A severe illness of a congenital cytomegalovirus infection

Congenital cytomegalovirus [CMV] infection occurs in about 1 per cent of newborns and 10 per cent of them exhibit symptomatic infection. Nervous system damage influences prognosis and newborns management. We report the case of a newborn with a s6vere and progressive congenital CMV infection. He was admitted because of petechiae and thrombocytopenia. Investigations of the newborn showed a bilateral optic atrophy, severe nervous system damage with hydrocephalus, enormous periventricular pseudocysts and cerebellum hypoplasia. No brain calcifications were found. Diagnosis relied on blood CMV viral load measurement in both the newborn and his mother. The newborn received Ganciclovir. Hydrocephalus progressed and required ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement. This case illustrates that pseudocysts and progressive hydrocephalus must suggest CMV congenital infection even not associated to brain calcifications. Nervous system damage is serious in congenital CMV infection and requires a systematic screening during pregnancy

[Epidemiologic profile of skin diseases in Tunisian children]

Skin diseases are fairly common in children and can be related to a heavy morbidity. However, very little data about the epidemiology of pediatric skin diseases are available in the literature. retrospective study about 2007 children seen at the dermatological outpatient's department of children's hospital of Tunis between January 1997 and December 2004. The children's sex, age and diagnosis were noted. the median age was 5 years 2 months +/- 4.5 years [range 3 days, 18 years]. Infants and preschool children represented 67.3per cent of the study population. There was 1023 boys and 984 girls [sex-ratio: 1.03]. There were 2100 skin diseases in the 2007 children. Skin infections constituted the largest group [35.3 per cent] followed by allergic skin diseases [26.3 per cent]. Among skin infections, viral infections were most prevalent [31.2 per cent], followed by fungal infections [28.2 per cent], bacterial infections [21.1 per cent] and parasitic infections [19.4 per cent]. Atopic dermatitis was the most prevalent allergic disease. It was also the most prevalent dermatosis in the infant group. The number of children with atopic dermatitis decreased with age, suggesting that this condition tends to clear with age. epidemiologic data are useful in monitoring changes in diseases trends in children and planning healthcare programs for them

Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis of the ischio pubic ramus. A case report

Pelvic osteomyelitis is rare. We report the case of a 10-year-old boy presented with a five-day history of pyrexia and left painful lameness. Passive range of hip was normal. Initial biological investigations revealed an inflammatory syndrome. Plain radiographs of the pelvis and ultrasound scan of the left hip joint were normal. Bone scintigraphy showed a tracer uptake in the left obturator ring. The blood cultures were positive for methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus. The diagnosis of pelvic osteomyelitis was held. Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI] showed a left ischio-pubic ramus osteomyelitis with a subperiostal abscess decompressing into the surrounding tissues. This case history draw attention to the distinctive clinical and bacteriological features of this rare focus of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis and emphasize the MRI interest in the investigation of deep localizations. It may facilitate early recognition of pelvic osteomyelitis in child