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Diagnosis of intestinal transplant rejection depends onclinical assessment, endoscopy and most importantly, histology of intestinal biopsies. Plasma citrulline levels (P-Cit) reflect functional enterocyte mass in nontransplant patients and have been evaluated in two small series after transplant. This study was designed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of P-Cit as diagnostic tool for allograft injury, especially to distinguish between viral enteritis and rejection. We prospectively collected 403 P-Cit samples within 24 h of intestinal biopsy in 49 patients. P-Cit levels were correlated with the mucosal damage and histopathological diagnoses. P-Cit levels in bowels with significant mucosal damage (i.e. moderate or severe rejection, viral enteritis, PTLD, ischemia reperfusion injury, allergic enteritis) were significantly lower than in intestines with no or mild injury (i.e. indeterminate or mild rejection, nonspecific enteritis): 22.9 ± 15.4 versus 38 ± 23.2 nmol/mL (p < 0.0001). Sensitivity and specificity of the test were 80% and 58.1% for rejection, and 56.5% and 66% for viral enteritis, thereby unable to distinguish between both entities. In conclusion, P-Cit reflects the extent of mucosal injury regardless of the etiology, but does not seem to be a predictive marker for rejection or viral enteritis, as its values may decline only when diffuse mucosal damage has occurred.

Bronchiolitis is the most common acute viral infection of the lower airways in infants and the main cause of hospitalisation and death from viral infections in western countries. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has led to most countries adopting social distancing measures and population movement restrictions to reduce transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. During the 2020-2021 winter season, social distancing and mask use altered the spread of common viral respiratory infections, reducing the incidence of winter epidemics. 1 The aim of this study was to investigate what impact social distancing measures had on the hospitalisations for bronchiolitis in two paediatric children's hospitals in Italy.

ObjectiveThis study aims to explore the attitude of adolescents with chronic diseases toward social media exposure, focusing in particular on Facebook.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingAn anonymous semistructured survey was distributed to an Italian hospital-based cohort of adolescents with chronic disease to explore the role of Facebook in their daily life.PatientsWe recruited 212 adolescents (aged between 13 and 24 years) with a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease, diabetes mellitus type 1 and cystic fibrosis.ResultsTwo hundred and seven of the 212 (97.6%) expressed the need of sharing their illness experience with friends, 201 out of 212 (94.8%) usually searched information on the internet to find new therapies and to discover their prognosis. One hundred and forty-nine out of 212 adolescents (70.3%) perceived dependence on their parents as the most negative aspect of having a chronic disease, and 200 out of 212 (94.3%) were looking for friends with the same disease on Facebook. Two hundred and ten out of 212 (99.1%) did not want their doctors or nurse on their social media platforms. During the active disease periods, the time spent with social media increased from an average of 5 to 11 hours.ConclusionsThis descriptive analysis focused on the Facebook impact on chronic disease perception among affected adolescents. It showed that they used to spend an increased amount of time on this platform during disease flare-up and highlighted their wish of keeping doctors and nurses away from their social dimension.

BACKGROUND: To prevent malnutrition and food aspiration in children with chronic neuromuscular problems, enteral nutrition provided by gastrostomy is recommended. Long-term follow-up data about surgical and medical complications of PEG are available, but few papers have addressed all of the issues in the same series. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled patients under 18 years who had a gastrostomy tube placed at our institution between 2003 and 2017. The aim is to evaluate outcomes after gastrostomy placement, focusing both on surgical complications (early and late), and its effect on their nutritional status, on the prevention of pulmonary infections, and their parents’ opinion. RESULTS: Eighty-four gastrostomies were placed in total (35 F; 49 M). Seventy-seven patients had a severe neurocognitive impairment (GMFCS 5). The principal indication for gastrostomy was severe dysphagia (53.3%). No gastrostomy-related death was observed. Early surgical complications were observed in five of 84 (5,9%) patients; late complications were observed in 15 of 84 (17.8%) patients. Twenty-two patients were diagnosed with subsequent gastroesophageal reflux; five patients developed dumping syndrome (6%). Complete medical follow-up data were available for 45 patients. A progressive improvement of nutritional status was observed in 29 patients, and 11 maintained the same percentile; the occurrence of respiratory infections and need for hospitalization decreased. In 90% of cases, parents were fully satisfied with the g-tube. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the positive nutritional outcomes of gastrostomy-tube with an associated small risk of surgical complications and a reduction in the number of respiratory infections, with most parents scoring their experience as positive.