[Fat overload syndrome].

We report the case of a 21-month-old child suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, who presented with acute respiratory distress and liver damage, due to an accidental overdose of intravenous lipid emulsion. This poisoning is a rare entity, whose potential severity and almost exclusive iatrogenic effect deserve to be remembered.

[A rare cause of sudden cardiac failure: histiocytoid cardiomyopathy].

Histiocytoid cardiomyopathy is a rare disease which occurs predominantly in the first two years of life, with a female preponderance. We report the cases of two girls (11 and 15-month-old) which were respectively referred to our institution for ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation without prodroma. Etiologic findings only showed mild cardiomyopathy.

Pneumococcal meningitis in a pediatric intensive care unit: prognostic factors in a series of 49 children.

Background: Despite advances in antibiotic therapy strategies and in pediatric intensive care, prognosis of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis remains very poor. However, few prognostic studies have been published, especially in pediatric populations.

Methods: We conducted a prognostic study to determine the factors associated with hospital mortality of 49 children admitted in a single pediatric intensive care unit during a 12-yr period (1990-2002).

Epidural analgesia in a child with sickle cell disease complicated by acute abdominal pain and priapism.

We describe a case of a 9-yr-old child with sickle cell disease complicated by abdominal vaso-occlusive crisis and priapism. Both complications were successfully treated with a combination of epidural local anesthetics and morphine.