Pediatr. Rep., Volume 1, Issue 1 (June 2009) – 9 articles

The adverse effects or overdose of thioridazine including sudden death, fatal arrhythmia, or retinopathy, in addition to the neurological signs have been reported. A three-year-old boy with bronchitis was prescribed erythromycin by a local clinic, but he started to complain of severe drowsiness and became unconscious. It was decided that this was a result of a compounding error of thioridazine instead of erythromycin owing to their similar commercial names. The thioridazine concentration in the child’s serum on admission was two to three times higher than the Cmax for adults with the same dosage. The concentration of the lavage saline on admission was only 0.3% of the ingested amount, indicating that the lavage was not effective in our case. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed the parameters as Tmax, 1.5 hr; Cmax, 1700 ng/mL; Ka, 2.01 L/hr; Vd, 3.6 L/kg; and T1/2, 6.8 hr. Further investigations on clinical cases with a pharmacokinetic analysis should be done to confirm the pharmacokinetic evidence obtained here and to give specific therapeutic guidelines for overdose management especially in children. Full article

Acute or perforated appendicitis within inguinal hernia is rarely encountered and it is known as Amyand’s hernia. We report on the first case occurring in a 4-year-old boy affected by permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus due to pancreatic agenesis, an extremely rare condition. The initial suspicion of inguinal hernia was confirmed by ultrasound examination of the right inguinal region which revealed omental layers inside a swollen inguinal canal; this finding and the clinical presentation allowed a prompt and appropriate surgical management. The careful evaluation of this patient and early recognition of this unique presentation of appendicitis allowed trans-hernial appendectomy and immediate herniorrhaphy. Ultrasonography played a pivotal role to reach the correct diagnosis and to start a prompt treatment. Full article

A 15-year-old boy presented with intestinal obstruction two weeks following a blunt abdominal trauma. He had progressive bilious vomiting without abdominal distension or peritonitis. The contrast computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen provided the definitive diagnosis: there was an obstructing duodenal hematoma, which might have been slowly progressing or have arisen from secondary hemorrhage after the initial injury. The boy remained stable over a ten-day period of conservative treatment, and his obstructive symptoms and signs were resolved completely. A follow-up CT scan of the abdomen (16 days after admission) showed an almost complete resolution of the hematoma. Delayed duodenal hematoma causing intestinal obstruction has been reported rarely in previous literature. Occasionally a significant secondary hemorrhage resulting in intestinal obstruction can become life threatening. Clinical follow-up is paramount after initial recovery. Although conservative treatment suffices in most cases, the surgeon should be wary of the need for definitive surgical intervention if there is evidence of ongoing acute hemorrhage or of the obstructing hematoma failing to resolve. Laparoscopic drainage of the hematoma provides optimistic results for patients failing conservative management. Full article

Posterior circulation vascular occlusive disease in children is a rare and uncommonly reported event. Among the numerous risk factors, the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) mutation is considered to be a common genetic cause of thrombosis in adults and children. Recently, a link between the MTHFR mutation and cerebrovascular disorders was reported in children. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a great improvement on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), making the in vivo anatomical and pathological study of the brain and its fibers possible. In our patient cerebellar infarction was associated with MTHFR mutation and, in a standard neurological examination, DTI revealed normal white matter tracts. Full article

No bulking agent is ideal for endoscopically treating vesico-renal reflux in children. Many teams have tried to find a safe and efficient material, ideally an autologous material. We describe here a protocol for the use of autologous viable fat in the treatment of primary vesico-renal reflux in children aged from 3 to 15 years. Fat harvesting was done from the medial side of the thigh by manual aspiration. Samples were centrifuged to purify the graft from blood and lipid. Lastly fat was injected beneath the pathologic ureter by a conventional endoscopic technique. A voiding cystourethrography (VCUG) closed the procedure. Follow-up included renal ultrasonography the day after surgery, and one and three months later. A VCUG was performed systematically at three months and, in cases of acute pyelonephritis, during the survey. Sixty-four children with 94 refluxing units were treated by autologous fat injection with a follow-up from 6 to 40 months. At the end of the procedure, we systematically obtained a very good increase in height of the pathologic meatus and VCUG was normal in all cases. None presented with an obstruction during the follow-up period. Two children presented with an acute pyelonephritis before the third month. At three months, VCUG was not realized in 14 cases (22%) because the parents refused the procedure. One of those children presented with an acute pyelonephritis five months after endoscopic treatment. VCUG was normal for 17 of 50 children (34%), and showed a real improvement for 19 other children (38%). Three children had a surgical reimplantation because of the persistence of an unchanged high-grade vesico-renal reflux; histological examination found viable adipocytes on sections of the distal pathologic ureter. Clinically, 11 children (17%) presented with an acute pyelonephritis after treatment at a mean follow-up time of 10 months. These preliminary findings led us to modify the technique in order to improve our results. Our first concern is feasibility and safety of this technique, regardless of the use of other synthetic bulking agents the innocuousness of which is uncertain. Full article

Henoch-Schönlein purpura is a leukocytoclastic vasculitis, characterized with palpable purpuric rush and collection of immunglobuline A (Ig A) around small vessels. Onset of purpuric rush at gluteus and lower extremities is the main symptom of the disease, however it presents with a wide variety of signs and symptoms. Here, we present a two-year-old boy who had presented with penile swelling and color change. Then, purpuric rush was occurred and it was seen spontenous resolution on second day without treatment. Full article

Primary lymphoma of the bone (PLB) accounts for 2% of all non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, and until recently it had not been well characterized in literature. Most cases present in adulthood (average age 50), with localized painful lesions in the long bones, cranium, or axial skeleton. We describe a case of multifocal PLB in an adolescent female. In this case, the initial presentation, with migratory large joint polyarthralgias and bone pain, mimicked chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO). Had a biopsy not been performed the diagnosis would have been missed. Full article

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an acute self-limited bleeding disorder that can progress to chronic form in 10-15% of the cases. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a possible cause of chronic ITP. We studied 30 children with resistant chronic ITP for H. pylori infection based on the detection of H. pylori fecal antigen. This retrospective study was based on data obtained from medical records of 30 children aged between five and 17 years (median age at ITP diagnosis was ten years). A specially-designed data sheet was used to record information on age, sex, duration of disease, family history of bleeding disorders, previous treatments and median platelet count. In patients with H. pylori infection, antimicrobial treatment consisted of amoxicillin, metronidazol and omeprazol. Response was assessed every month for one year and defined as complete (platelet count >150x109/L) or partial (platelet count between 50 and 150x109/L). We detected H. pylori infection in 5 patients. In 4 of them increased platelet count was seen during one year of follow-up and in one patient the platelet count was acceptable during six months. Although the pathological mechanism of H. pylori-induced thrombocytopenia was unclear in our patient sample, the assessment of H. pylori infection and use of eradication therapy should be attempted in chronic and resistant ITP patients. Full article

The metabolic syndrome (MS) in adults is defined as a concurrence of obesity, disturbed glucose and insulin metabolism, hypertension and dyslipidemia, and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Studies now indicate that many of its components are also present in children and adolescents. Moreover, the clustering of these risk factors has been documented in some children, who are at increased cardiovascular risk in adulthood. The MS is highly prevalent among overweight children and adolescents. Identifying these children is important for early prevention and treatment of different components of the syndrome. The first-line treatment comprises lifestyle modification consisting of diet and exercise. The most effective tool for prevention of the MS is to stop the development of childhood obesity. The first attempt of consensus-based pediatric diagnostic criteria was published in 2007 by the International Diabetes Federation. Nevertheless, national prevalence data, based on uniform pediatric definition, protocols for prevention, early recognition and effective treatment of pediatric MS are still needed. The aim of this article is to provide a short overview of the diagnosis and treatment options of childhood MS, as well as to present the relationships between MS and its individual components. Full article