PURPOSE: High-sensitivity assays enabled the identification of C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) at levels that were previously undetectable. We aimed to determine if hs-CRP could reflect airway inflammation in children, by comparing hs-CRP with spirometry and impulse oscillometry (IOS) parameters and symptomatic severities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 276 asthmatic children who visited Severance Children's Hospital from 2012-2014 were enrolled. Serum hs-CRP and pulmonary function tests were performed on the same day. Patients were divided into hs-CRP positive and negative groups (cut-off value, 3.0 mg/L). RESULTS: Of the 276 asthmatic children [median age 7.5 (5.9/10.1) years, 171 boys (62%)], 39 were hs-CRP positive and 237 were negative. Regarding spirometry parameters, we observed significant differences in maximum mid-expiratory flow, % predicted (FEF25-75) (p=0.010) between hs-CRP positive and negative groups, and a negative correlation between FEF25-75 and hs-CRP. There were significant differences in the reactance area (AX) (p=0.046), difference between resistance at 5 Hz and 20 Hz (R5-R20) (p=0.027), resistance at 5 Hz, % predicted (R5) (p=0.027), and reactance at 5 Hz, % predicted (X5) (p=0.041) between hs-CRP positive and negative groups. There were significant positive correlations between hs-CRP and R5 (r=0.163, p=0.008), and X5 (r=0.164, p=0.007). Spirometry and IOS parameters had more relevance in patients with higher blood neutrophil levels in comparison to hs-CRP. CONCLUSION: Hs-CRP showed significant correlation with FEF25-75, R5, and X5. It can reflect small airway obstruction in childhood asthma, and it is more prominent in neutrophil dominant inflammation.
Airway Obstruction/*diagnosis/etiology ; Asthma/*diagnosis/physiopathology ; C-Reactive Protein/*analysis ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Inflammation/*etiology ; Male ; Neutrophils/metabolism ; Oscillometry/*methods ; Respiratory Function Tests/*methods ; Respiratory System ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; *Spirometry

BACKGROUNDIn China, tracheobronchial foreign body (TFB) aspiration, a major cause of emergency episode and accident death in children, remains a challenge for anesthetic management. Here, we share our experience and discuss the anesthetic consideration and management of patients with TFB aspiration.

METHODSThis was a single-institution retrospective study in children with an inhaled foreign body between 1991 and 2010 that focused on the complications following rigid bronchoscopy (RB). Data including the clinical characteristics of patients and TFB, anesthetic method, and postoperative severe complications were analyzed by different periods.

RESULTSDuring the 20-year study period, the charts of 3149 patients who underwent RB for suspected inhaled TFB were reviewed. There were 2079 male and 1070 female patients (1.94:1). A nut (84%) was the most commonly inhaled object. The study revealed a 9% (n = 284) overall rate of severe postoperative complications related to severe hypoxemia, laryngeal edema, complete laryngospasm, pneumothorax, total segmental atelectasis, and death with incidences of 3.2%, 0.9%, 1.3%, 0.3%, 0.3%, and 0.1%, respectively. The rates of preoperative airway impairment, negative findings of TFB, and adverse postoperative events have been on the rise in the past 5 years.

CONCLUSIONSThe survey results confirmed that hypoxemia remains the most common postoperative complication in different periods. Both controlled ventilation and spontaneous ventilation were effective during the RB extraction of the foreign body at our hospital in the modern technique period. An active respiratory symptom was commonly seen in the groups with negative findings.

Airway Obstruction ; complications ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; surgery ; Bronchoscopy ; adverse effects ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Hypoxia ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Male ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment defects in slow-to-recover children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) associated with airway mucous plug formation, and to provide a basis for prognostic judgment and therapeutic guidance.

METHODSA retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 67 children with MPP who were admitted between May 2012 and May 2014 and showed airway mucous plug formation in fiberoptic bronchoscope examinations. Based on the results of re-examinations using imaging methods, all patients were classified into a slow-to-recover group (n=30) and a control group (n=37). Comparisons of clinical outcomes, laboratory indices, imaging findings, and treatment methods were performed between the two groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn to analyze the indices with significant differences.

RESULTSThe percentage of neutrophils, levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), fibrinogen (FIB), and IgM in peripheral blood, and incidence of pleural effusion were significantly higher in the slow-to-recover group than in the control group (P<0.05). The fever duration and treatment time of azithromycin and fiberoptic bronchoscope for the first time were significantly longer in the slow-to-recover group than in the control group (P<0.05). The results of ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off points of fever duration, percentage of neutrophils, levels of CRP and FIB, and treatment time of fiberoptic bronchoscope for the first time were 11.5 days, 70.7%, 57 mg/L, 4.7 g/L, and 13.5 days, respectively, with sensitivity and specificity higher than 0.643 and 0.727.

CONCLUSIONSThe fever duration, percentage of neutrophils, level of CRP, level of FIB, and treatment time of fiberoptic bronchoscope for the first time can predict a recovery time longer than two months in children with MPP associated with mucous plug formation.

Airway Obstruction ; etiology ; Bronchoscopy ; C-Reactive Protein ; analysis ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Fibrinogen ; analysis ; Humans ; Male ; Neutrophils ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma ; blood ; complications ; ROC Curve ; Retrospective Studies

Airway Obstruction ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Aspergillosis ; complications ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Laryngeal Diseases ; complications ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Larynx

OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinical characteristics of negative pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE).

METHODA retrospective investigation of the clinical manifestation, imageology, clinical course and outcome of 4 children with NPPE seen between June 2012 and July 2013 in a children's hospital. The causation of the airway obstruction was also explored.

RESULTAll the 4 cases were boys, the range of age was 40 days to 9 years. They had no history of respiratory and circulatory system disease. In 3 cases the disease had a sudden onset after the obstruction of airway, and in one the onset occurred 1.5 hours after removing the airway foreign body. All these cases presented with tachypnea, dyspnea, and cyanosis, none had fever. Three cases had coarse rales. Chest radiography was performed in 3 cases and CT scan was performed in 1 case, in all of them both lungs displayed diffuse ground-glass-like change and patchy consolidative infiltrates. Three cases were admitted to the ICU, duration of mechanical ventilation was less than 24 hours in 2 cases and 39 hours in one. Oxygen was given by mask to the remaining one in emergency department, whose symptoms were obviously improved in 10 hours. None was treated with diuretics, glucocorticoids or inotropic agents. Chest radiographs were taken within 24 hours of treatment in 2 cases and 24-48 hours in the other 2; almost all the pulmonary infiltrates were resolved. All the 4 cases were cured. The causes of airway obstruction were airway foreign bodies in two cases, laryngospasm in one and laryngomalacia in the other.

CONCLUSIONNPPE is a life-threatening emergency, which is manifested by rapid onset of respiratory distress rapidly (usually in several minutes, but might be hours later) after relief of the airway obstruction, with findings of pulmonary edema in chest radiograph. The symptoms resolve rapidly by oxygen therapy timely with or without mechanical ventilation. In children with airway obstruction, NPPE should be considered.

Acute Disease ; Airway Obstruction ; complications ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Foreign Bodies ; complications ; Humans ; Infant ; Intensive Care Units ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; methods ; Laryngismus ; complications ; Larynx ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Male ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; Positive-Pressure Respiration ; methods ; Pulmonary Edema ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Adult ; Airway Obstruction ; etiology ; Anesthetics ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Male ; Polyps ; complications ; Tonsillar Neoplasms ; complications ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment of negative pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE) with upper airway obstruction (UAO) in children.

METHODData of 3 cases with NPPE and UAO in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) from Mar, 2007 to May, 2013 were analyzed.

RESULT(1) Two cases were male and 1 was female with age respectively 6, 16 and 30 months.One had airway foreign body , 1 laryngitis , and 1 retropharyngeal abscess. The onset of NPPE varied from 5 to 40 minutes following relief of obstruction. (2) NPPE presented with acute respiratory distress with signs of tachypnea, tachycardia, 2 of the 3 with pink frothy pulmonary secretions, progressively decreased oxygen saturation, rales on chest auscultation and wheezing. (3) NPPE chest radiograph showed diffuse interstitial and alveolar infiltrates, images confirmed pulmonary edema. (4) All these patients received these therapeutic measures including mechanical ventilation, retaining high PEEP, diuretics, limiting the fluid input volume to 80-90 ml/ (kg×d) on the basis of circulation stability. The rales on chest auscultation disappeared after 10, 6, 12 hours. The ventilators of 2 patients were removed within 24 hours, in another case it was removed 50 hours later because of secondary infection. All patients were cured and discharged without complication.

CONCLUSIONNPPE progresses very fast, characterized by rapid onset of symptoms of respiratory distress after UAO, with pulmonary edema on chest radiograph. The symptoms resolve rapidly if early support of breath and diuretics are applied properly.

Acute Disease ; Airway Obstruction ; complications ; Child, Preschool ; Diuretics ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Foreign Bodies ; complications ; Humans ; Infant ; Laryngismus ; complications ; Male ; Positive-Pressure Respiration ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Pulmonary Edema ; diagnosis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo explore the epidemiological characteristics of inhalation injury and to summarize the clinical application experience of diagnostic standard of burn of larynx.

METHODSMedical records of 443 patients with inhalation injury admitted to our burn unit from January 1999 to June 2013 were analyzed, including gender, age, severity of inhalation injury, complications and diseases before injury; total area and that of full-thickness burn injury, admission time after burn, and burn condition of larynx of patients with different degrees of inhalation injury; treatment and outcome including rate, time, and complication of tracheotomy, mortality, and cause of death. Data were processed with nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test and chi-square test. The relationship between severity of inhalation injury and total burn area, degree of burn of larynx, tracheotomy rate, and mortality was assessed by Spearman correlation analysis.

RESULTS(1) Among the patients, there were 353 (79.7% ) male and 90 (20.3% ) female, with the ratio of male to female 4:1. There were 64 (14.4%) patients younger than or equal to 20 years, 203 (45.8%) patients older than 20 years and younger than or equal to 40 years, 144 (32.5%) patients older than 40 years and younger than or equal to 60 years, and 32 (7.2%) patients older than 60 years. The numbers of patients with mild, moderate, and severe inhalation injury were respectively 297, 108, and 38. Seven patients suffered from complications, and 21 patients had diseases before injury. There were statistically significant differences among the patients with different degree of inhalation injury in regard to total burn area and full-thickness burn area (with H values respectively 73.752 and 142.830, P values below 0.01), while no statistically significant difference was observed in admission time after burn ( H = 1.528, P > 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that severity of inhalation injury was positively correlated with total burn area (r = 0.399, P < 0.001). Among the patients with mild inhalation injury, incidences of patients with mild, moderate, and severe burn of larynx were respectively 68.0% (202/297), 32.0% (95/297), and 0, and those among the patients with moderate inhalation injury were respectively 0,53.7% (58/108), and 46.3% (50/108). There were statistically significant differences in degree of burn of larynx of patients with different degree of inhalation injury (χ2 = 336.703, P < 0.001). Correlation analysis showed that severity of burn of larynx was positively correlated with severity of inhalation injury (r = 0.700, P < 0.001). (2) The rate of tracheotomy was 37.02% (164/443). The rates of tracheotomy in patients with mild, moderate, and severe inhalation injury were respectively 10.44% (31/297), 87.96% (95/108), and 100.00% (38/38), χ2 = 271.654, P < 0.001. Correlation analysis showed that the rate of tracheotomy was positively correlated with severity of inhalation injury (r = 0.784, P < 0.001). Tracheotomy was done mainly within 6 h post burn (63.4%, 104/164). The incidence rate of complication of tracheotomy was 5.5% (9/164). (3) Thirty-one patients died, with a mortality rate of 7.00%. The mortality rates of patients with mild, moderate, and severe inhalation injury were respectively 1.01% (3/297), 12.96% (14/108), and 36.84% (14/38), H = 74.273, P < 0.001. It was found that the mortality was positively correlated with severity of inhalation injury (r = 0.371, P < 0.001). The causes of death of the patients were respectively sepsis (14, 45.2%), respiratory failure (7, 22.6%), airway obstruction (2, 6.5%), airway hemorrhage (2, 6.5%), cerebral hemorrhage (2, 6.5%), cardiac accident (2, 6.5%), and diabetes insipidus (1, 3.2%), and 1 (3.2%) patient quit treatment and discharged from hospital for economic reason.

CONCLUSIONSAmong the patients with inhalation injury, male is dominated in number, and the young adults formed the highest constituent ratio. The severity of inhalation injury was correlated with total burn area, severity of burn of larynx, tracheotomy rate, and mortality. With the guidance of diagnostic criteria of burn of larynx and indication of tracheotomy, the risk of laryngeal obstruction can be eliminated. The early preventive tracheotomy can decrease the difficulty and risk of the operation.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Airway Obstruction ; etiology ; surgery ; Burn Units ; Burns ; Burns, Inhalation ; complications ; mortality ; surgery ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Injury Severity Score ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; Sepsis ; epidemiology ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sex Distribution ; Tracheotomy ; methods ; Young Adult

We report a case of multinodular thyroid goiter in an 80-year-old man who successfully underwent tracheal stent placement for respiratory distress caused by the thyroid goiter and following two radiofrequency (RF) ablation sessions performed for thyroid volume reduction. This sequential treatment allowed elective stent removals four weeks after the second RF ablation session because the thyroid volume had been progressively reduced. Combination therapy of temporary airway stenting and RF ablation for the treatment of thyroid goiter has two advantages, i.e., immediate reliefs of dyspnea with airway stenting and reductions of the thyroid volume with RF ablation, and thus, allowing symptom reliefs even after the stent removals.
Aged, 80 and over ; Airway Obstruction/etiology/radiography/*therapy ; Catheter Ablation/*methods ; Goiter, Nodular/complications/radiography/*therapy ; Humans ; Male ; *Stents ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo explore the diagnostic and therapeutic methods for perioperative children with congenital heart disease (CHD) with airway stenosis in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

METHODFiberoptic bronchoscopy was used for the diagnosis of 100 CHD cases in PICU who were clinically considered to have possible airway malformation because of complicated difficult-to-control lung infection, atelectasis and failure with the ventilator after surgery from January 2010 to October 2011. Cases who were confirmed to have severe airway stenosis by bronchoscopy and weaning from the ventilator after surgery were treated with balloon expandable stents into the desired position in the bronchoscopy.

RESULTThere were 73 cases (73%) of CHD patients with airway abnormalities, including 31 cases of severe stenosis (31%), moderate stenosis in 29 cases (29%), mild stenosis in 13 cases (13%). Nine of the 10 children in whom the mechanical ventilation was hard to be stopped after surgery because of severe airway stenosis were weaned from mechanical ventilation successfully by fiberoptic bronchoscopy, while one case died from primary disease with severe sepsis after the placement of bronchial stents.

CONCLUSIONCHD children with difficult-to-control lung infection, atelectasis and failure with ventilator after surgery are often complicated with airway abnormalities. The therapeutic bronchoscopy with airway stent can be used for cases with weaning from the ventilator because of severe airway stenosis.

Airway Obstruction ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Bronchoscopy ; methods ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; complications ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric ; Lung Diseases ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Male ; Perioperative Period ; Respiration, Artificial ; Stents ; Trachea ; abnormalities ; Tracheal Stenosis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome