This study aimed to investigate the effects of colchicine on growth parameters in familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) patients. Fifty-one (29 girls, 22 boys) FMF patients were enrolled in the study. All of the patients were in the prepubertal stage and had not received colchicine treatment before the study. Anthropometric measurements, demographic features, clinical findings at diagnosis and during periods of attacks of FMF, disease activity, frequency of exacerbations, colchicine dosage, and weight and height measurements were recorded at an interval of 6 months. Height, weight, and body mass index standard deviation scores and Z-scores were calculated. The mean height standard deviation score (HSDS) was significantly increased from -0.64 ± 1.20 to -0.26 ± 1.07 (p < 0.001), the mean weight standard deviation score (WSDS) was significantly increased from -0.60 ± 1.03 to -0.45 ± 0.98 (p = 0.008), and the mean body mass index standard deviation score was decreased from -0.33 ± 1.06 to -0.47 ± 0.98 (p = 0.128) at 1 year after colchicine treatment compared with before initiation of treatment. In patients who had no FMF attacks during colchicine treatment, height and weight were significantly increased at 1 year (HSDS: p < 0.001 WSDS: p = 0.002), but in patients who had recurrent attacks, height and weight did not change (HSDS: p = 0.051, WSDS: p = 0.816). Even when subclinical inflammation is present, preventing attacks of FMF with colchicine allows growth to continue. However, suppression of subclinical inflammation and control of attacks of FMF are required for weight gain.

Objective: Non-cardiac chest pain is a common and persistent problem for children; yet, typically, there is no clear medical cause. To date, no behavioural and/or psychological factors have been studied to explain chest pain in a pre-school paediatric sample. We hypothesized that pre-school children with medically unexplained chest pain would have higher rates of behavioural problems compared to healthy controls. Methods: We assessed 41 pre-school children with non-cardiac chest pain and 68 age matched children with benign heart murmurs as the control group using the Child Behaviour Check List-1 1/2–5 to evaluate emotional and behavioural problems. Results: Internalizing problem scores comprising emotionally reactive, anxiety/depression, and somatic complaints were higher in children with non-cardiac chest pain than in the control group. Among the possible factors, the factor that is related to behaviour problem scores, in univariate analysis, was a significant and inverse correlation between maternal education and behaviour problem scores. Also, maternal employment status was associated with behavioural problems. Children with a housewife mother were more susceptible to having such behavioural problems. Based on multiple regression analyses, being in the non-cardiac chest pain group was found to be significantly related to internalizing problems in our total sample. Conclusions: These results suggest that pre-school children with non-cardiac chest pain may experience increased levels of certain behavioural comorbidities. Systematic behavioural screening could increase the detection of behavioural problems and improve care for this population. Future studies of non-cardiac chest pain in pre-school children should include larger samples and comprehensive diagnostic assessments as well as long-term follow-up evaluations.

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Objective: The Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) are developmental screening tools that are commonly used in pediatric practice worldwide. We aimed to compare the screening results of the PEDS and the ASQ in children with a wide range of ages and to evaluate the degree of agreement between the tests across the age groups. Methods: The study was conducted with the participation of 327 children aged 3 to 72 months. Participants were administered the PEDS and then the ASQ. Children with known developmental disabilities were included in the study to represent a real-world clinical practice setting and evaluated with a clinical workup. Results: The median age of the children was 35.1 months, with a range of 3 to 72 months. The percentage of children with known developmental disabilities was 16.5%. The actual agreement between the PEDS and ASQ was 74% with a concordance represented by Cohen k of 0.422 (p < 0.001) in the total sample. Furthermore, the agreement was higher in children aged 25 to 36 months and 37 to 48 months than for the other ages. Conclusion: We compared the clinical features of the ASQ and PEDS across the age groups, and they demonstrated moderate agreement. The present study also showed the performance of the PEDS and suggests that it should certainly be used for developmental screening in routine child health care practice in Eurasia, thus supporting the use of such parent-completed developmental tools that should be encouraged for universal screening.

Background. There is increased awareness regarding the co-occurrence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and inherited metabolic disorders (IMD), and this is crucial for the management of both diagnoses in clinical practice. We aimed firstly to report twenty-two patients with a dual diagnosis of IMD and ASD who are still being followed up in the child metabolism outpatient clinic; secondly to evaluate the time of both IMD and ASD diagnosis and the clinical progress of their metabolic disorders to underline treatable conditions. Methods. Among the patients admitted to the Pediatric Metabolism outpatient clinic because of IMD, twentytwo of them who had a diagnosis of ASD were included in the study. Data of the patients were collected from their medical records. The most recent progress of the patients concerning their metabolic disorder was obtained from the patients` files. Results. Six cases with Phenylketonuria, 2 cases with partial Biotinidase Deficiency, 3 cases with Cerebral Creatine Deficiency Syndrome (CCDS), 5 cases with Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) Type-3b, 2 cases with MPS Type-3a, 1 case with MPS Type 4, 2 cases with Hypervalinemia and 1 case with Maple Syrup Urine Disease were all diagnosed as also having ASD. The diagnoses of CCDS and MPS Type 3 were after the diagnosis of ASD. Phenylketonuria and Mucopolysaccharidosis were the most common diagnoses in our study. In addition, rare entities such as MPS Type 3b and Type 4 and Hypervalinemia were also reported to co-occur with autism. Conclusions. Considering the co-occurrence of both disorders and implementing intervention strategies accordingly will certainly be beneficial in clinical practice and particularly in countries with a high rate of consanguinity.

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Background. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders and has a big impact on the well-being of children. The disorder can lead to noticeable functional limitations for children and bio-ecological factors also contribute to symptoms of ADHD. We aimed to investigate the associations between ADHD symptoms and some related bio-ecological factors including serum ferritin, zinc levels and sensory processing in preschool-aged children. Methods. Twenty-two children who had been referred to the division of Developmental Pediatrics because of ADHD symptoms and 22 participants from the general pediatric outpatient clinics were included in the study. The symptoms of ADHD were evaluated with Conners` Parent Rating Scale-Revised Short form. Complete blood count, serum ferritin and zinc levels were also evaluated. A blind occupational therapist implemented sensory processing measurements. The characteristics of each participant such as prematurity, perinatal complications, developmental practices and sociodemographic data were also considered. Results. Sensory processing measurement analysis revealed that all Sensory Profile scores were significantly lower in the children with ADHD symptoms compared to the control group indicating that the child shows the behavior more than desired. The low level of zinc (p=0.026, OR=6.153, 95% CI= 1.247-30.362) and the presence of perinatal complications (p=0.045, OR=10.864, 95% CI=1.059-111.499) increased the risk of ADHD symptoms. We could not find an association for ferritin levels in our study. Conclusions. The evaluation of zinc level and sensory profile parallel to other strategies can be recommended during the management of ADHD symptoms in preschool children.