• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.61 no.10
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• pp.332-337
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• 2018

Purpose: Bell's palsy is characterized by sudden onset of unilateral facial weakness. The use of corticosteroids for childhood Bell's palsy is controversial. This study aimed to identify clinical characteristics, etiology, and laboratory findings in childhood Bell's palsy, and to evaluate the efficacy of corticosteroid treatment. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of children under 19 years of age treated for Bell's palsy between January 2009 and June 2017, and followed up for over 1 month. Clinical characteristics, neuroimaging data, laboratory findings, treatments, and outcomes were reviewed. Patients with Bell's palsy were divided into groups with (group 1) and without (group 2) corticosteroid treatment. Differences in onset age, sex, laterality, infection and vaccination history, degree of facial nerve palsy, and prognosis after treatment between the groups were analyzed. Results: One hundred patients were included. Mean age at presentation was $7.4{\pm}5.62years$. A total of 73 patients (73%) received corticosteroids with or without intravenous antiviral agents, and 27 (27%) received only supportive treatment. There was no significant difference in the severity, laboratory findings, or neuroimaging findings between the groups. Significant improvement was observed in 68 (93.2%) and 26 patients (96.3%) in groups 1 and 2, respectively; this rate was not significantly different between the groups (P=0.48). Conclusion: Childhood Bell's palsy showed good prognosis with or without corticosteroid treatment; there was no difference in prognosis between treated and untreated groups. Steroid therapy in childhood Bell's palsy may not significantly improve outcomes.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.580-584
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• 2007

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disorder that affects discrete areas of the CNS, including the optic nerves, in a quite variable relapsing-remitting fashion over a prolonged period of time. Although MS is usually considered to be a disease that affects peoples in early to middle adulthood, children do develop multiple sclerosis. The frequency of MS onset before the age of 15 years is 2.7-5% of all cases, while MS onset during infancy and early childhood was observed to be 0.2-0.7% of all cases. We report here on a Korean case of a relapsing-remitting MS female child who was treated with four rounds of intravenous methylpredinsolone pulse therapy and preventive Interferon-$\beta$-1b ($Betaferon^{(R)}$).

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.892-897
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• 2010

Purpose: This study evaluated the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and risk factors for metabolic derangement in young adults with childhood-onset hypopituitary growth hormone deficiency (ACOHGHD). Methods: Thirty patients with ACOHGHD who were treated with hormone-replacement therapy, aged 18 to 29 years, who visited the Seoul National University Children's Hospital between September 2009 and February 2010 were enrolled. Height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, and blood pressure were measured, and the clinical and hormonal features were reviewed retrospectively. We evaluated measures of metabolic derangement in the enrolled patients and in the data of healthy adults aged 20 to 29 years taken from the 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) as part of the National Cholesterol Education Program-the Adult Treatment Panel III. Results: Compared with the KNHANES participants, patients with ACOHGHD had significantly large waist circumference (men and women), high systolic blood pressure (BP) (women) and diastolic BP (men), and high serum triglyceride levels (women). The duration of illness correlated significantly with central obesity ($r^2$=0.546, $P$=0.003). The prevalence of MetS was 10% in patients with ACOHGHD and 2.3% in KNHANES participants. The prevalence of central obesity and MetS was higher in patients with ACOHGHD than in KNHANES participants ($P$<0.001 and $P$=0.042, respectively). Conclusion: Abdominal obesity correlated with the duration of illness in patients with ACOHGHD. Waist circumference should be measured in the clinic to prevent MetS, particularly in patients with a long history of ACOHGHD, regardless of age or sex.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.183-191
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• 2005

Tic disorder including Tourette's disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that appears in childhood and characterized by the presence of motor and vocal tics. Childhood-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is suggested to be a phenomenologically and etiologically distinct subtype of OCD, bearing a close genetic relationship to tic-disorders. Tourette's disorder and OCD are comorbid in $40-75\%$ of patients initially diagnosed with either disorder. Basal ganglia and cortico-striato-thalamic circuits are implicated in the pathophysiology of both disorders and these disorders have similar clinical features. Over the past decades, the progress in research on Tourette's disorder and OCD has been extraordinary. This review describes some of important insights from these work, involving these areas : 1) clinical implication 2) genetics and epidemiology 3) brain imaging study 4) neuroche-mistry 5) pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infection (PANDAS).

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2009

Type 1 diabetes mellitus commonly occurs in childhood and adolescence, although the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in these age groups is now being increased in the western world and Korea. Diabetic nephropathy developing in 15-25% of subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus and in similar or higher percentage of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide. Although prepubertal diabetic duration may contribute less to the development of microvascular complications than pubertal and postpubertal duration, diabetic nephropathy in susceptible patients almost certainly begins soon after disease onset and may accelerate during adolescence, leading to microalbuminuria or incipient DN. Type 1 diabetes is commonly associated with a period of hyperfiltration followed by the development of persistent microalbuminuria after as little as 7-10 years of type 1 diabetes. Microalbuminuria is associated with pathologic lesions that are so advanced as to overlap with those seen in patients with overt proteinuria and declining kidney function, therefore, microalbuminuria currently considered the best clinical indicator of overt diabetic nephropathy risk. This review covers the natural history and renal manifestations of diabetic nephropathy in children and adolescents.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2011

Purpose: To investigate the clinical characteristics of late-onset epilepsy combined with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and the relationship between certain types of electroencephalography (EEG) abnormalities in ASD and associated neuropsychological problems. Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with ASD in early childhood and later developed clinical seizures were reviewed retrospectively. First, the clinical characteristics, language and behavioral regression, and EEG findings of these late-onset epilepsy patients with ASD were investigated. The patients were then classified into 2 groups according to the severity of the EEG abnormalities in the background rhythm and paroxysmal discharges. In the severe group, EEG showed persistent asymmetry, slow and disorganized background rhythms, and continuous sharp and slow waves during slow sleep (CSWS). Results: Between the two groups, there was no statistically significant difference in mean age (P=0.259), age of epilepsy diagnosis (P=0.237), associated family history (P=0.074), and positive abnormal magnetic resonance image (MRI) findings (P=0.084). The severe EEG group tended to have more neuropsychological problems (P=0.074). The severe group statistically showed more electrographic seizures in EEG (P=0.000). Rett syndrome was correlated with more severe EEG abnormalities (P=0.002). Although formal cognitive function tests were not performed, the parents reported an improvement in neuropsychological function on the follow up checkup according to a parent's questionnaire. Conclusion: Although some ASD patients with late-onset epilepsy showed severe EEG abnormalities, including CSWS, they generally showed an improvement in EEG and clinical symptoms in the longterm follow up. In addition, severe EEG abnormalities tended to be related to the neuropsychological function.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2003

Ornithine transcarbamylase(OTC) deficiency is the most common of all the urea cycle disorders. In this X-linked disorder, the hemizygote males are more severely affected than heterozygote females. The Heterozygote female may have mild episodic hyperammonemia symptoms in late infancy or childhood(late onset) or no clinical manifestations. Here we report a 6 year-old girl with late onset OTC deficiency who showed recurrent episodic lethargy, mental confusion and ataxia. On mutation analysis using DNA sequencing after PCR amplification of the 10 exons of OTC gene, G to T transversion in codon 221, causing substitution of asparagine for lysine was detected in exon 6.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.211-216
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• 2014

Asthma comprises a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by airway inflammation, airway obstruction, and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). Airway inflammation, which induces AHR and recurrence of asthma, is the main pathophysiology of asthma. The fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) level is a noninvasive, reproducible measurement of eosinophilic airway inflammation that is easy to perform in young children. As airway inflammation precedes asthma attacks and airway obstruction, elevated FeNO levels may be useful as predictive markers for risk of recurrence of asthma. This review discusses FeNO measurements among early-childhood wheezing phenotypes that have been identified in large-scale longitudinal studies. These wheezing phenotypes are classified into three to six categories based on the onset and persistence of wheezing from birth to later childhood. Each phenotype has characteristic findings for atopic sensitization, lung function, AHR, or FeNO. For example, in one birth cohort study, children with asthma and persistent wheezing at 7 years had higher FeNO levels at 4 years compared to children without wheezing, which suggested that FeNO could be a predictive marker for later development of asthma. Preschool-aged children with recurrent wheezing and stringent asthma predictive indices also had higher FeNO levels in the first 4 years of life compared to children with wheezing and loose indices or children with no wheeze, suggesting that FeNO measurements may provide an additional parameter for predicting persistent wheezing in preschool children. Additional large-scale longitudinal studies are required to establish cutoff levels for FeNO as a risk factor for persistent asthma.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.141-165
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• 2001

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) is one of the most common childhood-onset psychlatric disorders. It is distinguished by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. ADHD may be accompanied by learning disabilities, depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. The etiology of ADHD is unknown, and the disorder may have several different causes. Individual with ADHD present in childhood and may continue to show symptoms as they enter adolescence and adult life. Public interest in ADHD has increased along with debate in the media concerning the diagnostic process and treatment strategies. The purpose of this study is oriental medical approach to ADHD. This study was progressed for oriental diagnosis and treatment for ADHD. In oriental medicine, the reason of ADHD was deficiency of the kidney, hyperactivity of the liver(腎虛肝亢), deficiency of the heart and the spleen(心脾不足), heart disturbed by phlegm and heat(痰熱擾心). The method of medical treatment was nourishing the kidney and checking exuberance of yang(滋腎潛陽), relieving mental stress and promoting wisdom(寧神益智), nourishing the heart and strengthening the spleen(養心健脾), tranquilzation(安神定志). removing heat-phlegm(淸熱化痰), inducing resuscitation and tranquilzation(開窮安神). The prescription was commonly used as Liuwei Dihuang Wan jiajian(六味地黃丸加減), Guipi Tang he Ganmai Dazao Tang jiajian(歸脾湯合甘麥大棗湯加減), Huanglian Wendan Tang jiawei(溫黃連溫膽湯加味). It should help primary care providers in their assessment of a common child health problem.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.79-81
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• 1997

Minimal change nephrotic syndrome is characterized by proteinuria, hypoproteinemia, edema, and hyperlipidemia. Children with onset of nephrotic syndrome between the age of 1 and 8 year are likely to have steroid response to minimal chage disease, but we experienced one case of minimal change disease which failed to respond to steroid therapy at beginning and subsequently developed acute renal failure. It was seen in a 5 year-old male child that presented with edema and gross hematuria. Peritoneal dialysis was performed for acute renal failure for 11 days. Patient was completely recorvered from acute renal failure and renal biopsy was done at 27th day after onset of disease which revealed typical picture of minimal change disease complicated by acute tubular necrosis. We beleive this case is very unusual and it may be the first case in the literature in terms of pediatric cases.