ABSTRACT
In a two-year period (Octuber 1985 - September 1987), 65 children presented to the Child Health department and/or rheumatology clinic at the University Hospital with arthritis. Eighteen children (28%) had Juvenile Chronic Arthritis, ten (15%) rheumatic fever, eight (12%) systemic lupus erythematosus and thirteen (20%) had self-limiting arthritis. Systemic onset of Juvenile Chronic Arthritis occurred only in one child; nine children had polyarticular and eight pauci-articular onset of disease. The self-limiting arthritis was difficult to different from Juvenile Chronic Arthritis; therefore serological testing for bacterial and viral infections should be performed before anti rheumatic therapy is undertaken. Arthritis in chilhood is not uncommon in Jamaica. However, the outcome appears to be generally favourable except in a few cases of Juvenile Chronic Arthritis
Subject(s)
Infant, Newborn , Child, Preschool , Child , Adolescent , Humans , Male , Arthritis/physiopathology , Arthritis/etiology , Arthritis/pathology , West Indies , Retrospective Studies , Joints/pathologyABSTRACT
Retrospective evaluation of records pertaining to 316 children admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for febrile seizures showed a recurrence rat of 24 per cent. Age at onset of first febrile seizure, a positive family history and atypical initial seizzure were identified as risk factors for subsequent seizures. Other factors, namely abnormal pregnancy, gestational age, birthweight, neonatal problems and neurological abnormality, did not affect the chances of recurrence
Subject(s)
Pregnancy , Child, Preschool , Child , Humans , Male , Female , Seizures, Febrile/diagnosis , Retrospective Studies , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
This report describes a three-year-old girl with an omental cyst masquerading as ascites. A review of the literature has shown that large omental cysts are frequently misdiagnosed as ascites. Ultrasonography is a valuable aid in the diagnosis
Subject(s)
Child, Preschool , Child , Humans , Female , Omentum , Ascites/diagnosis , Cysts/diagnosis , Chile , Ultrasonography , Diagnosis, DifferentialABSTRACT
Retrospective evaluation of records pertaining to 338 children presenting with a first episode of febrile seizure revealed a high performance rate of routine haemoglobin levels, total white cell and differential count, blood glucose, serum electrolyte and urea levels, lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid examination and blood cultures. Lumbar puncture emerged as the most useful investigation in detecting eight children with meningitis, three of whom were over the age of two years. Transient elevation in blood glucose levels hyponatraemia and low serum bicarbonate levels were noted in some children but their significance is not known. Routine haemoglobin estimation detected sixteen children with unsuspected anaemia, but the remaining investigations were largely unhelpful
Subject(s)
Child, Preschool , Child , Humans , Male , Female , Seizures, Febrile/etiology , Spinal Puncture , Barbados , Retrospective Studies , Diagnostic Tests, RoutineABSTRACT
Details of a bed utilisation study of 1,654 paediatric medical ward admissisons to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados, during 1983 ara analysed. Forty-one per cent of admissisons had a respiratory problem, 14% had infections diseases, 9% central nervous system conditions, and 36% had diseases of other systems. Analysis of hospital stay revealed that 20% of patients spent less than 24 hours and these mostly for bronchial astma (31%), repiratory tract infections (15%), and gastroenteritis (10%). Most long-stay patients had either congenital heart disease (12%), social problems (11%) or diabetes mellitus (10%).. We recommend that the establishment of a short-stay unit could eliminate 20% of admissions, spent less than 24hours. A further 21% (poisoning and gastroenteritis) could be significantly reduced with good health education