Gastro-esophageal reflux in severely retarded children.

Eight severely mentally retarded children with histories of recurrent vomiting, anemia and chest disease are reported. It is suggested that appropriate medical management improves the quality of life for such children and may also reduce the number of hospital admissions for the treatment of this cluster of symptoms. Symptoms of vomiting, anemia and recurrent pneumonia in retarded children should suggest gastro-esophageal reflux.

Treatment of recurrent syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone with lithium.

The usual treatment for recurrent syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone has been fluid restriction. Recently White and Fetner described an adult with SIADH successfully managed with lithium carbonate. Described here is a child with recurrent SIADH who was diagnosed as having an acute hyponatremic episode and who then relapsed twice in a two-month period while chronic fluid restriction was attempted.

Bacteroides fragilis ventriculitis and meningitis. Report of two cases.

Two patients with Bacteroides fragilis meningitis and ventriculitis were treated. In one infant infection developed at 2 1/2 months of age as a result of an infected ventriculoatrial shunt inserted to treat hydrocephalus. In the second patient ventriculitis and meningitis developed at 20 days of age, while he was convalescing from surgery for gastric perforation that had occurred at 5 days of age.

Medical Management of Recurrent ENT Problems in Childhood.

Many children, particularly preschoolers, present with frequent symptoms associated with ear, nose and throat illness. Tonsillectomy-adenoidectomy (T&A) is widely employed in an attempt to alleviate these symptoms, although there is little valid evidence that long-lasting improvement occurs. Because of the high cost in dollars and morbidity associated with T & A, the author presents alternative practical ways of managing recurrent non-specific respiratory infections, recurrent acute otitis media and serous otitis media, recurrent upper airway obstruction and recurrent streptococcal sore throat.

Concentrations of bacteria in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with bacterial meningitis.

Concentrations of bacteria in cerebrospinal fluid ranged from 4.5 X 10(3) to 3 X 10(8) colony-forming units/ml in 27 patients with bacterial meningitis before antibiotic therapy and from 4 X 10(1) to 1.4 X 10(6) CFU/ml in four patients after one to two days of antibiotic therapy.

Relapse of Hemophilus influenzae type b meningitis after combined antibiotic therapy: report of a case.

Antibiotic therapy of bacterial meningitis is being reevaluated due to reports of ampicillin-resistant strains of Hemophilus influenzae type b. The infant reported had a relapse of H. influenzae type b meningitis after an excellent clinical and bacteriologic response to an initial course of combined antibiotic therapy including chloramphenicol.

The oro-facial-digital syndrome.

Two patients, a mother and her daughter, are presented who manifest the clinical features of the oro-facial-digital syndrome (OFD I). Many of these features are shared with Mohr's syndrome (OFD II). Confusion arises when a patient presents with features common to both syndromes.

Serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. Evaluation in screening of hospitalized patients.

Evaluation in screening of hospitalized patients. Am J Clin Pathol 64: 311-314, 1975. The specificity of the serum gamma-glutamyl transpepidase (GGT) was evaluated by its determination in 1,040 unselected adult inpatients.

Comparison of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole with sulfamethoxazole in urinary tract infections of children.

The effect of trimethorpim-sulfamethoxazole was compared with that of sulfamethoxazole alone in 26 children with urinary tract infection, randomly assigned according to a double-blind procedure to two equally sized groups. TMX-SMX was found to be superior in rendering the urine culture negative for the 3 months after the start of treatment. Also, over 12-month follow-up period there were fewer recurrences in the patients who received TMP-SMX but here the difference between the two groups did not reach statistical significance.

Cerebrospinal fluid lactic acid dehydrogenase activity. Levels in untreated and partially antibiotic-treated meningitis.

High levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH) activity were found in 23 cases of bacterial meningitis, but significantly lower levels of CSF LDH activity were observed in 11 patients with viral meningitis and in 13 patients with no central nervous system infection. No correlation was found between levels of CSF LDH activity and specific agents or the amounts of CSF white blood cell, protein, and glucose. The number of meningitis cases of unknown cause that could be classified as probably bacterial or viral was increased by determination of the level of CSF LDH activity.

Observations at venus encounter by the plasma science experiment on mariner 10.

Preliminary results from the rearward-looking electrostatic analyzer of the plasma science experiment during the Mariner 10 encounter with Venus are described. They show that the solar-wind interaction with the planet probably involves a bow shock rather than an extended exosphere, but that this is not a thin boundary at the point where it was crossed by Mariner 10. An observed reduction in the flux of electrons with energies greater than 100 electron volts is interpreted as evidence for somne direct interaction with the exosphere.

Non-use and misuse of measles vaccine.

During a major epidemic of measles in 1970-71 in Hamilton, Ont., 86 percent of hospitalized patients were unimmunized; 57 percent of these children had complications. Of those immunized, the majority had inadequate protection because killed measles vaccine had been used, or because immunization had taken place before 12 months of age.