Chlamydophila pneumoniae respiratory tract infection aggravates therapy refractory bronchitis or pneumonia in childhood.

Background: Chlamydophila pneumoniae was frequently found in bronchial secretions of children with therapy-refractory bronchitis or pneumonia. It was studied, how the agent modifies the course of disease and what findings are associated with the infection.

Patients And Methods: Bronchial secretions obtained at bronchoscopy of 428 children were studied for C.

Chlamydia pneumoniae carriage and infection in hospitalized children with respiratory tract diseases.

Background: The importance of Chlamydia pneumoniae respiratory tract infection in childhood is under discussion.

Patients And Methods: 798 hospitalized children with respiratory tract diseases were prospectively studied during a 2-year period by polymerase chain reaction and enzyme immunoassay (PCR-EIA) detection from throat swabs. Paired serum samples were used to screen for Chlamydia antibodies.

[Evoked potentials in Chiari-malformation type I with syringomyelia--a case history].

The Chiari-syndrome Type I being a malformation of the posterior cranial fossa often leads to syringomyelia. The disease becomes apparent in adolescence with kyphoscoliosis, headache, vertigo, ataxy, hearing loss, partial paralysis and other neurological disorders. The onset is typically characterized by dissociated anesthesia, due to the frequent localization of the syrinx in the neighborhood of the posterior column of the spinal cord.

[Cavernoma of the medulla oblongata mimicking "Anorexia nervosa" - a case report].

An 11-year-old girl presented with recurrent vomiting, reduced food and fluid intake, weight loss and dizziness. In an external hospital she was diagnosed as having habitual vomiting and a beginning eating disorder. The physical examination revealed a very thin, malnourished child with abdominal pain on palpation but without neurologic deficits.

Ectopic cervical thymus in a 12-year-old boy: a case report.

The case of a 12-year-old boy with ectopic cervical thymus is reported. This is a rare differential diagnosis in cervical tumors in childhood. The clinical symptoms might present as complications; in rare cases malignant transformations have been reported.

Maffucci's syndrome as cause of chronic liquorrhea.

We present the case of a 14-year-old girl suffering from Maffucci's syndrome, a rare ailment belonging to the group of osteochondrodysplasias. At the age of 6 months, a diffuse swelling first appeared in the girl's right cheekbone region and the periauricular area. Because of recurrent meningitis with massive otoliquorrhea, several surgical revisions were performed, beginning at the age of 4 years.

[Suspected vaccination complications or atypical vaccination course. Diagnostic assessment of 58 vaccine recipients].

The "list of recommended vaccinations" of the regional Ministries of Health is the legal basis for routine vaccination programmes in each region of Germany; the recommendations of the Federal Commission on Vaccinations, "STIKO", are not legally binding. These programmes of the different regions provide legal grounds for determining claims for damage against a vaccinating doctor. In cases of damage, the Ministry of Health is liable for the damage to a patient caused by a recommended vaccination.

Reactivation in children of juvenile chronic arthritis and chronic iridocyclitis associated with human herpesvirus-6 infection.

The human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) causes exanthem subitum. Moreover it can provoke a large scale of different other clinical symptoms. The life-long persistence of human herpes viruses is well known (HSV 1 and 2, VZV, CMV, EBV).

Pre- and perinatal infections due to human herpesvirus-6 and Epstein-Barr-virus with lethal outcome or severe residual encephalopathy.

The Human Herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) infection causes exanthem subitum (in typical cases) and a wide range of other symptoms. So far no prenatal or perinatal infections have been reported. For HHV-6 the prenatal infection should be extremely rare, because more than 95% of adults are immune in Germany.

Acute obstructive respiratory diseases (ARD) and bacterial complications of ARD (pneumonia, sinusitis) in infants and children associated with human herpesvirus-6 infection.

The existence of catharreal respiratory symptoms (such as pharyngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis etc.) is established as the usual manifestation of "exanthema subitum" due to acute human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) infection. But so far pneumonia, purulent sinusitis, purulent otitis media and/or acute obstructive bronchitis (bronchiolitis) in infants and children have not been described.

[Infections with herpesvirus 6--really only "exanthema subitum"? Part 2: Rare or unknown disease pictures].

The human herpes virus 6 (HHV 6) may induce not only the wellknown condition of exanthem subitum, but also a number of more common (cf. Part 1) or rare, even previously unknown, clinical manifestations. Part 2 of this paper deals with the more rarely observed manifestations.

[Infections with herpesvirus 6--really only "exanthema subitum"? Part 1: More frequent disease pictures].

The human herpes virus 6 (HHV6) is the causal agent of exanthem subitum (rose rash of infants). In addition, however, a wide range of other clinical manifestations are possible, the more common of these include: Untypical exanthem or uncharacteristic rash (with and without fever), acute respiratory disease (ARD) acute gastroenteritis and febrile convulsions (with and without exanthem). More uncommon, and in part unknown, clinical manifestations associated with HHV6 infection are discussed in Part 2 of this paper.

[Complications of acute respiratory tract infection (pneumonia, sinusitis) in young children associated with acute HHV 6 infection].

The human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) causes exanthema subitum ("e.s.").

[Obstructive respiratory tract diseases in children and Parvovirus B19 infections].

Acute respiratory diseases (ARD) due to parvovirus B 19 infection can be observed relative frequently in children. In 21 children (infants, toddlers and school children) we have seen acute or prolonged obstructive bronchitis/bronchiolitis (15 infants), acute subglottic laryngitis (3 toddlers) and acute asthmatic attacks (3 children of school age) in connection with parvovirus B 19 infection. Other respiratory viruses (adeno-, influenza, parainfluenza and RS-virus) could be excluded as agents causing the ARD.

[The blood picture in exanthema subitum (Zahorsky)/ critical 3-day fever-exanthema in young children].

Exanthema subitum was described in 1910 by John Zahorsky/USA; in 1986 and 1988 the human herpesvirus 6 (HHV 6) was discovered as the causative agent of the disease and serologic tests were established for diagnostics (specific IgM and IgG antibodies). Up to this time the diagnosis was based on the typical clinical course: the prodromal febrile stage (3 days) followed by the onset of a (more or less characteristic) rash closely connected with the normalisation of the body temperature. Usually a typical white blood cell count was described for diagnostics on the first day of exanthema: leukocytopenia with eosino- and granulocytopenia associated with consequent lymphocytosis.

The eosinophilic granulocyte count in the respiratory secretions of children with chronic nonspecific respiratory diseases.

We performed cytologic evaluations of 6116 nasal and/or bronchial smears from 4510 patients (average age: 7.6 years; 3 months--17 years) suffering from different kinds of chronic nonspecific respiratory diseases (CNSRD); in 137 children (average age: 4.8 years) undergoing bronchologic examinations under general anesthesia we compared the findings with those for bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL).