A retrospective study of the efficacy and safety of levofloxacin in children with severe infection.

Objectives: Levofloxacin is widely used because of its broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and convenient dosing schedule. However, the relevance of its use in children remains to be investigated. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of levofloxacin use in children with severe infections. Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study of patients <18 years of age who received levofloxacin intravenously in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of our hospital during the period between 2021 and 2022. Patient demographics, course characteristics, clinical effectiveness, and adverse event correlations were extracted through a retrospective tabular review. Results: We included 25 patients treated with 28 courses of levofloxacin. The mean age of these children treated with levofloxacin was 4.41 years. Conversion of pathogenic microbiological test results to negative after levofloxacin treatment was detected in 11 courses (39.29%). A decrease in inflammatory markers, white blood cell or C-reactive protein counts, was detected in 18 courses (64.29%). A total of 57 adverse events occurred during the treatment period, of which 21 were possibly related to levofloxacin and no adverse events were probably related to levofloxacin. Conclusion: The effectiveness of levofloxacin use in children with serious infections is promising, especially for the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Adverse events occurring during the initiation of levofloxacin therapy in children are reported to be relatively common, but in this study, only a small percentage of them were possibly related to levofloxacin, and none of them were highly possibly related to levofloxacin.

The Current and Future State of Pediatric Sepsis Definitions: An International Survey.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Definitions for pediatric sepsis were established in 2005 without data-driven criteria. It is unknown whether the more recent adult Sepsis-3 definitions meet the needs of providers caring for children. We aimed to explore the use and applicability of criteria to diagnose sepsis and septic shock in children across the world. METHODS: This is an international electronic survey of clinicians distributed across international and national societies representing pediatric intensive care, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and pediatric infectious diseases. Respondents stated their preferences on a 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS: There were 2835 survey responses analyzed, of which 48% originated from upper-middle income countries, followed by high income countries (38%) and low or lower-middle income countries (14%). Abnormal vital signs, laboratory evidence of inflammation, and microbiologic diagnoses were the criteria most used for the diagnosis of "sepsis." The 2005 consensus definitions were perceived to be the most useful for sepsis recognition, while Sepsis-3 definitions were stated as more useful for benchmarking, disease classification, enrollment into trials, and prognostication. The World Health Organization definitions were perceived as least useful across all domains. Seventy one percent of respondents agreed that the term sepsis should be restricted to children with infection-associated organ dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians around the world apply a myriad of signs, symptoms, laboratory studies, and treatment factors when diagnosing sepsis. The concept of sepsis as infection with associated organ dysfunction is broadly supported. Currently available sepsis definitions fall short of the perceived needs. Future diagnostic algorithms should be pragmatic and sensitive to the clinical settings.

[Predictive value of pediatrics end-stage liver disease or model for end-stage liver disease score in the prognosis of pediatric acute liver failure treated with artificial liver support system].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the predictive value of pediatrics end-stage liver disease (PELD) or the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) in the prognosis of pediatric acute liver failure (PALF) treated with artificial liver support system (ALSS). METHOD: The clinical data of 47 children with acute liver failure seen from August 2008 to July 2013 treated in Children's Hospital, Fudan University were analyzed. Thirty children were treated with ALSS in addition to conventional comprehensive medical treatment (ALSS group). Seventeen children were treated with only conventional comprehensive medical treatment (control group). The main biochemical parameters and coagulation function parameters before and after treatment were compared in the ALSS group and the mortality rates were compared between the two groups. The patients were graded by PELD or MELD when they were hospitalized and the relationship of PELD or MELD scores and mortalities of child patients with the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were analyzed. RESULT: There were significant differences in total bilirubin (TB) ((302 ± 208) vs. (161 ± 129) µmol/L); alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ((161 ± 225) vs. (761 ± 834) U/L); aspartate aminotransferase ( AST) (66 (35, 123 ) vs. 447 (184, 1,129 ) U/L) ; international normalized ratio (INR) ((2.6 ± 1.6) vs. (5.1 ± 4.0)); prothrombin time activity percentage (PTA) ((42 ± 25)% vs. (22 ± 13)%); albumin( ALB) ((35 ± 5) vs. (33 ± 6) g/L) in the ALSS group after treatment. Through the ROC curve analysis, the best PELD/MELD threshold was 25 to predict the patients survival after ALSS therapy, with a sensitivity of 92. 3% , and a specificity of 94.1% at the cutoff point. The area under the ROC curve was 0. 912. The mortality of patients with PELD or MELD score below 25 in the ALSS group (1/13) was lower than the control group (3/4) (P = 0.022), and the mortality of patients with PELD or MELD score over 25 (16/17) was higher than that of the control group (10/13) (P = 0.290). CONCLUSION: PELD or MELD score is a valid index in prognostic evaluation of ALSS therapy, which may provide an evidence for the therapeutic strategies of PALF. Patients with PELD or MELD score below 25 treated with ALSS obtained more benefit.