Brain magnetic resonance findings in symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

Background: Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection can lead to severe neurological sequelae, but a defined brain magnetic resonance (MR) pattern and MR predictors of clinical outcome are still lacking.

Materials And Methods: Clinical and MR findings of 14 children with symptomatic congenital CMV infection were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: Microcephaly, cerebral palsy and epilepsy were found in eight, six and seven patients, respectively (all concomitant in 6); 12 children developed sensory-neural hearing loss (SNHL).

The symptoms of autonomic dysfunction in HIV-positive Africans.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with autonomic neuropathy. The resultant autonomic dysfunction impairs quality of life and can have fatal consequences. Our aim was to clearly define the symptoms of autonomic dysfunction in African HIV-positive patients and determine whether these symptoms were related with (a) autonomic reflex responses (b) the degree of immunosupression.

Nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors in children.

By the end of 2006, approximately 2.3 million children worldwide were living with HIV infection, representing about 15% of all HIV-infected individuals but only 5-7% of the total population of treated patients worldwide. Despite a general increase in the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-limited settings, appropriate care and ART remain inaccessible for most of the world's HIV-infected children.

Assessment of humoral immunity to poliomyelitis, tetanus, hepatitis B, measles, rubella, and mumps in children after chemotherapy.

Background: To evaluate the effect of chemotherapy on humoral immunity to vaccine-preventable disease, the authors investigated the persistence of protective antibody titers in a group of patients who were alive and well after they were treated for pediatric malignancies.

Methods: Serum antibody levels were evaluated for polio, tetanus, hepatitis B, rubella, mumps, and measles in 192 children. The terms lack of immunity and loss of immunity, respectively, were used to describe the absence of immunity in patients who were tested only after chemotherapy and in patients who were tested both before and after chemotherapy and determined to have immunity before chemotherapy.