Congenital nephrotic syndrome.

A six week old baby girl from a closed Malay community in Hambantota presented with gradually increasing oedema since two weeks of age. She was oedematous, with gross non selective proteinuria, hypoproteinaemia and hypercholesterolaemaia. Congenital nephrotic syndrome is extremely rare and has not been reported previously in Sri Lanka.

Role of infection and exchange transfusion in fulminant hepatic failure.

We report three patients with fulminant hepatic failure following sepsis managed by exchange transfusion. The literature on the role of infection in the pathogenesis of fulminant liver failure and of exchange transfusions in its management is reviewed.

Changing antibiotic sensitivity patterns in shigellosis.

Over five and a half months stool cultures were performed in 154 patients admitted with suspected bacillary dysentery to the Professorial Paediatric Unit of the Teaching Hospital, Galle. Thirty one patients had a positive stool culture; Shigella dysenteriae type 1 was isolated in 23 patients, and S flexneri in 8. In both groups the antibiotic sensitivity pattern was uniform, the only difference being S dysenteriae type 1 being resistant to nalidixic acid while S flexneri was sensitive. This antibiotic sensitivity pattern was different to that reported from Colombo during the same period. Complications were observed in some patients with S flexneri infection.