effect of lysine on electrical cerebral activity in children with cerebral palsy

A purposeful sample of 40 children with cerebral palsy with age range from 2 to 8 years, attending El-Sahel Teaching Hospital, was evaluated by EEG and IQ. Twenty children received lysine orally in a dose of 12 mg/day/kg for 10-12 months. Post treatment EEG revealed improvement of EEG abnormalities together with evaluation of IQ in 14 cases [70%]. Lysine may play a role in controlling electrical activity and improving IQ in cerebral palsy. More researches are needed regarding the early administration of lysine in cerebral palsy

Serum zinc and copper in treated and untreated epileptic children

Zinc and copper status was evaluated in twenty untreated epileptic children; twenty treated and another twenty healthy control. clinical history, complete physical and neurological examination and E.E.G. were done for all patients. X-ray skull and computed tomography were done for some cases for diagnostic purposes. Serum zinc was found to be elevated in untreated epileptics [mean 110.3 +/- 8.9 g/dl] with statically significant difference when compared wit the control group [P< 0.001] and the treated group [P< 0.001]. mean value of treated group was 77.7 +/- 13.6 micro g/dl, with no significant difference between it and the control group [P> 0.05]. No statistically significant difference was found in the serum copper level of the studied groups. Thus, evaluating serum zinc level is essential during treatment of epileptic children

Pyrexia in Egyptian infants and children

The aim of this work was to establish most common causes of fever in children. This work included clinical evaluation of one thousand nine hundred and forty infants and children who were admitted with fever [rectal temperature 38°C or above] over 12 months period from April 1982 to March 1983. Analysis oh the results obtained revealed that pyrexia was found in child-aged 6-21 months and few were seen in children more than one year. The major causes of pyrexia in this age group were pneumonia and gastroenteritis. They represented 79.8% of the total admissions, whereas meningoencephalitis represented 4-7%. Other childhood pyrexia were associated with other CNS diseases, rheumatic fever SBE, rheumatoid arthritis, tuberculosis, acute glomerulonephritis, urinary tract infection, haemolytic crisis, measles, roseola infantum, infective hepatitis, etc It is apparent from this study that it is unusual for infants less than two weeks of age to present with fever in response to infectious agents. This response can be attributed, in part, to the poor thermoregulatory ability of the neonates. There were 11 cases less than two weeks old, 6 of them diagnosed as having tetanus in this group who merit special consideration by the exanining physician. Febrile convulsions were associated with 32 cases [1.6% of the total admission], 20 cases were having pneumonia and 12 cases gastroenteritis. Vaccination at proper time for infectious diseases, prophylaxis with penicillin for rheumatic fever, intensive health education, and other methods are recommended for preventive aspect of these diseases

Poisoning in the pediatric age group with special reference to cases admitted in the intensive care unit

This work aimed to review the subject of acute poisoning in children. The work included clinical evaluation of fifty infants and children with acute poisoning. Analysis of the results obtained revealed that age ranged from one month to twelve years with a peak incidence below one year [42%].Male to female ratio was approximately equal. Poisoning with drugs was found to be the commonest [74%], followed by household products [12%], unknown poisons [8%] and lastly scorpion stings [6%].Seasonal variation seemed to play an important role in acute poisoning since72% of cases occurred in hot seasons.Most common presentingsymptomswereneurologicalmanifestations [78%],followedbyrespiratory[52%]andgastrointestinal manifestations [20%].The fate of the cases was mainly recovery in 80%, while 20% of cases died