There was no overall difference in skeletal toxicity by corticosteroid type; dexamethasone was associated with more infections and, in older children, increased incidence of osteonecrosis and fracture. There was no difference in asparaginase-related toxicity by EC-Asnase dosing method. Dexamethasone and ID EC-Asnase were each associated with superior EFS. Monitoring NSAA during treatment with EC-Asnase may be an effective strategy to improve outcome in pediatric ALL.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immediate and dramatic impact on dental education.

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OBJECTIVES The objectives are to describe health outcomes and hospital resource use of children after tracheotomy and identify patient characteristics that correlate with outcomes and hospital resource use. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective analysis of 917 children aged 0 to 18 years undergoing tracheotomy from 36 children’s hospitals in 2002 with follow-up through 2007. Children were identified from ICD-9-CM tracheotomy procedure codes. Comorbid conditions (neurologic impairment [NI], chronic lung disease, upper airway anomaly, prematurity, and trauma) were identified with ICD-9-CM diagnostic codes. Patient characteristics were compared with in-hospital mortality, decannulation, and hospital resource use by using generalized estimating equations. RESULTS Forty-eight percent of children were ≤6 months old at tracheotomy placement. Chronic lung disease (56%), NI (48%), and upper airway anomaly (47%) were the most common underlying comorbid conditions. During hospitalization for tracheotomy placement, children with an upper airway anomaly experienced less mortality (3.3% vs 11.7%; P < .001) than children without an upper airway anomaly. Five years after tracheotomy, children with NI experienced greater mortality (8.8% vs 3.5%; P≤.01), less decannulation (5.0% vs 11.0%; P≤.01), and more total number of days in the hospital (mean [SE]: 39.5 [4.0] vs 25.6 [2.6] days; P≤.01) than children without NI. These findings remained significant (P < .01) in multivariate analysis after controlling for other significant cofactors. CONCLUSIONS Children with upper airway anomaly experienced less mortality, and children with NI experienced higher mortality rates and greater hospital resource use after tracheotomy. Additional research is needed to explore additional factors that may influence health outcomes in children with tracheotomy.

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) ALL Consortium has been conducting multi-institutional clinical trials in childhood ALL since 1981. The treatment backbone has included 20–30 consecutive weeks of asparaginase during intensification and frequent vincristine/corticosteroid pulses during the continuation phase. Between 1985–2000, 1457 children aged 0–18 years were treated on four consecutive protocols: 85-01 (1985–7), 87-01 (1987–91), 91-01 (1991–5) and 95-01 (1996–2000). The 10-year event-free survival (EFS) ± standard error by protocol was 77.9 ± 2.8% (85-01), 74.2± 2.3 (87-01), 80.8 ± 2.1% (91-01) and 80.5 ± 1.8% (95-01). Approximately 82% of patients treated in the 1980s and 88% treated in the 1990s were long-term survivors. Both EFS and overall survival (OS) rates were significantly higher for patients treated in the 1990s compared with the 1980s (p=0.05 and 0.01, respectively). On the two protocols conducted in the 1990s, EFS was 79–85% for T-ALL patients and 75–78% for adolescents (age 10–18 years). Results of randomized studies revealed that dexrazoxane prevented acute cardiac injury without adversely impacting EFS or OS in high-risk patients and frequently-dosed intrathecal chemotherapy was an effective substitute for cranial radiation in standard-risk patients. Current studies continue to focus on improving efficacy while minimizing acute and late toxicities.

CDAD is widespread in Massachusetts hospitals. Rehospitalization with CDAD, if it occurs, generally happens within a few months and happens multiple times for some patients. Based on this study's findings, a conservative estimate of the annual US cost for CDAD management is $3.2 billion dollars.

Objectives To identify children at risk for in-hospital mortality following tracheotomy. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting 25 746 876 US hospitalisations for children within the Kids’ Inpatient Database 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006. Participants 18 806 hospitalisations of children ages 0–18 years undergoing tracheotomy, identified from ICD-9-CM tracheotomy procedure codes. Main outcome measure Mortality during the initial hospitalisation when tracheotomy was performed in relation to patient demographic and clinical characteristics (neuromuscular impairment (NI), chronic lung disease, upper airway anomaly, prematurity, congenital heart disease, upper airway infection and trauma) identified with ICD-9-CM codes. Results Between 1997 and 2006, mortality following tracheotomy ranged from 7.7% to 8.5%. In each year, higher mortality was observed in children undergoing tracheotomy who were aged <1 year compared with children aged 1–4 years (mortality range: 10.2–13.1% vs 1.1–4.2%); in children with congenital heart disease, compared with children without congenital heart disease (13.1–18.7% vs 6.2–7.1%) and in children with prematurity, compared with children who were not premature (13.0–19.4% vs 6.8–7.3%). Lower mortality was observed in children with an upper airway anomaly compared with children without an upper airway anomaly (1.5–5.1% vs 9.1–10.3%). In 2006, the highest mortality (40.0%) was observed in premature children with NI and congenital heart disease, who did not have an upper airway anomaly. Conclusions Congenital heart disease, prematurity, the absence of an upper airway anomaly and age <1 year were characteristics associated with higher mortality in children following tracheotomy. These findings may assist provider communication with children and families regarding early prognosis following tracheotomy.

OBJECTIVE -To model the lifetime costs associated with complications of type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS-A cohort of 10,000 patients with diabetes was simulated using a model based on existing epidemiological studies. Complication rates were estimated for various stages of macrovascular disease, nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, and hypoglycemia. At the beginning of the simulation, patients were assumed to have been treated for 5 years and have a mean HbA 1c of 8.4. From the U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study, it was estimated that on current therapies, the HbA 1c would drift upward on average 0.15% per year. Direct medical costs of managing each complication were estimated (in 2000 U.S. dollars) from all-payor databases, surveys, and literature.RESULTS -Macrovascular disease was estimated to be the largest cost component, accounting for 85% of cumulative costs of complications over the first 5 years. The costs of complications were estimated to be $47,240 per patient over 30 years, on average. The management of macrovascular disease is estimated to be the largest cost component, accounting for 52% of the costs; nephropathy accounts for 21%, neuropathy accounts for 17%, and retinopathy accounts for 10% of the costs of complications.CONCLUSIONS -The complications of diabetes account for substantial costs, with management of macrovascular disease being the largest and earliest. If improving glycemic control prevents complications, it will reduce these costs. Diabetes Care 25:476 -481, 2002