Acute septic arthritis in children.

Background: Acute septic arthritis is a health-care problem in growing children. The aim of the present study was to determine the demographic features, clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation, treatment and outcome of children suffering from acute septic arthritis.

Methods: Retrospective review of consecutive admissions of children < or =14 years of age with a bacteriologically and/or radiologically confirmed diagnosis of septic arthritis during the 10 year period, January 1997-December 2006 at King Fahad Hospital, King Abdulaziz Medical City was undertaken.

Parental perceptions of fever in children.

Background: Fever is a common medical problem in children which often prompts parents to seek immediate medical care. The objective of this study was to survey parents about their knowledge and attitude concerning fever in their children.

Patients And Methods: The study involved the random selection of Saudi parents who brought their febrile children to the emergency rooms or walk-in clinics of four hospitals in Riyadh.

Chloral hydrate. An effective agent for sedation in children with age and weight dependent response.

Objective: Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in children are made easier using sedation. However, there is no consensus about which drug should be used to achieve this. Furthermore, none of the drugs used for sedation are risk free.

Physician's perceptions of fever in children. Facts and myths.

Objective: To ascertain the knowledge and attitude of physicians, regarding fever in children.

Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to 600 randomly selected pediatricians, family practice physicians, emergency medicine physicians and general practitioners, who practice in Saudi Arabia. Appropriateness of responses to questions was determined on the basis of current medical literature.

Home management of fever in children: rational or ritual?

Fever is extremely common in childhood. Parents have been shown to have unrealistic fears, resulting in inappropriate management of fever in their children. This study was conducted to survey parents about their knowledge concerning home management of fever in children in their care.

Pattern of febrile illnesses in children seen at a pediatric ambulatory care setting.

Background: Fever is the most common sign of childhood illnesses and febrile children constitute a substantial proportion of the practice of pediatrics and family medicine.

Objectives: To highlight the pattern of febrile illnesses in children attending pediatric ambulatory health-care settings.

Methods: A one-year prospective study was conducted on febrile children who were consecutively seen and managed at two walk-in primary-care clinics in Sulaimania Children's Hospital, Riyadh.

Non-group A streptococci: are they pathogens in the throat?

A total of 3,184 paediatric patients with sporadic pharyngitis was studied at King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In addition, 478 children without pharyngitis who were matched for age and sex were included as controls. Group A beta-haemolytic streptococci (beta HS) were detected significantly more often among the children with pharyngitis than among the controls (8.

Severe hypertension: an unusual presentation of Guillain-Barré syndrome in a child with brucellosis.

Unlabelled: A 9-year-old girl suffered from protracted paroxysms of severe hypertension before she developed classical signs of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Significant brucella antibody titres were found in the serum and CSF. Complete recovery was observed after appropriate therapy.

Lumbar puncture in the clinical evaluation of children with seizures associated with fever.

This study was prospectively conducted to determine the frequency and yield of lumbar punctures performed in children with fever and seizures and to identify the criteria that were used by emergency physicians in selecting patients for this diagnostic procedure. During the five-year period from 1988 to 1992, 200 previously healthy children aged three months to five years were brought consecutively to the pediatric emergency department, after their seizure associated with fever. Lumbar puncture was performed in 51% of the cases and resulted in the detection of seven (3.

The impact of the Gulf armed conflict on the health and behaviour of Kuwaiti children.

This study deals with the psychological reactions of Kuwaiti children to war-related stresses in the early period of the Gulf crisis following the summer 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. A sample of 106 children was drawn from Kuwaiti displaced families and a comparable control sample was obtained from Saudi families in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An interview checklist of symptoms of physical and psychological distress was administered to the index child and a female key informant in each household of cases and controls.

Febrile seizures: rate and risk factors of recurrence.

The rate of recurrence of febrile seizures and the factors predictive of a recurrence were prospectively examined in a cohort of 98 Saudi children who presented consecutively with their first febrile seizure at the pediatric emergency department of the King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Children with prior afebrile seizures or evidence of a neurodevelopmental deficit were excluded. The median age was 15 months (range, 4 to 60 months).

Determinants of term intrauterine growth retardation: the Saudi experience.

In a clinical study from an unselected Saudi obstetric population, the incidence of and risk factors for intrauterine growth retardation among live births were investigated. From a total study group of 4578 consecutive live births, 76 (1.7%) infants were found to be growth retarded.

Down's syndrome in Saudi Arabia: incidence and cytogenetics.

A study has been carried out in Riyadh to determine the incidence and distribution of Down's syndrome births during a 9-year period from July 1982 to June 1991. Down's syndrome was ascertained in 42 (23 females and 19 males) of 23,261 consecutive babies born alive to Saudi women, giving an incidence of 1 in 554 live births (1.8 per 1,000).

Prevalence of intestinal parasites in Saudi children: a community-based study.

A community-based study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and types of intestinal parasites in the pediatric population of Al-Baha region, Saudi Arabia. Stool samples were randomly collected from 19,939 children of whom 4208 (21.1%) were found to harbour intestinal parasites.

Clinical and therapeutic features of childhood neurobrucellosis.

Brucellosis is a multisystem disease with diverse clinical presentations, and involvement of the nervous system is considered to be rare in childhood. Five children with meningitis (n=2), meningoencephalitis (n=1), meningomyelitis (n=1), or cerebellar ataxia (n=1) are described, all of whom had a history of exposure to a possible source of brucellosis. Examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) revealed lymphocytic pleocytosis in 4 patients, high protein concentration in 5 and low glucose concentration in 3.

Risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth in a Saudi population.

Preterm birth (< 37 weeks completed gestation), the primary predictor of infant morbidity and mortality, can result from diverse biologic and sociodemographic variables. A case-control study was undertaken to determine risk factors that were significantly associated with preterm birth in our population. Pertinent data were collected by structured interviews with eligible subjects and by medical record abstraction.

Factors influencing linear growth in Saudi Arabian children aged 6-24 months.

This study was carried out to identify possible factors influencing the growth pattern of Saudi children in the first 2 years of life. The body length and weight of 400 healthy babies attending the well-baby care clinic of King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were measured at various determined ages in a cross-sectional study design. Nutritional indicators were calculated and the proportions with low height-for-age, low weight-for-height and low weight-for-age were compared with the reference population.

Management of acute childhood diarrhoea in Saudi Arabia: practices versus the WHO recommendations.

The fluid management of 247 infants and children who were admitted to King Fahad Hospital at Al Baha, Saudi Arabia with acute diarrhoea was reviewed. Half of them were infants and 25% were exclusively breast fed. Although dehydration was mild in 149 (60.

Reactogenicity and safety of meningococcal A and C vaccine in Saudi children.

During an outbreak caused by group A Neisseria meningitidis in March 1992, groups A and C meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine was administered to 1,168 children aged from 2 to 18 years. Parents were surveyed to ascertain reactions of children to the vaccine and development of invasive group A meningococcal disease after immunization. The most common reactions were mild local pain (21.

Myelofibrosis in severe combined immunodeficiency due to vitamin D deficiency rickets.

An infant with severe combined immunodeficiency is described in whom a refractory anemia and thrombocytopenia developed after the age of 6 months, associated with poor growth and frequent episodes of upper respiratory tract infections and diarrhea. He required frequent blood and platelet transfusions. Bone marrow biopsy provided evidence that the anemia and thrombocytopenia were the results of myelofibrosis which was secondary to vitamin D deficiency.

Unusual suppurative complications of brucellosis in children.

Three cases with suppurative complications of Brucella melitensis infection are presented, demonstrating localized involvement of the brain, bones and lungs, respectively, and the lesions were well defined on radiographic examination. The diagnosis was made on the basis of significant Brucella titres and positive blood culture. Awareness of such complications and performance of the appropriate serological and bacteriological studies will establish the diagnosis and will also differentiate this disease from other infections, especially tuberculosis.