BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Many patients have received acupuncture treatment to address various health problems and it has been presented in several studies to be effective. However, stories of patients on the use of acupuncture may present some additional information including contextual factors about acupuncture treatment. This study was conducted to explore experiences of patients in a community-based acupuncture clinic on the impact of acupuncture as a treatment modality. In particular, this study aimed to understand how acupuncture has changed patients’ lives through a life stories approach, describe how the treatment affected their perceptions about their well-being, and to elicit their views of the acupuncture as an alternative or complementary treatment.

A narrative inquiry was done using in-depth interviews individually conducted among eight participants, who were selected purposively based on having had at least 12 consecutive acupuncture sessions at a communitybased acupuncture clinic. All the interviews were audio-recorded and later transcribed by a professional external interviewer following written informed consent from all the participants. The research protocol was submitted and approved by the Ethics Review Committee of the University Research Institute for Health Sciences. The researchers analyzed the interview transcripts using Murray’s narrative analysis approach.

Participants’ stories highlighted their personal experiences of how they had come to know about acupuncture, how their experiences have changed their perceptions of the treatment, and how the outcomes of acupuncture treatment have affected their lives. The findings emphasize four narratives: pain relief, acupuncture being complementary to Western medicine, social support, and advocacy.

This study emphasizes qualitative findings that are essential to be considered in the implementation of community-based acupuncture clinics that may help make acupuncture care accessible to community residents as well as maximize the potential of this treatment modality.

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.

To determine the clinical profile of pediatric patients with bronchial asthma; and to evaluate the prescription patterns for asthma treatment in a primary care setting.

This 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.

This 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.

There 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.

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.

A 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).

There 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).

Primary 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.

BACKGROUND

Six-pyruvoyl-tetrahydrobiopterin synthase (6-PTPS) deficiency is an inherited metabolic disorder which results in tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) deficiency causing hyperphenylalaninemia.

This study aimed to describe the clinical, biochemical, and radiologic profiles, and neurologic and developmental outcomes of patients diagnosed with 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydrobiopterin (PTPS) deficiency through newborn screening and confirmed by BH4 loading test, pterin analysis, and gene sequencing who were following-up with the metabolic team.

The research was a single-center descriptive case series study design that was done at the Philippine General Hospital, a tertiary government hospital. The clinical, biochemical, radiologic profiles and neurodevelopmental evaluation of each patient were described.

Nine patients from 1 year 2 months to 14 years 5 months of age were enrolled in the study. Clinical manifestations before treatment were hypotonia, poor suck, and seizure. The most common clinical manifestation even after treatment initiation was seizure. The mean phenylalanine level on newborn screening was 990.68 umol/L, but after treatment was started, mean levels ranged from 75.69 to 385.09 umol/L. Two of the patients had focal atrophy of the posterior lobe on brain imaging. Pathogenic variants on molecular analysis were all missense, with two predominant variants, c.155A>G and c.58T>C. Eight of the nine patients had varying degrees of developmental delay or intellectual disability, while the remaining patient had signs of a learning disorder.

Newborn screening has played a crucial role in the early identification and management of patients with hyperphenylalaninemia due to 6-PTPS deficiency. Confirmation of diagnosis through determination of DHPR activity, urine pterins and/or molecular analysis is necessary for appropriate management. However, despite early initiation of treatment, neurodevelopmental findings of patients with 6-PTPS deficiency were still unsatisfactory.

OBJECTIVE: This study described bronchiectasis profiles at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (2021-2023). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review at PCMC analyzed the demographic profile, imaging, management and outcome of patients with bronchiectasis enrolled in the Chronic Lung Disease Program from 2021-2023. Results: Twenty seven patients were included in this study. Most patients were diagnosed after the age of six and showed female predominance. The most common symptom at the time of diagnosis was chronic cough (81.5%) with pulmonary tuberculosis (51.9%) as the most common etiology. All patients were treated with cyclic azithromycin. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the prevalent microorganism isolated in the sputum and tracheal aspirate samples of the patients (56.5%). Conclusion Patients with bronchiectasis were more commonly diagnosed in children past age of six with more prevalence in females. The most common symptom was chronic cough followed by fever, dyspnea and weight loss. Pulmonary tuberculosis and recurrent respiratory infections were noted to be the most common etiology with the left lower lobe most affected in HRCT. The most common phenotype seen was cystic, which is irreversible and a sign of progressive bronchiectasis, which may point to a late diagnosis. This emphasizes the need for physicians to have a high index of suspicion in patients with chronic or recurrent respiratory symptoms. All patients were treated with an oral macrolide with 25-31% of patients with decreased and/or absent symptoms. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the prevalent microorganism isolated in the sputum and tracheal aspirate samples of the patients, which should be taken into account when treating for exacerbation.
Human ; Male,Female ; Infant newborn: First 28 days after birth ; Infant: 1-23 months ; Child Preschool: 2-5 yrs old ; Child: 6-12 yrs old ; Bronchiectasis ; Patients ; Tuberculosis ; Infections

INTRODUCTION

Neonatal sepsis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly among preterm infants, and remains a pressing global health concern. Early-onset neonatal sepsis is particularly challenging to diagnose due to its nonspecific clinical presentation, necessitating effective and timely diagnostic tools to reduce adverse outcomes. Traditional methods, such as microbial cultures, are slow and often unavailable in resource-limited settings. This study aimed to develop a robust multivariable risk prediction model tailored to improve early detection of Early Onset Sepsis (EOS) among preterm infants in the Philippines.

We conducted a retrospective analysis at a tertiary hospital in the Philippines using data from 1,354 preterm infants admitted between January 2019 and June 2024. Logistic regression models were employed, and predictors were selected through reverse stepwise elimination. Two scoring methods were developed: one based on beta coefficients divided by standard errors and another standardized to a total score of 100. The models were validated using Receiver Operator Characteristic curve analysis.

Version 1 of the scoring model demonstrated an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.991, with a sensitivity of 90.91% and a specificity of 98.10%. Version 2 achieved an AUC of 0.999, with a sensitivity of 96.4% and a specificity of 92.44%.

The developed models provide a reliable, region specific tool for early detection of neonatal sepsis. Further validation across diverse populations and the integration of emerging diagnostic technologies, such as biomarkers and artificial intelligence, are warranted to enhance their applicability and accuracy.

Tufted angioma (TA) is a rare, benign, vascular neoplasm of the skin. The diagnosis of this condition is infrequent due to its rare occurrence. Only 158 cases have been described as of 2015. The treatment reported in the literature is very limited with no clear guidelines on its management. Currently, there are no reported cases in the Philippines of TA treated with aspirin. This is a case of a 1-year-old Filipino boy presenting with multiple dusky red papules and plaques on the left side of the cheek, pre- and postauricular areas, parieto-occipital areas, chest, and upper back. His lesions started at 2 months of age, noted to increase in size, number, and thickness over time. Dermoscopy revealed homogenous erythematous background with perifollicular lacunae separated by thin septa. Histopathology revealed dilated vessels in the papillary dermis with proliferation of endothelial cells in lobules, surrounded by dilated crescent-shaped vascular channels in the dermis. The patient was treated with low-dose aspirin (5 mg/kg/day) once a day for 1 month with improvement. After 4 months from treatment, no new lesions, no increase in size, nor symptoms were noted. Low-dose aspirin is an effective and safe option for monotherapy of TA in pediatric patients.

The perioperative management of conjoined twins poses unique anatomic, physiologic, logistic, and even ethical challenges, necessitating a multidisciplinary team approach. We present a case of omphalopagus conjoined twins separated at the second month of life (39 2/7 weeks post-conceptual age). This paper highlights significant components in the anesthetic management of conjoined twins for separation surgery, in light of modern medicine and technological advancements.

Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB) is characterized by blisters that heal with scarring and milia formation, including nail dystrophy, with an incidence of 2.1 per million live births. DEB is derived from defects of the anchoring fibril which results in sublamina densa separation.

We report a one-month old female who presented with vesicles and erosions on bilateral feet at birth. New vesicles and bullae were noted on other areas of the body such as the scalp, ears, anterior trunk, gluteal area, and extremities which spontaneously ruptured leading to erosions and crusts. Nails were thick and yellowish black. Consult was done at a clinic and was given unrecalled antibiotic, antihistamine, and cream for one week. There was no noted improvement hence she was brought to another clinic, diagnosed as staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome, advised admission and subsequently referred to dermatology service. After clinical assessment, findings of cell poor subepidermal blister on histology, linear C3 on DIF, and positive collagen 7 on ELISA, patient was managed as a case of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.

Epidermolysis bullosa is an inherited genetic disease with mutation in COL7A1 gene manifesting as vesicles and bullae on trauma prone areas. The diagnosis is based on clinical, histopathology, immunofluorescence, antigen studies, and electron microscopy. Uniquely, immunofluorescence revealed strong linear deposition of C3 at the basement membrane zone which is more suggestive of bullous pemphigoid than epidermolysis bullosa. This case highlights the importance of early diagnosis and proper management of the disease to limit unnecessary intervention.

Sweet syndrome (SS), or acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis, is a rare inflammatory disorder characterized by fever, painful raised plaques, and dermal neutrophilic infiltration. Pediatric cases account for only 5% of SS globally, and no report exists of SS in infants in the Philippines. This report documents a unique case of SS in a one-month-old male, one of the first documented in the country. The rarity of this condition in infants and its successful management contribute valuable insights into the understanding and treatment of pediatric SS.

A one-month-old male presented with fever, erythematous plaques on the face and extremities, and a rapidly growing nodule on the left lateral neck, along with concurrent fever and cough. Skin biopsy showed dermal neutrophilic infiltration without leukocytoclastic vasculitis, confirming SS. A CT scan revealed a neck abscess and pneumonia. The abscess was treated with incision and drainage, and IV antibiotics. Due to the infection, systemic corticosteroids were contraindicated. Instead, topical hydrocortisone was applied, leading to rapid improvement of the skin lesions. This highlights a successful approach for managing SS when systemic therapy is unsuitable.

This case emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and individualized treatment in rare pediatric cases of Sweet syndrome. The effective use of topical hydrocortisone in place of systemic steroids demonstrates the potential of alternative therapies, especially when infections preclude standard treatments. This case, one of the first in a neonate in the Philippines, contributes valuable insights to the limited literature on managing this rare condition in infancy.