ATS Core Curriculum 2021. Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine: Pulmonary Infections.

The following is a concise review of the Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine Core reviewing pediatric pulmonary infections, diagnostic assays, and imaging techniques presented at the 2021 American Thoracic Society Core Curriculum. Molecular methods have revolutionized microbiology. We highlight the need to collect appropriate samples for detection of specific pathogens or for panels and understand the limitations of the assays. Considerable progress has been made in imaging modalities for detecting pediatric pulmonary infections. Specifically, lung ultrasound and lung magnetic resonance imaging are promising radiation-free diagnostic tools, with results comparable with their radiation-exposing counterparts, for the evaluation and management of pulmonary infections. Clinicians caring for children with pulmonary disease should ensure that patients at risk for nontuberculous mycobacteria disease are identified and receive appropriate nontuberculous mycobacteria screening, monitoring, and treatment. Children with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) typically present with mild symptoms, but some may develop severe disease. Treatment is mainly supportive care, and most patients make a full recovery. Anticipatory guidance and appropriate counseling from pediatricians on social distancing and diagnostic testing remain vital to curbing the pandemic. The pediatric immunocompromised patient is at risk for invasive and opportunistic pulmonary infections. Prompt recognition of predisposing risk factors, combined with knowledge of clinical characteristics of microbial pathogens, can assist in the diagnosis and treatment of specific bacterial, viral, or fungal diseases.

Supplemental Oxygen for Treatment of Infants With Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Supplemental oxygen has been shown to decrease the frequency of obstructive respiratory events during sleep, but may result in alveolar hypoventilation. Limited information exists on the effect of supplemental oxygen on sleep and respiratory events in infants with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of infants with OSA who had sleep studies performed from 2007-2012. All infants underwent a room air diagnostic sleep study (RA-PSG), followed by a sleep study while breathing supplemental oxygen via nasal cannula (O2-PSG) on a separate night. Infants with split-night studies or with inadequate sleep time were excluded. RESULTS: Fifty-nine infants met criteria for entry into analysis. The mean age of infants at the time of RA-PSG was 13.0 ± 11.7 weeks and at O2-PSG was 15.4 ± 13.0 weeks. The obstructive AHI decreased from 19.7 ± 13.0 during RA-PSG to 10.6 ± 11.7 during O2-PSG (P < .001). The duration of longest obstructive apnea increased from 11.0 ± 4.2 seconds to 13.4 ± 7.4 seconds (P = .01). The lowest saturation associated with obstructive apneas increased from 80.7 ± 6.8% to 90.0 ± 6.7% (P < .001). Carbon dioxide data showed no difference in ventilation after supplemental oxygen administration. There was no significant change in the spontaneous arousal index, however, the percentage of respiratory events associated with arousal increased from 20.7 ± 11.1% to 35.7 ± 19.7% (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Infants with OSA who received supplemental oxygen had a significant decrease in the frequency of obstructive respiratory events and improved oxygenation without adverse effect on alveolar ventilation. These data suggest that supplemental oxygen may be an effective treatment for infants with OSA who are not good candidates for continuous positive airway pressure or surgery. CITATION: Brockbank J, Astudillo CL, Che D, Tanphaichitr A, Huang G, Tomko J, Simakajornboon N. Supplemental oxygen for treatment of infants with obstructive sleep apnea. J Clin Sleep Med. 2019;15(8):1115-1123.

Breath-based diagnosis of fungal infections.

Invasive aspergillosis and other invasive fungal infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients, in large part due to limitations of existing diagnostic methods for these infections. Detection of species-specific volatile sesquiterpene metabolites of fungal origin in the breath of patients with invasive fungal infections allows the diagnosis and monitoring of these infections in vivo, non-invasively and more rapidly than possible with current diagnostic methods. While detection of exogenous microbial volatile metabolites in the breath has opened up a new and exciting dimension of diagnostic research and development in infectious diseases, we discuss the daunting challenges to volatile diagnostic biomarker discovery and clinical development.