Affiliations 

  • 1 Section of Pulmonology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colorado
  • 2 Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado
  • 3 Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas
  • 4 Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 5 Pulmonary Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • 6 Division of Pulmonology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 7 Division of Pulmonology, Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  • 8 Edward Mallinckrodt Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
  • 9 Department of Pediatrics, Pulmonary Medicine, Wayne State University and Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, Michigan
  • 10 Farwaniya Hospital, Sabah Al Nasser, Kuwait
  • 11 Respiratory Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and
  • 12 Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ann Am Thorac Soc, 2020 Jun;17(6):724-728.
PMID: 32109152 DOI: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.201908-617OC

Abstract

Rationale: Neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy (NEHI) is an important form of children's interstitial and diffuse lung disease for which the diagnostic strategy has evolved. The prevalence of comorbidities in NEHI that may influence treatment has not been previously assessed.Objectives: To evaluate a previously unpublished NEHI clinical score for assistance in diagnosis of NEHI and to assess comorbidities in NEHI.Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of 199 deidentified patients with NEHI from 11 centers. Data were collected in a centralized Research Electronic Data Capture registry and we performed descriptive statistics.Results: The majority of patients with NEHI were male (66%). The sensitivity of the NEHI Clinical Score was 87% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82-0.91) for all patients from included centers and 93% (95% CI, 0.86-0.97) for those with complete scores (e.g., no missing data). Findings were similar when we limited the population to the 75 patients diagnosed by lung biopsy (87%; 95% CI, 0.77-0.93). Of those patients evaluated for comorbidities, 51% had gastroesophageal reflux, 35% had aspiration or were at risk for aspiration, and 17% had evidence of immune system abnormalities.Conclusions: The NEHI Clinical Score is a sensitive tool for clinically evaluating NEHI; however, its specificity has not yet been addressed. Clinicians should consider evaluating patients with NEHI for comorbidities, including gastroesophageal reflux, aspiration, and immune system abnormalities, because these can contribute to the child's clinical picture and may influence clinical course and treatment.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.