Alternating hemiplegia of childhood: a syndrome inherited with an autosomal dominant trait.

Alternating hemiplegia of childhood is a rare disorder characterized by recurrent attacks of hemiplegia affecting either side of the body, oculomotor and autonomic disturbances, movement disorders, and progressive cognitive impairment. We report on one family with autosomal dominant alternating hemiplegia. The disorder was first recognized in a 9-year-old child, the third son of the family, who presented with learning disability, tonic-clonic seizures, dystonic attacks, and episodes of alternating hemiplegia starting at the age of 2 1/2 years.

Car transportation conditions of preschool children: use of children's car safety seats.

The objective of this study was to evaluate children's car safety seat usage in a non-random study population of the Capital and surrounding area of Attica and a provincial region in Greece. One or both of the parents of 1556 children (aged 0-4 years) were interviewed. A questionnaire covering car safety seat usage by area of residence, age of parents, educational background, socioeconomic status and the number of siblings was completed.

The effects of television viewing in Greece, and the role of the paediatrician: a familiar triangle revisited.

Unlabelled: To investigate the effects of television (TV) viewing on children, 4876 questionnaires on viewing habits completed by Greek children with the assistance of their parents were analysed. The most important results are summarized below. The mean time spent watching TV ranged from 21-32 h per week.

Pseudo-vitamin D deficiency rickets: report of a case.

A 19-month-old boy with repeated convulsions from the age of 7 months was found to have pseudo-vitamin D deficiency rickets. The convulsions were attributed to hypocalcaemia which is one of the main features of this type of rickets. High doses of vitamin D produced clinical, biochemical and radiographic cure.