Blepharokeratoconjunctivitis in childhood: corneal involvement and visual outcome.

PURPOSE: The main objective of this study is to describe the prevalence, degree and risk of corneal involvement, and visual impact in a pediatric population with blepharokeratoconjunctivitis (BKC). METHODS: Retrospective, observational, case-control study. Clinical records of patients ≤16 years old with BKC seen between 2006 and 2012 were reviewed. The prevalence and relative risk of corneal involvement was evaluated between patients with and without corneal affection through a univariate and multivariate analysis with logistic regression. Visual acuity at presentation and at last follow-up visit was also analyzed. RESULTS: One hundred and fourteen children with BKC, with a male-to-female ratio of 1 : 1 and a mean age at diagnosis of 9.13 years. The mean follow-up time was 26.4 (±25) months. Corneal involvement was present in 39.5% of patients, varying from superficial punctate keratitis to perforation. Corneal changes were not seen in children under 4 years old. The risk of corneal affection was greater in patients with photophobia, hordeolum, female gender and asymmetric disease (OR of 2.69, 11.6, 2.35 and 2.77, respectively). The mean best-corrected visual acuity at presentation was 0.20 (corneal affected group), compared to 0.11 (unaffected group; P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed an older age at time of diagnosis and a worse visual outcome in patients with BKC and corneal disease compared with previous reports. Early diagnosis and detection of risk factors for corneal involvement, as well as adequate treatment, is mandatory to prevent serious long-term visual repercussions in children with BKC.

Habilidades lingüísticas y sociales en adolescentes con problemas de conducta / Linguistic and social skills in adolescents with behavioural disorders

Una cuestión que preocupa hoy día a padres, maestros, instituciones educativas, así como a la opinión pública en general, es el ajuste social de los niños a su entorno familiar y escolar. Los recientes casos de violencia en la escuela y el malestar generado entre los profesionales de la educación por la aparente falta de motivación y disciplina en los alumnos, están despertando de nuevo el interés por averiguar qué determinantes llevan a los niños a desarrollar conductas de inadaptación en su entorno social. El presente estudio pretende analizar la influencia de las habilidades lingüísticas y sociales sobre los problemas de conducta de una muestra de 48 adolescentes de entre 12 y 16 años, escolarizados en un instituto público dela provincia de Granada, asignados previamente a un grupo con problemas de conducta y un grupo control. Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los dos grupos en todas las variables lingüísticas analizadas, y únicamente en el autocontrol en las relaciones sociales para la variable habilidades sociales. Los resultados del análisis de la función discriminante apoyaron de forma robusta la influencia de las habilidades lingüísticas en los problemas de conducta definidos en base a las sanciones escolares graves. Respecto al rendimiento académico, tanto los problemas de conducta como las habilidades lingüísticas, se mostraron como variables directamente implicadas en el éxito o fracaso académico durante la educación secundaria (AU)

One issue of concern today for parents, teachers,educational institutions and the general public, is the social adjustment of children to their family and school. Recent cases of violence in schools and created unrest among the education professionals at the apparent lack of motivation and discipline in students, are attracting new interest in finding out what determinants lead to children to develop behavior inadequacy in their social environment. The present study intends to analyze the influence of linguistic and social skills on behavioural disorders in a sample of 48 adolescents whose ages ranged from 12 to 16. All the adolescents were attending a public high school in Granada province. The participants were previously assigned to two groups: a group with behavioural disorders and a control group. Statistically significant differences between the groups were found in all linguistic and reading variables, while regarding social skills, only self-control in social relationships was found to be statistically different between the groups. The results of the discriminant function analysis supported by the strong linguistic skills in problem behavior defined on the basis of serious sanctions school. With regard to academic performance, behavior problems both as alterations in the development of language, as variables were directly involved in the success or failure in academic secondary education (AU)