Subarachnoid cyst with hydrocephalus--a complication of mid-trimester amniocentesis.

We report a child with a subarachnoid cyst with hydrocephalus following a mid-trimester amniocentesis. Although fetal trauma is a rare complication, it is important to stress the need to perform amniocentesis under ultrasound control. Children with neurological disease or convulsions of unknown origin in early infancy who are born to mothers who have had mid-trimester amniocentesis should have a CT scan as part of the investigations to exclude this rare but nevertheless important complication.

Capgras' syndrome and folie à deux involving mother and child.

A mother and her son shared delusional beliefs that doubles of themselves existed and that they were being harassed by the police and social and educational services. The nature of these 'double double' symptoms is discussed.

Enteropathy and renal involvement in an infant with evidence of widespread autoimmune disturbance.

An 8-month-old infant presented with a 1 month history of protracted diarrhea, vomiting, and weight loss. Small intestinal biopsy showed a flat mucosa and there was no clinical improvement with gluten, cow's milk protein, and disaccharidase-free diet. Serial testing for autoantibodies revealed persistent autoantibodies to gut epithelial cells and to renal brush borders; on two occasions, atypical liver-kidney microsomal antibodies were detected.

Child and adolescent psychiatry in the undergraduate medical curriculum.

The preliminary findings of a prospective controlled investigation to evaluate the effects of teaching child and adolescent psychiatry to medical students are presented. The results confirmed that the combined teaching of child and adolescent psychiatry, psychiatry and paediatrics led to significant changes as assessed using a multiple choice questionnaire and an attitude questionnaire. Students who had received the combined teaching acquired greater knowledge and more positive attitudes.

Adolescent drug taking: role of family and peers.

To study the influence of family and peers on drug-taking behavior in adolescents, confidential self-reports were obtained from 3333 London adolescents about their use of solvents and illicit drugs. They were also asked about their perception of their best friend's and any family member's use of drugs. The results show that both family and peer's use of drugs were influential.

Adolescent mental health in China.

Adolescent Mental Health in China is the responsibility of the wider society and is supported by social, educational and health care resources. With limited facilities, China emphasizes community mental health care, with prevention and health promotion as priorities. Mental health is considered in the context of an orderly socialist society with stable family life supported by the state.

Temporal trends in urban and rural blood lead concentrations.

A long term programme to assess the impact of reduced lead emissions in the UK has been established in central London and rural Suffolk. Blood lead concentrations of 5 and 6 year old children and their mothers both show an urban-rural difference of about 1.5 μg/dl, which is related to the urban-rural differences in air and dust lead concentrations between areas.

Management of the colonised shunt.

A system of management is described for colonised hydrocephalus shunts. If organisms have reached the lateral ventricles as well as the valve chamber, the shunt must be removed and the ventricles drained externally with instillation of a suitable antibiotic until the fluid is sterile. If the ventricular fluid is not infected the shunt can safely be replaced at the same operation, using a site on the opposite side of the head.

Regression of the radiological changes of Gaucher's disease following bone marrow transplantation.

Seven children with Type I Gaucher's disease have been treated with bone marrow transplantation (BMT). One patient died from the complications of BMT. In five patients computed tomography (CT) of the femora showed initially high attenuation in the marrow, returning towards normal after successful BMT.

Treatment of Niemann-Pick disease type B by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

Allogenic bone marrow transplantation was carried out on a 3 year old girl with Niemann-Pick disease type B. Successful engraftment was achieved, and nine months after the procedure there was definite clearing of the sphingomyelin from the liver and pronounced clearing from the bone marrow. Any patient with Niemann-Pick disease type B complicated by early or severe hepatic impairment should be considered for bone marrow transplantation.

Hemiplegia and focal convulsions as a manifestation of cyclosporine A toxicity.

Hemiplegia and focal convulsions were observed in a patient who received cyclosporine A after bone marrow transplantation. Cessation of the drug resulted in prompt reversal of the symptoms. The diagnostic problems and implications of this case are discussed.