Subject(s)
Glomerulonephritis/complications , Heart Failure/etiology , Streptococcal Infections/complications , Acute Disease , Child , Child, Preschool , Electrocardiography , Female , Heart Failure/diagnosis , Heart Failure/physiopathology , Humans , Male , Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/diagnosis , Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/etiology , Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/physiopathologySubject(s)
Albendazole/therapeutic use , Anthelmintics/therapeutic use , Echinococcosis/drug therapy , Liver Diseases/drug therapy , Albendazole/administration & dosage , Anthelmintics/administration & dosage , Child , Echinococcosis/diagnostic imaging , Echinococcosis/physiopathology , Humans , Liver Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Liver Diseases/physiopathology , Male , UltrasonographySubject(s)
alpha 1-Antitrypsin Deficiency , Blood Protein Electrophoresis , Female , Humans , Immunodiffusion , InfantABSTRACT
Accidental kerosene ingestion is still a common problem in Libya. It causes considerable morbidity and occasionally mortality. The role and choice of antibacterial agents in its management remain unsettled. Pulmonary damage has been reported as resulting from aspiration. In aspiration pneumonia, anaerobic organisms may be important pathogens and metronidazole may have a place in therapy. The present randomized trial in 100 children with accidental kerosene ingestion assesses the role of ampicillin, carbenicillin and metronidazole in its management. The results are not conclusive but chemoprophylaxis appears to decrease morbidity. Of the various regimens used, the ampicillin/metronidazole combination was found to be slightly better than the others. Further study is recommended.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Fever/chemically induced , Fever/drug therapy , Kerosene/poisoning , Respiratory Insufficiency/chemically induced , Respiratory Insufficiency/drug therapy , Accidents , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Liver function tests, including serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, serum bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, serum proteins, blood ammonia levels and intravenous glucose utilization, were monitored in 50 children with acute rheumatic fever receiving anti-rheumatic doses of aspirin. There was a significant increase in blood ammonia levels and serum ALT after aspirin therapy. A significant fall in glucose utilization coefficient was also recorded. Serum alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin and total proteins did not change significantly. Twenty-two of the 50 children recorded a rise in serum ALT; in 12, the rise was five- to tenfold. These 12 children developed adverse symptoms to aspirin. Also, all had a marked rise in blood ammonia levels. The children improved clinically and biochemically on withdrawal of aspirin. There was no constant relationship between hepatocellular function and serum salicylate levels.
Subject(s)
Aspirin/adverse effects , Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury , Rheumatic Fever/drug therapy , Acute Disease , Adolescent , Aspirin/administration & dosage , Aspirin/therapeutic use , Child , Child, Preschool , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Female , Humans , Liver/cytology , Liver/drug effects , Liver/metabolism , Liver Diseases/metabolism , Liver Function Tests , Male , Prospective Studies , Rheumatic Fever/bloodABSTRACT
Presentation of hydatid disease is uncommon in children, and cardiac hydatid cyst is rare at any age. The authors discuss a pediatric patient with cardiac hydatid cyst in the posterior wall of the left ventricle. The cyst was diagnosed by two-dimensional echocardiography and by serology. A 3 month course of mebendazole therapy was only partially effective. The patient remains asymptomatic 2 years after diagnosis. HYDATID DISEASE is endemic in the Middle East. In a study from a surgical hospital in eastern Libya, the disease accounted for 0.89 percent of all hospital admissions. The echinococcus cyst grows very slowly and unless located in a critical anatomic site, it takes many years to evolve. Consequently, presentation in pediatric patients is distinctly uncommon. In an epidemiologic study from Benghazi, only 11.7 percent of patients were under 10 years old. Cardiac hydatid disease is rare at any age, accounting for less than 2 percent of all hydatid disease. Since the introduction of two-dimensional echocardiography, more cases are being diagnosed. All the reports in the recent literature are in adult patients. We report here, however, a cardiac hydatid cyst in the left ventricular wall in a child.
