[Inaugural trunk dystonia revealing Langerhans cell histiocytosis]. / Manifestations pseudoneurologiques révélatrices d'une histiocytose langerhansienne.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a multisystemic disease, which may present with neurological involvement. We report the case of a 20-month-old girl with initial liver and skin involvement. Initial symptoms were recurrent episodes of trunk dystonia, lasting approximately 2 months prior to the diagnosis of LCH. No brain MRI abnormality was demonstrated at initial work-up and over 7 years of follow-up, except for a postpituitary involvement noted after 3 years of follow-up. These episodes of dystonia subsided during the first week of specific LCH chemotherapy (vinblastine and steroid), suggesting that they may have resulted from hepatalgia related to the histiocytic infiltration of the liver.

[Chronic disease and childhood: image of the body, psychic stakes and therapeutic alliance]. / Maladie chronique et enfance: image du corps, enjeux psychiques et alliance thérapeutique.

The child is an individual in constant development, dependent on his/her parents with whom he interacts everyday to open out, and in particular, to construct a dependable image of his body for growing up comfortably. Announcement of a disease, real traumatism for the whole family, upsets these exchanges and can often induce psychological difficulties masked by the therapeutic somatic stakes placed at the foreground of concerns of each one: child, parents and doctors. The child's stakes are construction of a good image of the body (basis of his own) which can be deteriorated by the disease whatever it is (chronic disease, with relapse or vital prognosis engaged). The family's stakes are the perception of the disease by the parents (distress, culpability, depression) and sibling's reactions (aggressiveness, identification with the sick child, masked depression, functional troubles). Doctor's stakes in the chronic disease is to obtain therapeutic alliance of the child and his family to allow the good progress of the treatments. In front of the chronic disease's reality, it is essential to establish and maintain a multidisciplinary follow up. The child's psychiatrist role will be to take care of the exchanges, and listening among the doctors, the patient and his family are favoured.

[Group B streptococcal meningitis'clinical, biological and evolutive features in children]. / Caractéristiques cliniques, biologiques et évolutives des méningites à streptocoque du groupe B de l'enfant.

OBJECTIVE: The group B streptococcal meningitis (GBS) remains an important cause of child's morbidity and mortality. The purposes of this work were to appreciate the GBS place among the bacterial meningitis, to define clinical and biological factors associated with death and to study the immediate complications. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study concerned 276 GBS meningitis listed by the observatory of GPIP/ACTIV on the child's bacterial meningitis in France from January, 2001 to December, 2005. This report is one of the biggest series of child's GBS meningitis published to this day. RESULTS: The GBS was the third germ in frequency responsible for bacterial meningitis at every age (13 %) : 65 % of the GBS meningitis affected infants less than one month of age, 29 % infants between 1 month and 3 months of age and only 6 % infants more than 3 months of age. The male/female ratio in GBS meningitis was nearly equal (51 % vs 49 %). There was no variation of the GBS meningitis number according to the season. The serotype III was mostly involved in this cohort (81 %) followed by the serotype I (13 %). Statistically we observed a significant decline in the number of early onset meningitis from 2001 to 2004 whereas the number of late meningitis and the total meningitis cases were stable. The biological results mostly present in child's GBS meningitis were a high CSF protein level (95 %), a CSF neutrophil count more than fifteen percent (90 %), a low CSF glucose level (83.5 %), leukopenia (49 %) or a normal blood level leukocyte (38 %). Eighty three percent of the children affected by GBS meningitis were term infants. However, the prematurity seemed to be a risk factor to develop late meningitis (age between 7 days and 3 months) and very late meningitis (after 3 months) but no early onset meningitis. Prematurity, convulsions, shock, coma, assisted ventilation, high CSF protein level, weak CSF cell level and leukopenia seemed to be factors associated with death in the GBS meningitis. The mortality of the GBS meningitis was still 14 % and the immediate complications were observed in 62 % of cases, the most frequent being convulsions (45 %). CONCLUSION: The GBS meningitis in children remains a frequent problem in pediatrics despite intra partum antibioprophylaxy and thus must encourage to strengthen the prevention of these meningitis.

[Prenatal diagnosis of congenital mesoblastic nephroma. A case report]. / Diagnostic anténatal d'un néphrome mésoblastique congénital.

UNLABELLED: Antenatal ultrasounds allow the detection of renal tumors, especially renal mesoblastic nephromas, but only the pathological analysis of the surgical specimen can confirm this diagnosis postnatally. OBSERVATION: We report the prenatal discovery of a mesoblastic nephroma because of premature labour. Postnatal early surgery was decided because of possible complications in this premature infant. Histology revealed mesoblastic nephroma. COMMENTS: We point out the diagnostic elements of congenital mesoblastic nephroma, especially in what is related to arterial hypertension and hypercalcemia, histology and cytogenetics.