[The Relationship of the Degree of Impairment of the Structure and Function of the Liver with its Chronic Illnesses in Children].

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to on the basis of determining the degree of violation of the structure and function of the liver establish their relationships and to assess the dynamics of liver disease in its chronic illnesses in children. METHODS: With the help of the developed scoring systems were used to assess the degree of liver dysfunction and the degree of disruption of the structure of the liver and the severity of portal hypertension. RESULTS: The results of the diagnostic methods 252 children aged 1 to 17 years (mean age of 11.8±3,5) with Wilson disease (WD), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), chronic hepatitis C (CHC) were analyzed; 48 patients underwent liver transplantation. In children with WD, AIHand CHC liverfunction reduced by 41.3±12.9% to 28.8±12.5% and 19.1±7.8% respectively. Structure of the liver in children with WD, AIH and CHC was disturbed by 25.0±8.1% to 20.4±9.2% and 6.8±4.4% respectively. Thefunction and structure violations of the liver more pronounced in liver cirrhosis. The use of the developed scoring systems to monitor the severity of liver damage in the dynamics and evaluation of the effectiveness of the therapy is demonstrated. The degree of liver dysfunction is directly dependent on the degree of its structure. Abnormal liverfunction ≥40% and ≥40% of its structure with treatment failure can be used as a criterion of indicationsfor elective liver transplantation with its chronic diseases in children. CONCLUSION: Developed a point system to determine liver function and a point system to determine disruption of the structure of the liver and the severity of portal hypertension in children can serve as an objective criterion for assessing the severity of liver disease, monitoring their changes in the dynamics with the assessment of the effectiveness of the therapy and making decisions about the need for routine liver transplantation in its chronic illnesses in children.

[A comparative study of breast feeding and artificial infant feeding by ultrasonic scanning]. / Sravnitel'noe issledovanie grudnogo i iskusstvennogo vskarmlivaniia detei metodom ul'trazvukovogo skanirovaniia.

Sucking process was examined in 22 breast- and formula-fed infants by ultrasonic scanning. Analysis of the obtained echographic images of the oral cavity along the middle sagittal line has led the authors to a conclusion that employment of traditional milk soothers with both large and small holes is harmful for articulation and forms an erroneous pattern of sucking and swallowing function, this possibly resulting in abnormal development of the jaws and oral cavity organs.

[Status of the liver in children with cardiomyopathies (data from echographic study)]. / Sostoianie pecheni u detei s kardiomiopatiiami (po dannym ékhograficheskogo issledovaniia).

In order to estimate the liver status and hemodynamics in children with non-rheumatic cardiomyopathies, 130 schoolchildren were examined. Of these, 60 children were diagnosed to have hypertrophic and 70 dilated cardiomyopathy. In both cardiomyopathy varieties, alterations in the liver were established to be of secondary character and associated with greater circulation abnormalities. The patients manifested an appreciable increase of the diameter of the hepatic veins and reduction in them of the blood flow rate. Adequate cardiotropic therapy brought about a noticeable decrease in the echographic signs of liver congestion.

[Diagnostic value of renal echography in children]. / O diagnosticheskoi tsennosti ékhografii pochek u detei.

Echography was employed to examine 94 children with different renal pathology. 45 children had chronic secondary pyelonephritis in the presence of the vesicoureteral reflux, 18 hydronephrosis, 14 ureterohydronephrosis, 6 chronic non-obstructive pyelonephritis, 5 acute glomerulonephritis, and 6 chronic glomerulonephritis. The data obtained by ultrasonography and x-ray data were studied and compared. The results thus derived supplement and make it possible to review the former ultrasonic criteria for normal and pathological conditions with unmarked morphological alterations in the kidneys. Novel criteria for the size of the lumen of the collecting systems are presented.

[Diagnostic possibilities of echography of the pancreas in children with chronic diseases of the gastroduodenal and biliary systems]. / Diagnosticheskie vozmozhnosti ékhografii podzheludochnoi zhelezy u detei s khronicheskoi patologiei gastroduodenal'noi i biliarnoi sistem.

Echography of the pancreas in children suffering from chronic pathology of the gastroduodenal and biliary systems may reveal a considerable incidence and the gravity of pancreatic injuries. The relationship may be found between alterations in the pancreas and the gravity of the pathology in question as well as duration, process spreading, gastric secretion reduction, and the disease entity. The results derived well agree with the reported data on pathomorphology and laboratory diagnosis of pancreatic injuries in the above-indicated pathology and provide evidence in favour of the high information content of echography. A considerable incidence and the intensity of the echographic signs of pancreatic lesions in children suffering from chronic pathology of the gastroduodenal and biliary systems support the appropriateness of echographic studies of the pancreas in the given patients' group.

[Possibilities of detection of the causes of portal hypertension with ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus]. / Vozmozhnosti vyiavleniia prichin portal'noi gipertenzii s pomoshch'iu ul'trazvukovogo diagnosticheskogo apparata.

The ultrasonic diagnostics was used as the preliminary stage of examination of 22 children with different forms of portal hypertension. The method was shown to be valuable for differential diagnosis of the diseases followed by hepatosplenomegaly and for the solution of the question of expediency of operations for vascular shunting.