Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0039730 (thalassemia)
 10,305 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) test was applied to more than 230 children. Twenty-five out of 61 patients with proven growth hormone (GH) deficiency responded to GHRH with a GH increase of greater than 10 ng/ml. In most of the patients with idiopathic GH deficiency, a priming procedure using daily injections of GHRH improved the secretory response to GHRH. Nearly all children with familial shortness of stature showed a prompt increase in GH levels, with a mean peak level of 34.9 ng/ml (range 0.5-144 ng/ml). A second test was performed in five children with familial short stature because of failure to respond to the first test. Children with constitutional delay of growth and development did not differ in their GH response from patients with familial shortness of stature. Ten girls with Ullrich-Turner's syndrome responded with a mean increase of 22 ng/ml GH (range 10.1-34.0 ng/ml). Therapy with glucocorticoids, as well as endogenous hypersecretion of cortisol, suppressed the responsiveness of the pituitary gland to GHRH. Suppression was also observed following a single dose of dexamethasone during the steroid-suppression test in eight obese children. Low responsiveness of the pituitary gland was also seen in patients with thalassaemia and transfusion-induced haemosiderosis. It is concluded that it is not possible to detect GH deficiency with a single GHRH test. A full endocrinological evaluation is necessary to prove the diagnosis.
 ...
PMID:Diagnostic value of growth hormone-releasing hormone tests in short children. 250 69

Possible causes of specific cardiac muscle disease, diagnosis, follow-up and the therapeutic management are discussed on the basis of a series of cases. 8 out of 30 patients who showed the clinical picture of dilative cardiomyopathy (DCM) were found to have a specific cardiac muscle disease. 4 patients had DCM following adriamycin therapy. Fibromuscular dysplasia with renal hypertension, thalassaemia major with secondary haemosiderosis, long-overlooked and untreated athyroidism each caused one case of dilative specific cardiac muscle disease. Once DCM was preceded by the Kawasaki syndrome for over 2 years. Amongst 47 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy there were two children who had undergone ACTH treatment, 6 children born of diabetic mothers, 4 cases of Pompe's disease, and one patient with hypothyroidism resulting in reversible hypertrophy of the cardiac muscle. Different neurodegenerative diseases were associated with cardiac muscle disease in 4 cases, partly dictating the clinical course. Extremely rare was the development over 6 years of cardiac hypertrophy following a burns injury.
 ...
PMID:[Secondary diseases of the heart muscle and their differential diagnosis in childhood]. 253 13

Iron-chelating treatment is indicated in all children on prolonged transfusion therapy (i.e., chiefly patients with thalassemia and Blackfan-Diamond anemia). The purpose of iron-chelating treatment is to prevent the development of manifestations of iron overload including cardiac hemosiderosis and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (which are two potentially fatal complications), hepatic cirrhosis, hypoparathyroidism, hypothyroidism, and delayed puberty. Deferoxamine is the only effective iron-chelating agent and should be given in a daily dose of 40 mg/kg at initiation of the transfusion program. Administration is by subcutaneous infusions from 8 to 10 hours per day. The goal of iron-chelating treatment is to maintain serum ferritin levels between 500 and 1,000 ng/ml. This long-term treatment is a significant burden for patients and it can be hoped that non-toxic iron-chelating agents, active by mouth, will become available.
 ...
PMID:[Iron chelation in children]. 268 51

Iron chelation therapy must be associated with the regular blood transfusions required for thalassaemia and other chronic anemias. We report here a study concerning 4 groups of patients, aged 6 to 28, regularly transfused at Necker Enfants-Malades hospital: a) 20 with thalassaemia major; b) 6 with thalassaemia intermedia; c) 2 with sickle cell disease and d) 2 with Blackfan-Diamond syndrome. The transfusion regimen consisting of monthly or quarterly transfusions varied as a function of the groups. Desferal was used in all patients. The dosage and the route of administration (IV, IM, SC) were adapted to the amount of iron transfused and to the nature of the disease. The serum ferritin level was considered as the indicator of the iron overload. Comparisons were established between the quantities of iron transfused, ferritin levels, and parameters such as dosage, route of administration and compliance to Desferal. During the period of study 3 patients died from cardiac failure due to transfusional hemosiderosis. Endocrine complications (diabetes 2 cases, hypocalcemia 3 cases, hypothyroidism 1 case and delayed puberty 7 cases) were observed. This high incidence of complications induced by post-transfusional iron overload has recently prompted us to improve the quality of chelation therapy through the use of the services of a specialized center where patients as well as their families can be trained more adequately in home care and self-treatment.
 ...
PMID:[Treatment of post-transfusion iron overload by deferoxamine]. 273 4

Renal lesions found in 21 autopsied patients with hemosiderosis, 18 with beta-thalassemia, two with Blackfan-Diamond anemia, and one with aplastic anemia included: cellular glomeruli with increased mesangial matrix; hemosiderin deposit in visceral and parietal glomerular epithelial cells; greater hemosiderin deposit in terminal straight portions of proximal convoluted tubules and distal convoluted tubules than in connecting segments, or collecting tubules, connective tissue ferrugination; lipofuscin in tubular epithelium and vascular smooth muscle; infrequently, intimal or medial arterial thickening, and, in one patient with thalassemia, an infarct resulting from arterial thrombus. The progression of these lesions over the course of disease, and possible effects on the various lesions of high transfusion regimen, oral pancreatin, vitamin E supplementation, or treatment with intramuscular, subcutaneous, or intravenous desferrioxamine were evaluated. The results of urine and renal function studies of 4 of the autopsied patients (3 thalassemia, 1 Blackfan-Diamond anemia), and 14 patients with thalassemia and 4 with Blackfan-Diamond anemia who were not autopsied, are presented. Rarely significant until preterminal stages, the renal functional changes reflect distal more than proximal tubule dysfunction.
 ...
PMID:Renal lesions and clinical findings in thalassemia major and other chronic anemias with hemosiderosis. 201 91

In order to evaluate the influence of haemosiderosis on the glucose metabolism we studied tissue sensitivity to insulin and the metabolic clearance rate (M.C.R.) of this hormone by means of euglycemic clamp technique using an artificial endocrine pancreas in 8 patients with thalassaemia intermedia and 8 control subjects. During the steady-state of euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp (40 mU/m2/min) plasma insulin values were significantly lower and the insulin M.C.R. was significantly higher in thalassaemic patients compared to the controls. To achieve a comparable steady-state insulin concentration to the controls, we performed for a second time the euglycemic clamp in the thalassaemic patients increasing the insulin infusion rate to 80/mU/m2/min. The insulin M.C.R., the M index and the M/IRIs-s ratio were significantly higher in the thalassaemic patients compared to the controls. These results are indicative of an increased tissue peripheral sensitivity to insulin as well as the metabolic clearance rate of this hormone.
 ...
PMID:The euglycemic clamp in patients with thalassaemia intermedia. 330 77

An increased incidence of diabetes mellitus and glucose intolerance has been reported in thalassaemia major treated with a high transfusion programme (HTP). To investigate beta-cell function, serum immunoreactive insulin (IRI), C-peptide (CP) and glucose were measured fasting and at 3, 6 and 10 min after i.v. administration of 1 mg glucagon in 20 thalassaemia patients treated by many transfusions and in nine healthy control subjects. Fasting C-peptide concentrations (mean +/- SEM) were higher in the thalassaemic group (2.15 +/- 0.17 ng/ml) than in the controls (1.41 +/- 0.13 ng/ml). After stimulation with glucagon, C-peptide concentrations were consistently higher (P less than 0.01) by approximately 50% in the thalassaemic than in the control group (5.29 +/- 0.31 vs 3.36 +/- 0.21 ng/ml, at 3 min; 5.22 +/- 0.30 vs 3.53 +/- 0.21 ng/ml at 6 min and 4.69 +/- 0.27 vs 3.30 +/- 0.17 ng/ml after 10 min). Plasma IRI concentrations increased in both groups after glucagon stimulation but were not significantly different. The glucose values were approximately 15% higher at each sampling time in the thalassaemic group than those of the normal subjects. It is concluded that disturbances in carbohydrate metabolism in thalassaemia major treated with HTP are the consequence of hepatic cirrhosis which accompanies secondary haemosiderosis, and possibly iron deposition in the beta-cells of the pancreas.
 ...
PMID:A study of beta-cell function after glucagon stimulation in thalassaemia major treated by high transfusion programme. 332 97

Diabetes mellitus was observed in 29 of 448 patients with thalassaemia major attending seven Italian centres. Twelve patients, at onset of clinical diabetes, presented with an asymptomatic glycosuria, 13 with ketosis, and four with ketoacidosis. All were diagnosed after 1979, at a mean age of 17 years. Mean age at diagnosis of diabetes was lower in patients born in the last two decades. In these patients transfusions were started at a younger age and pre-transfusion haemoglobin concentration, serum ferritin concentration, incidence of liver disease, and the presence of a family history of diabetes were higher than in patients born previously. Although 27 (93%) cases had iron chelating treatment the mean serum ferritin concentration was 5600 micrograms/l; 25 (92%) of these patients had signs of liver impairment. The determination of C peptide in 10 patients showed a wide variation in pancreatic beta cell function, and insulin requirements ranged between 0.15 and 1.72 U/kg body weight. Metabolic control was generally poor. The onset of diabetes mellitus was followed in most patients by the appearance of other endocrine or cardiac complications, or both. Fourteen patients died within three years of presenting with overt diabetes. Haemosiderosis, liver infections, and genetic factors seemed to be crucial in diabetes development. Thalassaemic patients developing clinical diabetes mellitus are at high risk for other complications and should be strictly monitored, especially for thyroid impairment.
 ...
PMID:Insulin dependent diabetes in thalassaemia. 334 50

The livers of 30 cases of advanced thalassemia were studied pathologically. Severe degrees of hemosiderosis and fibrosis were found in liver cells and Kupffer cells in most cases. Various histochemical stains have been used to determine the characteristics of FAB and to grade degrees of iron deposit and fibrosis. The correlation between hemosiderosis and fibrosis as well as the presence of FAB are described.
 ...
PMID:Histochemical study of liver tissue from thalassemic patients. 339 May 41

The liver in an infant or child is as liable to the same pathologies afflicting the adult liver but with certain differences in prevalence and causes. Genetic disorders are more likely to present in the paediatric age group where many involve metabolic processes such as galactosemia, phenylketonuria, glycogen storage disease and others. Many of these present in the newborn period. However, neoplasms and hamartomas also present in the newborn period, such as congenital neuroblastoma with an enormously enlarged liver, hepatoblastoma and haemangioma. The latter may present with intractable cardiac failure as a result of considerable shunting of blood. Acquired liver lesions often present in the newborn period or early infancy and this includes hepatitis and biliary atresia. The difficulties in the differentiation of the two lesions will be discussed together with the management of biliary atresia. As the child grows older, Reyes encephalopathy with microvesicular fat in the liver is not uncommon. The pathophysiology of Reyes encephalopathy as seen locally will be described. The choledochal cyst with direct (Caroli's disease) or indirect effect on the liver will be described. Problems of childhood portal hypertension as well as congenital hepatic fibrosis will be described. Hemosiderosis of the liver is chiefly seen in homozygous beta-thalassaemia patients who have been kept alive with repeated blood transfusions. Amoebic and pyogenic hepatitis, fatty liver due to protein malnutrition, biliary ascariasis, etc, which are common in tropical and subtropical countries are rarely seen now in Singapore children.
 ...
PMID:Paediatric liver disorders in Singapore. 346 38


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next >>