Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Traumatic Bone Fracture Patterns and Hospital Outcomes in 1646 Elderly Patients: A Retrospective Study in Turkey.

BACKGROUND During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related lockdowns, modifications in trauma-related behavior and other factors in the elderly population may have occurred. The present retrospective study aimed to compare outcomes from emergency admissions to a major trauma center in Turkey of 1646 elderly patients with traumatic bone fractures that occurred before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. MATERIAL AND METHODS A cohort of 1646 elderly trauma patients admitted between September 15, 2019 and September 15, 2020 were retrospectively scanned from the hospital registry system and were grouped as admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic before (Group 1), during (Group 2), or after (Group 3) the lockdown restrictions. Demographic and clinical data were examined by making comparisons between the 3 groups. RESULTS In all groups, female sex was more prevalent. Fractures were more common in the ulna and femur than in other bones (P=0.026, P=0.035). Among the groups, in Group 2, injuries due to the mechanism of falling from one's own height on the ground were more prominent (79.2%). Hospital costs were lower in Group 1 (P<0.001). The majority of hospitalized patients (n=874; 53.1%) were in Group 2 (P=0.009). CONCLUSIONS During pandemic lockdowns, the mechanism of falling from one's own height was more common in the elderly population. The ulna and femur were the predominant bones fractured. Therefore, during lockdown periods, precautions should be taken to prevent the elderly from falling from their own height.

High Inborn Errors of Immunity Risk in Patients with Granuloma.

OBJECTIVE: Granuloma etiology includes infections, vasculitis, chemicals, malignancies, lymphoproliferative disorders, and immunological diseases. We hypothesized that patients with granuloma have an underlying primary immunodeficiency disease (PIDD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 82 patients with immunological evaluation among 294 biopsy-proven granuloma patients (0- to 20-year-old). At the same time frame, we followed up with 1910 patients in the same age group. RESULTS: Out of 82 patients, male/female ratio was 45/37. Median age at symptom onset was 5 years (28 days-17.4 years), age of granuloma at diagnosis was 8.6 years (36 days-19.4 years). Common symptoms at disease onset were fever (23.2%), lymphadenopathy (19.6%), abdominal pain (12.2%), and cough (12.2%). Granuloma was frequent in lymph nodes (26.8%), skin (19.5%), lung (13.4%), and bone (11%). Common infectious agents isolated were Mycobacterium spp. (23.2%) and EBV (4.9%). We document PIDD in 76.8% (63/82) of patients. 49.4% (40/81) of immunologically evaluated granuloma patients had hypogammaglobulinemia. Granuloma rate in pediatric PIDD was 3.3%(63/1910). Patients with multiple granulomas (n = 16) had a PIDD diagnosis. Lung involvement was three times more in PIDD. Brain involvement was only seen in PIDD. Fibroadipose tissue and liver involvement were more frequent in patients without documented PIDD and patients whose evaluation was not completed. The mortality rate in PIDD with granuloma was 15.9%, whereas there was no mortality in patients without PIDD. CONCLUSION: As documented here, even in a university hospital, the immunologic evaluation ratio is about one-third. We showed high PIDD frequency in children with granuloma, and higher mortality in PIDD with granuloma. Thus, an immunologic evaluation performed meticulously by immunologists is a must for accurate diagnosis and decision of individualized therapeutic options.

Age and C-reactive protein as modifiers of Kocher criteria in pediatric septic knee monoarthritis.

INTRODUCTION: Although Kocher criteria can distinguish a septic hip from an aseptic cause, they may not apply to a septic knee. We aimed to identify predictors to discriminate septic and aseptic causes of acute knee monoarthritis in children who underwent arthrocentesis. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study among children who underwent arthrocentesis for suspected septic arthritis of the knee. Collected data included demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics. We performed univariate and multivariable analyses to identify predictors of the septic knee. We further investigated accuracy of different predictive models. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients who underwent arthrocentesis for suspected knee septic arthritis were included in this study. Septic arthritis of the knee was confirmed in 32 (53%) patients. Age ≤ 5 years (OR 4.237, [95% CI 1.270-14.127], p = 0.019), WBC > 12,000 cells/mm3 (OR 5.059, [95% CI 1.424-17.970], p = 0.012), and CRP > 2 mg/dL (OR 3.180, [0.895-11.298], p = 0.074) were the most important predictors of a septic knee. Three-tier model comprising these three factors (AUC 0.766) and 4-tier model with addition of fever >38.5°C (AUC 0.776) performed better than Kocher criteria (AUC 0.677), modified Kocher criteria (AUC 0.699) and Full Model (adding age ≤ 5 years and CRP >2 mg/dL to Kocher criteria) (AUC 0.746). Full Model successfully ruled out septic arthritis if all 6 criteria were negative. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, we propose an algorithm to identify low, intermediate and high-risk patients for knee septic arthritis. Our proposed two-step algorithm incorporating major (age, WBC, CRP) and minor (fever, ESR, non-weight bearing) criteria can serve as a simple decision-support tool to justify arthrocentesis in children with suspected knee septic arthritis.

Outcome predictors of influenza for hospitalization and mortality in children.

Severity of disease caused by influenza virus and the influencing factors that may be different. Moreover, the disease course actually may not be determined specifically in children because of lower seroprotection rates of children. Herein, the results clinic and outcome data of children with influenza from Turkey were reported. We present here the results from 2013 to 2017. Nasopharyngeal swab samples of the children with influenza were investigated via multiplex polymerase chain reaction. A total of 348 children were diagnosed with influenza; 143 (41.1%) were influenza A, 85 (24.4%) were influenza B, and 120 (34.5%) were mixt infection with other respiratory viruses. Fifty-four percent of children admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) were under 2 years of age (p = .001). Having an underlying disease was detected as the main predictor for both hospitalization and ICU stay according to multiple logistic regression analysis (odds ratio [OR], 11.784: 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.212-26.643; p = .001 and OR, 4.972: 95% CI, 2.331-10.605; p = .001, respectively). Neurological symptoms most frequently seen in cases who died (44.4%; p = .02). Lymphopenia was relatively higher (55.6%) and thrombocytopenia was most frequently seen in cases who died (77.8%) with a significant ratio (p = .001). Underlying diseases was found a risk factor for influenza being hospitalized and being admitted to ICU. Children under 2 years of age and with underlying diseases should be vaccinated particularly in countries where the influenza vaccination is still not routinely implemented in the immunization schedule. Highlights Underlying diseases is a risk factor for influenza to be hospitalized and admitted to ICU. Influenza vaccination is of great importance to prevent life-threatening complications of influenza, particularly in children require ICU admission. The possibility to reduce the outpatient visit number by vaccination has a great impact on disease burden in addition to the underestimated crucial social benefits, as well.

Predictive value of cytokine/chemokine responses for the disease severity and management in children and adult cases with COVID-19.

The disease course of children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) seems milder as compared with adults, however, actual reason of the pathogenesis still remains unclear. There is a growing interest on possible relationship between pathogenicity or disease severity and biomarkers including cytokines or chemokines. We wondered whether these biomarkers could be used for the prediction of the prognosis of COVID-19 and improving our understanding on the variations between pediatric and adult cases with COVID-19. The acute phase serum levels of 25 cytokines and chemokines in the serum samples from 60 COVID-19 pediatric (n = 30) and adult cases (n = 30) including 20 severe or critically ill, 25 moderate and 15 mild patients and 30 healthy pediatric (n = 15) and adult (n = 15) volunteers were measured using commercially available fluorescent bead immunoassay and analyzed in combination with clinical data. Interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-3ß levels were significantly higher in patient cohort including pediatric and adult cases with COVID-19 when compared with all healthy volunteers (p ≤ .001 in each) and whereas IP-10 levels were significantly higher in both pediatric and adult cases with severe disease course, MIP-3ß were significantly lower in healthy controls. Additionally, IP-10 is an independent predictor for disease severity, particularly in children and interleukin-6 seems a relatively good predictor for disease severity in adults. IP-10 and MIP-3ß seem good research candidates to understand severity of COVID-19 in both pediatric and adult population and to investigate possible pathophysiological mechanism of COVID-19.

The association of viral load and disease severity in children with COVID-19.

It is still not fully understood how to predict the future prognosis of patients at the diagnosis coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to the wide clinical range of the disease. We aimed to evaluate whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral load could predict the clinical course of pediatric patients. This study was conducted retrospectively with medical records of pediatric patients who were tested for SARS-CoV2 between April 12 and October 25, 2020 in the University of Health Sciences, Ankara Educating and Training Hospital and Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. We evaluated 518 pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and classified according to severity as asymptomatic (16.2%), mild (59.6%), moderate (20.2%), and critical/severe (3.9%) cases. We analyzed patients in four groups in terms of ages: <4, 5-9, 10-14, and 15-17 years. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of ∆Ct value among age groups, different gender and the existence of underlying diseases in each disease course. The ∆Ct values were relatively lower in the first 2 days of symptoms than after days in all groups. Our study has indicated that children with COVID-19 have similar amount of viral load in all disease courses irrespective of the age and underlying disease. It should be taken into account that, regardless of the severity of the disease, pediatric patients may have a role in the transmission chain.

The use of serum endothelial adhesion molecules in pediatric patients with leukemia with febrile neutropenia to predict bacteremia.

OBJECTIVE: Febrile neutropenia (FN) represents a life-threatening complication in hematological malignancies. We aimed to analyze the utility of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM-1), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels compared with C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) during febrile neutropenia episodes of pediatric patients with leukemia. METHODS: Two plasma samples, on day 0 (initial of episode) and day 3 (48-72 h after episode), for VCAM-1, ICAM-1 and VEGF, CRP and PCT were prospectively collected concomitantly during each febrile neutropenic episode between December 2016 and December 2017. The primary outcome was bacteremia and the secondary outcome was intensive care unit (ICU) admission. RESULTS: Twenty-two (28.6%) acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL), seventeen (22.1%) acute myeloblastic lymphoma (AML) patients and thirty-eight (49.3%) control patients with no known underlying disease or fever were included in this study. Of the 39 patients; 16 (41%) had bacteremia. Mean serum sVCAM1 and sICAM1 levels were significantly higher in control group, compared to FN patients (p < 0.001). Mean serum sVCAM2 level was significantly higher in FN patients with bacteremia compared to FN patients without bacteremia (144.97 ± 70.35 pg/mL vs 85.45 ± 53.76 pg/mL, p = 0.022). Mean sVCAM1 and 2 levels were higher in FN patients with ICU admission. In this study, we found that sVCAM-1 and VEGF, when combined to CRP and PCT, could predict gram-negative bacteremia in FN episodes of pediatric hematological malignancy. CONCLUSION: Serum endothelial adhesion molecules, excluding sVCAM-1, cannot predict bacteremia and ICU admission alone in FN patients; but may be associated with clinical outcome when used with PCT and CRP.

Systematic review of invasive meningococcal disease epidemiology in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa region.

BACKGROUND: Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) represents a global health burden. However, its epidemiology in the Eastern Mediterranean (EM) and North Africa (NA) regions is currently not well understood. This review had four key objectives: to describe asymptomatic meningococcal carriage, IMD epidemiology (e.g. serogroup prevalence, case-fatality rates [CFRs]), IMD presentation and management (e.g. clinical diagnosis, antibiotic treatments) and economic impact and evaluation (including health technology assessment [HTA] recommendations) in EM and NA. METHODS: A systematic literature search (MEDLINE and EMBASE) was conducted (January 2000 to February 2021). Search strings included meningococcal disease and the regions/countries of interest. Identified publications were screened sequentially by title/abstract, followed by screening of the full-text article; articles were also assessed on methodological quality. Literature reviews, genetic sequencing or diagnostic accuracy studies, or other non-pertinent publication type were excluded. An additional grey literature search (non-peer-reviewed sources; start date January 2000) was conducted to the end of April 2019. RESULTS: Of the 1745 publications identified, 79 were eligible for the final analysis (n = 61 for EM and n = 19 for NA; one study was relevant to both). Asymptomatic meningococcal carriage rates were 0-33% in risk groups (e.g. military personnel, pilgrims) in EM (no data in NA). In terms of epidemiology, serogroups A, B and W were most prevalent in EM compared with serogroups B and C in NA. IMD incidence was 0-20.5/100,000 in EM and 0.1-3.75/100,000 in NA (reported by 7/15 countries in EM and 3/5 countries in NA). CFRs were heterogenous across the EM, ranging from 0 to 57.9%, but were generally lower than 50%. Limited NA data showed a CFR of 0-50%. Data were also limited in terms of IMD presentation and management, particularly relating to clinical diagnosis/antibiotic treatment. No economic evaluation or HTA studies were found. CONCLUSIONS: High-risk groups remain a significant reservoir of asymptomatic meningococcal carriage. It is probable that inadequacies in national surveillance systems have contributed to the gaps identified. There is consequently a pressing need to improve national surveillance systems in order to estimate the true burden of IMD and guide appropriate prevention and control programmes in these regions.

Etiological and Clinical Profile of Acute Nonbacterial Encephalitis in Children: A Single-Center Prospective Study.

Encephalitis is a serious neurological syndrome caused by inflammation of the brain. The diagnosis can be challenging and etiology remains unidentified in about half of the pediatric cases. We aimed to investigate demographic, clinical, laboratory, electroencephalographic and neuroimaging findings, and outcome of acute encephalitis of nonbacterial etiology. This prospective study included children hospitalized with the diagnosis of acute encephalitis between 2017 and 2019. Microbiological investigations of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were recorded. All CSF specimens were tested for anti-N methyl D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibodies. In total, 31 children aged 10 months to 17 years (median = 6 years) were included. Pathogens were confirmed in CSF in three patients (9.7%): varicella zoster virus, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), and both HSV-1 and NMDAR antibodies. Presenting features included encephalopathy (100%), fever (80.6%), seizure (45.2%), focal neurological signs (29%), and ataxia (19.4%). On clinical follow-up of median 9 (6-24) months, six patients showed neurological deficits: together with two patients who died in hospital, total eight (25.8%) patients were considered to have unfavorable outcome. Need for intubation, receiving immunomodulatory treatment, prolonged hospitalization, and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate at admission were associated with unfavorable outcome. The etiology of encephalitis remains unexplained in the majority of children. HSV-1 is the most frequently detected virus, consistent with the literature. The fact that anti-NMDAR encephalitis was detected in one child suggests autoimmune encephalitis not being rare in our center. The outcome is favorable in the majority while about one-fifth of cases suffer from sequelae.

Molecular characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from nasal samples of sixth year medical students during their pediatric services practices.

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are prevalent in healthcare services. Medical students are at risk for MRSA carriage, subsequent infection and potential transmission of nosocomial infection.Few studies have examined MRSA carriage among medical students. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, between July 2016 and June 2017, two nasal swab samples were taken per student 4 weeks apart during their pediatric internship. MRSA typing was performed by staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) types, Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL) encoding genes. RESULTS: A total of 239 sixth year medical students, 164 (68.6%) male (M/F:2.1),with median age 25 years (min-max; 23-65 years) were included in this prospective cohort study. Among 239 students, 17 students (7.1%) were found to be colonized with methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) at the beginning of pediatric internship. After 4 weeks, at the end of pediatric internship totally 52 students were found to be S. aureus colonized (21.8%). Three of 52 S. aureus isolates were MRSA (1.3%) and the rest was MSSA (20.5%), all were PVL gen negative. Two of three MRSA isolates were characterized as SCCmec type IV, one isolate was untypeable SCCmec. Nasal carriage of S. aureus increased from 7.1% to 21.5% (p < 0.001). Nasal S. aures colonization ratio was higher in students working in pediatric infectious disease service (p = 0.046). Smoking was found to be associated with a 2.37-fold [95% CI (1.12-5.00); p = 0.023] and number of patients in pediatric services was 2.66-fold [95% CI (1.13-6.27); p = 0.024] increase the risk of nasal S. aureus colonization. Gender was not found to increase risk of MRSA carriage. CONCLUSION: MSSA nasal carriage increased at the end of pediatric internship and significantly high in students working in pediatric infectious diseases services. Smoking and high number of patients in pediatric services significantly increase S.aureus colonization.

Is Posaconazole Really Effective in Adolescent patients as a Prophylactic Agent: Experience of a Tertiary Care Center.

BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and death in immunocompromised patients. Data on efficacy and pharmacokinetics of posaconazole in pediatric patients are rare (1 to 5). Herein, we retrospectively analyzed adolescent patients who had received posaconazole as antifungal prophylaxis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients who received posaconazole as primary or secondary antifungal prophylaxis. RESULTS: A total of 34 adolescent patients, 19 men (55.9%) and 15 women (44.1%) with a mean age of 15.8±2.1 years were included. Twenty-five of 34 (73.5%) patients were on primary and nine of 34 (26.5%) patients were on secondary antifungal prophylaxis. Diagnosis of the patients receiving posaconazole as primary antifungal prophylaxis were acute myeloid leukemia (n=12, 48%), hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (n=7, 28%), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n=5, 20%), and Fanconi aplastic anemia (n=1, 4%). Five patients (55.6%) with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, 1 patient with acute myeloid leukemia (11.1%), 1 patient with Fanconi aplastic anemia (11.1%), and 2 (22.2%) patients with chronic granulomatous disease received posaconazole as secondary antifungal prophylaxis. Twelve of 25 (48%) patients receiving posaconazole as primary antifungal prophylaxis were complicated by IFI; 4 of them were proven, 6 probable, and 2 with possible IFI. Three of 9 patients (33.3%) receiving posaconazole as secondary antifungal prophylaxis was complicated by IFI (P=0.29), 2 of them were probable and 1 was possible IFI. Five of 25 patients (20%) receiving posaconazole as primary prophylaxis died because of IFI. CONCLUSION: Improvement of antifungal prophylaxis in patients with high risk of invasive infections seems clearly necessary, and analyzing serum posaconazole levels and individualizing dosing may be 1 approach to improve outcomes.

Pediatric subdural empyema as a complication of meningitis: could CSF protein/CSF glucose ratio be used to screen for subdural empyema?

Subdural empyema (SDE) is a rare condition which can appear secondary to meningitis in childhood, especially in infants. This study was planned to evaluate and compare clinical and laboratory features, treatment, and outcome of children with SDE to those with acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) without SDE. The electronic medical files of 266 patients diagnosed with ABM between January 2009 and December 2019 were evaluated. Patients' demographic and clinical features, laboratory results, cranial imaging findings, treatment, and outcomes were recorded. SDE was identified in 10 patients, 3.7% of all diagnosed with meningitis. The etiology of SDE was identified in eight (80%). The most common responsible pathogen was Streptococcus pneumoniae. Cranial imaging was performed between the 2nd and 13th days of admission, and the most common reason of performing cranial imaging was persistence of fever. Two patients were healed with 4-6 weeks of antibiotic treatment without surgery, eight (80%) needed surgical intervention.Conclusion: The clinical signs and symptoms of SDE may be subtle. If the fever persists or focal neurological findings are seen during the treatment of bacterial meningitis, SDE should be suspected. Furthermore, patients with ABM who are determined to have a protein-to-glucose ratio in the cerebrospinal fluid above 4.65 should be carefully monitored for SDE development. What is known: • Subdural empyema may develop subsequently to meningitis, especially in the infant age group in whom very little is known in terms of disease characteristics. • Delay in diagnosis and treatment can cause long-term neurologic sequelae and mortality. What is new: • Persistence or relapse of fever during the treatment of acute meningitis is an important warning sign for SDE even if there are no other symptoms. • Children with subdural empyema secondary to bacterial meningitis have higher protein-to-glucose ratio in the CSF, and a threshold of ˃ 4.65 was determined to demonstrate 100% sensitivity and 50.7% specificity.

Does aeroallergen sensitivity and allergic rhinitis in children cause milder COVID-19 infection?

Background: There are conflicting data with regard to the impact of respiratory and allergic comorbidities on the course of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between allergic diseases and COVID-19 severity in pediatric patients. Methods: Seventy-five pediatric patients with COVID-19 were classified according to clinical severity and evaluated in the allergy/immunology and pulmonology departments 1 to 3 months after the infection resolved. Blood was collected from the patients for a complete blood cell count and assessment of immunoglobulin and total immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels, and skin-prick tests and spirometry tests were performed. Results: A total of 75 patients ages 5-18 years were evaluated. COVID-19 was asymptomatic/mild in 44 patients and moderate/severe/critical in 31 patients. Based on allergy evaluation, allergic rhinitis was diagnosed in 19 patients (25.3%), asthma in 10 patients (13%), and atopic dermatitis in 3 patients (4%). Aeroallergen sensitivity was detected in 26 patients (34.7%). COVID-19 infection was asymptomatic/mild in 15 patients with allergic rhinitis (78.9%) and in 21 with aeroallergen sensitivity (80.8%) (p = 0.038 and p = 0.005, respectively). There was no difference in severity between the patients with and without asthma (p = 0.550). The median (interquartile range) total IgE level was significantly higher in the asymptomatic/mild group (71.8 [30.7-211.2]) (p = 0.015). There were no differences in terms of spirometry parameters. Conclusion: Aeroallergen sensitization and allergic rhinitis in children may be associated with a milder course of COVID-19. The knowledge that atopy is associated with less-severe COVID-19 outcomes in children may guide clinical risk classification.

Decision regret and associated factors following oocyte cryopreservation in patients with diminished ovarian reserve and/or age-related fertility decline.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with decision regret following oocyte cryopreservation (OC) in women with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) and/or age-related fertility decline (ARFD). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted to five hundred fifty-two women with DOR and/or ARFD who underwent OC between 2014 and 2019 in two private-assisted reproductive units in Istanbul, Turkey. Decision regret was measured using the validated Decision Regret Scale (DRS). RESULTS: The median and mean DRS scores were 10 (interquartile range: 25) and 13.4 (SD: 13.2, range 0-70), respectively. Eighty-five (52.5%) women reported mild regret and 26 (16%) had moderate to severe regret. Decision regret was inversely associated with the belief in fate regarding childbearing and trust in the efficacy of OC. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of severe decision regret among patients with DOR and/or ARFD undergoing OC is low. Women who had belief in fate and trusted in the efficacy of oocyte cryopreservation had significantly lower decisional regret.

Mini-Laparoscopic Gynecological Surgery Using Smaller Ports Minimizes Incisional Pain and Postoperative Scar Size: A Paired Sample Analysis.

Objective. The aim of this study was to assess postoperative incisional pain and cosmetic scores in mini-laparoscopic gynecological surgeries undertaken with different port sizes. Material and Method. In this prospective study, all women who underwent mini-laparoscopic gynecological surgery with 2.4-, 3-, and 5-mm lateral ports for benign gynecological conditions between March 2017 and April 2019 were included. The primary outcome was postoperative incisional pain at rest, walking, and after a provoked Valsalva maneuver assessed by numeric rating scale scores at 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, and 3 days and 7 days after surgery. Secondary outcome measures included cosmetic scores of each port site (evaluated by using patient-observer scar assessment scale [POSAS]), operation time, and intra- and postoperative complications. Results. A total of 330 lateral port sites in 110 patients who underwent benign gynecological surgery via mini-laparoscopy were assessed for pain and cosmetic appearance. Pain scores at each time point were significantly lower for 2.4- and 3-mm ports than those for 5-mm ports; however, no significant difference was detected between 2.4-mm and 3-mm port sites (P = .6). The difference was more evident at 24 hours when routine analgesic drugs were stopped (P = .004). For POSAS scores, both 2.4-mm and 3-mm ports were superior to 5-mm port sites (P = .002); however, there was no significant difference between 2.4-mm and 3-mm port sites (P = .2). There were 2 port-related complications: one subcutaneous emphysema and one bleeding from a 5-mm trocar site 1 hour after surgery. Conclusion. Mini-laparoscopic gynecologic surgery using smaller ports resulted in decreased postoperative incisional pain and superior cosmetic appearance.

Respiratory viral infections in infants with possible sepsis.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of infections leading to sepsis is needed to develop comprehensive infection prevention and sepsis, as well as early recognition and treatment strategies.The aim of this study was to investigate the etiology of sepsis and evaluate the proportion of respiratory viral pathogens in infants under two years of age with possible sepsis. METHODS: The prospective study was performed in two years. Multiplex reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to detect viral pathogens. All patients who were included in this study had sepsis symptoms as defined by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. RESULTS: We compared 90 patients with sepsis into three groups as patients (n = 33) who had only viral positivity in nasopharyngeal swab, patients (17) had proven bacterial infection with or without viral infection, and patients (40) without the pathogen detection. Human rhinovirus (16.7%) and influenza (7.8%) were the most commonly seen viruses. A cough was more common in the viral infection group than other groups ( P = 0.02) and median thrombocyte count was lower in the bacterial infection group than the others ( P = 0.01). Patients having bacterial sepsis had the longest duration of hospitalization than the other groups ( P = 0.04). During winter and spring seaons, patients with sepsis had more viral infection; however, in summer and autumn period, patients were mostly in a state that we could not prove infection agents ( P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that respiratory tract viruses may play an important role in patients with sepsis and they should be kept in mind, especially during winter and spring seasons. In overall infection, viral respiratory viruses as a single pathogen with a detection rate of 36.6% in sepsis etiology.

[Meningitis Due to Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 24B in a Patient with Cochlear Implant Previously Vaccinated with the Pneumococcal Vaccine]. / Pnömokok Asili Koklear Implantli Hastada Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotip 24B'ye Bagli Menenjit.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of bacterial meningitis in children. It can progress and carries a serious risk of mortality and morbidity despite effective treatment. Cochlear implantation is a fairly successful procedure for restoring hearing in cases of sensorineural hearing loss. Moreover, patients with cochlear implants are at increased risk of contracting pneumococcal meningitis compared to the general population. The development of meningitis is associated with pathogens in the middle ear that contaminate the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), as a result of congenital anomalies in the cochlea, and the cochlear implant. A 4-year-old girl presented to our clinic with fever, vomiting, and weakness. A physical examination showed an axillary temperature of 38.3°C, heart rate of 134/min, respiration rate of 50 breaths/minute, and arterial blood pressure of 120/88 mmHg. The patient also had a neck stiffness and her Kernig and Brudzinski signs were positive. It was discovered that the patient had undergone cochlear implantation approximately five months prior due to bilateral congenital sensorineural hearing loss. She had also received the Haemophilus influenzae type b and PCV-13 vaccines in line with the national immunization calendar. Her laboratory findings showed a leukocyte count of 21.900/mm3 (neutrophils 90% and lymphocytes 10%) and her procalcitonin level was 1.22 ng/ml. An uncountable number of neutrophils was identified in her cerebrospinal fluid, which led to the initial diagnosis of meningitis. There was also 1 mg/dl of glucose (blood glucose, 102 mg/dl) and 706 mg/dl of protein in her cerebrospinal fluid. Empirically, vancomycin (60 mg/kg/day) and ceftriaxone (100 mg/kg/day) were started. Following 5 days of antibiotic treatment, penicillin-susceptible S.pneumoniae was yielded in her CSF culture and identified as serotype 24B. S.pneumoniae with the same antibiotic sensitivity was also identified in her blood culture. Since rhinorrhea was observed on day 16 of hospitalization, she underwent an operation to repair the fistula tract. A computerized tomography cranial scan was performed after the development of acute mental fog at postoperative day 3 and showed brain edema and a thrombus in the right middle cerebral artery. The patient died on day 42 of hospitalization due to multiple organ failure. To our knowledge, this is the first case of meningitis reported in our country associated with S.pneumoniae serotype 24B in a patient with a cochlear implant. While there has been a decrease in the prevalence of invasive pneumococcal disease with routine administration of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, a relative increase has been observed in its non-vaccine serotypes. This is relevant not only to patients with more risk factors, such as a cochlear implant, but also those who are at lower risk for pneumococcal infection.

Presepsin: A new marker of catheter related blood stream infections in pediatric patients.

BACKGROUND: Catheter related blood stream infections (CRBSI) are mostly preventable hospital-acquired conditions. We aimed to investigate the value of presepsin in detection of CRBSI in hospitalized children. METHODS: Hospitalized pediatric patients who had clinical suspicion of CRBSI were followed. Results of peripheral blood cultures and blood cultures from central venous catheters, procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), total white blood cell (WBC) counts were recorded. Serum samples for presepsin were studied at the same time with the samples of healthy controls. The patients with positive blood cultures were defined as proven CRBSI and with negative cultures as suspected CRBSI. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients and 80 healthy controls were included in the study. Proven CRBSI group consisted of 36 patients (62%) with positive blood cultures and compared with the suspected CRBSI group (n = 22, 36%) with negative culture results. There was no difference between proven and suspected CRBSI groups concerning WBC, PCT, CRP and presepsin. Presepsin was significantly higher in patient groups when compared with healthy controls. The receiver operating characteristic curve area under the curve was 0.98 (%95 CI: 0.97-1) and best cut-off value was 990 pg/ml. CONCLUSION: In hospitalized pediatric patients with CRBSI, presepsin may be a helpful rapid marker in early diagnosis.

Human Bocavirus: Can It Trigger Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis?

With improvements in molecular diagnostic methods, report of Human bocavirus (HBoV) as an etiologic agent in many studies on viral respiratory and gastrointestinal infections has been increasing. Two pediatric patients who presented with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis were examined for etiologic causes, including viruses. Whole bacterial and fungal cultures and viral serological studies were negative. Viral polymerase chain reaction of nasopharyngeal secretions showed HBoV. One was successfully treated with intravenous immunoglobulins, whereas the other died with multiorgan failure. Here we report 2 pediatric patients with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and detection of HBoV as the sole agent, predicting an association.

Magnetic resonance imaging of pulmonary infection in immunocompromised children: comparison with multidetector computed tomography.

BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) is commonly used to detect pulmonary infection in immunocompromised children. OBJECTIVE: To compare MRI and multidetector CT findings of pulmonary abnormalities in immunocompromised children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen neutropaenic children (6 girls; ages 2-18 years) were included. Non-contrast-enhanced CT was performed with a 64-detector CT scanner. Axial and coronal non-enhanced thoracic MRI was performed using a 1.5-T scanner within 24 h of the CT examination (true fast imaging with steady-state free precession, fat-saturated T2-weighted turbo spin echo with motion correction, T2-weighted half-Fourier single-shot turbo spin echo [HASTE], fat-saturated T1-weighted spoiled gradient echo). Pulmonary abnormalities (nodules, consolidations, ground glass opacities, atelectasis, pleural effusion and lymph nodes) were evaluated and compared among MRI sequences and between MRI and CT. The relationship between MRI sequences and nodule sizes was examined by chi- square test. RESULTS: Of 256 CT lesions, 207 (81%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 76-85%) were detected at MRI. Of 202 CT-detected nodules, 157 (78%, 95% CI 71-83%) were seen at motion-corrected MRI. Of the 1-5-mm nodules, 69% were detected by motion-corrected T2-weighted MRI and 38% by HASTE MRI. CONCLUSION: Sensitivity of MRI (both axial fat-saturated T2-weighted turbo spin echo with variable phase encoding directions (BLADE) images and HASTE sequences) to detect pulmonary abnormalities is promising.