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Free access

Anna G Angelousi, Drosos E Karageorgopoulos, Anastasios M Kapaskelis, and Matthew E Falagas

Abstract

Introduction

The severity of critical illness is associated with various patterns of thyroid hormone abnormalities. We sought to evaluate whether the outcome of patients with, specifically, sepsis or septic shock is associated with the thyroid function tests evaluated at diagnosis or admission in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods

We performed a systematic review of relevant studies by searching PubMed.

Results

We included nine studies that all had a prospective cohort design. Seven involved children or neonates, and two involved adults. Mortality was the outcome evaluated in eight studies, while the length of ICU stay was evaluated in the remaining study. In univariate analysis, six of the nine included studies showed that either, free or total, triiodothyronine or thyroxine was lower in the group of patients with sepsis or septic shock who had unfavorable outcome than in those who had favorable outcome. Two other studies showed higher TSH values in the group of patients with unfavorable outcome. No significant relevant findings were observed in the remaining study. Regarding the correlation of sepsis prognostic scoring systems with thyroid function tests, the three studies that provided specific relevant data showed variable findings.

Discussion

Most of the relevant studies identified favor the concept that decreased thyroid function at baseline might be associated with a worse outcome of patients with sepsis or septic shock. Although these findings are not consistent, the role of thyroid function in affecting or merely predicting the outcome of sepsis or septic shock merits further investigation.

Free access

Maik Welzel, Leyla Akin, Anja Büscher, Tülay Güran, Berthold P Hauffa, Wolfgang Högler, Julia Leonards, Beate Karges, Heiner Kentrup, Birgul Kirel, Emine Esin Yalinbas Senses, Neslihan Tekin, Paul-Martin Holterhus, and Felix G Riepe

Background

Pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 (PHA1) is a monogenic disease caused by mutations in the genes encoding the human mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) or the α (SCNN1A), β (SCNN1B) or γ (SCNN1G) subunit of the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC). While autosomal dominant mutation of the MR cause renal PHA1, autosomal recessive mutations of the ENaC lead to systemic PHA1. In the latter, affected children suffer from neonatal onset of multi-organ salt loss and often exhibit cystic fibrosis-like pulmonary symptoms.

Objective

We searched for underlying mutations in seven unrelated children with systemic PHA1, all offsprings of healthy consanguineous parents.

Methods and results

Amplification of the SCNN1A gene and sequencing of all 13 coding exons unraveled mutations in all of our patients. We found five novel homozygous mutations (c.587_588insC in two patients, c.1342_1343insTACA, c.742delG, c.189C>A, c.1361-2A>G) and one known mutation (c.1474C>T) leading to truncation of the αENaC protein. All parents were asymptomatic heterozygous carriers of the respective mutations, confirming the autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Five out of seven patients exhibited pulmonary symptoms in the neonatal period.

Conclusion

The α subunit is essential for ENaC function and mutations truncating the pore-forming part of the protein leading to systemic PHA1. Based on current knowledge, the pulmonary phenotype cannot be satisfactorily predicted.

Open access

Huseyin Demirbilek, Ved Bhushan Arya, Mehmet Nuri Ozbek, Jayne A L Houghton, Riza Taner Baran, Melek Akar, Selahattin Tekes, Heybet Tuzun, Deborah J Mackay, Sarah E Flanagan, Andrew T Hattersley, Sian Ellard, and Khalid Hussain

Background

Neonatal diabetes mellitus (NDM) is a rare form of monogenic diabetes and usually presents in the first 6 months of life. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and molecular genetics of a large Turkish cohort of NDM patients from a single centre and estimate an annual incidence rate of NDM in South-Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey.

Design and methods

NDM patients presenting to Diyarbakir Children State Hospital between 2010 and 2013, and patients under follow-up with presumed type 1 diabetes mellitus, with onset before 6 months of age were recruited. Molecular genetic analysis was performed.

Results

Twenty-two patients (59% males) were diagnosed with NDM (TNDM-5; PNDM-17). Molecular genetic analysis identified a mutation in 20 (95%) patients who had undergone a mutation analysis. In transient neonatal diabetes (TNDM) patients, the genetic cause included chromosome 6q24 abnormalities (n=3), ABCC8 (n=1) and homozygous INS (n=1). In permanent neonatal diabetes (PNDM) patients, homozygous GCK (n=6), EIF2AK3 (n=3), PTF1A (n=3), and INS (n=1) and heterozygous KCNJ11 (n=2) mutations were identified. Pancreatic exocrine dysfunction was observed in patients with mutations in the distal PTF1A enhancer. Both patients with a KCNJ11 mutation responded to oral sulphonylurea. A variable phenotype was associated with the homozygous c.-331C>A INS mutation, which was identified in both a PNDM and TNDM patient. The annual incidence of PNDM in South-East Anatolian region of Turkey was one in 48 000 live births.

Conclusions

Homozygous mutations in GCK, EIF2AK3 and the distal enhancer region of PTF1A were the commonest causes of NDM in our cohort. The high rate of detection of a mutation likely reflects the contribution of new genetic techniques (targeted next-generation sequencing) and increased consanguinity within our cohort.

Free access

Eduardo Cuestas, María Isabel Gaido, and Raúl Horacio Capra

Objective

Transient neonatal hyperthyrotropinemia (TNH) is defined as a neonatal abnormality of thyroid function, which reverts to normal at re-examination after 2 weeks of life. The thyroid function of these infants has not been sufficiently studied in terms of the risk of developing persistent hyperthyrotropinemia (PH) in later childhood and its impact on growth and development.

Design

A prospective cohort study included all babies born in our hospital between 2001 and 2006 and screened for hypothyroidism, whose thyroid function was re-examined 6 years later. Exclusion criteria included the following conditions: preterm birth, birth weight <2500 g, Down's syndrome, descendants of mothers with immune thyroid disease, congenital malformations, cardiac, renal, hepatic, and metabolic diseases, and steroid or dopamine medication. The variables included are TSH and thyroxine at neonatal screening and 6 years later. Main outcomes are the risk of developing PH in childhood, linear growth, and development using Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS).

Results

Out of 5040 normal-term newborns, 301 (6.0%, 95% CI 5.3–6.6%) have TSH ≥10 mU/l (TNH). Six years later, we re-examined 65 randomly selected children with TNH and 185 controls. In the TNH cohort, we found six out of 65 children (9.2%, 95% CI 1.4–17.0%) with PH (TSH ≥6.4 mU/l), and three out of 185 (1.6%, 95% CI 0.3–4.7%) among controls, relative risk 5.7 (95% CI 1.5–22.1), P=0.0114. TSH and developmental delay were found to be significantly higher in the TNH cohort (4.7±1.3 mU/l vs 2.1±0.5 mU/l, P<0.0001 and 15/65 (23%, 95% CI 12–34.1) vs 21/185 (11.3%, 95% CI 6.5–16.2) P=0.0348).

Conclusions

Newborns with TNH have a higher risk of developing PH in childhood, with repercussion on developmental status.

Free access

Werner F Blum, Cheri Deal, Alan G Zimmermann, Elena P Shavrikova, Christopher J Child, Charmian A Quigley, Stenvert L S Drop, Gordon B Cutler Jr, and Ron G Rosenfeld

Objective

We assessed the characteristics of children initially diagnosed with idiopathic isolated GH deficiency (IGHD) who later developed additional (multiple) pituitary hormone deficiencies (MPHD).

Design

Data were analyzed for 5805 pediatric patients with idiopathic IGHD, who were GH-naïve at baseline and GH-treated in the multinational, observational Genetics and Neuroendocrinology of Short Stature International Study.

Methods

Development of MPHD was assessed from investigator diagnoses, adverse events, and concomitant medications. Analyses were performed for all patients and for those who developed MPHD within 4.5 years or had ≥3.5 years, follow-up and continued to have IGHD (4-year cohort).

Results

MPHD developed in 118/5805 (2.0%) children overall, and in 96/1757 (5.5%) in the 4-year cohort. Patients who developed MPHD had more profound GHD, with decreased height SDS, IGF1 SDS and peak stimulated GH, and greater height decrement vs target, compared with children who continued to have IGHD (P<0.001 for each variable). Delivery complications, congenital anomalies, and perinatal/neonatal adverse events occurred more frequently in patients who developed MPHD. The most frequent additional deficiency was TSH (82 patients overall); four patients developed two pituitary hormone deficiencies and one developed three deficiencies. Multivariable logistic regression indicated that years of follow-up (odds ratio 1.55), baseline age (1.17), baseline height SDS (0.69), and peak stimulated GH (0.64) were associated with the development of MPHD.

Conclusions

MPHD is more likely to develop in patients with more severe idiopathic IGHD. Older baseline age, lower baseline height SDS, and longer follow-up duration are associated with increased risk of development of MPHD.

Free access

Brigitte Odenwald, Uta Nennstiel-Ratzel, Helmuth-Günther Dörr, Heinrich Schmidt, Manfred Wildner, and Walter Bonfig

Objective

To evaluate adrenal crises after the start of treatment up to the age of 6 years in children with classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).

Design

Analysis of data extracted from a population-based prospective long-term follow-up study of children detected in neonatal screening.

Methods

Data of 102 Bavarian children with classic CAH due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency were analyzed, using parental questionnaires and medical reports. Parent-reported hospital admissions of children diagnosed with acute health impairment were included in the analysis if salt loss (hyponatremia) or hypoglycemia was documented in the discharge summary.

Results

A total of 74 children (72.5%) had no report of hospital admissions with salt loss or hypoglycemia during the observational period. However, in 27.5% of the children, 22 salt-wasting crises (seven of these also with low blood glucose) and 16 hypoglycemic episodes without salt loss were reported. Furthermore, the cumulative incidence for seizures was elevated; 13 children experienced seizures during hyponatremia or hypoglycemia. Most adrenal crises were triggered by infections, often with inappropriate emergency management, but in 11 cases hypoglycemia occurred unexpectedly, without evidence of severe illness and without any management errors. Frequency of adrenal crises was 6.5 per 100 patient years (95% CI: 4.6–8.8).

Conclusions

Crisis prevention remains a permanent challenge for families and physicians caring for children with classic CAH. Expert care and compliance with emergency recommendations are crucial. Further research on the interactions among glucocorticoid deficiency, adrenomedullary dysfunction, and glucose metabolism is necessary for the prevention of hypoglycemia, especially in young CAH patients.

Restricted access

S.-I. Björklund and C. C. Jensen

During the neonatal period infants of diabetic mothers often have attacks of cyanosis, temporary cardiac murmurs and arrhythmia. Electrocardiographic changes have been observed both in the presence and in the absence of such disturbances, but in none of the children with any of these disturbances was the electrocardiogram normal (Björklund, 1953 b). The hypothesis has been advanced that the clinical symptoms and electrocardiographic changes are caused by hypokalaemia, secondary to hyperinsulinism with concomitant hyperfunction or dysfunction of the adrenal cortex (Björklund, 1953 a, b).

Venning et al. (1949) found in 2 premature infants of diabetic mothers, delivered by Caesarean section, increased glucocorticoid excretion during the first few days of life. Normalization of the excretion occurred on about the fifth day. Since these 2 infants had atelectasis and cyanosis, Venning et al. considered that the stress to which these babies were exposed was the cause of the increased function of the

Restricted access

C. Friderichsen

Adrenal failure in the infant or in the child – in contrast to the adult – is more frequently acute than chronic. This may possibly be due to the anatomical peculiarity that the adrenal glands at birth are comparatively large, constituting 0.2 per cent. of the body weight, as against 0.1 per cent in adults.

In childhood adrenal hemorrhages appear as two widely different syndromes.

The one is observed in the newborn: neonatal suprarenal hemorrhage, shortly after birth. This syndrome has nothing to do with infection; it was previously considered a traumatic sequela, but since this syndrome has virtually disappeared with the introduction of prophylactic vitamin K treatment during pregnancy, there is every probability that the great proportion of cases suffered from K avitaminosis, as in melena of the newborn.

The clinical picture of adrenal hemorrhage in the newborn is dominated by three symptoms: 1. Asphyxia – 2. severe cyanosis

Free access

Margaret Cristina da Silva Boguszewski and Adriane de Andre Cardoso-Demartini

Approximately 15 million babies are born preterm across the world every year, with less than 37 completed weeks of gestation. Survival rates increased during the last decades with the improvement of neonatal care. With premature birth, babies are deprived of the intense intrauterine growth phase, and postnatal growth failure might occur. Some children born prematurely will remain short at later ages and adult life. The risk of short stature increases if the child is also born small for gestational age. In this review, the effects of being born preterm on childhood growth and adult height and the hormonal abnormalities possibly associated with growth restriction are discussed, followed by a review of current information on growth hormone treatment for those who remain with short stature during infancy and childhood.

Free access

Juliane Léger

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is the most common congenital endocrine disorder. The early treatment of CH patients has successfully improved the prognosis and management of this disorder. Optimal treatment and management throughout the patient's life, beginning in the neonatal period, are required to ensure long-term health. Affected patients should be offered assessments of associated medical conditions and provided with accurate information about their condition throughout their lives, but particularly during the transition from pediatric to adult services. This review provides a summary of current knowledge about the long-term outcomes of these patients and appropriate management into early adulthood. We carried out a systematic search of the Medline database to identify relevant articles. Despite major improvements in prognosis, the impact of CH is clearly not uniform, and management should take into account a broader range of relevant indicators, including CH severity, associated comorbid conditions and the adequacy of treatment during childhood and adulthood. The early diagnosis and management of associated medical conditions, and better educational strategies to improve compliance with treatment, should improve the long-term prognosis. Further studies are required to explore changes with aging.