Oral Dexamethasone to Control Wheezing in Children at an Outpatient Clinic.

Asthma, a chronic childhood disease, has resulted in increased emergency department (ED) visits with high costs. Many asthma ED visits are nonemergent and could be treated in outpatient clinics. Literature has concluded that a 2-day course of oral dexamethasone has comparable outcomes to a 5-day course of prednisone in the ED and hospital setting. A retrospective chart review was performed on children requiring in-house treatment with a corticosteroid (dexamethasone n = 23, prednisone n = 40) for acute asthma exacerbations at an ambulatory medical home. The rates of hospital admissions, ED visits, and symptom follow-up were similar between the 2 groups ( P > .05). The cost for a course of dexamethasone was US$1.28 versus US$16.20 for prednisolone. The average cost for an asthma exacerbation office visit was US$79.89 compared with US$3113.28 for an ED visit. A 2-day course of oral dexamethasone appears to be a promising clinical and cost-effective treatment for acute asthma exacerbations at the primary care level.

Physician Care Coordination and the Use of Psychotropic Polypharmacy in the Management of Pediatric Mental Disorders.

BACKGROUND: Psychotropic polypharmacy is a concern in the management of pediatric mental disorders due to the lack of pediatric data to support the practice. Although seeing multiple providers has been identified as an important predictor of polypharmacy, no study has yet assessed the effect of care coordination between providers on receipt of psychotropic polypharmacy. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between the intensity of care coordination within a patient's care team and the likelihood of the patient receiving multiclass psychotropic polypharmacy. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted using the 2013-2015 administrative claims data from a Medicaid managed care organization (Texas Children's Health Plan). Children and adolescents aged 18 years or younger with a diagnosis of a mental/behavioral disorder and receipt of psychotropic prescriptions from multiple prescribers were included in the study. Psychotropic polypharmacy was defined as the receipt of 2 or more psychotropic medications from different drug classes concurrently for 60 days or more. Care coordination was measured using social network analysis (SNA), a new technique included in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Care Coordination Measures Atlas. Care density, an SNA surrogate for care coordination, was calculated as the ratio of the sum of patients shared by physician pairs within a patient's care team to the total number of physician pairs. The Andersen behavioral model was used to guide multivariate logistic regression analyses conducted to assess the association between care density and the likelihood of patients receiving psychotropic polypharmacy after controlling for predisposing and need factors. RESULTS: A total of 24,147 children and adolescents diagnosed with a mental/behavioral disorder were identified. About 34.0% (n = 8,092) of these individuals received psychotropic medications from multiple prescribers who were either primary care physicians (PCPs) or specialists. Logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between care density and the use of psychotropic polypharmacy. However, the direction of this relationship varied depending on the composition of the patient's care team. Among patients with only PCPs involved in their care team, patients in the higher care-density group were 28% less likely to receive psychotropic polypharmacy (OR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.62-0.96) than those in the lower care-density group. In contrast, among patients who had both PCPs and specialists involved in their care team, those in the higher care-density group were 2 times more likely to experience psychotropic polypharmacy (OR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.68-2.40). Care density was not significantly associated with the receipt of psychotropic polypharmacy in the specialist-only group. CONCLUSIONS: This study found significant associations between care density and prescription of psychotropic polypharmacy. This relationship varied depending on the patient's diagnosis, disease complexity, and composition of the patient's care team. DISCLOSURES: No outside funding supported this study. The authors do not have any financial relationships or potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose. The abstract for part of this study, titled "Association Between Physician Care Coordination and the Use of Psychotropic Polypharmacy in the Management of Pediatric Mental Disorders," was selected as a silver medal abstract and was presented at the AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting 2017; March 27-30, 2017; Denver, CO.

Nine-year follow-up of HIV-infected Romanian children and adolescents receiving lopinavir/ritonavir-containing highly active antiretroviral therapy.

INTRODUCTION: Many Romanian children were infected nosocomially with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the late 1980s. The Romanian-American Children's Center of Excellence in Constanta continues to follow approximately 450 of these patients. In 2001, 414 of these patients were initiated on triple therapy including lopinavir/ritonavir. Data from this cohort treated through August 2006 were published in April 2007 demonstrating that the treatment was well tolerated, with 337 children (81%) remaining on therapy after a median duration of >4 years. The current article describes the results of continued analysis of this cohort through end 2010. The objective of the study was to determine the long-term clinical outcomes of children and adolescents commenced on antiretroviral therapy (ART) including lopinavir/ritonavir. METHODS: Data were extracted retrospectively from the charts of the 336 patients remaining on lopinavir/ritonavir in August 2006. The following outcomes were analyzed: mortality, current patient status, viral load (VL), CD4 counts and reasons for discontinuation of lopinavir/ritonavir. RESULTS: The median age at initiation of lopinavir/ritonavir was 14.0 years (range 5.4 to 20.0 years). The median time on lopinavir/ritonavir treatment was 7.5 years (interquartile range 5.7 to 8.6 years). Overall mortality was 13.5%. Of the original 414 patients started on lopinavir/ritonavir in 2001, 199 (48.1%) remained on this therapy at the end of 2010 and of these 63.8% had undetectable viral load. CONCLUSION: Despite initial suboptimal ART, a significant proportion of patients subsequently treated with a lopinavir/ritonavir based regimen remained on this therapy for up to nine years.

Staphylococcus aureus infections in HIV-positive children and adolescents.

A retrospective case-control study was undertaken among patients followed at the Texas Children's Hospital Retrovirology Clinic to determine the risk factors for Staphylococcus aureus infection. A total of 28 episodes of S. aureus infection were identified from 20 patients. Case patients had more advanced HIV disease as measured by CD4 T-cell counts, log10 human immunodeficiency viral load, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention category of disease, than controls.

Postexposure prophylaxis against human immunodeficiency virus.

Family physicians often encounter situations in which postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) with antiretroviral medications against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may be indicated. When the exposure source's HIV status is unknown and testing of the source is possible, use of a rapid HIV test kit may facilitate decision making at the point of care. When PEP is given, timing and duration are important, with data showing PEP to be most effective when initiated within 72 hours of exposure and continued for four weeks. Although two-drug PEP regimens are an option for some lower risk occupational exposures, three-drug regimens are advised for nonoccupational exposures. Sexual assault survivors should be given three-drug PEP regardless of assailant characteristics. In complicated situations, such as exposure of a pregnant woman or when a source is known to be infected with HIV, expert consultation is advised. In most cases, PEP is not indicated after an accidental needlestick in the community setting. Health care volunteers working abroad, particularly in areas of high HIV prevalence or where preferred PEP regimens may not be readily available, often choose to travel with personal supplies of PEP. Patients presenting for care after HIV exposure should have baseline testing for HIV antibodies, and follow-up HIV antibody testing at four to six weeks, three months, and six months after exposure.

Disseminated bartonellosis presenting as neuroretinitis in a young adult with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Rapidly declining visual acuity from neuroretinitis should prompt aggressive diagnostic intervention to preserve eyesight. We present a young adult with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in whom neuroretinitis was the presenting feature of disseminated bartonellosis. Tissue biopsy was required to establish the diagnosis and directed therapy was associated with restored vision.

The Pediatric AIDS Corps: responding to the African HIV/AIDS health professional resource crisis.

Health professional capacity for delivery of HIV/AIDS care and treatment is severely constrained across sub-Saharan Africa. African health professional expertise in pediatrics is in particularly short supply. Here we describe a Pediatric AIDS Corps program that was designed to place pediatricians and other physicians in Africa on a long-term basis to expand existing health professional capacity for pediatric and family HIV/AIDS care and treatment. In the first 2 years of this program, 76 physicians were placed in 5 African countries that have been hit hard by HIV/AIDS. Enrollment of HIV-infected children in care more than quadrupled over a 24-month period, to 26 590. We believe that this pilot program can serve as a model for larger-scale efforts to immediately expand access for African children and families to life-saving HIV/AIDS care and treatment.

Education and preparation of physicians entering an international pediatric AIDS program: the Pediatric AIDS Corps.

The Pediatric AIDS Corps (PAC) are a group of physicians that were hired to provide clinical care and treatment to children and their families infected with HIV/AIDS and to help educate local health care professionals in the management of children with HIV/AIDS located in the high prevalence areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to their departure the PAC were required to participate in a 4-week educational training program that included travel and tropical medicine and HIV infections in children, teaching skills, bioethics, and good clinical practice in human research training. Evaluation of the program was done using a 50-question pretest/posttest design, a standard postcourse evaluation, and a PAC focus group follow-up. Fifty-two physicians were hired who had been trained in the following specialties: pediatrics (77%), medicine/pediatrics (9%), family medicine (8%), and internal medicine (6%). Posttest scores improved by a mean of 10 points for all PAC physicians (p < 0.001) but those that had been in Africa for 5 months or more prior to the course continued to score higher than the other participants. Reviewing the results by category demonstrated significant improvement in all areas (p < or = 0.002) except for general pediatrics for the HIV/AIDS infected patients (p = 0.124) and psychosocial issues (p = 0.376). Changes for the next training were implemented based upon the information obtained from the PAC focus group. The foundation provided by this educational course was an important beginning for the PAC physicians. Other groups providing specialized care to patients in developing countries might consider a similar educational program.

Long-term follow-up of 414 HIV-infected Romanian children and adolescents receiving lopinavir/ritonavir-containing highly active antiretroviral therapy.

BACKGROUND: There are no published reports of the long-term safety and effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy for children and adolescents living in resource-limited settings or of large cohorts of HIV-infected children and adolescents treated long-term (>48 weeks) with lopinavir/ritonavir-containing highly active antiretroviral therapy. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the long-term outcomes of treatment of HIV-infected children and adolescents with lopinavir/ritonavir-containing highly active antiretroviral therapy in a resource-limited setting. METHODS: We studied an inception cohort of 414 HIV-infected children receiving lopinavir/ritonavir-containing highly active antiretroviral therapy between November 2001 and August 2006 at the Romanian-American Children's Center in Constanta, Romania. The center provides comprehensive primary and HIV specialty care and treatment to all known HIV-infected children and adolescents living in Constanta. We measured safety and effectiveness by the percentage of children remaining on treatment, rates of mortality, and changes in plasma HIV RNA concentrations and CD4+ lymphocyte counts. RESULTS: The study population consisted predominantly of antiretroviral drug-experienced older children and adolescents with advanced HIV disease. Treatment was well tolerated, with 337 children (81%) remaining on therapy after a median duration of >4 years. Thirty-seven deaths occurred; the death rate compared favorably to prospectively collected historical data. The most recent on-treatment plasma HIV RNA concentration was <400 copies per milliliter in 192 of 265 children tested. The mean baseline CD4+ lymphocyte count was 292 cells per microliter (n = 299); the mean change from baseline was +266 (n = 284), +317 (n = 260), +343 (n = 176), and +270 cells per microliter (n = 121) after 1, 2, 3, and 4 years of treatment, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Highly active antiretroviral therapy can be administered safely and effectively to children and adolescents in resource-limited settings. Lopinavir/ritonavir-containing highly active antiretroviral therapy is a safe, effective, and durable treatment option for antiretroviral drug-experienced older children and adolescents with advanced HIV disease.

Comprehensive pediatric human immunodeficiency virus care and treatment in Constanta, Romania: implementation of a program of highly active antiretroviral therapy in a resource-poor setting.

BACKGROUND: Relatively few human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children worldwide have access to care and treatment. The Romanian-American Children's Center, a collaborative project of a U.S. health care institution and the Romanian government, has established a comprehensive program of highly active antiretroviral therapy for children in Constanta, Romania. OBJECTIVES: To describe the design and outcomes of a program of pediatric HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) care and treatment in a resource-poor setting. SETTING: Outpatient center providing comprehensive primary and HIV/AIDS specialty care and treatment to all known HIV-infected children living in Constanta County, Romania. OUTCOMES: As of August 2003, a total of 452 children were receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy. Therapy has been well-tolerated, with approximately 90% of children continuing to receive treatment after a median duration of follow-up of 67 weeks. Normal weight and height growth velocities have been observed among treated children. Marked decreases have been observed in rates of hospitalization and mortality. The mean change in CD4+ lymphocyte count for 173 children who have both a baseline count and at least 1 follow-up count is +284 cells/microL (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Highly active antiretroviral therapy can be administered safely and effectively to children in a resource-poor setting, with outcomes comparable with those observed in U.S. pediatric antiretroviral clinical trials.