Myocarditis is one of the most common acquired heart diseases in children,and one of the most common causes of a pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy phenotype.The myocarditis is a difficult issue in the diagnosis and the optimal means of therapy.A recent Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry (PCMR) analysis in the largest group of pediatric myocarditis patients ever studied confirmed that the most common outcome in pediatric myocarditis was cardiac recovery,but approximately 30％ of pediatric myocarditis patients would die or undergo heart transplantation.Animal studies and adult experience suggested that autoimmunity might contribute to cardiac dysfunction in myocarditis.Immunosuppressive and immunomodulating therapy for pediatric myocarditis remains controversial.Small case series have shown benefit of these therapies in pediatric myocarditis.A limited number of biomarkers associated both good (recovery) and poor (death or transplantation) outcomes could be identified.We should do our best to find these biomarkers in the future.

Syncope is a common clinical problem in children and adolescents. It is a major challenge for practicing physicians, and medical resource utilization and expenses associated with syncope management are enormous. A diagnostic protocol to syncope must be developed for children and adolescents for convenient and effective final diagnosis, and an analysis of cost-effectiveness is meaningful. Thus, according to the studies of syncope in children in China,the Chinese Pediatric Cardiology Society proposed the guidelines for diagnosis of syncope in children in China, and developed a simplified diagnostic protocol for children and adolescents with syncope. According to a multi-center prospective study,the diagnostic protocol in children and adolescents with syncope results in an improvement of diagnostic yield.

Arrhythmia-induced cardiomyopathy (AIC) is a myocardial disease condition in which left ventricular dysfunction and cardiomegaly are induced or mediated by atrial or ventricular arrhythmias.The pathophysiological mechanisms remain unclear.Early recognition of AIC and provision of prompt treatment with pharmacological or ablative techniques could result in symptom resolution and recovery of ventricular function.But,the long-term prognosis of these patients is not clear and needs further observation and research.

Purpose:To evaluate the antitumor effects of human cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells from healthy donors and patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in vitro and in vivo .Methods:Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy donors and patients were induced to become CIK cells by in vitro incubation. The CIK cells were identified at different intervals by flow cytometry analysis. The cytotoxicity of CIK cells against autologous primary HCC was determined by 51Cr Release Assays. The antitumor activity of the CIK, LAK and PBMC cells were evaluated in Balb/c nude mice bearing BEL-7402liver cancer.Results:The flow cytometry analysis showed that CIK cells from patients with HCC proliferated and expanded more than 300-fold in vitro incubation by day 28;the percentage of CD3+CD56+ cells increased from 0.23% on day 0 to 17.8% on day 21. CIK cells generated from patients with HCC patients possessed a higher antitumor cytotoxic activity on autologous HCC cells in vitro than autologous PBMC. In addition, CIK cells had a stronger suppressive effect on the tumor growth in Balb/c nude mice bearing BEL-7402 tumor than LAK cells (median inhibitory rates 84.7% vs 52.8%, P

OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinical value of 24-hour urinary sodium determination in children with postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS).

METHODFifty-eight POTS children and 10 healthy children (control group) from Peking University First Hospital during June 2012 to May 2014 were enrolled. Their 24-hour urinary sodium and plasma sodium levels were compared. Correlation analysis was done between 24-hour urinary sodium and symptom scores in children with POTS. All patients were treated with oral rehydration salts. The POTS patients were divided into hyponatriuria group (urinary sodium < 124 mmol/24 h) and hypernatriuria group (urinary sodium ≥ 124 mmol/24 h). Kaplan-Meier curve was used to analyze the effects of different 24-hour urinary sodium levels in children with POTS receiving rehydration salts therapy.

RESULTThe 24-hour urinary sodium levels of children with POTS were significantly lower than that of control group ((110. 0 ± 45. 8) vs. (221. 3 ± 103. 6) mmol/24 h, t =3. 339, P = 0. 008), while no statistical significance was found in plasma sodium between the two groups ((139. 7 ± 2. 1) vs. (139. 7 ± 2. 3) mmol/L, t = 0. 082, P = 0. 935). Pearson correlation analysis showed that 24-hour urinary sodium and severity of symptoms in children patients were negatively correlated (r = - 0. 654, P < 0. 001) . Urinary sodium < 124 mmol/24 h was used as the cut-off value, there were 43 cases in hyponatriuria group and 15 cases in hypernatriuria group. The symptom scores were significantly higher in hyponatriuria group (10. 2 ± 3. 7 vs. 5. 0 ± 1. 8, P < 0. 001), there was no significant difference in other basic information and hemodynamic data between groups (P > 0. 05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that urine sodium < 124 mmol/24 h was independent risk factor for effectiveness of rehydration salts in POTS patients (OR = 0. 043, 95% CI:0. 004 - 0. 499, P = 0. 012). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed the long-term effect of patients receiving oral rehydration salts in hyponatriuria group was significantly better than that in hypernatriuria group (86. 0 % vs. 60. 0%, χ2 = 8. 471, P = 0. 004).

CONCLUSIONTwenty-four hours urinary sodium is a good indicaor for guiding children with POTS receiving rehydration salts therapy.

Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Fluid Therapy ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome ; urine ; Rehydration Solutions ; Salts ; Sodium ; urine

Objective To evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine on renal functions during the anesthesia of liver transplantation patients.Methods Forty patients (male 31 cases,female 9 cases, aged 40-60 years,ASA grade Ⅱ or Ⅲ)received liver transplantation were randomly divided into two groups(n =20):dexmedetomidine group (group D)and normal saline group (group C).Patients in the group D received a loading dose of dexmedetomidine (0.5 μg/kg within 10 min)and a continuous infusion of dexmedetomidine (0.4 μg·kg-1 ·h-1 )until the end of surgery,while patients in group C received saline.Central venous blood and urine were collected after induction of anesthesia (T1 ),the anhepatic phase of liver 30 min (T2 ),new liver stage 30 min (T3 ),new liver stage 6 h (T4 ),postop-erative 24 h (T5 )and postoperative 1 week (T6 )to detect the serum cystatin C,endogenous creati-nine clearance rate,blood urea nitrogen,blood creatinine,urinary NAG enzyme,urinary albumin, and red blood cells.The use of vasopressors and diuretics,blood loss,fluid,urine,and blood transfu-sion (including RBC,fresh frozen plasma,and platelets)were all recorded.Results Compared with T1 ,serum cystatin C,blood urea nitrogen,serum creatinine of group D increased significantly and en-dogenous creatinine clearance rate reduced significantly at T3 ,T4 (P < 0.05 ).Microalbuminuria in-creased at T3-T5 (P <0.05).Serum cystatin C,blood urea nitrogen,serum creatinine of group C in-creased significantly and endogenous creatinine clearance rate reduced significantly(P < 0.05 ).Com-pared with group C,serum cystatin C,blood urea nitrogen,serum creatinine of group D reduced signif-icantly at T3-T5 and endogenous creatinine clearance rate increased(P <0.05).Microalbuminuria re-duced significantly at T4 ,T5 (P <0.05 ).Perioperative use of diuretics in group D patients was less than that in group C,but the use of vasopressors in group D patients was more than that in group C (P <0.05).Urine volume in group D was more than that in group C (P < 0.05 ).There was no difference in perioperative blood loss, fluid, and blood transfusion between two groups. Conclusion Perioperative continuous infusion of dexmedetomidine might effectively alleviate acute kidney injury during operation and decrease the use of diuretics.

Objective:To obtain highly purified recombinant human IGF-Ⅰ(rhIGF-Ⅰ) and identify it.Methods:rhIGF-Ⅰ Was purified through ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography after the inclusion bodies of rhIGF-Ⅰ were extracted from Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein was characterized through molecular weight assay, Western-blot, and fluorescent chromatography. The renaturation and biological assay of rhIGF-Ⅰ were investigated. Results and Conclusions: The purity of rhIGF-Ⅰ was higher than 99%. The analysis of molecular weight, Western-blot, fluorescent chromatography and sequences of NH2-terminal 15 amino acids were same as those anticipated. 3-10 mg/ml was the concentration of renatured rhIGF-Ⅰ to support half-maximal stimulation of cell proliferation with BALB/c 3T3 cells.

Objective To investigate the clinical effect and the prospect of Infliximab in treatment of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)-resistant Kawasaki disease (KD) patients.Methods Clinical features,inflammatory markers and coronary changes were observed in 2 cases of IVIG-resistant KD patients hospitalized in Peking University First Hospital,who were treated effectively by Infliximab.Relevant researches on the mechanism and progress of the Infliximab treatment for IVIG-resistant KD in the last 10 years were reviewed at the same time.Results Two KD patients hospitalized in Peking University First Hospital had been treated with 2 g/kg IVIG for 2 times and followed by methylprednisolone treatment.However,fever and other clinical manifestations occurred again after 2 days and 6 days when temperature returned normal.They both defervesced and all the symptoms were improved after 1 dose of Infliximab (5 mg/kg) by laboratory examinations.Four published literatures of the basic research and 9 retrospective or prospective clinical researches of Infliximab treatment of KD showed that Infliximab alleviated the inflammatory level in the KD patients significantly.Complete remission was up to 72.73％-92.11％.Those KD patients defervesced within 12 h,with dramatic improvement of symptoms and signs.Arthralgia also disappeared in the patients with arthritis.Only 1 case was complicated with hepatitis in the acute phase and cholecystitis in recovery time.A phase 3 randomised,double-blinded,placebo-controlled trial had been done to assess the addition of Infliximab to the standard therapy.Conclusions Infliximab is a feasible choice for IVIG-resistant KD patients.Efficacy and safety of Infliximab for KD treatment have been proved in the literature.However,Infliximab for KD treatment has not been indicated in the drug instruction,so the informed consent from the guardians and Ethics Committee is needed.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, self-limiting, and medium-sized vasculitis, which has been the commonest cause of acquired heart disease in children in developed countries.Without timely diagnosis and treatment, up-to 25% of the affected children may develop coronary artery abnormalities (CAA). Due to the lack of the specific diagnostic method, KD is mainly diagnosed according to the clinical criteria.As a result, typical KD is recognized easily, but it is a big challenge to diagnose KD patients with incomplete or atypical symptoms.The pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) around the world makes the diagnosis of KD even more complex.In this review, hot issues in diagnosing KD were discussed according to the 2017 guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of KD recently published by the American Heart Association (AHA), expecting to provide help for diagnosis of KD children.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a clinical hemodynamic syndrome characterized by increased pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance. It can cause right ventricular failure, and even death. Pediatric PH is not very common, but is a greatly hazardous disease that leads to a high mortality rate. Therefore, many registry organizations have been established in the world to strengthen the study of diagnosis and treatment of the disease, and improve the understanding of pediatric PH. This article reviewed recently published researches, as well as presented a comprehensive understanding of PH, including definition, classification, epidemiology, prognosis and treatment.
Child ; Disease Management ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Incidence ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Artery ; Vascular Resistance