1.Weber-Christian Disease in a 12-year-old Filipino female: A case report
Maiko P. Jao ; Karen Joy N. Kimseng
Acta Medica Philippina 2025;59(Early Access 2025):1-6
Weber-Christian Disease (WCD), or relapsing febrile nodular panniculitis is a rare form of subcutaneous fat inflammation commonly affecting women aged 40-75 years old. It is rarer in children with only 1 previously reported case in the Philippines. It presents as erythematous nodules, frequently affecting the lower extremities. There is no standard treatment, but reportedly improves with steroid therapy, cyclosporine, and immunomodulators.
This is a case of a 12-year-old-female, who presented with a 4-month history of palpable facial nodules, thigh pains, and recurrent fever. Work-up for hypersensitivity reaction, autoimmune condition, hematologic problem, or infectious etiology yielded unremarkable findings, and corresponding management had no significant response. Patient developed firm lesions on the abdomen which was sent for biopsy and showed results consistent with WCD. Steroid, hydroxychloroquine, and topical indomethacin were then started and noted gradual improvement of the lesions. Patient was then discharged improved with lesions noted to progressively decrease in size and with no appearance of newer lesions upon follow-up.
WCD is a rare form of nodular panniculitis, more so in the younger age group. It is characterized by presence of cutaneous lesions associated with systemic symptoms. Skin biopsy is necessary to confirm its diagnosis. Visceral organ involvement and failure to respond to treatment may result to poor prognosis, and occasionally leads to death.
Human ; Female ; Child: 6-12 Yrs Old ; Weber&ndash ; christian Disease ; Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative ; Panniculitis
2.Flexible endoscopic management of foreign body ingestion in children: A ten-year single-center retrospective study in the Philippines
Jeremiah C. Torrico ; Germana Emerita V. Gregorio
Acta Medica Philippina 2025;59(Early Access 2025):1-12
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Foreign body (FB) ingestion is a common pediatric concern in the Philippines, but local studies on flexible endoscopic management are lacking. This study aimed to describe the clinical profile and outcomes of children referred for flexible endoscopic management and identify factors associated with poor outcomes.
METHODSThis retrospective cohort study included 145 patients agedRESULTS
Most FB ingestions (96.55%) were accidental, with coins as the most common FB (56.55%). Patients were admitted an average of 40.42 hours post-ingestion and referred for endoscopy within 9.28 hours. Flexible endoscopy was performed in 44.83% of cases, with a 98.46% success rate and an average procedure time of 32.25 minutes. Spontaneous passage occurred in 50.34% of cases. Poor outcomes were linked to age 48 hours; OR: 15.43, p = 0.0181), and prolonged procedures (>30 minutes; OR: 12, p = 0.0318). Good outcomes were associated with unremarkable physical exams (OR: 0.078; p = 0.0018), early admission (CONCLUSION
Flexible endoscopy is effective and safe for FB extraction in children. Early admission and timely intervention significantly improve outcomes, while delays and prolonged procedures increase the risk of complications.
Human ; Adolescent: 13-18 Yrs Old ; Child: 6-12 Yrs Old ; Foreign Bodies ; Endoscopy ; Child ; Retrospective Studies
3.The anesthetic management of a pediatric patient for drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE): A case report
Acta Medica Philippina 2025;59(Early Access 2025):1-4
Drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is used for directly visualizing sites of obstruction among patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Owing to the scarcity of data, there is still no consensus on the anesthetic regimen for conducting pediatric DISE.
This paper presents a 5-year-old patient who underwent DISE using an opioid-sparing regimen with dexmedetomidine and propofol infusion.
Simultaneous dexmedetomidine and propofol infusion is a promising opioid-sparing regimen for pediatric DISE.
Human ; Male ; Child Preschool: 2-5 Yrs Old ; Endoscopy ; Propofol ; Dexmedetomidine ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive
4.Clinical profile and prescribing patterns of therapy in children with bronchial asthma in a rural site in the Philippines: A retrospective cohort study.
Gayle Therese K. Gonzales-javier ; Leonila F. Dans ; Kristine Tanega-aliling ; Carol Stephanie C. Tan-lim ; Cara Lois T. Galingana ; Mia P. Rey ; Maria Rhodora D. Aquino ; Josephine T. Sanchez ; Antonio L. Dans
Acta Medica Philippina 2025;59(1):84-90
BACKGROUND
Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases encountered in the primary care setting. Adherence to recommendations from clinical practice guidelines on asthma can be utilized as an indicator of quality of care when evaluating the implementation of the universal health care in the Philippines.
OBJECTIVESTo determine the clinical profile of pediatric patients with bronchial asthma; and to evaluate the prescription patterns for asthma treatment in a primary care setting.
METHODSThis was a retrospective cohort study that involved review of the electronic medical records in a rural site of the Philippine Primary Care Studies (PPCS). All patients less than 19 years old who were diagnosed with asthma from April 2019 to March 2021 were included. Quality indicators for asthma care were based on adherence to recommendations from the 2019 Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Guidelines.
RESULTSThis study included 240 asthmatic children with mean age of 6 years (SD ± 4.9) and a slight male preponderance (55.4%). Majority (138 children or 57.5%) were less than 6 years old. Out of the 240 children, 224 (93.3%) were prescribed inhaled short-acting beta-agonists (SABA) and 66 (27.5%) were prescribed oral SABA. Only 14 children (5.8%) were prescribed inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), with 13 children (5.4%) given ICS with longacting beta-agonists (LABA) preparations, and one child (0.4%) given ICS alone. Quality indicators used in this study revealed underutilization of ICS treatment across all age groups, and an overuse of SABA-only treatment in children 6 years old and above. Moreover, 71.3% of the total patients were prescribed antibiotics despite the current GINA recommendation of prescribing antibiotics only for patients with strong evidence of lung infection, such as fever or radiographic evidence of pneumonia.
CONCLUSIONThere were 240 children diagnosed with asthma over a 2-year period in a rural community, with a mean age of 6 years old and a slight male predominance. This quality-of-care study noted suboptimal adherence of rural health physicians to the treatment recommendations of the GINA guidelines, with overuse of SABA and underuse of ICS for asthma control.
Human ; Male ; Infant Newborn: First 28 Days After Birth ; Infant: 1-23 Months ; Child Preschool: 2-5 Yrs Old ; Child: 6-12 Yrs Old ; Asthma ; Lung
5.Antibiotic prescription patterns among pediatric patients with pneumonia in primary care – A retrospective cohort study
Jami Aliyah D. Salliman ; Leonila D. Dans ; Sally Jane Velasco-aro ; Arianna Maever Loreche-amit ; Cara Lois T. Galingana ; Mia P. Rey ; Josephine T. Sanchez ; Nanette B. Sundiang ; Herbert S. Zabala ; Antonio L. Dans
Acta Medica Philippina 2025;59(2):55-61
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The etiology of pneumonia in the pediatric population varies by age group. Among patients one month to 59 months old, viral pathogens are the most common cause of lower respiratory infections. The study aims to determine the frequency distribution of antibiotic prescription among patients one month to 59 months old and to determine the adherence of primary care facilities to local guidelines with recommended antibiotics.
METHODSA descriptive retrospective study using electronic medical records was conducted at two primary care sites. Patients aged 1 month to 59 months old seeking consult via telemedicine or face-to-face diagnosed with community acquired pneumonia from April 2019-March 2020 in the rural facility and May 2019-April 2020 in the remote facility were included in the study. The primary outcome was to determine the patterns of antibiotic use in pneumonia in remote and rural areas and adherence to the recommended antibiotics by the 2016 Philippine Academy of Pediatric Pulmonologists pediatric community-acquired pneumonia clinical practice guidelines (CPG).
RESULTSThere were 30 pediatric patients diagnosed with pneumonia in the rural facility and 213 in the remote facility. Of these patients with pneumonia, 96.7% and 94.8% were prescribed antibiotics in the rural and remote sites, respectively. The most commonly prescribed antibiotic in the rural facility was co-amoxiclav (26.7%), while amoxicillin (51.6%) was the most common in the remote facility. Adherence to the CPG in the rural site was lower at 23.3% (n=8/30) compared to the remote site which was 55.9% (n=119/213).
CONCLUSIONPrimary care physicians prescribed antibiotics in over 90% of the time upon the diagnosis of pneumonia in children aged one month to 59 months old, despite viral pneumonia being the more common in primary care setting. Adherence to recommended antibiotics was higher in the remote setting than in the rural setting. Use of EMR to monitor quality of care can improve patient outcomes and safety, pointing out the importance of improving the quality of documentation in the study sites.
Human ; Infant Newborn: First 28 Days After Birth ; Infant: 1-23 Months ; Child Preschool: 2-5 Yrs Old ; Pediatrics ; Pneumonia ; Primary Health Care
6.Maternal mid-upper arm circumference as a predictor of low birth weight outcome among newborn deliveries of adolescents in a tertiary level hospital
Avegail M. Cardinal ; Vanessa-maria F. Torres-ticzon ; Ma. Emma Alensa-llanto
Acta Medica Philippina 2025;59(2):62-71
BACKGROUND
Maternal malnutrition is a major cause of low birth weight (LBW) newborn outcome especially among adolescent mothers. It is one of the key drivers of child stunting and initiates the vicious cycle of intergenerational malnutrition. The body mass index prior to pregnancy or at the initial trimester is currently being used to establish the desired weight gain throughout pregnancy. However, Filipino adolescents often delay their first antenatal visit at a later stage of pregnancy. Without a baseline weight, the establishment of appropriate weight gain and nutritional status is often challenging. Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) was proven to be a good proxy measure of acute malnutrition, however, there was no global consensus on what MUAC cut-off point to use to identify pregnant adolescents at risk for delivering LBW babies. Finding the optimal cut-off could facilitate early identification and intervention of pregnant adolescents who are nutritionally at risk and could eventually break the cycle of intergenerational malnutrition.
OBJECTIVESThe study aims to determine the association of maternal MUAC and the birth weight outcomes among newborn deliveries of adolescents in a tertiary hospital for a period of six months and to identify the optimal maternal MUAC cut-off point that can be used to predict low birth weight outcome among newborn deliveries of adolescents in a tertiary hospital.
METHODSA cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescents ages 10 to 19 years who delivered babies in a tertiary hospital in the Philippines for a period of six months. Maternal MUAC and LBW outcome were documented, and their association was determined using a logistic regression analysis. To measure diagnostic accuracy, the sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the curve were taken for each MUAC point. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to aid the MUAC cut-off determination.
RESULTSOut of 237 newborn deliveries, 35% were noted with low birth weight while 65% had normal birth weight. Most of the mothers were in their late adolescence at 78%. The crude association for the MUAC cut-offs ≤23.00 cm, ≤23.50 cm, and ≤24.00 cm and LBW showed a significant value of 2.19, 2.25, and 2.39 at 95% CI, respectively. However, it is only the cut-off ≤24.00 cm that showed significant results for adjusted association by the logistic regression analysis. The MUAC cut-off ≤24.00 cm also showed a better trade-off value between the sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, the optimal maternal MUAC measurement that predicts LBW newborn outcome points to ≤24.00 cm cut-off based on the ROC curve.
CONCLUSIONThis study shows that the maternal MUAC is predictive of LBW outcome among adolescent deliveries.A MUAC cut-off of ≤24.00 cm was superior to lower cut-offs studied. The pregnant adolescents might need a higher MUAC cut-off than adults to allow timely intervention and prevention of poor neonatal outcomes. By doing this simple screening test, suspected pregnant adolescents can be easily identified and referred for further confirmatory testing.
Human ; Child: 6-12 Yrs Old ; Adolescent: 13-18 Yrs Old ; Pregnancy In Adolescence ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Adolescent Mothers
7.Application of Multi-Model Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction-Veo in Ultra-Low Dose Chest CT Examination of Children in Plateau Area.
Xian-Tao WANG ; Rui-Ting BAI ; CIDANWANGJIU ; SUOLANGNIMA ; NIMAZHUOGA ; Bai-Yan SU
Acta Academiae Medicinae Sinicae 2025;47(1):29-34
Objective To explore the application value of multi-model adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction-Veo (ASiR-V) in ultra-low dose chest CT examination of children in the plateau area. Methods The children who underwent chest CT examination in Xizang Autonomous Region People's Hospital were enrolled in this study and assigned into two groups according to the scanning conditions.Group A underwent scanning at a tube voltage of 100 kV and ASiR-V 50% reconstruction,and group B underwent scanning at a tube voltage of 80 kV and ASiR-V 0 (Group B1) and ASiR-V 50% (Group B2) reconstruction.The image quality of each group was evaluated objectively and subjectively.The radiation dose and image quality were compared between groups. Results Groups A and B showed the volume CT dose indexes of (2.33±0.62) mGy and (0.86±0.01) mGy and the dose length products of (65.01±25.12) mGy·cm and (23.55±3.38) mGy·cm,respectively,which presented differences between groups (both P<0.001).The image noise in the bilateral upper and middle lung areas in group B2 was lower than that in group B1 but higher than that in group A (all P<0.001).There was no significant difference in image quality score of the lung window among groups (all P>0.05).Groups A,B1,and B2 had no significant differences in ascending aorta (P=0.538) or liver CT value (P=0.175) in the mediastinal window.The signal-to-noise ratios and contrast-to-noise ratios of ascending aorta and liver in group B2 were higher than those in group B1 (all P<0.001) and lower than those in group A (all P<0.05).The image quality score of the mediastinal window followed a descending order of group A>group B2>group B1 (all P<0.001)。Conclusion ASiR-V combined with low tube voltage can effectively reduce the radiation dose and guarantee the image quality of chest CT of children in the plateau area.
Humans
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Radiation Dosage
;
Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods*
;
Child
;
Male
;
Female
;
Child, Preschool
;
Radiography, Thoracic/methods*
;
Infant
;
Models, Statistical
;
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods*
8.Effect of Health Failure Mode and Effect Analysis in Optimizing the Management Process of Postoperative Diabetes Insipidus in Children Undergoing Neurosurgery.
Hui-Yun ZHAO ; Xiao-Ying XU ; Bo WU ; Shi TANG ; Xin-Meng LI
Acta Academiae Medicinae Sinicae 2025;47(4):582-589
Objective To investigate the effect of health failure mode and effect analysis(HFMEA)in optimizing the management process of postoperative diabetes insipidus in children undergoing neurosurgery.Methods Based on HFMEA,a management flowchart for postoperative diabetes insipidus in children undergoing neurosurgery was created.Brainstorming was adopted to identify failure modes in the workflow,analyze risk factors,and develop improvement measures,thereby refining the management flowchart.The amelioration and prognosis of diabetes insipidus in these children before(October 2022 to November 2023)and after(January 2024 to February 2025)implementation of the management flowchart were compared.Results The HFMEA-based management process for postoperative diabetes insipidus in children undergoing neurosurgery alleviated the symptoms of diabetes insipidus regarding the number of diabetes insipidus in the pediatric intensive care unit(P=0.006),the average daily urine output in the pediatric intensive care unit(P=0.001),the proportion of electrolyte abnormalities at discharge/transfer(P=0.037),the duration of mechanical ventilation(P=0.007),and the length of stay in the intensive care unit(P=0.001).Conclusion The HFMEA-based management process for postoperative diabetes insipidus in children undergoing neurosurgery is beneficial to the optimization of the management process,the alleviation of postoperative diabetes insipidus,and the improvement of prognosis in these children.
Humans
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Diabetes Insipidus/etiology*
;
Neurosurgical Procedures/adverse effects*
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Child
;
Postoperative Complications/therapy*
;
Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis
;
Intensive Care Units, Pediatric
;
Risk Factors
9.The surveillance and assessment of acute injuries in different age categories in national wrestling championships.
Sema CAN ; Erkan DEMIRKAN ; Mustafa ARICI ; Mehmet İsmail TOSUN ; Halil İbrahim CICIOĞLU
Chinese Journal of Traumatology 2025;28(6):485-490
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this study is to surveil the injuries in wrestling according to the different age categories and wrestling styles throughout the competition season.
METHODS:
The study was designed as a descriptive study. The study was conducted during the wrestling competition season in 2023 (from January 2023 to July 2023), which includes 5 different age categories: U-15, U-17, U-20, U-23, and seniors, along with the Turkey National Wrestling Championships. The data of injuries was recorded immediately after the acute injury was treated by the medical expert during the competitions and evaluated according to the parameters that were obtained. In the statistical analysis, the frequency and percentage values were presented as descriptive statistics and the Chi-square test was used.
RESULTS:
The study incorporated a total of 6214 wrestlers and a total of 7151 wrestling bouts were performed during these competitions. The analyses indicated that the rate of injury incidence was 42.65‰ in all wrestling styles. When taking account of the injured body parts in all wrestlers' exposures, the occurrence of injuries to the head-face, neck, trunk, upper extremity, and lower extremity, rates of 17.6‰, 1.3‰, 3.6‰, 13.5‰, and 6.6‰, respectively, were observed. According to the pre-diagnosis based on freestyle, Greco-Roman, and female wrestling styles, injuries with bleeding (39.6%, 46.3%, and 14.6%, respectively) and muscle strain (37.9%, 28.7 %, and 52.6%, respectively) most often occurred.
CONCLUSION
The study findings indicate that most cases of injury appeared to occur in bleeding and muscle strain in all wrestling styles. We suggest that medical experts should set up their health equipment with consideration to the injuries that occur most frequently.
Humans
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Male
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Wrestling/injuries*
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Young Adult
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Adolescent
;
Female
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Athletic Injuries/epidemiology*
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Turkey/epidemiology*
;
Adult
;
Age Factors
;
Incidence
;
Child
10.Polytrauma-related deaths in Moscow: Retrospective analysis of 969 autopsy studies.
Gleb Vladimirovich KOROBUSHKIN ; Sergey Vladimirovich SHIGEEV ; Roman PFEIFER ; Inna Olegovna CHIZHIKOVA ; Alexander Igorevich ZHUKOV
Chinese Journal of Traumatology 2025;28(5):319-323
PURPOSE:
Polytrauma is still a challenge for health care organizations. Today, the search for factors to reduce lethality continues. This study aims to describe the causes of death associated with polytrauma in 1 year.
METHODS:
This retrospective study analyzed autopsy data of trauma deaths in Moscow for the whole of 2017. We identified victims with polytrauma, taking into account the Berlin definition as the main inclusion criteria with penetrating and blunt trauma. Each forensic report had information about the pre-hospital and hospital stages of treatment and autopsy data. The exclusion criteria for this study were: isolated injury, forensic reports not related to the examination of entire corpses, and autopsy studies of children (<18 years old). Statistical analysis was performed according to basic principles, including a comparison of groups using the Chi-squared test with Bonferroni comparison test and Fisher's exact test. The critical level of significance (p value) in testing statistical hypotheses in this study was taken as 0.05.
RESULTS:
We analyzed 2337 forensic medical examinations of victims who died of trauma in Moscow in 2017, of which 41.5% (n = 969) were polytrauma deaths. Most of the victims (65.4%, n = 634) died on the scene, and only 30.0% were admitted to the hospital. The most frequent cause of death was bleeding (72.0%, n = 698), followed by traumatic brain injury (43.8%, n = 424). They accounted for the first peak (78.4%, p = 0.005) of deaths, occurring in the first hours. Then these causes of death in the first peak go down in a few hours, and the second peak of mortality appears in 3 - 7 days (p = 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
This is the largest full-year autopsy study of polytrauma victims. Our data show that the main cause of polytrauma death is massive bleeding, with a lethality peak in the first hours after injury. The time distribution of polytrauma deaths has a bimodal pattern - the second period of polytrauma deaths occurs in 3 - 7 days.
Humans
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Retrospective Studies
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Male
;
Female
;
Moscow/epidemiology*
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Autopsy
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Multiple Trauma/mortality*
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Adult
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Adolescent
;
Middle Aged
;
Child
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Child, Preschool
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Cause of Death
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Young Adult
;
Infant
;
Aged
;
Aged, 80 and over


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