Vitamin D Supplementation in Neonatal and Infant MIS-C Following COVID-19 Infection.

To date, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic still represents a great clinical challenge worldwide, and effective anti-COVID-19 drugs are limited. For this reason, nutritional supplements have been investigated as adjuvant therapeutic approaches in disease management. Among such supplements, vitamin D has gained great interest, due to its immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory actions both in adult and pediatric populations. Even if there is conflicting evidence about its prevention and/or mitigation effectiveness in SARS-CoV-2 infection, several studies demonstrated a strict correlation between hypovitaminosis D and disease severity in acute COVID-19 and MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children). This narrative review offers a resume of the state of the art about vitamin D's role in immunity and its clinical use in the context of the current pandemic, specially focusing on pediatric manifestations and MIS-C. It seems biologically reasonable that interventions aimed at normalizing circulating vitamin D levels could be beneficial. To help clinicians in establishing the correct prophylaxis and/or supportive therapy with vitamin D, well-designed and adequately statistically powered clinical trials involving both adult and pediatric populations are needed. Moreover, this review will also discuss the few other nutraceuticals evaluated in this context.

Validation of transcutaneous bilirubin nomogram in identifying neonates not at risk of hyperbilirubinaemia: a prospective, observational, multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) measurement is widely used as screening for neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia. AIMS: To prospectively validate TcB measurement using hour-specific nomogram in identifying newborn infants not at risk for severe hyperbilirubinaemia. STUDY DESIGN: prospective, observational, multicenter. SUBJECTS: 2167 term and late preterm infants born in 5 neonatal units in the Lazio region of Italy. METHODS: All neonates had simultaneous TcB and total serum bilirubin (TSB) measurements, when jaundice appeared and/or before hospital discharge. TcB and TSB values were plotted on a percentile-based hour-specific transcutaneous nomogram previously developed, to identify the safe percentile able to predict subsequent significant hyperbilirubinaemia defined as serum bilirubin >17 mg/dL or need for phototherapy. RESULTS: Fifty-five babies (2.5%) developed significant hyperbilirubinaemia. The 50th percentile of our nomogram was able to identify all babies who were at risk of significant hyperbilirubinaemia, but with a high false positive rate. Using the 75th percentile, two false negatives reduced sensitivity in the first 48 hours but we were able to detect all babies at risk after the 48th hour of age. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the 75th percentile of our TcB nomogram is able to exclude any subsequent severe hyperbilirubinaemia from 48 h of life ahead.

Growth hormone deficiency after localized ganglioneuroblastoma: A case report.

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) related to standard dose chemotherapy has rarely been described. We report on a case of localized ganglioneuroblastoma treated by carboplatin/etoposide for 2 courses and surgery, which developed a serious GHD after 56 months. At present, the child is growing on by GH replacement therapy. We discuss about the hypothesis that GHD may be related to chemotherapy and we report a review of previous published cases.