Further delineation of the 10p deletion syndrome.

Nine children with a partial deletion of the short arm of the number 10 chromosome have been described in the medical literature. In two new cases of 10p-, the children have several features in common with those previously reported; these features include down-slanting short palpebral fissures, ear anomalies, anteverted nostrils, a short neck, and psychomotor delay. At this stage in the delineation of this condition, the phenotypic expression is variable. However, the craniofacial features of the two children with recently reported 10p- and others display a constellation of individually nonspecific but consistent findings that together form a recognizable gestalt. Pediatric practitioners should consider performing karyotypes in children with developmental disabilities accompanied by multiple structural defects and/or multiple physical variations not part of the family background.

Lack of relationship of Clostridium difficile to antibiotic-associated diarrhea in children.

We studied prospectively the conversion rate to Clostridium difficile-positive stool cultures in 31 children receiving oral antibiotics for common infections and looked for a possible association of C. difficile colonization with diarrhea. The incidence of pretreatment positive stool cultures was 35% with the majority of positive findings in infants less than 1 year of age. After treatment with oral antibiotics C. difficile was cultured from the stool of 42% of the children. Eleven children developed diarrhea during antibiotic therapy. Seven of these children had at least one stool culture positive for C. difficile and four had persistently negative cultures. Oral antibiotic treatment of common infections in otherwise healthy children does not appear to predispose to stool colonization with C. difficile, nor is the presence of C. difficile in stools in these children significantly associated with the onset of antibiotic-associated diarrhea.