EDITORIAL Pediatrics in Clinics: Highlights

As a multidisciplinary medical journal CLINICS has covered virtually every medical area. We here highlight one of our strongest fields, Pediatrics, responsible for slightly over 10 % of all our original research papers over 2010-11. CARDIOVASCULAR Sellami et al. (1) examined the effect of the histocompat-ibility antigen HA-1 disparity on the incidence of both acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease in Tunisian recipients of hematopoietic stem cells in 60 patients and their 60 respective sibling hematopoietic stem cell donors. Their findings support previously reported data suggesting a significant association betweenHA-1 disparity and the risk of acute graft-versus-host disease following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Tedde et al. (2) compared bar displacement and complication rates in three retrospective series of mostly pediatric patients operated on by the same surgical team for pectus excavatus: (i) original, unmodified Nuss technique; (ii): ’’third point fixation’ ’ technique; and (iii) correction performed with modifications to the stabilizer and stabilizer position. With bar displacement and instability no longer significant post-operative risks, the Nuss technique should be considered among the available options for the surgical correction of pectus excavatum in pediatric patients.Dutra et al. (3) aimed to test five microsatellite markers (D7S1870, D7S489, D7S613, D7S2476, and D7S489) for the diagnosis of Williams-Beuren syndrome, to determine the size and parental origin of microdeletion, compare the clinical characteristics in 97 patients with different sizes of the deletion and parental origin. Microdeletions were present in 84 (86.6%) patients. Maternal deletions were found in 52.4%, paternal deletions in 47.6 % of patients. Supraventricular aortic stenosis, ocular and urinary abnormalities weremore frequent in the patients with a deletion. They conclude that the use of the fivemicrosatellite markers was informative in all patients, and may thus be considered as an alternative method for molecular diagnosis in Williams-Beuren syndrome. Kayiran et al. (4) described the demographic, clinical, and laboratory features of 30 children, aged,5 years. with Kawasaki disease managed a