Mucoceles are common benign cystic lesions of the oral cavity that develop following extravasation or retention of mucous material from the major or minor salivary glands. Mucoceles are usually located in the lower lip (60 to 70% of cases), and the floor of the mouth is only involved in 6 to 15% of cases. Submandibular gland mucocele is extremely rare...

The prevalence of allergic diseases has increased worldwide, a phenomenon that can be largely attributed to environmental effects. Among environmental factors, air pollution due to traffic is thought to be a major threat to childhood health. Residing near busy roadways is associated with increased asthma hospitalization, decreased lung function, and increased prevalence and severity of wheezing and allergic rhinitis. Recently,...

Most children with epilepsy are of normal intelligence. However, a significant subset will have temporary or permanent cognitive impairment. Factors that affect cognitive function are myriad and include the underlying neuropathology of the epilepsy, seizures, epileptiform discharges, psychosocial problems, age at seizure onset, duration of epilepsy, and side effects associated with antiepileptic drugs. This review article discusses cognitive function in...

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) may be suspected when a young child presents with abrupt onset of altered mental status, seizures, or both. Definitive clinical diagnosis is based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results. ANE is associated with influenza virus infections. Preliminary data suggests that up to 25% of ANE patients die, and up to 25% of ANE survivors develop substantial...

A 4-year-old girl with Panayiotopoulos syndrome presented with a history of 4 prolonged autonomic seizures. The clinical features of her seizures included, in order of occurrence, blank staring, pallor, vomiting, hemi-clonic movement on the right side, and unresponsiveness. A brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a slightly high T₂ signal in the left hippocampus. Interictal electoencephalogram revealed spikes in the...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP), the smallest self-replicating biological system, is a common cause of upper and lower respiratory tract infections, leading to a wide range of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary manifestations. MP pneumonia has been reported in 10 to 40% of cases of community-acquired pneumonia and shows an even higher proportion during epidemics. MP infection is endemic in larger communities of the...

Passive exposure to tobacco smoke significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality in children. Children, in particular, seem to be the most susceptible population to the harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Paternal smoking inside the home leads to significant maternal and fetal exposure to ETS and may subsequently affect fetal health. ETS has been associated with adverse effects on...

Hypoglossal nerve palsy (HNP) is an uncommon neurological abnormality that can provoke characteristic clinical signs, including unilateral atrophy of the tongue musculature. We present the case of a healthy 11-year-old Korean male who was admitted to the outpatient department of our institution with acute onset dysarthria, tongue fasciculations, and right-sided tongue weakness upon awakening. His evaluation included a virology work-up,...

Compared to the past decades, in recent decades, environmental and hygienic conditions in the Republic of Korea have improved along with socioeconomic developments, and the incidence of most infectious diseases, especially vaccine-preventable diseases, has greatly decreased due to active immunization with the developed level of health care. However, the incidence of some diseases has been increasing, and new diseases have...

An anthropometric survey is one of the most important approaches to use when evaluating the health status of children. Secular trends in body sizes, such as height, weight, head circumference, chest circumference, and body mass index showed significant changes over 40 years in Korea. A series of periodic surveys were conducted in 1967, 1975, 1985, 1997, and 2005 by the...

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that typically follows an infection or vaccination and has a favorable long-term prognosis. We describe the first reported case of ADEM after vaccination against novel influenza A (H1N1). A previously healthy 34-month-old boy who developed ADEM presented with a seizure and left-sided weakness 5 days after...

Fungal infections are rarely responsible for arthritis. Few cases of fungal arthritis have been reported, even in immunocompromised hosts susceptible to low-virulence organisms. Herein, the authors report the first case of Candida tropicalis arthritis in a child with a solid tumor. A 13-year-old boy with Ewing's sarcoma developed arthritis in his elbow during the neutropenic period after chemotherapy. Despite treatment...

A 3-year-old girl with acute respiratory distress syndrome due to a H1N1 2009 influenza virus infection was complicated by necrotizing pneumonia was successfully treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This is the first reported case in which a pediatric patient was rescued with ECMO during the H1N1 influenza epidemic in Korea in 2009.

Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is one of the most common glomerular diseases that affect children. Renal histology reveals the presence of minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) in more than 80% of these patients. Most patients with MCNS have favorable outcomes without complications. However, a few of these children have lesions of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, suffer from severe and prolonged proteinuria, and...

Children who suffer from steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) require aggressive treatment to achieve remission. When intravenous high-dose methylprednisolone fails, calcineurin inhibitors, such as cyclosporine and tacrolimus, are used as the first line of treatment. A significant number of patients with SRNS progress to end-stage renal disease if remission is not achieved. For these children, renal replacement therapy can also be...

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that typically presents as a monophasic disorder associated with multifocal neurologic symptoms and encephalopathy. ADEM is considered an autoimmune disorder that is triggered by an environmental stimulus in genetically susceptible individuals. The diagnosis of ADEM is based on clinical and radiological features. Most children with ADEM...

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory infection in children. Most of the pediatric population have RSV infection before the age of 2, and recurrent infections are common even within one season. Chronic lung disease, prematurity, along with congenital heart disease (CHD) are major risk factors in severe lower respiratory infection. In hemo-dynamically significant CHD patients with...

Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) is the most common cause of acute renal failure in young children. It is classically characterized by the triad of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and uremia. Further, not only is intussusception one of the differential diagnoses of HUS but it may also become a complication during disease progression. We report a case of HUS preceded by intussusception...