Importancia de los pesticidas para los pediatras canarios como factor de riesgo para la salud infantil / Importance of pesticides to Canary Islands’ paediatricians as a health risk factor

Introducción: los pesticidas pueden ser un factor de riesgo para la salud. Se desconocen las actitudes y los conocimientos que tienen los pediatras canarios acerca de los pesticidas. Objetivo: conocerla percepción del posible riesgo para la salud de los niños canarios que pueden tener los pesticidas entre un grupo de pediatras que trabajan en las Islas Canarias. Material y métodos: diseño: estudio transversal mediante un cuestionario autoadministrado en formato electrónico que recoge datos profesionales del pediatra, aspectos generales de los pesticidas y formación del encuestado acerca de los plaguicidas. Participantes: 80 pediatras canarios. Resultados: los pediatras consideraron que los pesticidas tenían una alta importancia en la salud infantil pero ocasionaban problemas con poca frecuencia a sus pacientes. Asimismo, consideraron que tenían poca formación en biocidas y se debería ofrecer formación continuada al respecto (AU)

Introduction: pesticides can be a risk factor for health. Pediatricians’ attitudes and knowledge about pesticides are unknown in the Canary Islands. Objective: to know the perception that Canary Islands’ pediatricians have on the possible health risks for children that pesticides may cause. Material and methods: design: transversal study. Electronic self-administered survey about professional data, general aspects and academic training about pesticides. Sample: eighty pediatricians. Results: pediatricians considered pesticides an important factor in paediatric health but referred low frequency of problems due to them. They considered they had insufficient knowledge about biocides and demanded more training (AU)

Analysis of the Spanish national registry for pediatric home enteral nutrition (NEPAD): implementation rates and observed trends during the past 8 years.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The home enteral nutrition (HEN) provides nutritional support to children with chronic diseases who are nutritionally compromised and allows them to be discharged more quickly from hospitals. In 2003, a web-based registry (Nutrición Enteral Pediátrica Ambulatoria y Domiciliaria, Pediatric Ambulatory and Home Enteral Nutrition -NEPAD-) was created with the objective of gathering information about pediatric HEN practices in Spain. AIM: The aim of this study was to report the implementation of the NEPAD (Nutrición Enteral Pediátrica Ambulatoria y Domiciliaria, Pediatric Ambulatory and Home Enteral Nutrition) registry of pediatric HEN in Spain and to analyze data evolution trends from 2003 to 2010. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The data from the Spanish NEPAD registry were analyzed according to the following variables: demographic data, diagnosis, indication for HEN, nutritional support regime and administration route. RESULTS: Over the study period, 952 patients (1048 episodes) from 20 Spanish hospitals were included in the NEPAD registry. The most frequent indication for HEN was decreased oral intake (64%), and neurological disease was the most prevalent illness. HEN was delivered via a nasogastric tube in 573 episodes (54.7%), by gastrostomy in 375 episodes (35.8%), oral feeding in 77 episodes (7.3%) and by jejunal access in 23 episodes (2.2%). Significant differences in the mode of administration were observed based on the pathology of the child (χ(2), P<0.0001). The cyclic feeding was the most widely used technique for the administration of HEN. Most of the patients used a pump and a polymeric formula. Transition to oral feeding was the primary reason for discontinuation of this type of support. CONCLUSIONS: Since the NEPAD registry was established in Spain, the number of documented patients has increased more than 25-fold. Many children with chronic illness benefit from HEN, mainly those suffering from neurological diseases.

Estudio de la enfermedad mínima residual en el cáncer infantil / Study of minimal residual disease of childhood cancer

El estudio de la enfermedad mínima residual (EMR), en distintas neoplasias infantiles, ha ido adquiriendo en los últimos años una importancia trascendental en la detección y seguimiento de pacientes con mayor probabilidad de recaída y como consecuencia, un mal pronóstico a largo plazo. Existen diferentes técnicas de estudio para determinar y cuantificar la EMR, según el tipo de neoplasia: la citometría de flujo, la inmunocitología y técnicas moleculares como la hibridación in situ con fluorescencia (FISH) y la transcripción inversa acoplada a la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa (RTPCR). En este artículo se repasan las diferentes técnicas utilzadas en busca de EMR durante y/o tras finalizar el tratamiento en leucemias agudas infantiles, neuroblastomas, rabdomiosarcomas y tumores de la familia del sarcoma de Ewing, así como su utilidad como factor pronóstico (AU)