Headache is the most frequent neurological symptom in childhood and the main reason for admission to pediatric emergency departments. The aim of this consensus document is to define a shared clinical pathway between primary care pediatricians (PCP) and hospitals for the management of children presenting with headache. For the purposes of the study, a group of hospital pediatricians and a group of PCP from the Emilia Romagna's health districts were selected to achieve consensus using the RAND/UCLA appropriateness method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Neurocutaneous melanosis (NCM) is a rare congenital syndrome characterized by giant melanocytic cutaneous nevi and melanosis within the central nervous system (CNS), often sparing leptomeninges and concentrated in the brain parenchyma. Epilepsy and neurodevelopmental abnormalities are the only complications reported in children with isolated parenchymal melanosis. A minority of patients experience drug-resistant epilepsy, and up to now, no predictors of epilepsy prognosis have been identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to identify some prognostic factors in anamnestic/clinical/instrumental data at the onset of epileptic encephalopathy (EE), for multiple outcome measures.
Methods: We recruited patients diagnosed as affected by EE at Sant'Anna University Hospital, with onset in the first 24 months of life, with follow-up lasting longer than 3 years.
Results: At the end of the follow-up, 6 patients (14%) died within 2 years of age; 20 patient (49%) had a drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE); 9 patients (22%) had a language development delay (LDD); 12 patients (30%) had an autism spectrum disorder (ASD); 20 patients (49%) had a global psychomotor impairment (GPI); 9 patients (22%) needed palliative care; and nobody had a normal psychomotor development.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a severe problem in underdeveloped countries. Cutaneous TB is rare and often goes unrecognized. We report a Pakistani child with multifocal cutaneous and pulmonary TB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Over the last decades, TB has also emerged in the pediatric population. Epidemiologic data of childhood TB are still limited and there is an urgent need of more data on very large cohorts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study was to evaluate how the management of children admitted with headache to a Pediatric Emergency Department, was modified by the introduction of the Second International Classification of Headache Disorders ( ICHD-II) published in 2004. The complexity and average costs of the services provided to patients in 2002 and 2011 were compared. The results revealed a decrease in the number of tests performed and in-hospital admissions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDev Med Child Neurol
August 2012
Congential hemifacial spasm is a rare condition that is characterized by the occurrence of paroxysmal hemifacial contractions in neonates. We review the clinical, neurophysiological, neuroimaging, and histopathological findings, as well as the differential diagnosis, therapeutic approach, and outcome of all the described cases. Moreover, we report two new cases including the ictal video-electroencephalography recordings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObject: To investigate the rhythmicity of migraine episodes without aura in a pediatric population.
Methods: Time of occurrence of 2517 migraine attacks in 115 children was recorded, by means of a diary, both by hourly and monthly intervals.
Results: A significant circadian variation, characterized by a peak in the afternoon (P < .
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol
April 2003
The excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate causes dilation of newborn pig cerebral arterioles in vivo that is blocked by inhibition of carbon monoxide (CO) production. CO, a potent dilator in cerebral circulation in vivo, is produced endogenously in cerebral microvessels via heme oxygenase (HO). In isolated pressurized cerebral arterioles (approximately 200 microm) from newborn pigs, we investigated the involvement of CO and the endothelium in response to glutamate.
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