Benign paroxysmal torticollis of infancy. A case report.

Benign paroxysmal torticollis of infancy is a benign, rare, probably under-recognised disorder, characterized by recurrent episodes of head tilting. The diagnosis is primarily one of pattern recognition and exclusion of alternatives conditions; other symptoms, such as vomiting, pallor and eyes' rotation, may be associated with or rapidly follow the attack, leading to misdiagnosis of this disease. The exact pathogenesis of benign paroxysmal torticollis is not clear, but a close relationship with childhood periodic syndromes is supposed.

Rotavirus and not age determines gastroenteritis severity in children: a hospital-based study.

Background: The severity of childhood gastroenteritis is generally believed to be age-related rather than aetiology-related. Rotavirus-induced gastroenteritis is more severe than gastroenteritis caused by other enteric pathogens and is also age-related. We thus addressed the question of whether the increased severity of rotavirus-induced gastroenteritis is related to age or to features intrinsic to the agent.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease is a rare cause of lymphadenopathy and fever of unknown origin in children: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease, a benign and unusual self-limiting histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis of unknown origin, should be included in the differential diagnosis of lymphadenopathy and fever of unknown origin. This disease mostly affects young Asian women and has rarely been reported in children, thus remaining a poorly recognized entity that is frequently confused with malignant lymphoma. The authors describe two children with Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease, with particular attention to diagnostic approach and clinical and histologic features of the disease.

Clinical comparative study of azithromycin versus erythromycin in the treatment of acute respiratory tract infections in children.

The efficacy and tolerability of azithromycin and erythromycin in the treatment of acute respiratory tract infections in children were compared in an open, multicenter, randomized trial. A total of 151 children, aged from 2 months to 14 years, suffering from upper airways infections (60), or lower respiratory tract infections (91), were randomized to be treated either with azithromycin, 10 mg/Kg/day per os once daily for 3 or 10 mg/Kg/day 1 and 5 mg/Kg/days 2-5 (77 patients) or with erythromycin, 50 mg/Kg/day thrice daily for at least 7 days (74 patients). The two treatment groups did not significantly differ as to sex, age, weight, type and severity of infection, and infecting pathogens.

[Rational bases of current etiopathogenetic therapy of bacterial meningitis. Review of the literature and personal experience in 122 pediatric cases].

Bacterial meningitis is a serious infectious disease, the course of which depends on the correct use of antibiotics and an intensive symptomatic and support therapy. The presence of microbes and their fractions in the CNS determines inflammatory phenomena that lead, through complex mechanisms, to the supportive treatment has the purpose of curbing the inflammatory phenomena, reducing cerebral oedema and avoiding ischaemia. This therapy makes use of cortisone and mannitol.

Rational basis of modern therapy of bacterial meningitis. Review of the literature and our clinical experience of 122 pediatric cases.

In recent years the treatment of bacterial meningitis has been modified on the basis of a better understanding of its physiopathological mechanisms. It has been shown, for example, that the inflammatory reaction is the primary cause of brain damage in bacterial meningitis. Inflammation and consequent brain damage are greatest in the first hours of antibiotic treatment when rapid and massive bacteriolysis takes place.

Imipenem use in serious childhood infections.

Imipenem plus cilastatin is a beta-lactam antibiotic with a broad spectrum and good tolerance. For this its use is indicated in serious infections even in children. The authors carried out a preliminary bacteriological study in patients affected by serious infection, cystic fibrosis, tumors, neutropenia, subjects undergoing intensive therapy and those with abdominal surgical infection.

[Amoxicillin and clavulanic acid suspension for children in the treatment of bronchopulmonary infections].

The present study has been tested on 30 children, 14 males and 16 females, average age 4.11 +/- 0.44 (range 9 months to 10 years), weight of 17.

Short-term treatment of streptococcal tonsillitis with ceftriaxone.

The short-term therapy of streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis and scarlet fever with ceftriaxone (Rocephin) is reported. Sixty children, in whom the clinical diagnosis was confirmed by rapid enzyme immunoassay and smear test, were divided into two randomized groups and treated with a single dose of 50 mg/kg ceftriaxone or 50 mg/kg ceftriaxone on 3 consecutive days. Clinical cure was obtained in 100% of the patients and pharyngeal sterilization in 95%, with no significant differences between the two groups.