Pediatric obesity has increased over the decades, and in particular, severe pediatric obesity has become a serious public health problem. A concern has arisen that the COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate the incidence of childhood obesity.Current Concepts: The consequences of severe pediatric obesity are more devastating than those of moderate obesity. Children with severe obesity are at a greater risk for hypertension, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, atherosclerosis, and adult obesity. Correct assessment and diagnosis of a child with severe obesity is key to successful therapy. A thorough history and physical examination are important in identifying monogenic obesity or metabolic syndrome. Eating behaviors and psychosocial factors should be assessed to improve weight management outcomes. Treatment options for severe pediatric obesity include lifestyle modification, pharmacotherapy, and metabolic and bariatric surgery. Even though progress has been made with regard to the treatment of obesity, safe and effective treatment of severe pediatric obesity is challenging.Discussion and Conclusion: More efforts and innovations are needed to find a solution for the huge medical and emotional burden the children with severe obesity and their families are enduring.

Pediatric obesity has increased over the decades, and in particular, severe pediatric obesity has become a serious public health problem. A concern has arisen that the COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate the incidence of childhood obesity.Current Concepts: The consequences of severe pediatric obesity are more devastating than those of moderate obesity. Children with severe obesity are at a greater risk for hypertension, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, atherosclerosis, and adult obesity. Correct assessment and diagnosis of a child with severe obesity is key to successful therapy. A thorough history and physical examination are important in identifying monogenic obesity or metabolic syndrome. Eating behaviors and psychosocial factors should be assessed to improve weight management outcomes. Treatment options for severe pediatric obesity include lifestyle modification, pharmacotherapy, and metabolic and bariatric surgery. Even though progress has been made with regard to the treatment of obesity, safe and effective treatment of severe pediatric obesity is challenging.Discussion and Conclusion: More efforts and innovations are needed to find a solution for the huge medical and emotional burden the children with severe obesity and their families are enduring.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities that include hypertension, altered glucose metabolism, dyslipidemia, and abdominal obesity and is strongly associated with an increased risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease onset in obese adults and children. A progressively greater number of children and adolescents are being affected by this syndrome due to the constant increase in the prevalence of obesity. Like obesity, childhood MetS highly tracks to adulthood. The pathogenesis of MetS includes the interaction between obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation. Early diagnosis and intervention are important in order to conduct lifestyle modification. In this article, we review the definition and pathophysiology of MetS, the importance of screening, and prevention and treatment options for MetS in childhood.

The increasing prevalence of pediatric obesity over the past few decades has become a serious public health concern. Quarantine measures during the coronavirus disease pandemic have led to an increase in childhood obesity rates. Children with obesity are at greater risk for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, polycystic ovary syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea, and adult obesity. Lifestyle modification therapy is the firstline treatment for pediatric obesity. Pharmacotherapy is the next logical treatment option in patients in whom lifestyle modifications alone are ineffective.Current Concepts: Anti-obesity medications for pediatric obesity include metformin, orlistat, glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, phentermine, and phentermine/topiramate combination. Metformin, a medication used for type 2 diabetes has not been approved for treatment of pediatric obesity. Orlistat, a lipase inhibitor, prevents fat absorption from the human diet. Liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist, is associated with decreased gastric emptying, increased satiety, and appetite suppression. Phentermine, a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for short-term treatment of patients aged >16 years. Phentermine/topiramate is a combination of the conventional anti-obesity medication, phentermine and an antiepileptic agent, topiramate that is commonly associated with weight loss as an adverse effect.Discussion and Conclusion: Anti-obesity treatment may serve as the next logical therapeutic option for pediatric obesity. However, sufficient lifestyle modification therapy should be attempted before considering medication, and anti-obesity medications should preferably be used in combination with lifestyle modifications. Monitoring growth and pubertal development during anti-obesity treatment is essential to ensure healthy development of children and adolescents.

PURPOSE: Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) has been identified as an early marker of acute kidney injury (AKI). This study was designed to evaluate the clinical utility of the rapid plasma NGAL assay for diagnosing AKI in critically ill newborn infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). METHODS: The medical records of 178 critically ill newborn infants >34 weeks of gestational age who underwent plasma NGAL measurement during the first week of life in the Korea University Ansan Hospital NICU from February 2011 to August 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Plasma NGAL levels were measured at bedside by using a commercial competitive immunoassay kit simultaneously with serum creatinine (Cr) level determination. RESULTS: Of 178 newborn infants enrolled in this study (study group), 25 infants had AKI (AKI group) while 153 infants had no AKI (control group). The plasma NGAL level in the AKI group (114.0 [76.5–281.5] ng/mL) was significantly higher than that in the control group (74.0 [52.5–122.5] ng/mL, P=0.001). Moreover, plasma NGAL levels were found to be correlated with serum Cr levels in the study group (r=0.208, P=0.005). Plasma NGAL achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.705 for detecting AKI (95% confidence interval: 0.593–0.817). The best cutoff plasma NGAL level for AKI diagnosis was 100 ng/mL. CONCLUSION: The rapid plasma NGAL assay has diagnostic value for AKI in critically ill newborn infants >34 weeks of gestational age. Further investigations with a larger population are needed to confirm the potential use of plasma NGAL levels for diagnosing AKI in newborn infants.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Creatinine ; Critical Illness* ; Diagnosis ; Gestational Age ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Korea ; Lipocalins* ; Medical Records ; Neutrophils* ; Plasma* ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve

Background: Triptorelin depot is largely used to treat central precocious puberty (CPP) in children, and a 3-month depot has been introduced. However, data about the 3-month gonadotropin-releasing hormone use for treatment of CPP in Korean girls are not available.This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of a triptorelin 11.25 mg 3-month depot with that of a 3.75 mg 1-month depot in suppressing pubertal development for the treatment of CPP. Methods: A retrospective study, including 106 girls with CPP treated with triptorelin, was conducted. Fifty patients were treated with a triptorelin 3-month depot, and 56 were treated with a triptorelin 1-month depot. Serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone, and estradiol levels were analysed every 6 months after the visit. The height and bone age of each patient was evaluated at the beginning of treatment, after 6 months, and one year after therapy. Results: The baseline characteristics of the girls treated with a 3-month depot were similar to those of the girls treated with a 1-month depot. A suppressed levels of LH to the triptorelin injection (serum LH < 2.5 IU/L) at 6 months was seen in 90.0% and 98.2% of the girls treated with the 3-month and 1-month depots, respectively (P = 0.160). After 1 year of treatment, a suppressed levels of LH was seen in 93.5% and 100% of the girls treated with the 3-month and 1-month depots, respectively (P = 0.226). Height velocity showed no significant difference between the two groups. Degree of bone age advancement decreased from 1.22 ± 0.07 and 1.22 ± 0.08 years at baseline (P = 0.914) to 1.16 ± 0.07 and 1.17 ± 0.08 in the girls treated with the 3-month and 1-month depots after 1 year, respectively (P = 0.481). Conclusion This study showed that the efficacy of long-acting triptorelin 3-month was comparable to 1-month depot regarding hormonal suppression and inhibition of bone maturation. The triptorelin 11.25 mg 3-month depot is an effective treatment for girls with CPP.

Purpose: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common form of scoliosis and occurs in children between 10 to 18 years old, during periods of growth spurts and puberty changes. In patients with central precocious puberty (CPP), due to early growth spurt, AIS is expected to develop before 10 years of age. Both AIS and CPP are more common in girls than in boys. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of AIS in girls with CPP and to evaluate the effect of treatment with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists on progression of scoliosis in these patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 553 girls, 338 with CPP and 215 without CPP. Scoliosis angle was measured on the standing frontal radiograph of each patient according to the Cobb method. Patients with a Cobb angle of 10° or more were diagnosed with scoliosis. For girls with CPP, followup spine radiographs were collected 1 year after treatment with GnRH agonists. Progression of scoliosis before and after treatment was compared in terms of Cobb angle changes. Results: AIS was more prevalent in girls that were affected by CPP compared tocontrols without CPP (11.5% vs. 6.0%, CPP girls vs. non-CPP girls, respectively, P=0.031). The peak serum luteinizing hormone level positively correlated with Cobb angle (R2=0.015, P=0.023) in the CPP group. No progression of scoliosis was observed in CPP girls after one year of GnRH agonist treatment. Additionally, the prevalence of scoliosis decreased in CPP girls after 1 year of the treatment. Conclusion We report that the prevalence of AIS is higher in girls with CPP than in non-CPP patients. A regular follow-up schedule for spine radiographs should be considered to reduce the risk of progression. Furthermore, GnRH agonist treatment for CPP may have a suppressive effect on progression of AIS.

Background: Triptorelin depot is largely used to treat central precocious puberty (CPP) in children, and a 3-month depot has been introduced. However, data about the 3-month gonadotropin-releasing hormone use for treatment of CPP in Korean girls are not available.This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of a triptorelin 11.25 mg 3-month depot with that of a 3.75 mg 1-month depot in suppressing pubertal development for the treatment of CPP. Methods: A retrospective study, including 106 girls with CPP treated with triptorelin, was conducted. Fifty patients were treated with a triptorelin 3-month depot, and 56 were treated with a triptorelin 1-month depot. Serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone, and estradiol levels were analysed every 6 months after the visit. The height and bone age of each patient was evaluated at the beginning of treatment, after 6 months, and one year after therapy. Results: The baseline characteristics of the girls treated with a 3-month depot were similar to those of the girls treated with a 1-month depot. A suppressed levels of LH to the triptorelin injection (serum LH < 2.5 IU/L) at 6 months was seen in 90.0% and 98.2% of the girls treated with the 3-month and 1-month depots, respectively (P = 0.160). After 1 year of treatment, a suppressed levels of LH was seen in 93.5% and 100% of the girls treated with the 3-month and 1-month depots, respectively (P = 0.226). Height velocity showed no significant difference between the two groups. Degree of bone age advancement decreased from 1.22 ± 0.07 and 1.22 ± 0.08 years at baseline (P = 0.914) to 1.16 ± 0.07 and 1.17 ± 0.08 in the girls treated with the 3-month and 1-month depots after 1 year, respectively (P = 0.481). Conclusion This study showed that the efficacy of long-acting triptorelin 3-month was comparable to 1-month depot regarding hormonal suppression and inhibition of bone maturation. The triptorelin 11.25 mg 3-month depot is an effective treatment for girls with CPP.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy and clinical efficacy of a hybrid Greulich-Pyle (GP) and modified Tanner-Whitehouse (TW) artificial intelligence (AI) model for bone age assessment. Materials and Methods: A deep learning-based model was trained on an open dataset of multiple ethnicities. A total of 102 hand radiographs (51 male and 51 female; mean age ± standard deviation = 10.95 ± 2.37 years) from a single institution were selected for external validation. Three human experts performed bone age assessments based on the GP atlas to develop a reference standard. Two study radiologists performed bone age assessments with and without AI model assistance in two separate sessions, for which the reading time was recorded. The performance of the AI software was assessed by comparing the mean absolute difference between the AI-calculated bone age and the reference standard. The reading time was compared between reading with and without AI using a paired t test. Furthermore, the reliability between the two study radiologists’ bone age assessments was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), and the results were compared between reading with and without AI. Results: The bone ages assessed by the experts and the AI model were not significantly different (11.39 ± 2.74 years and 11.35 ± 2.76 years, respectively, p = 0.31). The mean absolute difference was 0.39 years (95% confidence interval, 0.33– 0.45 years) between the automated AI assessment and the reference standard. The mean reading time of the two study radiologists was reduced from 54.29 to 35.37 seconds with AI model assistance (p < 0.001). The ICC of the two study radiologists slightly increased with AI model assistance (from 0.945 to 0.990). Conclusion The proposed AI model was accurate for assessing bone age. Furthermore, this model appeared to enhance the clinical efficacy by reducing the reading time and improving the inter-observer reliability.

Purpose: Three-month gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHas) are expected to achieve better compliance in patients with central precocious puberty (CPP) compared to the monthly formulation. However, 1-month depot remains the dominant choice for conventional treatment worldwide. Our study aimed to investigate the long-term efficacy of a 3-month GnRHa for CPP treatment. Methods: In this retrospective study, 69 Korean girls with CPP were prescribed either triptorelin pamoate (TP) 3-month depot (n=29) or triptorelin acetate (TA) 1-month depot (n=40) and were followed for 1 year after the end of treatment. Auxological, radiological, and biochemical data were collected every 6 months. Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between the 2 groups. In the TP 3-month depot group, 27 of 29 patients (93.1%) exhibited suppressed luteinizing hormone level (below 2.5 IU/L) after 6 months of treatment, and this suppression level was reserved until the final injection. The degree of bone age advancement in the TP 3-month depot group decreased from 1.8±0.4 years at the start of treatment to 0.6±0.5 years at 1-year posttreatment. The gain in predicted adult height (PAH) 1 year after the end of treatment was similar between the TP 3-month and TA 1-month depot groups (5.2±3.1 and 5.3±2.4 cm, respectively; p=0.875). Conclusion A 3-month depot of triptorelin effectively inhibited gonadal and sex hormones, suppressed bone maturation, and increased PAH. For patient convenience, we suggest a 3-month GnRHa regimen as a promising CPP treatment option.