Objective: To investigate the patient's history and physical examination information to find out risk factors associated with complicated appendicitis. Material and Methods:Two hundred patients who were admitted with complicated appendicitis (including abscess, phlegmon, and generalized peritonitis) were retrieved from our database. Two hundred patients with non-complicated acute appendicitis were randomly selected from the same period. These two groups were compared in terms of demographic characteristics, past medical history, and presenting symptoms. We made a multivariate analysis model using binary logistic regression and backward stepwise elimination. Results:Based on multivariate analysis, risk factors for complicated appendicitis included presenting with epigastric pain (OR=3.44), diarrhea (OR=23.4) or malaise (OR=49.7), history of RLQ pain within the past 6 months (OR=4.93), older age (OR=1.04), being married (OR=2.52), lack of anorexia (OR=4.63) and longer interval between onset of symptoms and admission (OR=1.46). Conversely, higher (academic) education was associated with decreased odds for complicated appendicitis (OR=0.26). Conclusion:Our findings suggest that a surgeon's clinical assessment is more reliable to make a judgment. "Bedside evaluation" is a useful, cheap, quick and readily available method for identifying those at risk for developing complicated acute appendicitis.

Background. Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is the most common childhood vasculitis with an incidence of approximately 10 per 100 000 children. There is some evidence to support steroid therapy in the treatment of severe abdominal pain, severe nephritis, and central nervous system involvement. However, the routine use of corticosteroids is controversial. Frequent relapses, lack of response to steroid, steroid dependency, and steroid side effects may occur in some patients. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) gains increasing popularity in the treatment of autoimmune disorders, but hitherto, the available evidence to support the use of MMF in HSP is limited to some case study reports. Case Presentation. We report six children with HSP who failed to respond to systemic steroid therapy, whereas MMF successfully treated the manifestations of the disease. Conclusion. The manifestations of HSP disappeared mainly during the first week of treatment with MMF and all the patients were in a complete remission at the end and after discontinuation of the therapy. In our experience, MMF appeared to be safe and effective for the maintenance of remission in the HSP patients.

Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is the most common childhood vasculitis. Renal involvement in HSP is one of the major causes of chronic renal failure in children. It is important to start effective and relatively safe medication to prevent end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) appears to be a promising therapeutic agent in many autoimmune diseases such as lupus nephritis and vasculitis. Herein, we describe the treatment with MMF of three patients with HSP nephritis. In two cases with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis without response to steroid, after treatment with MMF, significant improvement in kidney function and proteinuria were observed. In another patient with HSP nephritic-nephrotic syndrome who showed resistance to steroid, MMF offered a favorable effect. MMF seems to be a promising therapeutic agent in the treatment of the severe HSP nephritis.

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