background children's interstitial lung diseases (chilD) cover many rare entities, frequently not diagnosed or studied in detail. there is a great need for specialised advice and for internationally agreed subclassification of entities collected in a register. Our objective was to implement an international management platform with independent multidisciplinary review of cases at presentation for long-term follow-up and to test if this would allow for more accurate diagnosis. also, quality and reproducibility of a diagnostic subclassification system were assessed using a collection of 25 complex chilD cases. Methods a web-based chilD management platform with a registry and biobank was successfully designed and implemented. results Over a 3-year period, 575 patients were included for observation spanning a wide spectrum of chilD. in 346 patients, multidisciplinary reviews were completed by teams at five international sites (Munich 51%, london 12%, Hannover 31%, ankara 1% and Paris 5%). in 13%, the diagnosis reached by the referring team was not confirmed by peer review. among these, the diagnosis initially given was wrong (27%), imprecise (50%) or significant information was added (23%). the ability of nine expert clinicians to subcategorise the final diagnosis into the chilD-eU register classification had an overall exact inter-rater agreement of 59% on first assessment and after training, 64%. Only 10% of the 'wrong' answers resulted in allocation to an incorrect category. Subcategorisation proved useful but training is needed for optimal implementation. Conclusions We have shown that chilD-eU has generated a platform to help the clinical assessment of chilD. Trial registration number results, nct02852928.

The tRNA synthetases catalyze the first step of protein synthesis and have increasingly been studied for their nuclear and extra-cellular ex-translational activities. Human genetic conditions such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth have been attributed to dominant gain-of-function mutations in some tRNA synthetases. Unlike dominantly inherited gain-of-function mutations, recessive loss-of-function mutations can potentially elucidate ex-translational activities. We present here five individuals from four families with a multi-system disease associated with bi-allelic mutations in FARSB that encodes the beta chain of the alpha2beta2 phenylalanine-tRNA synthetase (FARS). Collectively, the mutant alleles encompass a 5′-splice junction non-coding variant (SJV) and six missense variants, one of which is shared by unrelated individuals. The clinical condition is characterized by interstitial lung disease, cerebral aneurysms and brain calcifications, and cirrhosis. For the SJV, we confirmed exon skipping leading to a frameshift associated with noncatalytic activity. While the bi-allelic combination of the SJV with a p.Arg305Gln missense mutation in two individuals led to severe disease, cells from neither the asymptomatic heterozygous carriers nor the compound heterozygous affected individual had any defect in protein synthesis. These results support a disease mechanism independent of tRNA synthetase activities in protein translation and suggest that this FARS activity is essential for normal function in multiple organs.

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PIG is associated with alveolar growth abnormalities and has to be considered in all newborns with unexplained respiratory distress. Apparent treatment benefit of glucocorticosteroids needs to be evaluated systematically.

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Background Long segment laryngotracheoesophageal clefts (LTECs) are very rare large‐airway malformations. Over the last 40 years mortality rates declined substantially due to improved intensive care and surgical procedures. Nevertheless, long‐term morbidity, comorbidity, and clinical outcomes have rarely been assessed systematically. Methods In this retrospective case series, the clinical presentation, comorbidities, treatment, and clinical outcomes of all children with long‐segment LTEC that were seen at our department in the last 15 years were collected and analyzed systematically. Results Nine children were diagnosed with long segment LTEC (four children with LTEC type III and five patients with LTEC type IV). All children had additional tracheobronchial, gastrointestinal, or cardiac malformations. Tracheostomy for long‐time ventilation and jejunostomy for adequate nutrition was necessary in all cases. During follow‐up one child died from multiorgan failure due to sepsis at the age of 43 days. The clinical course of the other eight children (median follow‐up time 5.2 years) was stable. Relapses of the cleft, recurrent aspirations, and respiratory tract infections led to repeated hospital admissions. Conclusions Long‐segment LTECs are consistently associated with additional malformations, which substantially influence long‐term morbidity. For optimal management, a multidisciplinary approach is essential.

Background: Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a heterogeneous condition with more than 100 different underlying disorders that need to be differentiated to target therapeutic options, which are generally limited. Methods: The clinical course of two brothers with pathogenic variants in the methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MARS)1 gene was compared to previously published patients. Functional studies in patient-derived fibroblasts were performed and therapeutic options evaluated. Results: The younger brother was diagnosed with PAP at the age of 1 year. Exome sequencing revealed the homozygous MARS1 variant p.(Arg598Cys), leading to interstitial lung and liver disease (ILLD). At 2 years of age, following surgery

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