Febrile seizures are induced by fever and are the most common type of seizures in children. Although numerous studies have been performed on febrile seizures, their pathophysiology remains unclear. Recent studies have shown that cytokines may play a role in the pathogenesis of febrile seizures. The present study was conducted to identify potential links between serum interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis...

Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant condition caused by an NF1 gene mutation. NF1 is also a multisystem disorder that primarily affects the skin and nervous system. The goal of this study was to delineate the phenotypic characterization and assess the NF1 mutational spectrum in patients with NF1.

A total of 42 patients, 14 females and 28 males, were enrolled...

Although high morning blood pressure (BP) is known to be associated with the onset of cardiovascular events in adults, data on its effects in children with hypertension are limited. Our retrospective study aimed to define the clinical characteristics of children with morning hypertension (MH) and to determine its associated factors.

We reviewed 31 consecutive patients with hypertension, confirmed by the ambulatory...

The introduction of the mumps vaccine has dramatically reduced the number of mumps cases, but outbreaks have recently occurred among highly vaccinated populations in developed countries. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with mumps admitted between 1989 and 2012 in a single hospital in Korea are described in the present study.

We retrospectively evaluated inpatients with mumps between 1989 and 2012...

This study examines changes in developmental profiles of children with language delay over time and the clinical significance of assessment conducted at age 2-3 years.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 70 children (62 male, 8 female), who had visited the hospital because of delayed language development at 2-3 years, and were reassessed at ages 5-6. Language and cognitive abilities...

The incidence of Kawasaki disease (KD) is rare in young infants (less than 3 months of age), who present with only a few symptoms that fulfill the clinical diagnostic criteria. The diagnosis for KD can therefore be delayed, leading to a high risk of cardiac complications. We examined the clinical characteristics and measured the serum levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic...

Among the many factors associated with acute intestinal mucosal infection, numerous studies have proposed the usefulness of fecal calprotectin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of fecal calprotectin in the diagnosis of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

We collected 154 stool samples from 16 very low birth weight and premature newborns at the Konyang University Hospital neonatal intensive care...

Adenoid hypertrophy is a physical alteration that may affect speech, and a speech disorder can have other negative effects on a child's life. Airway obstruction leads to constricted oral breathing and causes postural alterations of several oro-facial structures, including the mouth, tongue, and hyoid bone. The postural modifications may affect several aspects of speech production.

In this study, we compared articulation...

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common disorder in school-aged children. Patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) often present with ADHD symptoms and vice versa. This study was the first to attempt to identify the prevalence of RLS and sleep problems in children with ADHD in Korea.

Patients diagnosed with ADHD were asked to complete a sleep questionnaire. The sleep...

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic disorder that results from the lack of paternally expressed genes in the chromosome 15q11-q13 region. This study was performed to delineate the clinical features of PWS infants and toddlers and the effects of two-year growth hormone (GH) treatment according to gender and age at the start of treatment.

The clinical characteristics and the results...

To evaluate the potential utility of ¹²³I-metaiodobenzylguanine (¹²³I-MIBG) scintigraphy and ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) for the detection of primary and metastatic lesions in pediatric neuroblastoma (NBL) patients, and to determine whether ¹⁸F-FDG PET is as beneficial as ¹²³I-MIBG imaging.

We selected 8 NBL patients with significant residual mass after operation and who had paired ¹²³I-MIBG and ¹⁸F-FDG PET images...

A nationwide outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MP) refractory to macrolide antibiotics occurred in Korea during 2011. Steroid therapy has been reported to be both efficacious and well tolerated in pediatric patients with refractory MP. We compared clinical features and laboratory characteristics between children with refractory MP requiring steroid treatment and those with macrolide-responsive MP and evaluated the risk factors...

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) is a fulminant disease of the brain characterized by bilateral thalamic lesions, and is prevalent among children in East Asia. The prognosis of ANE is usually poor with a high mortality rate and neurological sequelae. This study aimed to delineate the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of ANE.

We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 399 pediatric patients...

Mitochondrial disease (MD) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are often associated with cardiomyopathy, but the myocardial variability has not been isolated to a specific characteristic. We evaluated the left ventricular (LV) mass by echocardiography to identify the general distribution and functional changes of the myocardium in patients with MD or DMD.

We retrospectively evaluated the echocardiographic data of 90 children with...

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) is a benign disease, which is characterized by a cervical lymphadenopathy with fever, and it often mimics malignant lymphoma (ML). 2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) is a powerful imaging modality for the diagnosis, staging and monitoring of ML, with the limitations including the nonspecific FDG uptake in infectious or inflammatory processes. This study compared clinical...

A recent study analyzing several cytokines reported that long cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time and long aortic cross clamp (ACC) time were accompanied by enhanced postoperative inflammation, which contrasted with the modest influence of the degree of hypothermia. In this present study, we aimed to examine the effect of CPB temperature on the clinical outcome in infants undergoing repair of isolated...

The aim of this study was to determine whether school-aged children with Kawasaki disease (KD) have an increased risk for early atherosclerosis.

The study included 98 children. The children were divided into the following groups: group A (n=19), KD with coronary arterial lesions that persisted or regressed; group B (n=49), KD without coronary arterial lesions; and group C (n=30), healthy children....

This study aimed to evaluate the autonomic imbalance in syncope by comparing the baseline heart rate variability (HRV) between healthy children and those with vasovagal syncope.

To characterize the autonomic profile in children experiencing vasovagal syncope, we evaluated the HRV of 23 patients aged 7-18 years and 20 healthy children. These children were divided into preadolescent (<12 years) and adolescent groups....

The prevalence of macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MRMP) has increased worldwide. The aim of this study was to estimate the proportion of MRMP in a tertiary hospital in Korea, and to find potential laboratory markers that could be used to predict the efficacy of macrolides in children with MRMP pneumonia.

A total of 95 patients with M. pneumoniae pneumonia were enrolled in...

Blood culture is the most important tool for detecting bacteremia in children with fever. However, blood culture contamination rates range from 0.6% to 6.0% in adults; rates for young children have been considered higher than these, although data are limited, especially in Korea. This study determined the contamination rate and risk factors in pediatric patients visiting the emergency room (ER)...

Eosinophilia is common in premature infants, and its incidence increases with a shorter gestation period. We investigated the clinical significance of eosinophilia in premature infants born at <34 weeks gestation.

We analyzed the medical records of premature infants born at <34 weeks gestation who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital between January 2003...

Lowe syndrome is a rare, X-linked recessive disorder caused by mutations in the OCRL gene. It involves multiple anatomic systems, particularly the eyes, central nervous system, and kidneys, and leads to profound growth failure and global developmental delay. This study evaluated the clinical and genetic characteristics of Korean patients with Lowe syndrome.

The clinical findings and results of genetic studies were...

Adult Korean patients on chronic dialysis have a 9-year survival rate of 50%, with cardiovascular problems being the most significant cause of death. The 2011 annual report of the North American Pediatric Renal Trials and Collaborative Studies group reported 3-year survival rates of 93.4% and relatively poorer survival in younger patients.

In this study, we have reviewed data from Korean Pediatric...

The aim of this study was to characterize Korean patients with Fanconi anemia (FA), which is a rare but very challenging genetic disease.

The medical records of 12 FA patients diagnosed at Chonnam National University Hospital from 1991 to 2012 were retrospectively reviewed.

The median age at diagnosis was 6.2 years. All patients showed evidence of marrow failure and one or more...

Administration of antiretroviral drugs to mothers and infants significantly decreases mother-to-child human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission; cesarean sections and discouraging breastfeeding further decreases this risk. The present study confirmed the HIV status of babies born to mothers infected with HIV and describes the characteristics of babies and mothers who received preventive treatment.

This study retrospectively analyzed medical records of nine infants...

This study aimed to assess the characteristics of thyroid nodules among infants diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism.

A retrospective study of 660 infants (374 males, 286 females) diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism was carried out at the Pediatric Endocrine Clinic in Soonchunhyang University Hospital, Korea, between May 2003 and February 2013. The average age at diagnosis was 1.16±1.68 months.

Of the 28 patients (4.2%)...

Overweight can be defined by the body mass index (BMI) and is likely associated with an increased cardiovascular disease risk. However, waist circumference (WC), a central adiposity index, may be a better indicator of cardiovascular disease risk. Studies comparing the effects of BMI and WC on cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure (BP), are rare in adolescents.

We analyzed...

This study aimed to investigate the clinical features of macrocephaly at birth in Korea using ultrasonography.

We retrospectively investigated the medical records of full-term birth neonates in Cheil General Hospital & Women's Healthcare Center from January 2000 to June 2012. The following parameters were recorded and analyzed: gestational age, sex, birth weight, height, occipitofrontal circumference (OFC), physical examination, perinatal problems, and...

Renal size is an important indicator to determine adequate organ growth in children. The aim of this study was to estimate renal size with Technesium-99m dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scan and propose a simple formula for predicting renal length in normal Korean children.

This study included 346 children (148 boys and 198 girls; age range, 1 month to 17 years) in whom...

Height-specific blood pressure (BP) is the standard parameter used to diagnose childhood hypertension. However, there has been some argument that weight may be a better variable than height in the reference BP standards. Therefore, before assessing the BP status using the reference BP standards, a basic understanding of the fundamental association of weight and height with BP is required.

In the...