Publications by authors named "Shingo Numoto"
Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) requires children to remain still for extended periods, often necessitating sedation, which carries risks and raises costs. Non-pharmacologic strategies such as video goggles, evening scheduling, mock MRI training, and child life specialist-led preparation have been explored. The effectiveness of parental presence, especially in younger children, remains underexamined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of febrile seizures (FSs) before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global health emergency.
Methods: This study was a retrospective study conducted at a single institution in Japan. Clinical data were retrospectively collected from 797 children with FS, aged <16 years, between January 2018 and July 2024.
Paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia is a rare movement disorder that typically has a genetic basis, with PRRT2 being the primary causative gene. However, TMEM151A mutations have recently emerged as causative factors. Here, we report the cases of two Japanese siblings diagnosed with paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia caused by a novel heterozygous TMEM151A frameshift variant (c.
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- Subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA) occurs in 5-20% of patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and can lead to complications like hydrocephalus.
- A 14-year-old boy with TSC developed SEGA and hydrocephalus, with treatments reducing tumor size but not resolving ventricular enlargement.
- The situation emphasizes the importance of considering multiple factors affecting cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics, and highlights the need for improved treatment strategies in TSC patients with SEGA.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to analyze diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) findings in young children with moyamoya disease (MMD) during the early stages of the condition.
- Data was collected from 12 children under six years old, showing various DWI abnormalities primarily affecting the cerebral cortex, with distinct lesion types identified.
- Surprisingly, all children had internal carotid artery stenosis, but the severity did not always correlate with the ischemic lesions observed, indicating unique patterns of injury in MMD compared to typical strokes.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates how cavernous malformations (CM) can lead to epilepsy, particularly focusing on cases where the seizure onset location doesn't match findings from scalp EEG, known as false lateralization (FL).
- - Analyzed 32 patients with CM-associated epilepsy, finding FL in about 10% of cases for interictal and ictal discharges, and those with FL had a significantly higher occurrence of CM located in medial and deep brain areas.
- - The research suggests that neurologists should be cautious when deciding on surgical resection areas based solely on EEG results, especially in cases with deep and medial CM, as they can present misleading information.
Background: Traditional brain activity monitoring via scalp electroencephalography (EEG) offers limited resolution and is susceptible to artifacts. Endovascular electroencephalography (eEEG) emerged in the 1990s. Despite early successes and potential for detecting epileptiform activity, eEEG has remained clinically unutilized.
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- - Biliary atresia (BA) is a rare condition in infants that leads to jaundice and can cause vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB), leading to complications such as hematomas from vaccinations.
- - A case of an 82-day-old girl with BA developed a significant hematoma in her arm after receiving a pneumococcal vaccine, resulting in a radial nerve palsy due to the bleeding.
- - Timely detection and management of BA and VKDB are crucial, as delays can lead to severe consequences, including lasting nerve damage even after treatment interventions like liver transplant.
Bacteremia Caused by Found in an Infant During the Course of Gastrointestinal Food Allergy.
Infect Drug Resist
May 2023
Article Synopsis
- - A 2-month-old girl experienced bacteremia from a rare pathogen after showing symptoms like diarrhea, poor oral intake, and vomiting; she was initially diagnosed with acute enterocolitis.
- - Blood cultures identified Gram-negative cocci, later confirmed as a specific strain through advanced genetic analysis methods, which was challenging with standard tests.
- - The infant was treated successfully with cefotaxime and diagnosed later with a non-IgE-mediated gastrointestinal food allergy, highlighting the need for detailed studies to understand the pathogenicity of this rare pathogen in humans.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigated human metapneumovirus-associated encephalopathy (hMPVE) in children across Japan, focusing on its clinical features and outcomes.
- Researchers conducted a nationwide survey from 2014 to 2018, collecting data from pediatricians about children diagnosed with hMPVE, including demographics, symptoms, and treatment results.
- Out of 16 children studied, 11 had good outcomes while 5 experienced poor outcomes, with no significant factors identified that influenced health results compared to other viral-related encephalopathy cases.
Article Synopsis
- Nusinersen is a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), but previous trials have mainly focused on pediatric patients, leaving its effects on adolescents and adults less understood.
- A study reviewed seven SMA patients treated with nusinersen from 2017 to 2022, assessing motor function improvements using specific tests like CHOP-INTEND and HFMSE.
- While CHOP-INTEND showed some improvement in patients, the other tests did not show significant changes, highlighting the need for consistent treatment intervals even during disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined brain tissue from a patient who developed temporal lobe epilepsy following a febrile seizure caused by human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infection during infancy.
- The patient had a history of reduced water diffusion in the temporal lobe and hippocampus shown through MRI, and HHV-6 DNA was found in blood but not in cerebrospinal fluid.
- After developing epilepsy and undergoing surgical treatment at age 14, analysis of the resected tissues revealed no presence of the virus, indicating that while HHV-6 triggered the initial seizures, its link to the later epilepsy and mesial temporal sclerosis was inconclusive.
Purpose: This multicenter study examined the effectiveness and tolerability of lacosamide (LCM) for children and young adults with epilepsy, particularly in patients who had previously been treated with other sodium channel blockers (SCBs) and the difference in effectiveness and tolerability when using other concomitant SCBs.
Methods: We retrospectively studied the clinical information of patients aged <30 years given LCM to treat epilepsy. The effectiveness and adverse events (AEs) of LCM and the other SCBs were investigated.
Background: Cervical lymphadenitis (CL) cannot be easily distinguished from Kawasaki disease (KD). We therefore explored whether brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are useful in this context.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 14 children with CL and 177 children with KD.
Objective: To examine the efficacy and tolerance of the antiseizure medications lacosamide (LCM) and levetiracetam (LEV) in patients with benign infantile epilepsy (BIE).
Methods: The clinical data of 24 children with BIE seen between 2014 and 2020 were collected retrospectively, and treatment, effectiveness, and adverse effects were examined. PRRT2 gene analysis was performed using Sanger sequencing.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the effects of carnitine supplementation on children with epilepsy who are being treated with valproate (VPA).
- 69 patients were analyzed, with comparisons made between those who received carnitine and those who did not, focusing on various lab values.
- Results indicate that carnitine helps maintain normal serum-free carnitine levels and is associated with lower serum amylase levels, suggesting it may protect against potential pancreatic injury related to VPA treatment.
Usefulness of Q-Probe PCR in Detecting Macrolide-Resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection in Children.
Jpn J Infect Dis
January 2022
Article Synopsis
- A study analyzed the effectiveness of quenching probe PCR (Q-probe PCR) in detecting macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) in 21 children with MP infections.
- Results showed that 66.7% of the cases were resistant to macrolide antibiotics, and those patients experienced a longer fever duration after initial treatment compared to those with sensitive strains.
- The study concluded that using Q-probe PCR can help in selecting the right antibiotics and may reduce fever duration in MP infections.
Article Synopsis
- - Carnitine is crucial for transporting long-chain fatty acids to mitochondria for energy production, but its role in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) had not been previously studied.
- - The study analyzed serum free carnitine (FC) levels in 45 KD patients and found that non-responders to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) had higher FC levels compared to responders.
- - Elevated FC levels were linked to liver enzymes (AST and ALT) in KD patients, suggesting that FC measurements might indicate IVIG treatment responses and underlying liver function issues.
Background: Antenatal magnesium sulfate (MgSO ) has been used with mothers, but the influence of MgSO on the fetus is unclear. The purpose of this study is to determine whether longer antenatal MgSO exposure correlates with adverse effects in newborns.
Methods: The clinical data of 77 infants born to mothers treated with MgSO were collected.
We measured carnitine levels before and after pivalate-conjugated antibiotic (PCA) use in six patients with epilepsy who were prescribed valproate (VPA). Three of the patients were on carnitine supplementation when PCA use started. Serum FC levels were within the normal range (37.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: We examined the clinical manifestations of acute encephalopathy (AE) and identify risk factors for AE in children with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).
Methods: The clinical data of 11 children with clinically diagnosed TSC associated with AE and 109 children with clinically diagnosed TSC alone aged 4 years or older were collected from 13 hospitals.
Results: Of the 11 children with AE, 5 had histories of febrile seizures (FS), and all had histories of febrile status epilepticus (FSE).
Procalcitonin as a Biomarker of Unresponsiveness to Intravenous Immunoglobulin for Kawasaki Disease.
Pediatr Infect Dis J
September 2020
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of procalcitonin (PCT) as a predictor for children with Kawasaki disease who do not respond to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment.
- Analyzing data from 215 Kawasaki disease patients, the research revealed that higher PCT levels were significantly associated with IVIG resistance, with a median age of 2.4 years among the participants.
- The findings suggest that a PCT cutoff value of 2.18 ng/mL could effectively identify non-responders to IVIG, showing high specificity (93.9%) and a decent sensitivity (46.4%).
Article Synopsis
- Benign convulsions with gastroenteritis involve a series of seizures that can occur during illness.
- A study administered lacosamide, a new sodium channel blocker, to five patients aged 17 to 33 months who had 1-4 generalized convulsions lasting from 30 to 120 seconds.
- After receiving a single dose of lacosamide (2 mg/kg), the seizures stopped without any reported side effects.
Background: An outbreak of acute flaccid myelitis was chronologically correlated with an outbreak of severe respiratory illness in Japan in 2015. We hypothesized that increases in children hospitalized with severe respiratory illnesses might also be associated with increase in acute flaccid myelitis in autumn 2018.
Methods: We explored the temporal correlations between respiratory illness outbreaks and acute flaccid myelitis during autumn season between 2016 and 2018 using questionnaire surveys.
White Blood Cell and Neutrophil Counts and Response to Intravenous Immunoglobulin in Kawasaki Disease.
Glob Pediatr Health
October 2019
Article Synopsis
- The study investigated factors that can predict how effective intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy is for children with Kawasaki disease (KD) by analyzing data from 77 patients treated with IVIG.
- When comparing laboratory results before and 24 hours after IVIG treatment, responders showed significantly lower white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil counts than nonresponders, who experienced recurring fever.
- The findings suggested that monitoring WBC and neutrophil counts within the first day post-treatment can effectively predict IVIG therapy outcomes and identify patients who may not respond to the treatment.