• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제53권2호
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• pp.129-135
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• 2010

Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) is a nonenveloped, single stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Picornavirudae. Transmission by direct contact such as hand-to-hand, hand-to-nose, and hand-to-eye has been readily demonstrated in experimental settings. HRV are the most frequent causes of common cold infection, however, they are also known to replicate in the lower respiratory tract and associated with more severe respiratory illnesses such as asthma. New technique such as reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and molecular typing in HRV has been developed and our understanding of the importance of these respiratory viruses. HRVs consisted of 101 serotypes that are classified into groups A and B according to sequence variations. And there is a newly identified set of HRVs, called Group C, and it is currently under investigation. In recent study using PCR techniques, HRVs accounted for approximate 50-80% of common colds and 85 % of childhood asthma exacerbations and in more than half of adult exacerbations. However, the mechanisms of HRV- induced asthma exacerbations are poorly understood. This review discusses the association between HRVs and childhood asthma.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제54권1호
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• pp.1-5
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• 2011

Asthma in childhood is a heterogeneous disease with different phenotypes and variable clinical manifestations, which depend on the age, gender, genetic background, and environmental influences of the patients. Several longitudinal studies have been conducted to classify the phenotypes of childhood asthma, on the basis of the symptoms, triggers of wheezing illness, or pathophysiological features of the disease. These studies have provided us with important information about the different wheezing phenotypes in young children and about potential mechanisms and risk factors for the development of chronic asthma. The goal of these studies was to provide a better insight into the causes and natural course of childhood asthma. It is well-known that complicated interactions between genes and environmental factors contribute to the development of asthma. Because childhood is a period of rapid growth in both the lungs and the immune system, developmental factors should be considered in the pathogenesis of childhood asthma. The pulmonary system continues to grow and develop until linear growth is completed. Longitudinal studies have reported significant age-related immune development during postnatal early life. These observations suggest that the phenotypes of childhood asthma vary among children and also in an individual child over time. Improved classification of heterogeneous conditions of the disease will help determine novel strategies for primary and secondary prevention and for the development of individualized treatment for childhood asthma.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제57권5호
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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.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제49권6호
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• pp.581-588
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• 2006

Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the airway associated with increased bronchial hyperresponsiveness that leads to recurrent episodes of cough, wheezing, breathless, chest tightness. According the recent studies, repeated airway inflammation leads to structural changes so called 'airway remodeling' and associated with decreased pulmonary function. Airway remodeling begins form the early stage of asthma and the early diagnosis and management is very important to prevent airway remodeling. Medication for asthma can be classified into acute symptom reliever and chronic controller. Short acting beta2 agonist is a well-known reliever that reduced asthma symptoms within minutes. Controllers should be taken daily as a long-term basis to control airway inflammation. Inhaled corticosteroid(ICS) is the most effective controller in current use. However, in some patients ICS monotherapy is not sufficient to control asthma. In those cases, other medications such as long acting beta2 agonist, leukotriene modifier or sustained-release theophylline should be added to ICS, which called Add-on-Therapy. Combination inhaler devices are easy to use. Oral leukotriene modifier has a good compliance especially in children. Finally, as asthma is a chronic disease, the development of on-going partnership among health care professionals, the patients, and the patients' family is necessary for the effective management of asthma.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제56권1호
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• pp.8-12
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• 2013

Asthma is associated with increased levels of eosinophils in tissues, body fluids, and bone marrow. Elevated levels of eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) have been noted in asthma patients. Higher levels of EDN and ECP are also associated with exacerbated asthmatic conditions. Thus, EDN, along with ECP, may aid the diagnosis and monitoring of asthma. Several groups have suggested that EDN is more useful than ECP in evaluating disease severity. This may partially be because of the recoverability of EDN (not sticky, 100% recovery rate), as ECP is a sticky and more highly charged protein. In terms of clinical utility, EDN level is a more accurate biomarker than ECP when analyzing the underlying pathophysiology of asthma. As a monitoring tool, EDN has shown good results in children with asthma as well as other allergic diseases. In children too young to fully participate in lung function tests, EDN levels may be useful as an alter native measurement of eosinophilic inflammation. EDN can also be used in adult patients and in multiple specimen types (e.g., serum, sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and nasal lavage fluid). These results are repeatable and reproducible. In conclusion, EDN may be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of asthma/allergic disease.

• 농촌의학ㆍ지역보건
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.175-187
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• 2009

이 연구는 부모의 알레르기 질환력을 고려해 간접흡연 노출과 소아 천식의 관계를 밝히는 것을 목적으로 이루어졌다. 이를 위해 경기도의 농촌과 도시를 대표하는 두 개 지역 소재 3개 초등학교 학생을 대상으로 이루어진 설문조사 자료를 이용하였다. 이 자료 중 이 연구는 설문에 응답한 대상자 중 평생 천명, 최근 천명, 의사진단 천식을 비롯해 간접흡연, 부모 알레르기 질환 여부에 응답한 2,301명을 최종 분석 대상으로 삼았다. 천식 및 천명을 이 분형 종속 변수로 삼고 로지스틱 회귀 분석을 통해 최근 1년간 간접흡연에의 노출과 부모의 알레르기 질환력이 천식 및 천명 질환에 미치는 독립 적인 효과를 분석하였으며 둘 간의 상호작용 효과를 추정하였다. 분석 결과 아버지와 어머니의 알레르기성 질환 병력은 평생 천명, 최근 천명에 유의한 영향력을 미치는 것으로 나타났으며 어머니의 천식 병력의 경우에는 의사 진단 천식에도 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 그러나 어머니나 아버지의 최근 흡연과 소아 천식과의 관계는 통계적 유의성을 확보하지 못했다. 부모의 알레르기 질환력과 간접흡연간의 상호작용효과는 ‘부모알레르기 질환도 없고 간접흡연 노출도 없는 집단’, ‘부모 알레르기 질환력은 없지만 최근 흡연 노출은 있는 집단’, ‘부모 알레르기 질환력은 있지만 최근 흡연 노출은 없는 집단’, 그리고 ‘부모 알레르기 질환도 있으며 간접흡연 노출도 있는 집단’을 비교해 평가하였다. 분석 결과 부모의 알레르기 질환력과 간접흡연의 노출간의 상호작용효과는 어머니의 최근 흡연의 경우에 자녀의 최근 천명에서 유의한 효과를 보였으며 아버지의 최근 흡연의 경우에는 평생 천명과 최근 천명에서 유의한 효과를 타나냈다. 부모의 알레르기 질환과 최근 어머니의 흡연이 모두 없는 집단에 비해서 두 요인 다 있는 집단에서 자녀의 최근 천명이 나타날 교차비는 4.83배(95%CI:189-12.33)로 높았다. 또 아버지가 최근 1년간 흡연을 했으며 부모의 알레르기 질환력이 있는 집단에서는 아버지가 흡연하지도 않고 부모의 알레르기질환도 없는 집단에 비해 자녀의 최근 천명이 나타날 확률이 2.50배(95%CI:1.34-4.70) 높았으며 평생천명이 나타날 확률 역시 2.47배(95%CI:1.64-3.72)높았다. 이러한 연구 결과는 부모의 알레르기 질환력이 있는 경우에는 간접흡연의 노출이 자녀의 천식 및 천명의 유의한 위험 요인이라는 사실을 보여 준다. 따라서 향후에는 간접흡연의 노출과 상호작용하는 특정한 유전자 군에 대한 연구가 필요 할 것이다. 또한 소아 천식의 위험을 낮추기 위해서는 부모의 금연을 중심으로 한 간접흡연 노출을 줄일 수 있는 개입이 필요하며 나아가 부모가 알레르기질환이 있는 집단에 대한 집중적인 금연 교육이 소아 천식을 효과적으로 줄일 수 있을 것으로 여겨진다.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제58권5호
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• pp.190-193
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• 2015

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a hypersensitivity lung disease due to bronchial colonization of Aspergillus fumigatus that occurs in susceptible patients with asthma or cystic fibrosis. A 10-year-old girl was referred to the Department of Pediatric Pulmonology for persistent consolidations on chest radiography. Pulmonary consolidations were observed in the right upper and left lower lobes and were not resolved with a 4-week prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The patient had a history of atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis but no history of asthma. She had no fever but produced thick and greenish sputum. Her breathing sounds were clear. On laboratory testing, her total blood eosinophil count was $1,412/mm^3$ and total serum IgE level was 2,200 kU/L. Aspergillus was isolated in the sputum culture. The A. fumigatus-specific IgE level was 15.4 kU/L, and the Aspergillus antibody test was also positive. A chest computed tomography scan demonstrated bronchial wall thickening and consolidation without bronchiectasis. An antifungal agent was added but resulted in no improvement of pulmonary consolidations after 3 weeks. Pulmonary function test was normal. Methacholine provocation test was performed, revealing bronchial hyperreactivity ($PC_{20}=5.31mg/mL$). Although the patient had no history of asthma or bronchiectasis, ABPA-seropositivity was suspected. Oral prednisolone (1 mg/kg/day) combined with antifungal therapy was started. Pulmonary consolidations began decreasing after 1 week of treatment and completely resolved after 1 month. This is the first observed and treated case of seropositive ABPA in Korean children without previously documented asthma.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제57권1호
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• pp.26-28
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• 2014

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제46권10호
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• pp.952-957
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• 2003

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제45권5호
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• pp.568-574
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• 2002