Background. The two most frequent types of microcytic anemia are beta thalassemia trait (β-TT) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA). We retrospectively evaluated the reliability of various indices for differential diagnosis of microcytosis and β-TT in the same patient groups. Methods. A total of 290 carefully selected children aged 1.1–16 years were evaluated. We calculated 12 discrimination indices in all patients with hemoglobin (Hb) values of 8.7–11.4 g/dL. None of the subjects had a combined case of IDA and β-TT. All children with IDA received oral iron for 16 weeks, and HbA2 screening was performed after iron therapy. The patient groups were evaluated according to red blood cell (RBC) count; red blood distribution width index; the Mentzer, Shine and Lal, England and Fraser, Srivastava and Bevington, Green and King, Ricerca, Sirdah, and Ehsani indices; mean density of hemoglobin/liter of blood; and mean cell density of hemoglobin. Results. The Mentzer index was the most reliable index, as it had the highest sensitivity (98.7%), specificity (82.3%), and Youden's index (81%) for detecting β-TT; this was followed by the Ehsani index (94.8%, 73.5%, and 68.3%, resp.) and RBC count (94.8%, 70.5%, and 65.3%). Conclusion. The Mentzer index provided the highest reliabilities for differentiating β-TT from IDA.

BackgroundThis study aims to evaluate the children with chronic cough and to analyze their etiological factors according to the age groups.MethodFive hundred sixty-three children with chronic cough were included. The last diagnosis were established and were also emphasized according to the age groups.ResultsThe mean age was 5.4 ± 3.8 years (2-months–17-years) and 52 % of them were male. The most common final diagnosis from all the participants were: asthma (24.9 %), asthma-like symptoms (19 %), protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB) (11.9 %), and upper airway cough syndrome (9.1 %). However, psychogenic cough was the second most common diagnosis in the subjects over 6 years of age.ConclusionAsthma and asthma-like symptoms were the most common diagnosis in children. Different age groups in children may have a different order of frequencies. Psychogenic cough should be thought of in the common causes especially in older children.

Pediatrics multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PMIS) is an inflammatory condition in children, which usually involves fever and multiple organ failure associated with COVID-19. The condition may match some or all of the diagnostic criteria for Kawasaki disease (KD). 1 PMIS usually develops 1 month later in patients after the first exposure of acute COVID-19. The pathogenesis of PMIS was illness mediated by acquired immunity rather than direct viral injury. The antibody tests were positive in the cases with PMIS, but the results of COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were negative in most of the cases. According to the literature, PMIS has four different clinical presentations from Kawasaki-like illness syndrome to refractory vasodilatory shock (toxic shock syndrome like). 2-5 Thus, due to all of these differ

IntroductionAtopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disorder. Vitamin D is a liposoluble vitamin synthesized mainly in the skin. Vitamin D has several effects on the skin.AimTo assess the serum level of vitamin D in children with AD and determine its relation to AD severity.Material and methodsSixty patients with AD were enrolled in the study. We evaluated disease severity using the SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index. The control group consisted of 37 healthy subjects.ResultsThe mean serum concentration of 25(OH)D3 in patients with AD was not statistically different from control subjects (p = 0.065). The vitamin D level was significantly lower in moderate and severe AD compared with mild AD, and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.001 and p = 0.004). Vitamin D showed a negative correlation with serum total IgE levels (p = 0.007). There was no significant correlation between total IgE levels and SCORAD scores (p = 0.089).ConclusionsThis study suggests that a low serum vitamin D level is inversely associated with severity of AD in children. Vitamin D has not been included in the routine treatment of AD because of the conflicting results of various studies. Thus, there is a need for more detailed and prospective studies.

An outbreak of EAEC occurred in a specific region of Istanbul. Livestock markets were suspected as the source. Evidence for beneficial effects of eculizumab on renal outcome was not clear in this cohort.