Zinc and perinatal growth.

AIM: To study the relationship between zinc, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I), osteocalcin and perinatal growth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Anthropometric variables, serum levels of IGF-I, osteocalcin and zinc were measured in preterm (PT) appropriate for gestational age (AGA), full term (FT) small for gestational age (SGA) and FT AGA newborns at birth (n=52), at first week (n=38) and at third week (n=38) of postnatal age. RESULTS: At birth, the FT SGA had lower levels of IGF-I. At the first week after birth, both FT SGA and PT AGA infants had less deposits of subcutaneous fat; FT SGA infants also showed significantly lower osteocalcin and zinc levels. At 3 weeks of postnatal life, FT SGA infants continued to show significantly lower zinc levels. They had increased their fat deposits so that differences between groups in skinfold measurements failed to be significant. The highest levels of osteocalcin were found in PT AGA infants at the third week after birth. CONCLUSIONS: Perinatal nutrition influences the IGF-I levels. The low concentration of osteocalcin found in SGA infants at first week of life probably reflects decreased bone turnover. During the first weeks of life, there is a progressive decrease in the serum levels of zinc, accentuated in the FT SGA group.

[Transient neonatal hyperthyroidism in the child of a treated hyperthyroid mother. Subsequent appearance of sexual precocity]. / Hipertiroidismo neonatal transitorio e hijo de madre hipertiroidea tratada. Posterior aparición de precocidad sexual.

We report a newborn female with neonatal hyperthyroidism, born to a mother with Graves disease treated with potassium iodide and carbimazole. At four months she had some breast development, a bone age advance of one year, and elevated levels of FSH and estradiol. Later on the prolactin level was also raised, while LH and TSH values continued low. Posteriorly, irregular cutaneous pigmentation, brown in colour, was evident on the neck and trunk, and a McCune-Albright syndrome was suspected. The relationship between these conditions and treatment of them is discussed.

Monosomy 22 with humoral immunodeficiency: is there an immunoglobulin chain deficit?

The cytogenetic analysis of a patient with selective deficit of IgA and decrease in IgM, IgE, and IgG is presented. Using trypsin-Giemsa banding the karyotype showed monosomy 22 (45,XX,-22). The interest of this case lies in the rarity of the illness and in the association of monosomy 22 with hypogammaglobulinaemia and selective deficit of IgA, particularly as this chromosome is known to contain genes coding for immunoglobulin chains.

[Nephroblastoma on a horse-shoe kidney]. / Nefroblastoma en el riñón en herradura. Revisión a propósito de una nueva observación

A female child, 5 years 10/12 old, is presented with a nephroblastoma inserted on a horse-shoe kidney. She is in a satisfactory state 14 months after surgery. The authors emphasize the favorable outcome with a treatment of combined surgery, radiotherapy and vincristine.

[Our experience in pediatric oncology (author's transl)]. / Nuestra experiencia en oncología pediátrica. Primer estudio estadístico

An initial statistical study on the incidence of oncologic pathology during infancy carried out in the Pediatric Department of the University of La Laguna, is presented. They study includes 33 tumors which have been collected over a period of 3.5 years.

[Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: Characterisation of its clinical variations (author's transl)]. / Artritis reumatoide juvenil. Caracterización de sus variedades clínicas

This study of 42 patients affected with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), in which two defined clinical forms are established: febrile and non-febrile. Patients with JRA with high temperatures for more than 3 weeks, are included in the febrile form when any other cause for the fever can be excluded. In this study, 18 patients had febrile JRA, and the main clinical features were the higher number of joints involved, the presence of rash and the higher incidence of increase in size of the liver and/or spleen. Laboratory studies in cases affected by febrile JRA are characterized by higher frequency of high white blood count (p less than 0.001) and low frequency of rheumatoid factors (0.025 less than p less than 0.05) and antinuclear antibodies (0.001 less than p less than 0.005). Another finding is the incidence of microvasculitis: 31% in a group of 38 patients with JRA. Although microvasculitis is more frequent in the form of JRA without fever. it is a statistically significant characteristic of both forms of JRA described.