Movement disorders in childhood: therapeutic update]

Abnormal movements are not uncommon in childhood. Due to the severity of the abnormal movements or to the functional disability, a medical treatment is often required; the wide range of available pharmacological molecules and the absence of therapeutic consensus highlight the limited efficacy of the medical treatment on dystonic or athetoid movements, or severe tic disorders. The recent identification of the enzymatic defect implicated in metabolic diseases led to the development of specific treatment for newly recognized disorders, with more or less interesting results (creatine ou biotine supplementation). Recent progress in functional neurosurgery opened new fields in the treatment of movement disorders. Intrathecal baclofen was proved effective in the treatment of secondary dystonia, especially in patients with cerebral palsy. Deep brain stimulation is now an established therapy for patients with a generalized dystonic syndrome. Given the successful results of pallidal stimulation in dystonia, the indication of this procedure has been discussed in other types of abnormal movements.     

Pediatric audiological diagnosis and therapy of hearing disorders in childhood]

Practical suggestions concerning screening hearing tests, clinical paedoaudiological diagnosis, adjustment of hearing aids and the use of cochlear implants during infancy are briefly reviewed.     

Allergic airway diseases in childhood: An update

Complex multifactorial diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma are not only becoming an increasing burden to healthcare systems, but especially affect the life quality of children and families suffering from their allergic symptoms. Also physicians are challenged by the multifaceted diseases as their work involves not only the often difficult decisions on case‐adapted diagnostics, treatment, and monitoring, but also possible preventive measures. This review gives an outline of the latest scientific developments related to the etiology, diagnosis, and management of allergic airway diseases in childhood, as well as prenatal and early life risk factors and strategies for prevention.     

Urinary tract infections in childhood: an update

Although controversies remain regarding the definition, diagnosis, and management of urinary tract infections, such infections can pose a major risk to a child's well-being. Bacteriuria or recurrent urinary tract infections often pose difficult management problems. Symptomatic and asymptomatic bacteriuria during infancy are generally characterized by a benign outcome. In some children repeated episodes and, possibly, renal scarring result. The prognosis in young boys may be guarded if neonatal bacteriuria, with or without symptoms, occurs in the presence of anatomic defects. Although a variety of pathogens have been identified as causing urinary tract infections, Enterobacteriaceae are usually the cause of initial uncomplicated lower tract infections. Accepted therapy for such infections is reviewed, as are the combination therapies used for hospitalized patients with upper tract infections. An investigation of piperacillin, a new, extended-spectrum acylaminopenicillin, raises the hope that it may provide effective monotherapy for upper tract infections. The criteria for selecting patients who require radiologic evaluation in the management of urinary tract infections are reviewed.     

Movement disorder emergencies in childhood

The literature on paediatric acute-onset movement disorders is scattered. In a prospective cohort of 52 children (21 male; age range 2mo-15y), the commonest were chorea, dystonia, tremor, myoclonus, and Parkinsonism in descending order of frequency. In this series of mainly previously well children with cryptogenic acute movement disorders, three groups were recognised: (1) Psychogenic disorders (n = 12), typically >10 years of age, more likely to be female and to have tremor and myoclonus (2) Inflammatory or autoimmune disorders (n = 22), including N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis, opsoclonus-myoclonus, Sydenham chorea, systemic lupus erythematosus, acute necrotizing encephalopathy (which may be autosomal dominant), and other encephalitides and (3) Non-inflammatory disorders (n = 18), including drug-induced movement disorder, post-pump chorea, metabolic, e.g. glutaric aciduria, and vascular disease, e.g. moyamoya. Other important non-inflammatory movement disorders, typically seen in symptomatic children with underlying aetiologies such as trauma, severe cerebral palsy, epileptic encephalopathy, Down syndrome and Rett syndrome, include dystonic posturing secondary to gastro-oesophageal reflux (Sandifer syndrome) and Paroxysmal Autonomic Instability with Dystonia (PAID) or autonomic ‘storming’. Status dystonicus may present in children with known extrapyramidal disorders, such as cerebral palsy or during changes in management e.g. introduction or withdrawal of neuroleptic drugs or failure of intrathecal baclofen infusion; the main risk in terms of mortality is renal failure from rhabdomyolysis. Although the evidence base is weak, as many of the inflammatory/autoimmune conditions are treatable with steroids, immunoglobulin, plasmapheresis, or cyclophosphamide, it is important to make an early diagnosis where possible. Outcome in survivors is variable. Using illustrative case histories, this review draws attention to the practical difficulties in diagnosis and management of this important group of patients.     

Causes of childhood deaths in Bangladesh: an update

Knowledge of the causes of child death is important for health-sector planning since they relate to available interventions. Little is known about causes of child death in Bangladesh from the conventional sources since there is no vital registration system and very few deaths are attended by a qualified physician. To determine the cause structure of child deaths, verbal autopsy interviews were conducted in the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 1993/94 national sample. Verbal autopsy is a method of finding out the causes of death based on an interview with the next of kin or other caregivers. Between BDHS 1993/94 and BDHS 1996/97, 1-4-y-old child mortality in Bangladesh declined by about 27.0%. This impressive decline prompted a verbal autopsy study using the BDHS 1996/97 national sample to determine whether the cause structure had changed. The same verbal autopsy instrument and methods to collect the data and the same computer algorithm to assign causes of death were used in both surveys. Comparison of BDHS 1993/94 and 1996/97 cause-specific mortality rates revealed that deaths due to almost all causes had declined, although significantly so only for acute respiratory infections (ARI), persistent diarrhoea and drowning. Deaths due to neonatal tetanus, acute watery diarrhoea and undernutrition had not decreased at all. Conclusion: Despite an impressive decline in deaths due to ARI, this condition remains the most important known cause of death in Bangladeshi children. Neonatal tetanus and measles together account for about 10% of deaths in children under 5 y. Further improvements in child survival are possible by improving access to and quality of available child survival interventions.