A case report of pyogenic sacroiliitis in a 9-month-old child.

A very rare condition, pyogenic sacroiliitis is responsible for 1-2% of all osteoarticular infections in children. Diagnosis is often delayed in the pediatric population due to non-specific signs and symptoms during presentation, difficulty in assessing the joint, more common differential diagnosis and low yield diagnostic findings in conventional radiography. A delayed diagnosis of this condition can lead to permanent joint damage. A 9-month-old presented to the emergency department with a history of fever, being unsettled and clingy along with refusal to weight bear over the past few days. On initial assessment, she was found to be tachycardic and afebrile with abnormal posture of her left leg held in external rotation at the hip joint. On examination, she refused to weight bear, presented with alternating tenderness of her left and right hip joints and spinal tenderness at the L5 position. Investigations done showed slightly raised inflammatory counts, normal hip and pelvic radiographs, normal hip ultrasound and blood culture growing staphylococcus aureus and Magnetic Resonance Imaging spine showing right sacroiliitis leading the diagnosis of pyogenic sacroiliitis. This case report highlights the importance of examination of the back and the importance of avoiding fixation error by history. Although rare, clinicians should consider the diagnosis of sacroiliitis in children who present with fever, being unsettled with decreased and painful movements around the pelvic region.

COVID-19 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children and adolescents: a systematic review of critically unwell children and the association with underlying comorbidities.

Data show that children are less severely affected with SARS-Covid-19 than adults; however, there have been a small proportion of children who have been critically unwell. In this systematic review, we aimed to identify and describe which underlying comorbidities may be associated with severe SARS-CoV-2 disease and death. The study protocol was in keeping with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 1726 articles were identified of which 28 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The 28 studies included 5686 participants with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection ranging from mild to severe disease. We focused on the 108 patients who suffered from severe/critical illness requiring ventilation, which included 17 deaths. Of the 108 children who were ventilated, the medical history was available for 48 patients. Thirty-six of the 48 patients (75%) had documented comorbidities of which 11/48 (23%) had pre-existing cardiac disease. Of the 17 patients who died, the past medical history was reported in 12 cases. Of those, 8/12 (75%) had comorbidities.Conclusion: Whilst only a small number of children suffer from COVID-19 disease compared to adults, children with comorbidities, particularly pre-existing cardiac conditions, represent a large proportion of those that became critically unwell. What is Known: • Children are less severely affected by SARS-CoV-2 than adults. • There are reports of children becoming critically unwell with SARS-CoV-2 and requiring intensive care. What is New: • The majority of children who required ventilation for SARS-CoV-2 infection had underlying comorbidities. • The commonest category of comorbidity in these patients was underlying cardiac disease.

Multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children & adolescents (MIS-C): A systematic review of clinical features and presentation.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) is a new phenomenon reported worldwide with temporal association with Covid-19. The objective of this paper is to evaluate reported cases in children and adolescents. From 1726 papers, 35 documented papers related to MIS-C cases identified 783 individual cases of MIS-C between March-June 2020; with 55% being male (n = 435) and a median age of 8.6 years (IQR, 7-10 years; range 3 months-20 years). Patients with MIS-C were noted to have a high frequency of gastrointestinal symptoms (71%) including abdominal pain (34%) and diarrhea (27%). Cough and respiratory distress were reported in 4.5% and 9.6% cases respectively. Blood parameters showed neutrophilia in 345/418 (83%) of cases and a high CRP in 587/626 (94%). 362/619 (59%) cases were SARS-CoV-2 infection positive (serology or PCR) however only 41% demonstrated pulmonary changes on chest imaging. Severity of illness was high with 68% cases requiring intensive care admission; 63% requiring inotropic support; 244/783 (28%) cases needing some form of respiratory support (138 mechanically ventilated), and 31 required extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation. Treatment strategies included intravenous immunoglobulin (63%) and intravenous steroids (44%). 29 cases received Infliximab, 47 received IL1 (interleukin) receptor antagonist, and 47 received IL6-receptor antagonist. 12/783 (1.5%) children died. In summary, a higher incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms were noted in MIS-C. In contrast to acute Covid-19 infection in children, MIS-C appears to be a condition of higher severity with 68% of cases having required critical care support.

Paediatric sepsis, the under-recognised killer: quality improvement initiative of outreach teaching in paediatric sepsis.

Sepsis is the leading cause of child's death, yet it is well known that the rapid initiation of simple, timely interventions reduces morbidity and mortality. This paper shares our findings on the barriers doctors in training have identified to delivering such care. We also share the results of a pilot paediatric intensive care unit outreach teaching programme designed to directly address these highlighted concerns.