Objectives.-To investigate clinical features of a pediatric population presenting with headache to a pediatric emergency department (ED) and to identify headache characteristics which are more likely associated with serious, life-threatening conditions in distinction from headaches due to more benign processes.Background.-Although headache is a common problem in children visiting a pediatric ED, a few studies thus far have attempted to identify the clinical characteristics most likely associated with suspected life-threatening disease.Methods.-A retrospective chart review of all consecutive patients who presented with a chief complaint of headache at ED over a 1-year period was conducted. Etiologies were classified according to the International Headache Society diagnostic criteria 2nd edition.Results.-Four hundred and thirty-two children (0.8% of the total number of visits) aged from 2 to 18 years (mean age 8.9 years) were enrolled in our study. There were 228 boys (53%) and 204 girls (47%). School-age group was the most represented (66%). The most common cause of headache was upper respiratory tract infections (19.2%). The remaining majority of non-life-threatening headache included migraine (18.5%), posttraumatic headache (5.5%), tension-type headache (4.6%). Serious life-threatening intracranial disorders (4.1%) included meningitis (1.6%), acute hydrocephalus (0.9%), tumors (0.7%). We found several clinical clues which demonstrated a statistically significant correlation with dangerous conditions: pre-school age, recent onset of pain, occipital location, and child's inability to describe the quality of pain and objective neurological signs.Conclusions.-Differential diagnosis between primary and secondary headaches can be very difficult, especially in an ED setting. The majority of headaches are secondary to respiratory infectious diseases and minor head trauma. Our data allowed us to identify clinical features useful to recognize intracranial life-threatening conditions.

Background and objectives: Transplantation should favorably affect coronary calcification (CAC) progression in dialysis; however, changes in CAC score in the individual patient are not reliably evaluated.Design, setting, participants & measurements: The authors used special tables of reproducibility limits for each score level to study, by multislice computed tomography and biochemistries, the 2-year changes in CAC in 41 transplant patients (age 48 ؎ 13 yr, 25 men, dialysis vintage 4.8 ؎ 4.3 yr, underwent transplant 6.2 ؎ 5.5 yr prior). Thirty balanced dialysis patients served as controls.Results: In the study group, Agatston score was stable, and C-reactive protein decreased, whereas fetuin and osteoprotegerin increased. In the control group, Agatston score increased, parathyroid hormone and phosphate decreased, and inflammation markers were persistently twice as high as in the study group. With regard to individual changes, 12.2% transplant patients worsened, compared with 56.6% of patients in dialysis (P < 0.0001). Patients without calcification at entry showed slower progression in transplantation (8.3%) than in dialysis (44.4%; P < 0.034), and the difference was similar to that observed in cases with CAC (17.6% versus 61.9%; P < 0.007). Discriminant analysis indicated parathyroid hormone, the modality of therapy (dialysis or transplantation), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate as the variables most associated with worsening.Conclusions: Renal transplantation lowers but does not halt CAC progression. Inflammation and hyperparathyroidism are associated with progression in the populations studied.

Objective The purpose of this study was to describe lung ultrasound (LUS) findings at baseline and 48 hours after the beginning of treatment and evaluate how they correlate with outcome Design We prospectively analyzed patients from 1 month to 17 years of age with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) evaluated at a tertiary level pediatric hospital. At baseline and 48 hours after the beginning of treatment, history, clinical examination, laboratory testing, chest X‐ray, and LUS were performed. Results One hundred one children were enrolled in the study (13 with complicated CAP). At baseline those who developed complications presented a larger size of the subpleural pulmonary parenchymal lesions (P = .001) often associated with a complex pleural effusion (63.6%, P = .013). Those with an uncomplicated CAP presented an air, arboriform, superficial and dynamic bronchogram, as opposed to complicated CAP which had an air and liquid bronchogram, deep, fixed (P = .001). At the 48‐hour control in the noncomplicated CAP group, bronchogram was more frequently superficial and dynamic (P = .050). Pleural effusion disappeared in half cases (P = .050). In all patients, neutrophilic leucocytosis with increased C‐reactive protein was detected and decreased at control (P = .001). The linear regression analyses showed the switch from a deep to a superficial bronchogram as the only explanatory variable (r = 0.97, R2 = 0.94, P = .001, t = 10.73). Conclusions Our study describe early LUS features of CAP that might be able to predict the development of complicated CAP.

Noninvasive ventilation is increasingly and successfully used as first respiratory approach in several, but not all, Italian PICUs. The current study shows that noninvasive ventilation represents a feasible and safe technique of ventilatory assistance for the treatment of mild acute respiratory failure. Noninvasive ventilation was used as primary mode of ventilation in children with low respiratory tract infection (mainly in bronchiolitis and pneumonia), in acute on chronic respiratory failure or to prevent reintubation.