S Faisal Ahmed

Publications (2)2.88 Total impact

• Article: Growth in children receiving contemporary disease specific therapy for Crohn's disease.

  Salma Malik, Avril Mason, Andisheh Bakhshi, David Young, Jonathan Bishop, Victoria Garrick, Paraic McGrogan, Richard K Russell, S Faisal Ahmed
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  ABSTRACT: It is unclear whether recent therapeutic advances have improved the growth of children with Crohn's disease (CD). To assess the frequency of short stature and poor growth and their relationship to disease course and therapy in children with CD. WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC: Growth retardation may occur in children with Crohn's disease (CD). Current therapy for CD in the UK is less likely than previously to involve the use of long-term glucocorticoids. Despite advances in therapy, short stature and slow growth continue to be encountered in children with CD. There is a need for simple and consistent definitions of growth that can identify poor growth in children with chronic disease. The anthropometric and treatment details of 116 children (68 male) with a mean (range) age at diagnosis of 10.8 years (4.9-15.5) and a mean age at maximum follow-up (MF) of 15.4 years (9.4-19.3) were studied retrospectively at diagnosis (T0), at 1 (T1), 2 (T2) and 3 years (T3) after diagnosis and at MF. At T0, mean height SD score (HtSDS) was -0.5 (-3.3 to 2.6) compared to a mid-parental HtSDS of 0.2 (-2.0 to 01.4) (p=0.002). At T1, T2, T3 and MF, mean HtSDS was -0.6 (-4.8 to 7.8), -0.6 (-2.9 to 2.2), -0.7 (-3.6 to 2.5) and -0.5 (-3.5 to 2.9), respectively. Mean Ht velocity (HV) SDS at T1, T2, T3 and MF was -1.4 (-7.4 to 7.4), -0.6 (-7.5 to 6.1), -0.1 (-6.6 to 7.6) and 0.6 (-4.8 to 7.8), respectively (p<0.05). In final models, HtSDS was associated negatively with the use of prednisolone (p=0.0001), azathioprine (p=0.0001), methotrexate (p=0.0001) and weight SDS (WtSDS) (p=0.0001). HVSDS was associated positively with age (p=0.0001) and WtSDS (p=0.01). ΔHtSDS was associated negatively with use of prednisolone (p<0.02). Although current therapy for CD is associated with improved rate of growth for the first few years, a substantial proportion of children remain short. This study also highlights the need for consistency in describing growth in children with chronic diseases.
  Archives of Disease in Childhood 06/2012; 97(8):698-703. · 2.88 Impact Factor
• Article: Biologic therapy and its effect on skeletal development in children with chronic inflammation

  Salma Malik, S Faisal Ahmed
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  ABSTRACT: Chronic inflammatory conditions in children such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis and systemic lupus erythematosus can cause reduced linear growth, final height and bone mass. There are many mechanisms leading to these skeletal alterations but inflammation itself is considered to play an important role. Biologic therapy is being used increasingly for the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions and may also be effective in improving growth and skeletal development. The main aim of this article is to summarize the effects of inflammation on growth and skeletal development and evaluate the effects of biologic therapy on growth and skeletal development in children with chronic inflammatory conditions.
  Expert Review of Endocrinology &amp Metabolism 08/2010; 5(5):733-740.