Les infections nosocomiales en réanimation néonatale et pédiatrique. Intérêt de la ciprofloxacineNosocomial infections in neonatal and pediatric intensive care. The appeal of ciprofloxacin.

Nosocomial infections, caused by multiresistant bacteria, are very common in neonatal intensive care units (NIU) and they engage the vital prognosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From January 1994 to December 1995, 29 children suffered from nosocomial infections due to multiresistant bacteria. RESULTS: Bacteria were isolated in blood cultures and/or in cerebrospinal fluid and included Klebsiella (14 cases), Enterobacter (eight cases), Pseudomonas (three cases), Acinetobacter (one case), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (one case) and Flavobacterium odorantum (one case). After preliminary antibiotic therapy, ciprofloxacin was introduced and associated with another antibiotic for 10 days. Outcome was favorable in 25 cases with sterilization of blood culture. Four deaths were due to acute respiratory failure. One case of skin rash and five cases of transient thrombocytopenia were observed during the six days of ciprofloxacin therapy. No articular complication and no dental abnormalities were observed during the 14-38-month follow-up. Ciprofloxacin appears to be a good therapeutic choice for the treatment of severe nosocomial infections in NICU. Side effects are rare, mild, and transient. However, the prevention of nosocomial infection remains essential.     

Dyspnée laryngée révélatrice d’une localisation cervicale d’hydatidose : à propos d’un casLaryngeal dyspnea with a hydatid etiology.

Hydatid cysts rarely present as a cervical tumor. We report a case of hydatid cyst of the neck in a child with multiple hydatid cysts in the liver, which was revealed by laryngeal dyspnea. Symptoms occurred in a six year-old country dweller, who presented with progressive laryngeal dyspnea. The chest radiographs showed extrinsic tracheal compression. A cervical ultrasonography showed a liquid filled mass evocative of hydatid cyst type 1. Explorative cervicotomy confirmed the diagnosis. The treatment was conservative after destruction of the parasite using a hypertonic saline solution. The immediate result was the disappearance of the laryngeal dyspnea.     

Comportements des mères face à la position de couchage de leur bébé : effets de la dernière campagne de prévention concernant la mort subite du nourrissonMothers’ behaviors regarding infant sleeping position: effects of the last public education campaign for sudden infant death syndrome.

BACKGROUND: To define infant care practices in maternity units and those subsequently adopted at home. Using these data, we evaluated the acceptance and application of recommendations issued by the previous public education campaign on infant sleeping position as related to sudden infant death syndrome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A survey was carried out in two maternity units (Port-Royal and Créteil) and in one pediatric consultation unit (affiliated with Port-Royal maternity). RESULTS: The mixed position (side or back) is used equally with, respectively, 47% at Port-Royal and 45% at Créteil. The supine sleeping position (French public health recommendations) is used by 12% of the mothers at Port-Royal and by 40% at Créteil. It appears that hospital nurseries play an important role in determining the mother's preference for the sleeping position (64% at Port-Royal and 54% at Créteil), but it does not adequately explain all mothers' responses. However, as the infants mature (> two months old), the more spontaneously they changed their sleeping position. All the infants placed in a side sleeping position moved to a supine sleeping position during the night. Upon awakening, infants were found mostly in the supine position (in contrast to the national public education campaign). CONCLUSION: Our results show that mothers and hospital nurseries were distressed in terms of ensuring the supine sleeping position of the infant. New choices of sleeping positions were initiated by mothers. For example, they used the side position after feedings essentially in the case of reflux or during the daytime. The supine position was used when the mothers were assured that any problems had been avoided or only during the night.     

Phenotype of CF and the effects of possible modifier genes

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited multi-system disease, characterised by progressive lung disease and pancreatic insufficiency that is classically attributed to the dysfunction of a single gene coding for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). The widely diverse phenotypic expression of CF is likely influenced by other genetic traits separate from the CFTR locus or modifier genes. Many of the genes currently under study as potential modifiers of CF, particularly those which influence the severity of lung disease, are involved in the control of infection, immunity and inflammation. Some of these include HLA class II antigens, mannose-binding lectin, alpha(1)-antitrypsin and alpha(1)-antichymotrypsin, glutathione-S-transferase, nitric oxide synthase type I, TNF-alpha, TGF-beta, IL-1beta and IL-1Ra.     

Epithelial antimicrobial peptides and proteins: their role in host defence and inflammation

Various antimicrobial mechanisms act in concert to protect the lung from infection by forming an efficient host defence system. Most microbial challenges are counteracted by elements of the innate immune system and antimicrobial peptides and proteins have been identified as key components of innate immunity. Although phagocytes are an important cellular source of these so-called endogenous antibiotics, it is now recognized that the airway epithelium is also a major site of synthesis. Antimicrobial peptides and proteins kill a wide variety of micro-organisms. Their importance is illustrated by the observation that in cystic fibrosis changes in the airway surface fluid may result in a dysfunction of these components. Recent studies have revealed other functions of these molecules showing they may link innate and adaptive immunity and appear to be involved in the regulation of inflammation and tissue repair.     

Liver disease in children with cystic fibrosis

Identification, evaluation and treatment of liver disease are increasingly important challenges in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Liver disease usually presents at puberty and is receiving more attention with improved life expectancy. The abnormal CF transmembrane regulator protein in the apical surface of the biliary epithelium causes the disease. Hyperviscous bile accumulates in the biliary tree causing cholangiocyte and hepatocyte injury, stimulating focal fibrosis. Fibrosis is thought to lead on to cirrhosis over a period of years, a process which is usually asymptomatic. Steatosis and biliary tree anomalies including cholecystitis also occur. Clinical signs of liver disease appear late, by which time cirrhosis may be established. Early diagnosis would allow interventions to be evaluated but there is no gold standard for screening. Currently, regular clinical assessment, measurement of liver enzymes, ultrasound and liver biopsy are all used to evaluate liver disease in CF. Bile acid therapy reverses many markers of the disease but there is no good evidence that progression to cirrhosis can be prevented. A few children with cirrhosis decompensate (demonstrated by falling plasma albumin or coagulopathy) but they do well with liver transplantation. Children with portal hypertension as the sole manifestation of CF liver disease can be effectively managed with a programme of variceal obliteration or porto-systemic shunts.     

Décompensation tardive d''une maladie d''Imerslund-Grasbëck

Imerslund-Gräsbeck disease is an autosomic recessive disease characterised by a megaloblastic anemia due to a vitamin B12 deficiency and by a moderate proteinuria without kidney failure. It is caused by the malabsorption of Cobalamin-intrinsic factor complex bringing into play cubulin and other proteins (megaline, amnioless), some mutations of which are described at present. We report herein the observation of a child whose diagnosis was made belatedly during an acute decompensation with biological hemophagocytic syndrome. Its evolution was marked by the appearance of neurological disorders at the beginning of the vitamin B12 substitution treatment. These disorder regressed as the dosage was increase. The purpose of this observation is to recapitulate the main characteristics of this disease and to review the current data.     

Infections cutanées sévères à Streptococcus pyogenes chez l’enfant : résultats d’une enquête multicentriqueSevere cutaneous infections due to streptococcus pyogenes in children.

To assess pediatric cases of severe cutaneous infections due to Streptococcus pyogenes. Since the beginning of 1980, the incidence of cellulitis and necrotizing fasciitis due to S. pyogenes has increased in adults. Serotyping of obtained isolates are in most cases M1, M3 or M5 protein.Patients and Method. – A retrospective (1990-2000) survey was carried out in pediatric hospital centers.Results. – Three cases of necrotizing fasciitis and 15 of cellulitis were observed. In 30 % of the cases, varicella lesions were associated ; in the other cases, minor wounds were the site of the infection. Bacteriologic diagnosis was made by local samples in 14 cases ; blood cultures were positive in four cases. In 11 cases, initial intravenous treatment consisted of third generation cephalosporin, in six cases of penicillin M or G and in one case of fusidic acid. In the second time, penicillin M was perfused in the majority of the cases. Mean duration of intravenous antibiotics perfusion was 15 days. There were no sequelae or death in this survey.Conclusions. – Despite this study had limited epidemiological characteristics, it confirms that these two infections are rare. The frequency is probably underestimated, due to the difficulty in performing a diagnosis. The major site of infection was the varicella lesion. These two infections are so similar that it is frequent to mistake one infection for the other. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and site of infections did not influence prognosis. The treatment of cellulitis is penicillinotherapy whereas in necrotizing fasciitis early major surgery is often correlated with the rate of survival.     

Mécanismes moléculaires du syndrome néphrotique idiopathiqueMolecular basis of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.

Steroid-sensitive idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is a T-cell disorder associated with a functional renal impairment. The molecular mechanisms leading from the stimulation of the immune system to the clinical expression of the renal disease can be analyzed according to five biological events: 1) a Th2 activation of T-cells by interleukin-13; 2) a yet unidentified glomerular permeability factor from immune origin; 3) a molecular disorientation of slit diaphragms or glomerular basement membrane responsible for proteinuria; 4) a podocyte cytoskeleton rearrangement responsible for foot process effacement; and 5) renal avidity for sodium and edema formation resulting from a primary stimulation of tubular Na,K-ATPase and an increase of endothelial permeability.     

Rhinitis,sinusitis and asthma: one linked airway disease

Understanding the relationship between upper and lower airways has greatly increased through epidemiological and pharmacological studies. Scientific evidence supports the concept that rhinosinusitis and asthma may be the expression of an inflammatory process which appears in different sites of the respiratory tract at different times. The implications are not only academic but are important for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.     

Impact of lung inflammation on bone metabolism in adolescents with cystic fibrosis

Deficits in bone mineral density resulting in premature osteopenia and osteoporosis have been documented in cystic fibrosis patients for over 20 years. A high incidence of fractures and kyphosis in the continually increasing adult patient population and in post-lung transplant patients has highlighted the problems associated with poor bone health.The aetiology of osteoporosis in CF is multifactorial but centres on an uncoupling in the normal balance between bone formation and resorption. Delayed puberty, malabsorption and reduced weight-bearing exercise can result in inadequate bone mineral accretion in childhood and adolescence. Corticosteroid use and pro-inflammatory cytokines associated with infective respiratory exacerbations can accelerate bone loss.Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry is the most commonly available technique to measure bone mineral density. All patients should be scanned at least every 2 years from adolescence. The treatment of established disease with bisphosphonates shows encouraging early results.     

The neonatal chest X-ray

The chest X-ray is the most valuable imaging modality in the assessment of the neonate with respiratory distress. Whilst many of the radiological appearances are relatively non-specific, integration of the clinical features with the X-ray appearances will help the clinician arrive at the correct diagnosis in most cases. In a minority of infants, particularly those with a congenital malformation of the chest or airways other imaging modalities may be required. This paper will describe the radiological appearances of the most important causes of neonatal respiratory distress and highlight those situations where more complex investigations are necessary.     

Skeletal dysplasias and their effect on the respiratory system

Children with skeletal dysplasia frequently have pulmonary disease which can be life threatening. These pulmonary problems are due to multiple aetiologies including thoracic and craniofacial anomalies predisposing to restrictive lung disease, upper airway obstruction and central apnoea. Recognition of pulmonary disease and early intervention improves the survival and quality of life for these children.     

What's new in respiratory allergy?

The past 10 years have seen important advances in our understanding of allergic respiratory disease and the targets for potential therapies. Sensitisation and triggering of allergic reactions now appear to be better understood at a clinical and molecular level. Environmental intervention studies are underway attempting to reduce the sensitisation and the triggering of symptoms. Therapeutic intervention studies targeting key pathways in the allergic cascade are also taking place. This paper will assess both of these aspects of respiratory allergy, updating readers on the new evidence in our quest to understand how and when sensitisation occurs and also how we might be able to control triggered reactions using targeted therapeutics against specific elements of the allergic cascade.     

Chylothorax congénital et hypothyroïdie : à propos d’une observation

Congenital chylothorax, an uncommon disorder, is a therapeutic challenge without satisfactory results. When classical medical approaches fail (such as thoracosynthesis, total parenteral nutrition, and fasting followed by oral medium-chain triglycerides), some medical teams introduce somatostatin or octreotide in cases of recurring chylothorax. We report a case of recurring chylothorax treated with somatostatin at day 27 correlated with an unfortunate discovery of hypothyroidism on day 34. Clinical signs of chylothorax on somatostatin clearly improved with the introduction of levothyroxine. This article points out the relation between the two diseases based on a review of the literature.