Cicero T. Silva

Correlation of sonographic findings and outcome in necrotizing enterocolitis

BackgroundThere is little in the literature regarding the use of gray-scale and Doppler sonography of the bowel in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and how findings depicted by this modality might assist in predicting outcome and influence management.ObjectiveTo correlate sonographic findings with outcome in NEC.Materials and methodsThis was a retrospective analysis of clinical and abdominal ultrasonography (AUS) findings in NEC from January 2003 to December 2005. AUS findings were evaluated for portal venous gas, free gas, peritoneal fluid, bowel wall thickness, echogenicity, perfusion and intramural gas. Patients were categorized into two groups, according to their outcome.ResultsA total of 40 infants were identified who had AUS for NEC prior to any surgical intervention. Group A comprised 18 neonates treated medically and recovered fully, and group B comprised 22 neonates who required surgery or died. Free gas (six patients) and focal fluid collections (three patients) were only found in group B. Increased bowel wall echogenicity, absent bowel perfusion, portal venous gas, bowel wall thinning, bowel wall thickening, free fluid with echoes and intramural gas were seen in both groups, but more frequently in group B. Anechoic free fluid was seen more frequently in group A. Increased bowel perfusion was seen equally in both groups.ConclusionAn adverse outcome was associated with the sonographic findings of free gas, focal fluid collections or three or more of the following: increased bowel wall echogenicity, absent bowel perfusion, portal venous gas, bowel wall thinning, bowel wall thickening, free fluid with echoes and intramural gas. Sonographic findings are useful in predicting outcome and therefore might help guide management.

Incidence and Acute Complications of Asymptomatic Central Venous Catheter–Related Deep Venous Thrombosis in Critically Ill Children

OBJECTIVE To determined the current incidence and acute complications of asymptomatic central venous catheter (CVC)-related deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in critically ill children. STUDY DESIGN We performed a prospective cohort study in 3 pediatric intensive care units. A total of 101 children with newly inserted untunneled CVC were included. CVC-related DVT was diagnosed using compression ultrasonography with color Doppler. RESULTS Asymptomatic CVC-related DVT was diagnosed in 16 (15.8%) children, which equated to 24.7 cases per 1000 CVC-days. Age was independently associated with DVT. Compared with children aged <1 year, children aged >13 years had significantly higher odds of DVT (aOR, 14.1, 95% CI, 1.9-105.8; P = .01). Other patient demographics, interventions (including anticoagulant use), and CVC characteristics did not differ between children with and without DVT. Mortality-adjusted duration of mechanical ventilation, a surrogate for pulmonary embolism, was statistically similar in the 2 groups (22 ± 9 days in children with DVT vs 23 ± 7 days in children without DVT; P = .34). Mortality-adjusted intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay also were similar in the 2 groups. CONCLUSION Asymptomatic CVC-related DVT is common in critically ill children. However, the acute complications do not seem to differ between children with and without DVT. Larger studies are needed to confirm these results. Future studies should also investigate the chronic complications of asymptomatic CVC-related DVT.

CT Characteristics of Lung Nodules Present at Diagnosis of Extrapulmonary Malignancy in Children

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the CT characteristics of lung nodules present at diagnosis of extrapulmonary malignancies in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of CT images of children seen in our oncology service over a 6-year period. We included all children diagnosed with a non-CNS solid extrapulmonary malignancy or lymphoma who had also undergone chest CT at presentation. Images were reviewed for the presence of lung nodules; if present, the following nodular characteristics were recorded: sidedness, number, distribution, CT attenuation, shape, margins, calcification, and size. When available, pathology results were correlated with the nodules found on CT. RESULTS One hundred eleven infants and children (age range, 14 days-17 years 10 months; median age, 11 years 8 months) had lung nodules on CT. The nodules showed a variety of patterns, but the most common findings were bilateral lung nodules (71 of 111 patients), between two and 10 in number (60 patients), peripheral distribution (98 patients), < or = 5 mm (48 patients), oval shape (45 patients), solid attenuation (74 patients), smoothly marginated (91 patients), and noncalcified (107 patients). Twenty-seven patients underwent biopsy. Seventeen biopsies showed benign lesions and nine, malignant lesions; the results for the remaining biopsy were inconclusive. In the subgroup of lung nodules that underwent biopsy, none of the CT characteristics was able to differentiate benignity from malignancy. CONCLUSION Lung nodules in children with extrapulmonary malignancies showed a variety of patterns on CT. In the subgroup of lung nodules that underwent biopsy, none of the nodule features studied on CT reliably differentiated benignity from malignancy.

Do additional views improve the diagnostic performance of cervical spine radiography in pediatric trauma

OBJECTIVE The aims of this study were to measure the diagnostic performances of lateral views alone and multiple radiographic views of the cervical spine in comparison with MDCT scans in pediatric trauma and to determine whether evaluation of additional views, in relation to lateral views alone, improves the performance of radiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS Retrospective analysis of cervical spine radiographs of 234 pediatric patients (age range, 3 months-17 years 11 months) who had been seen in our pediatric emergency department during the period of 2000-2005 for evaluation after acute trauma was performed. All patients underwent cervical spine MDCT examination at the same presentation. Radiographs were evaluated for the presence of fractures, subluxations, and dislocations. Radiographic abnormalities were correlated to findings on MDCT, which was used as the reference standard. RESULTS Twenty-two patients had positive findings on CT: Atlantooccipital subluxation/dislocation was seen in one patient; C1 ring fracture, in three patients; C1-C2 rotatory subluxation, in one; C1-C2 subluxation/dislocation, in one; odontoid fracture, in two; vertebral body wedge fracture, in six; posterior arch fracture dislocation, in 10; and spinous process fracture, in none. The lateral view radiograph alone had 73% sensitivity (95% CI, 50-89%) and 92% specificity (95% CI, 87-95%) for cervical spine abnormalities compared with MDCT. The addition of other views did not change the sensitivity of radiography but rather marginally decreased its specificity to 91% (95% CI, 86-94%). CONCLUSION Lateral view radiographs had a borderline acceptable sensitivity to cervical spine abnormalities in pediatric patients compared with MDCT. The addition of other radiographic views did not seem to improve the diagnostic performance of radiography.

Early assessment of the efficacy of digital infrared thermal imaging in pediatric extremity trauma

Young children or those with intellectual disability with trauma to an extremity often undergo radiographs of the whole limb. The objective of the study was to assess the efficacy of digital infrared thermal images (DITI) in pediatric extremity trauma. We hypothesized fractures to be associated with local hyperthermia, detectable with DITI, which could direct focused radiographs. In this exploratory study, patients seen over a 2-month period in a pediatric emergency department for limb trauma were included if an extremity radiograph was taken on the same day. Patients had DITI of symptomatic and contralateral limbs. The warmest area of each image was compared to the site of pain and/or fracture on the radiograph. Fifty-one patients were enrolled. DITI matched 73% of pain sites. Fractures were seen in 11 patients. DITI matched 7 of 11 (64%) fracture sites. DITI performance in pinpointing the site of injury, although suboptimal, is encouraging for further evaluation.

Factor VIII May Predict Catheter-Related Thrombosis in Critically Ill Children: A Preliminary Study.

Objective: If we can identify critically ill children at high risk for central venous catheter-related thrombosis, then we could target them for pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis. We determined whether factor VIII activity or G value was associated with catheter-related thrombosis in critically ill children. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Two tertiary academic centers. Patients: We enrolled children younger than 18 years who were admitted to the PICU within 24 hours after insertion of a central venous catheter. We excluded children with a recently diagnosed thrombotic event or those anticipated to receive anticoagulation. Children with thrombosis diagnosed with surveillance ultrasonography on the day of enrollment were classified as having prevalent thrombosis. Those who developed catheter-related thrombosis thereafter were classified as having incident thrombosis. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: We enrolled 85 children in the study. Once enrolled, we measured factor VIII activity with one-stage clotting assay and determined G value with thromboelastography. Of those enrolled, 25 had incident and 12 had prevalent thromboses. The odds ratio for incident thrombosis per SD increase in factor VIII activity was 1.98 (95% CI, 1.10–3.55). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.66 (95% CI, 0.52–0.79). At factor VIII activity more than 100 IU/dL, which was the optimal threshold identified using Youden index, sensitivity and specificity were 92.0% and 41.3%, respectively. The association between factor VIII activity and incident thrombosis remained significant after adjusting for important clinical predictors of thrombosis (odds ratio, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.10–3.39). G value was associated with prevalent but not with incident thrombosis. Conclusion: Factor VIII activity may be used to stratify critically ill children based on their risk for catheter-related thrombosis.

Pediatric ocular sonography.

Ultrasound is often used as an adjuvant in the workup of ocular pathology in children. It is particularly useful when ophthalmoscopic examination is limited, such as in the presence of extreme miosis or opaque ocular media. Other indications include assessment of a mass seen at ophthalmoscopy, elucidation of a mass underlying a retinal detachment, ocular trauma, and biometry. In this article, we review normal sonographic technique and ocular anatomy. The sonographic features of common pediatric ocular conditions are presented, with an emphasis on distinguishing features. Correlation, where pertinent, is made with other imaging modalities, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Ultrasound plays a critical role in the clinical diagnostic evaluation of globe pathology.

Prevalence of post-thrombotic syndrome after cardiac catheterization.

As the survival of children with cardiac disease increases, chronic complications of deep venous thrombosis from cardiac catheterization, particularly post‐thrombotic syndrome, may be important to monitor for and treat, if needed. We aimed to determine the prevalence of this syndrome in children who underwent cardiac catheterization.

Blood glucose as a marker of venous thromboembolism in critically ill children.

The ability to predict the development of venous thromboembolism is highly desirable.

A unique case of rhabdoid tumor presenting as hemoperitoneum in an infant

We report the first pediatric case of an extrarenal, noncentral nervous system, diffusely metastatic, gastrointestinal rhabdoid tumor in a 106-day-old, previous 25-week preterm infant. The unusual clinical presentation, the diagnosis, and biology of this tumor as well as the etiology of hemoperitoneum in neonates and infants are discussed.