Neuroinflammatory Disease following Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection in Children.

OBJECTIVE: To describe neurologic, radiologic and laboratory features in children with central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory disease complicating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. STUDY DESIGN: We focused on CNS inflammatory diseases in children referred from 12 hospitals in the Paris area to Necker-Sick Children Reference Centre. RESULTS: We identified 19 children who had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and manifest a variety of CNS inflammatory diseases: encephalopathy, cerebellar ataxia, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, or optic neuritis. All patients had a history of SARS-CoV-2 exposure, and all tested positive for circulating antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. At the onset of the neurologic disease, SARS-CoV-2 PCR results (nasopharyngeal swabs) were positive in 8 children. Cerebrospinal fluid was abnormal in 58% (11/19) and magnetic resonance imaging was abnormal in 74% (14/19). We identified an autoantibody co-trigger in 4 children (myelin-oligodendrocyte and aquaporin 4 antibodies), representing 21% of the cases. No autoantibody was found in the 6 children whose CNS inflammation was accompanied by a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Overall, 89% of patients (17/19) received anti-inflammatory treatment, primarily high-pulse methylprednisolone. All patients had a complete long-term recovery and, to date, no patient with autoantibodies presented with a relapse. CONCLUSIONS: SARS2-CoV-2 represents a new trigger of postinfectious CNS inflammatory diseases in children.

Serum inhibin B concentration as a predictor of age at first menstruation in girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the serum inhibin B, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and leptin concentrations in girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty (CPP) to their concomitant characteristics and evaluate the capacity of each of these hormones to predict the age at first menstruation in those who were untreated and who completed their puberty. METHODS: This single-center study included 94 girls selected from a cohort of 493 girls seen between 1981 and 2012 and diagnosed with idiopathic CPP for whom a remaining serum sample collected at the initial evaluation was available. Of these 25 were untreated and completed their puberty. RESULTS- CORRELATIONS AT INITIAL EVALUATION: In the whole cohort the inhibin B concentration displayed significant positive correlations with the age at the onset of puberty and at initial evaluation; bone age; breast Tanner stage; serum basal estradiol, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and AMH concentrations, LH peak and LH/FSH peak ratio. The AMH concentration displayed a significant positive correlation with serum estradiol and a negative correlation with basal FSH concentration. The leptin concentration displayed significant positive correlations with the age at initial evaluation, bone age, and body mass index and a negative correlation with the FSH peak. RESULTS- PREDICTION OF AGE AT FIRST MENSTRUATION: In 25 untreated girls, the inhibin B concentration was negatively correlated with the age at first menstruation (r = -0.61, p = 0.001) and the time between the onset of puberty and first menstruation (r = -0.59, p = 0.002). Inhibin B concentrations <30 pg/mL were associated with a time between the onset of puberty and first menstruation ≥3 years in 14/15 patients with a sensitivity of 0.67 and a specificity of 0.75. The age at first menstruation was estimated using a formula: min (11.15-0.510 LH/FSH peak ratio, 11.57-0.025 inhibin B)available at: http://www.kamick.org/lemaire/med/girls-cpp18.html. CONCLUSION: We established formulas based on the serum inhibin B concentrations and LH/FSH peak ratio at the initial evaluation, alone or in combination, to predict the age at first menstruation in girls with CPP. These formulas can assist with determining the indications for treatment in CPP.