg body weight three times a day.

Although idiopathic cardiomyopathies are prognostically important and are a common indication for cardiac transplantation in all age groups, the incidence and age distribution of idiopathic cardiomyopathies in a well-defined pediatric population have been poorly characterized. A retrospective study was carried out in Finland in 1980-1991 to obtain information on the epidemiology of childhood cardiomyopathies. The medical records of all patients aged birth to 20 years with cardiomyopathy from the five university hospitals and 16 central hospitals covering the entire country were reviewed. Moreover, data on causes of death from the Finnish National Census Bureau were examined. Of the 808 potential cases screened, 118 infants, children, and adolescents, representing an average age-specific population of 1.4 million, were definitely identified as having idiopathic cardiomyopathy. The average annual occurrence of new cases was 0.65 per 100,000 population (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53-0.79). If the 15 cases diagnosed only after death during the 12-year study period were included, the occurrence increased to 0.74 per 100,000 population per year. Fifty-six new cases of dilated cardiomyopathy and 40 new cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were diagnosed during the study period, giving average annual occurrences of 0.34/100,000/year (95% CI 0.26-0.44) and 0.24/100,000/year (95% CI 0.17-0.33) for new cases of dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies, respectively. At the end of 1991, the prevalence of dilated cardiomyopathy was 2.6/100,000 (95% CI 1.8-3.6) and that for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was 2.9/100,000 (95% CI 2.0-4.0). The number of new cases of dilated cardiomyopathy per year increased over the study period, whereas the annual occurrence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy remained relatively constant. Marked variability was seen in occurrence among the different age groups of children with dilated cardiomyopathy, suggesting that different pathophysiologic mechanisms, and possibly etiologies, may exist in different age groups.

Objective: To assess endoscopically the effect of prophylactic short-term ranitidine treatment in the prevention of stress-induced gastric lesions in neonatal intensive care unit (ICU) patients., Design: Prospective, randomized study., Setting: Department of Neonatal Intensive Care, University Hospital of Tampere., Patients: Fifty-three infants were enrolled in a randomized, controlled study. Forty-eight (90%) of these patients underwent endoscopic examination and were evaluated., Interventions: A histamine-2-receptor blocker, ranitidine, was given prophylactically after birth for 4 days to infants mechanically ventilated and treated in the neonatal ICU. The gastric mucosa was both visually and histologically evaluated after 3 to 6 days, and the outcome of the infants was registered., Measurements and Main Results: In the 23 infants prophylactically treated with ranitidine, the gastric mucosa was visually classified as normal in 14 (61%) infants as compared with five (20%) of 25 controls (p < .004). Histologic lesions showed parallel results (57% vs. 16%, p < .004). Eight gastric ulcers were diagnosed endoscopically in the control group vs. none in the treatment group. The ulcers were all clinically "silent" at the time of endoscopy. According to logistic regression modeling, the decreased risk for gastric mucosal lesions in infants receiving prophylactic ranitidine was 0.03 (95% confidence interval 0.003 to 0.178). Surfactant treatment for infant respiratory distress syndrome also decreased the risk for stress-induced gastric mucosal lesions (odds ratio 0.083; 95% confidence interval 0.009 to 0.788), whereas other variables (birth weight, gestational age, Apgar scores, cord blood pH, and duration of intubation) had no significant effect. No side effects could be attributed to the ranitidine treatment., Conclusion: We conclude that short-term prophylactic ranitidine treatment prevents gastric mucosal lesions in newborn infants under stress.

Metabolic bone disease is recognized with increasing frequency in very-low-birth-weight infants. Radiological changes characteristic of rickets have been found in 55% of infants with a birth weight of less than 1000 g and in 23% of infants weighing less than 1500 g at birth. Twenty-four per cent of infants with a birth weight of less than 1500 g have fractures. The main aetiological factor is insufficient phosphorus supplementation. The aetiology is, however, multifactorial and also includes calcium deficiency, vitamin D deficiency, certain drugs, aluminium loading and immobilisation. The method of choice in detecting subclinical mineral bone disease of prematurity is measurement of bone mineral density, but there is as yet no single good diagnostic method available for premature infants. The optimal mineral and vitamin D requirement of the premature infant must be established so that proper recommendations can be given. The current recommended vitamin D dose in Europe (ESPGAN 800-1000 IU/day) is probably too high when extra minerals are supplied. Moreover, the duration of mineral supplementation may need to be continued until the infant has reached a body weight of 3.5 kg. This article deals with the aetiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and future prospects of metabolic bone disease of prematurity.

Objective: To establish the prevalence of upper gastrointestinal mucosal lesions in full-term and preterm infants under stress., Design: A prospective, cohort study., Setting: Neonatal intensive care unit at a university teaching hospital., Patients: Seventeen (14 preterm, 3 term; median gestational age 29.7 wks; median birth weight 1230 g) consecutive, unselected infants treated in intensive care., Interventions: Gastroscopy, using a prototype fiberoptic gastroscope designed for newborns, was performed for the first time at the age of 3 to 7 days. Biopsy specimens were taken when possible. Ranitidine treatment and follow-up endoscopies were performed in selected patients. Blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation by pulse oximeter, and the general condition of the infants were monitored at 1-min intervals during the endoscopy. Central nervous system ultrasonography examination was repeatedly performed before and after the procedure., Measurements and Main Results: At the time of first endoscopy, 15 of 17 infants were asymptomatic for gastrointestinal tract problems, one had melena, and one hematemesis. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed pathology in 16 (94%) infants, macroscopic esophagitis in six infants, hemorrhagic gastritis in nine infants, and gastritis with ulcers in six infants. Microscopically, the lesions were also clear. A peculiar finding was acute gastritis with cystic gland deformation ("cystic gastritis") seen in five of the infants under stress; one of these infants also had intestinal metaplasia in the gastric mucosa. Seven infants were treated with ranitidine without side-effects. Follow-up endoscopies demonstrated normalization of the lesions in five of six infants studied. The procedure, including biopsies, seemed to be safe, even for very low-birth weight infants., Conclusions: Gastric mucosal lesions are highly prevalent in preterm infants in intensive care before any symptoms occur. Further research on preterm infants under stress is needed in order to determine the risk factors and optimal treatment for the esophageal and gastric mucosal lesions described here.

Viral diagnosis was performed using radioimmunoassay (RIA) for virus antigen in nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS) and complement-fixation (CF) tests of paired sera from specimens of 90 children hospitalized for acute respiratory infection. Major respiratory viruses sought for by both methods (adenoviruses, influenza A and B viruses, parainfluenza virus type 3, respiratory syncytial virus) were detected in 40 (44%) of the patients; 15% of the diagnoses were made by NPS-RIA alone. Serologic diagnosis of other viral infections was confirmed in six additional cases. In the different clinical entities a viral diagnosis was established as follows: pneumonia, 50%; upper or middle respiratory infection with no wheezing, 43%; acute laryngitis, 54%; and wheezing bronchitis, 29%. In each clinical entity the virus-positive and virus-negative patients had similar total leukocyte counts, mean C-reactive protein levels and mean erythrocyte sedimentation rates. There was no difference in the duration of hospitalization between the patients with positive and negative viral studies. It was not possible to divide the patients into clinical subgroups according to the presence or absence of detectable viral infection.

Seventy-two children hospitalized for croup received on admission a single dose of either 0.6 mg/kg dexamethasone or an equivalent placebo intramuscularly from randomized ampules; subsequently the same patients were randomized to receive either nebulized racemic epinephrine or saline by intermittent positive pressure breathing. Of the four treatment groups those receiving a placebo injection and nebulized saline had the slowest recovery by all criteria. Dexamethasone and nebulized epinephrine reduced the symptoms and hastened recovery, but dexamethasone was more effective by clinical evaluation at 6 and 12 hours post admission. The patients given dexamethasone had a significantly shorter hospital stay than those receiving placebo. We conclude that a single injection of a potent corticosteroid is beneficial in acute spasmodic croup. Nebulized racemic epinephrine given with an appropriate device is also effective, but the effect of epinephrine is less remarkable in patients treated with dexamethasone.

Perinatal and other morbidity of 96 consecutive infants with acute otitis media (AOM) before the age of 3 months is compared with that of 96 birthday- and sex-matched controls without AOM. Perinatal problems were found in 57 AOM infants and in 38 controls, prematurity and asphyxia being significantly (p less than 0.05) more common in the study group than in the controls. At the time of AOM, 51 infants had concurrent illnesses ('colds' excluded) or anomalies, while only 19 controls (p less than 0.001) showed any respective morbidity during their 3 months of life. While AOM infants frequently presented with other, especially respiratory, infections, the controls hardly ever did so. Symptomatology during otitis was varying, and frequently suggestive of respiratory problems other than AOM. Subsequent otitis morbidity of AOM infants was heavy, but other disease history was similar to that of the controls. The study stresses the importance of examining the ears in young infants presenting with any illness, and especially of a respiratory nature.