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The case-control study aimed to evaluate potential sources of exposure and the plasma concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates in prepubertal children having cerebral palsy (CP) and healthy control. Blood samples of 68 CP and 70 controls were analyzed for BPA, di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP), mono-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (MEHP), and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). BPA and DBP levels were similar in groups. The median DEHP and MEHP levels of the children with CP were significantly lower than those of the controls (p = 0.035, p < 0.001, respectively). Exposure to plastic food containers/bags, personal care hygiene products, household cleaners, wood/coal stove heating, and city water supplies were associated with increased odds of higher BPA and phthalate levels in children with CP. In conclusion, potential exposure sources for BPA and phthalates differ in children with CP and healthy controls, and children with CP are not exposed to higher levels of BPA and phthalates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: It is known that mother’s knowledge about nutrition is associated with the prevalence of anemia in their children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of iron deficiency without anemia (ID), iron deficiency anemia (IDA), and anemia in children according to the level of mother’s nutrition literacy (NL). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a well-child outpatient clinic. The study included healthy children aged between 24 and 59 months and their mothers. Scores of the mothers on the Nutrition Literacy Assessment Tool for Adults and children’s anthropometric z-scores, dietary diversity and Mediterranean Diet Quality Index scores, and children’s hemoglobin and ferritin levels were collected. Two-group comparison analysis was performed. Results: Ninety mother–child pairs were included. While 36 mothers (40%) had borderline and 54 (60%) mothers had adequate NL, 15 children (16.7%) had ID, 5 (5.6%) children had IDA, and a total of 18 children (20%) had nutritional anemia. The percentage of wasted children was higher in the group with borderline NL (13.9% vs. 1.9%, P = .036). The percentage of children with ID, IDA, or other nutritional anemia was not different between the borderline and adequate NL groups (30.6% vs. 40.7%, P = .326). Conclusion: The frequency of ID, IDA, or other nutritional anemia in children does not differ significantly between mothers with borderline and adequate NL. Increasing NL of mothers could be a step toward reducing the burden of child undernutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Ali. Korulmaz, Mehmet. Alakaya, Sad?k. Kaya, Vural. Hamzaoglu, Özlem. Tezol, Ali. Arslanköylü Dear Editor We read about cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow in the treatment of children with hydrocephalus in [...]

Objective: To assess the immunization rate of the vaccines included in the Turkish National Immunization Program (NIP) among children with cerebral palsy (CP) and their households and to analyze parental beliefs and knowledge about vaccines and attitudes toward childhood, adult, and COVID-19 immunizations. Material and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study included children aged 3-10 years with a diagnosis of spastic CP. The initial face-toface interview with parents of children collected data on their children's immunization rates, beliefs, and knowledge about vaccines, and parents were given information about adult immunization. Approximately one year after the initial interview, mothers were interviewed by telephone about the immunization rates of mothers, fathers, and grandparents and their COVID-19 vaccine acceptance or hesitancy. Numbers and percentages were presented as descriptive statistics. Results: Sixty-eight child-parent pairs participated in the first interview, and 67 mothers participated in the second interview. According to NIP, all children with CP and their siblings had been fully vaccinated on time. 70.6% of mothers had a positive belief toward childhood immunizations. None of the parents knew about optional childhood or adult immunizations. None of the parent and grandparent pairs had been vaccinated with vaccines included in the national adult immunization schedule. None of the 64 parent pairs who accepted to receive adult vaccines during the initial interview received the vaccines. 17.9% of parent pairs were detected to have COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy or refusal. Conclusion: National health policies for adult immunization should be developed to provide immunization to households with chronically ill children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerebral palsy is a static encephalopathy with multiple etiologies. Several interventions toward perinatal risk factors, intrapartum asphyxia, and head injury or infection have been evaluated in order to deal with irreversible brain damage. Antenatal–intrapartum and neonatal interven)tions mainly focus on preventing hypoxia, oxidative stress, inflammation, and growth restric)tion. Among these preventive interventions, magnesium sulfate for neuroprotection of the fetus in women at risk of preterm birth and therapeutic hypothermia (cooling of body or just brain) for newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy have effectively reduced cerebral palsy risk. There is still a lack of literature on the effectiveness of preventive interventions toward postnatally acquired brain injury. Social pediatricians are concerned with identifying, reduc)ing, or eliminating risk factors of cerebral palsy and encourage a comprehensive approach to providing integrated and personalized care to children with cerebral palsy with the support of their families and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to investigate the video game habits and their relationship with home environment in children 2–5 years in Turkey. A structured questionnaire about the child's demographic, screen, and video gaming characteristics was completed by parents in five health centers from three provinces. One-quarter of 1245 preschoolers were found to play video games. The prevalence of playing video games was higher in older age, male gender, low parental education, families with 3 or more children, having a game console, computers and tablets at home, child's screen time of more than 2 hours per day, child's non-compliance with the parental screen rules, and presence of someone else playing videogame at home. Of the parents, 54.5% did not know the name of the video game the child was playing. Parents should be counseled about supervising on their children's video game playing habits and selection of well-designed games with the right content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In recent years, young children from all socioeconomic conditions found an opportunity to own or access video game devices. The precisely defined effects of video gaming on young children's behaviors and mental health are unknown. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the psychosocial well-being and video gaming in preschool children. Materials and Methods: The video gamer (n = 70) and non-gamer (n = 140) children between 2 and 6 years old and their mothers were included in the study. Psychosocial well-being was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire parent version. Multivariable logistic regressions were used. Results: 30% of the video gamers played video games for more than 1 hour per day. Factors associated with video gaming included sex, birth order, age of first screen exposure, daily screen time, and parent(s) video gaming. Being a boy, having a daily screen time of more than 1 hour and parent(s) video gaming increased the probability of video gaming [Odds (95% CI) = 3.00 (1.42-6.31), P = .004; 6.28 (2.86-13.80), P < .001; 6.49 (2.77-15.23), P < .001, respectively]. Not being the first child and having an age of first screen exposure older than 12 months old decreased the probability of video gaming [Odds (95% CI) = 0.29 (0.11-0.76), P = .012; 0.34 (0.13-0.89), P = .027, respectively]. Video gamers and non-gamers had statistically similar Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores. There was no association between video gaming and being borderline or abnormal in emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyper activ ity/i natte ntion, peer relationship problems, prosocial behavior, and total difficulties. Conclusion: This study investigating the relationship between psychosocial well-being and video gaming revealed that video gaming is not associated with psychosocial well-being in preschool age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Young children and preschoolers are now growing up in settings filled with a variety of technological devices. Despite the recommendation that parents should limit screen time, many preschoolers are exposed to screens at very early ages and for a long time. This study aimed to investigate the associations between parenting styles and the excessive screen time of preschool-aged children. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included preschool children with low screen exposure (<1 hour; n=176) and excessive screen exposure (>4 hours; n=74). A self-completion-structured survey form and Parent Attitude Scale were filled by the mothers. Results: More than half (52.0%) of them were male children. Increased number of children, increased household sizes, mothers being unemployed, birth order ≥2, and home-based care were found to be statistically significantly higher in the excessive screen exposure group than in the low screen exposure group. Mothers and fathers in the excessive screen exposure group had lower educational levels compared with their counterparts in the low screen exposure group (p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that mothers' high authoritative (democratic) scores were associated with low screen exposure(adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.3; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1-0.9). High overprotective and permissive parenting subscale scores were related to excessive screen exposure after adjusting potential confounders (AOR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.1-6.7; AOR: 4.5, 95% CI: 1.8-11.6). Conclusion: Excessive screening time may indicate a problematic parent-child relationship. Establishing a positive parent-child relationship can be an effective way of managing screen time in preschool children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Pediatric Disease / Türkiye Çocuk Hastalıkları Dergisi is the property of Turkish Journal of Pediatric Disease 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.)

Background and objectives. The comparison of Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PETCT) and bone marrow biopsy (BMB) modalities in detecting bone marrow disease is an up to date research topic. In this study, we aimed to compare the results of PET-CT and BMB procedures in detecting bone marrow involvement in pediatric malignancies. Method. At the time of diagnosis, PET-CT imaging and BMB performed patients' data were evaluated, retrospectively. Malign diagnoses were Hodgkin's lymphoma in 23 (30.7%), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 20 (26.7%), neuroblastoma in 11 (14.7%), Ewing sarcoma in 10 (13.7%), Langerhans cell histiocytosis in 6 (8%), and rhabdomyosarcoma in 5 (6.6%) patients. Results. Bone marrow involvement was detected in 39 (52%) of 75 patients. Bone marrow involvement was identified by both PET-CT and BMB in 18 (46.1%) patients, by only PET-CT in 12 (30.7%) patients, by only BMB in 9 (23%) patients. The sensitivity of PET-CT was 66%, specificity was 75%, positive predictive value was 60%, and negative predictive value was 80%. Sensitivity, spesificity, positive and negative predictive values of PETCT were different in before mentioned malignancy groups. Conclusion. PET-CT may not have high sensitivity and specificity to identify bone marrow involvement for each type of cancer. The approach of using bone marrow biopsy and PET-CT as complementary modalities seems reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Pertussis is a contagious respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) which can affect all age groups. We aimed to identify B. pertussis infection and determine age-specific antibody levels and provide epidemiologic data for national immunization strategies. Material and Method: Children aged 10-18 years with cough were examined for B. pertussis PCR (polymerase chain reaction), nasopharyngeal specimen culture, serum B.pertussis IgG by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Results: Of 429 subjects, mean age was 13,04 ± 2,16 years; 229 (53,4%) were male, 200 (46,6%) were female. Cough duration' median was 4 days (minimum 1 day and maximum 90 days). Of 405 (94%) fully vaccinated children, we accepted 27% of subjects were applied five, 67% were applied four doses of B.pertussis. Since fifth dose of B.pertussis is applied in school age, we accepted all subjects in appropriate age had five doses with hesitation. Subjects were negative for the culture. Three subjects (0,69%) were positive with B. pertussis PCR. Forty three subjects (10%) were positive for B. pertussis IgG. There was a linear correlation between age and B.pertussis IgG absorbance value (r =0,112; p =0,020). Cough duration was significantly longer in B. pertussis IgG positive group compared to those negative (p =0,012). The highest seropositivity was in 13-15 ages. Conclusion: To decrease the frequency of pertussis infection, to prevent pertussis infection transmisson to infants via adolescents; we recommend sustaining infanthood vaccinations and applying a booster dose at 10-13 years of age in addition to the fifth dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) are the most common causes of chronic renal failure in children. Although data about the growth failure and cognitive impairment in children with end-stage renal disease are available, there are insufficient data about the developmental screening in infanthood of children with CAKUT. The aim of this study is to evaluate the neurodevelopment of children with CAKUT using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Screening Test, Third Edition (Bayley-III). Materials and Methods: The cognitive, language, receptive communication, expressive communication, global motor, gross motor, and fine motor scores of children aged 1-41 months diagnosed with CAKUT (n=30) were compared with healthy controls (n=32). Results: There was no significant difference between groups with regard to the age, height, weight, head circumference, body mass index, mid-arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness and the language, expressive communication, receptive communication, gross motor, fine motor, and global motor scores (p>0.05). Maternal age, the weight at birth, and the educational level of mothers were similar in both groups (p>0.05). There was no significant relationship between the educational level of mothers, iron deficiency anemia, and Bayley-III scores (p>0.05). Cognitive scores of children with CAKUT were significantly lower than scores of the control group (p=0.04). Cognitive scores of patients with recurrent urinary tract infection were lower than -1 standard deviation value. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that children with CAKUT who have a recurrent urinary tract infection history have delayed cognitive developmental outcomes compared with healthy children, as assessed using Bayley-III. The neurodevelopment of these children should be closely followed up and supported in the early period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate increased aortic elasticity parameters and myocardial function in children with celiac disease (CD) and the effect of the subclinical myocardial damage on the elasticity parameters. Materials and Methods: Fiftytwo children with CD and 60 healthy subjects were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups according to IgA-tissue transglutaminase (IgA-tTG) antibody results. All children's cardiac functions were assessed by conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler (TDI) imaging. Aortic strain, distensibilty and stiffness index (SI) were calculated by M-mode echocardiography. Results: Isovolumetric contraction time and isovolumetric relaxation time values and myocardial performance index (Tei) evaluated for both ventricles by TDI were significantly higher in patients. Right ventricle Tei index value was the highest in the group of serum IgAtTG antibody positive. Patient group exhibited significantly lower strain values and higher SI than the controls. Conclusion: Our s tudy s howed t hat a ortic e lasticity parameters in children with subclinical CD are related to arterial pressure and may be used to determine increased prematurity atherosclerosis risk. These results suggest that serious cardiovascular complications can be predicted with echocardiographic follow-up especially in children with antibody-positive CD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Asthma Allergy Immunology / Astim Allerji Immunoloji is the property of Turkish National Society of Allergy & Clinical Immunology 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.)

Objective: Fever of unknown origin (FUO) in children is a difficult situation in term of both diagnosis and management. In this study, we evaluated the children who were hospitalized with FUO in in our hospital. Material and Methods: This study included children with a fever >38.3°C for which the cause could not be identified after three weeks of evaluation as an outpatient or after a week of evaluation in the hospital. We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of children with FUO who were hospitalized in University of Mersin Faculty of Medicine, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2014. Results: A total of 33 children (19 boys and 14 girls) with FUO were included in this study. The mean age of children was 77.39±68.11 (6-204) months. In 24 (72.7%) patients, the etiology was identified. The diagnoses were infectious diseases (n=14, 42.42%), collagen vascular disorders (n=3, 9.1%), malignancy (n=2, 6.1%), and miscellaneous conditions (n=5, 15.15%). The mean values of peripheral white blood cells in collagen vascular disorders, C-reactive protein in miscellaneous conditions and erythrocyte sedimentation rate in malignancy were significantly higher (p<0.05). Nine (27.3%) patients remained undiagnosed and all of them showed spontaneous recovery. Conclusion: A complete and detailed history, physical examination and careful reevaluation of the children with FUO should be needed. In the light of these findings, radiological evaluations in addition to simple laboratory tests were helpful to correct diagnosis. Our study demonstrated that definitive diagnosis was not established in the considerable number of children with FUO and they showed spontaneous recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In this study, we evaluated the clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic features of the children with Kawasaki disease (KD) who were admitted and treated in our hospital. Material and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of 44 children diagnosed with KD in our clinic between May 1, 2008 and December 31, 2014. According to the diagnostic criteria of KD, the patients were classified as complete and incomplete. We evaluated the clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic findings at the time of diagnosis. Results: A total of 44 children (29 boys and 15 girls) with KD were included in this study. The mean age of children was 47.65±22.56 (18-96) months. Thirty eight patients (86.4%) were diagnosed with complete and 6 (13.6%) were diagnosed with incomplete KD. The mean duration of fever before diagnosis was 7.12±2.2 (5-14) days. All of the patients had fever and changes in oral cavity. The incidence of cervical lymphadenopathy, conjunctivitis, changes in the extremities and skin rash were 93.2%, 65.9%, 54.5% and 18.2%, respectively. During the first evaluation, 28 (63.6%) patients had normal echocardiographic findings. Six (13.6%) patients had coronary artery aneurysm, 5 (11.4%) had minimally coronary artery ectasia and 5 (11.4%) had pericardial effusion. All of the patients were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin and acetyl salicylate. Only two unresponsive patients received steroids in addition to this treatment. The clinical and laboratory findings of the patients without coronary artery aneurysm returned to normal in eight weeks. The patients were followed up for a mean of 11.65±11.17 (2-58) months. Complete regression of coronary artery aneurysm was observed in three of six patients, but three had persistent minimal coronary artery ectasia. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that considerable number of patients with KD have coronary artery lesions and early administration of intravenous immunoglobulin may prevent the development of the complications. The children under five years with prolonged fever should be kept in mind in terms of early diagnosis of KD and coronary artery lesions related mortality and morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]