The mean adult height of Koreans has increased since nationwide anthropological measurements began in 1967. The objective of this study was to evaluate differences in heights of Korean late adolescents and young adults within and between the Second and Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES II and V).

Koreans aged ≤22 years with available measurements of height were...

The clinical interpretation of children sensitized to allergens is challenging, particularly in children with food allergies. We aimed to examine clinical differences between children with monosensitization and those with polysensitization to common food allergens and to determine risk factors for polysensitization in young children <10 years of age with immediate-type food allergies.

The study included children <10 years of age with...

In addition to regulating calcium and phosphorus homeostasis and bone metabolism, vitamin D is known as an immune modulator. Recently, there has been increased worldwide interest in the association between low levels of vitamin D and allergic diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between serum vitamin D levels and allergic/vasomotor rhinitis (AR/VR) in children.

This study...

We evaluated three blood glucose self-monitoring for measuring whole blood glucose levels in preterm and low-birth-weight infants.

Between December 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013, 230 blood samples were collected from 50 newborns, who weighed, ≤2,300 g or were ≤36 weeks old, in the the neonatal intensive care unit of Eulji University Hospital. Three blood glucose self-monitoring (A: Precision Pcx, Abbott;...

It is difficult to differentiate between central precocious puberty (CPP) and premature thelarche (PT) in girls. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic usefulness of pelvic ultrasonography to distinguish between CPP and PT in girls with early breast development.

This study included girls with early breast development who visited the clinic between January 2012 and December 2013. Clinical,...

In this study, we aimed to review the clinical presentation of preterm infants with gastrointestinal perforations and compare the clinical features of gastric perforation with other intestinal perforations.

The medical records of preterm neonates with pneumoperitoneum, admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) between January 1994 and December 2013, were retrospectively reviewed.

Twenty-one preterm infants underwent exploratory laparotomy to investigate the...

We assessed the relationships between iron and vitamin D statuses in breastfed infants and their mothers and evaluated the determinants of iron and vitamin D deficiencies in breastfed infants.

Seventy breastfed infants aged 4-24 months and their mothers participated in this study from February 2012 to May 2013. Complete blood counts, total iron binding capacity, and levels of C-reactive protein, iron,...

Ventricular repolarization is assessed using the QT interval corrected by the heart rate (QTc) via an electrocardiogram (ECG). Prolonged QTc is associated with an increased risk of arrhythmias and cardiac mortality. As there have been few reports regarding the effects of hyperthyroidism on ventricular repolarization, we studied the association between serum free thyroxine (free T4 [fT4]) and thyroid stimulating hormone...

Kabuki syndrome is a multiple congenital malformation syndrome, with characteristic facial features, mental retardation, and skeletal and congenital heart anomalies. However, the cardiac anomalies are not well described in the Korean population. We analyzed the cardiac anomalies and clinical features of Kabuki syndrome in a single tertiary center.

A retrospective analysis was conducted for a total of 13 patients with Kabuki...

The widespread introduction of bacterial conjugate vaccines has decreased the risk of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis due to bacterial meningitis (BM) in children. However, most patients with CSF pleocytosis are hospitalized and treated with parenteral antibiotics for several days. The bacterial meningitis score (BMS) is a validated multivariate model derived from a pediatric population in the postconjugate vaccine era and...

Wheezing following viral lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in children <2 years of age is an important risk factor for the development of asthma later in life; however, not all children with viral LRTIs develop wheezing. This study investigated risk factors for the development of wheezing during viral LRTIs requiring hospitalization.

The study included 142 children <2 years of age hospitalized...

Thyroid dysfunction is common in preterm infants. Congenital hypothyroidism causes neurodevelopmental impairment, which is preventable if properly treated. This study was conducted to describe the characteristics of thyroid dysfunction in very low birth weight infants (VLBWIs), evaluate risk factors of hypothyroidism, and suggest the reassessment of thyroid function with an initially normal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) as part of a newborn...

Idiopathic scoliosis is a structural lateral curvature of the spine of unknown etiology. The relationship between degree of spine curvature and cardiopulmonary function has not yet been investigated. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between scoliosis and cardiopulmonary characteristics.

Ninety children who underwent preoperative pulmonary or cardiac evaluation at a single spine institution over 41 months were...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) infection is a major cause of respiratory infection in school-aged children. Extrapulmonary manifestations of MP infection are common, but liver involvement has been rarely reported. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics of MP-associated hepatitis.

This prospective study included 1,044 pediatric patients with MP infection diagnosed serologically with MP IgM at one medical center...

The use of a 12-week steroid regimen (long-term therapy, LT) for the first episode of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS) reportedly induces a more sustained remission and lower relapse rate than previous regimens, including an 8-week steroid regimen (short-term therapy, ST). Here, we assessed the potential for selective application of 2 steroid regimens (LT vs. ST) based on the days to...

Catheter urine (CATH-U) and suprapubic aspiration (SPA) are reliable urine collection methods for confirming urinary tract infections (UTI) in infants. However, noninvasive and easily accessible collecting bag urine (CBU) is widely used, despite its high contamination rate. This study investigated the validity of CBU cultures for diagnosing UTIs, using CATH-U culture results as the gold standard.

We retrospectively analyzed 210 infants,...

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of CD4⁺CD25⁺FoxP3⁺ regulatory T cells (Treg) in the peripheral blood of patients with childhood chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) exhibiting thrombocytopenia and spontaneous remission. The findings of this study indicate the possibility of predicting spontaneous recovery and pathogenesis of childhood chronic ITP.

Eleven children with chronic ITP (seven thrombocytopenic and four...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) pneumonia epidemics have occurred in 3- to 4-year cycles in Korea. We evaluated the epidemiologic characteristics of MP pneumonia in Daejeon, Korea, from 2003 to 2012.

We retrospectively analyzed 779 medical records of children (0-15 years of old) with MP pneumonia admitted to our institution and compared the data from 3 recent epidemics.

In 779 patients, the mean age...

To analyze the correlation between serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and obesity indices including body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BFP), total fat mass (FM), truncal fat mass (TFM), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in Korean adolescents.

This was a cross-sectional study based on data derived from the 2010-2011 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES). Subjects were...

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effects of mild hypoxia in the mature and immature brain.

We prepared organotypic slice cultures of the hippocampus and used hippocampal tissue cultures at 7 and 14 days in vitro (DIV) to represent the immature and mature brain, respectively. Tissue cultures were exposed to 10% oxygen for 60 minutes. Twenty-four hours...

Continuous intravenous access is imperative in emergency situations. Ultrasound-guided internal jugular vein (IJV) catheterization was investigated in critically ill pediatric patients to assess the feasibility of the procedure.

Patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit between February 2011 and September 2012 were enrolled in this study. All patients received a central venous catheter from attending house staff under ultrasound guidance....

This study investigated the long-term clinical outcomes of patients with p22^phox-deficient chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) on Jeju Island and retrospectively evaluated the effects of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) prophylaxis.

The medical records of 15 patients with CGD were retrospectively reviewed. The efficacy of IFN-γ prophylaxis was evaluated by comparing the frequency of severe infections before and after starting continuous prophylaxis with IFN-γ.

At the...

Human parechovirus (HPeV) and enterovirus (EV) are causative agents of a sepsis-like illness in neonates and of infections of the central nervous system in young children. The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of HPeV3 and EV infection in young children with a sepsis-like illness or with meningitis in Jinju, Korea.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were collected from...

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory relapsing skin disorder. Vitamin D plays a pivotal role in the development of AD, and interleukin (IL) 31 is known to be related to pruritus in AD. The aim of our study was to determine whether 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels are related to IL-31 levels or to the severity of AD.

We enrolled 91...

House dust mite (HDM) has been suggested to be the most important aeroallergen responsible for atopic asthma in Korea. We aimed to investigate that specific IgE antibodies to HDM and other common indoor aeroallergens contribute differently to total serum IgE and show different relationships with longitudinal fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurements in Korean atopic asthmatic patients.

A total of 193...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of initial screening tests for depression and anxiety disorders in children with headache. In addition, this study evaluated whether the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) are suitable for screening symptoms of depression and anxiety.

A retrospective chart review was conducted of 720 children aged 7-17...

Many patients presenting with headache also complain of constipation; the relationship between these two symptoms has not been explored in detail. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between primary headache and constipation.

This retrospective study included all children who attended the Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital complaining of headache, and who had been followed up for at...

This study aimed to investigate the relative weight gain at 2-week intervals up to 6 weeks after birth to predict retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) requiring treatment among very low birth weight infants.

A total of 211 preterm infants with birth weights <1,500 g and gestational age <32 weeks were retrospectively reviewed. The main outcome was the development of ROP requiring treatment....

Diencephalic syndrome is an uncommon cause of failure to thrive in early childhood that is associated with central nervous system neoplasms in the hypothalamic-optic chiasmatic region. It is characterized by complex signs and symptoms related to hypothalamic dysfunction; such nonspecific clinical features may delay diagnosis of the brain tumor. In this study, we analyzed a series of cases in order...

We investigated the molecular types of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) by using conventional phylogrouping, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and fimH genotyping.

Samples of patients younger than 18 years of age were collected from the Chung-Ang University Hospital over 2 years. Conventional phylogenetic grouping for UPEC strains was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Bacterial strain sequence types (STs) were classified on...