ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic is thought to have changed the epidemiology of some pediatric neurosurgical disease: among them are the intracranial complications of sinusitis and otitis (ICSO). According to some studies on a limited number of cases, both streptococci-related sinusitis and ICSO would have increased immediately after the pandemic, although the reason is not clear yet (seasonal changes versus pandemic-related effects). The goal of the present survey of the European Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (ESPN) was to collect a large number of cases from different European countries encompassing the pre-COVID (2017-2019), COVID (2020-2021), and post-COVID period (2022-June 2023) looking for possible epidemiological and/or clinical changes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An English language questionnaire was sent to ESPN members about year of the event, patient's age and gender, presence of immune-deficit or other favoring risk factors, COVID infection, signs and symptoms at onset, site of primary infection, type of intracranial complication, identified germ, type and number of surgical operations, type and duration of medical treatment, clinical and radiological outcome, duration of the follow-up. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty-four cases were collected by 30 centers coming from 14 different European countries. There was a statistically significant difference between the post-COVID period (129 children, 86 cases/year, 50.7% of the whole series) and the COVID (40 children, 20 cases/year, 15.7%) or the pre-COVID period (85 children, 28.3 cases/year, 33.5%). Other significant differences concerned the presence of predisposing factors/concurrent diseases (higher in the pre-COVID period) and previous COVID infection (higher in the post-COVID period). No relevant differences occurred as far as demographic, microbiological, clinical, radiological, outcome, morbidity, and mortality data were concerned. Paranasal sinuses and middle ear/mastoid were the most involved primary site of infection (71% and 27%, respectively), while extradural or subdural empyema and brain abscess were the most common ICSO (73% and 17%, respectively). Surgery was required in 95% of cases (neurosurgical and ENT procedure in 71% and 62% of cases, respectively) while antibiotics in 99% of cases. After a 12.4-month follow-up, a full clinical and radiological recovery was obtained in 85% and 84% of cases, respectively. The mortality rate was 2.7%. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the occurrence of ICSO was significantly increased after the pandemic. Such an increase seems to be related to the indirect effects of the pandemic (e.g., immunity debt) rather than to a direct effect of COVID infection or to seasonal fluctuations. ICSO remain challenging diseases but the pandemic did not affect the management strategies nor their prognosis. The epidemiological change of sinusitis/otitis and ICSO should alert about the appropriate follow-up of children with sinusitis/otitis.
Subject(s)
Brain Abscess , COVID-19 , Empyema, Subdural , Otitis , Sinusitis , Child , Humans , Pandemics , COVID-19/complications , Brain Abscess/epidemiology , Empyema, Subdural/etiology , Sinusitis/complications , Otitis/complications , Otitis/epidemiology , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
CSF hypotension arises in the context of a leak of CSF which causes negative intracranial pressure. Sacral fractures result from high-energy trauma which are frequently underdiagnosed. A ten-year-old boy presented with hip pain, after a fall. He mobilized both lower limbs, reported no leg pain, irradiation nor lack of sphincter control. The neurological examination was normal. When asked to stand, he began biparietal headache, nausea and vomiting, which improved laying down. CT scan showed an occult intrasacral meningocele; the MRI revealed collections of CSF along the spine, a S3 fracture with potential laceration of the meningocele and opening of a CSF fistula. Our diagnosis was the CSF hypotension, secondary to the fistula opening. The diagnosis was challenging. The child first presented with symptoms of CSF hypotension without evident cause. The discovery of the meningocele led us to hypothesize the opening of a fistula, a rare diagnosis, later confirmed by MRI (AU)
La hipotensión del LCR surge en el contexto de una fuga de dicho líquido que causa presión intracraneal negativa. Las fracturas del sacro son originadas por traumatismos de alta energía que a menudo no se diagnostican. Un niño de diez años acudió con dolor de cadera tras una caída. Podía mover las piernas, no reportando ningún dolor en las mismas, ni irradiación o falta de control del esfínter. El examen neurológico resultó normal. Cuando se le pidió que se pusiera de pie comenzó a sufrir cefalea biparietal, náuseas y vómitos, que mejoraban al tumbarse. La TC mostró un meningocele intrasacro oculto. La RM reveló rastros de LCR a lo largo de la columna, fractura en S3 con laceración potencial del meningocele y apertura de una fístula de LCR. Nuestro diagnóstico fue hipotensión de LCR, secundaria a la apertura de la fístula. El diagnóstico resultó difícil. El niño presentó síntomas de hipotensión del LCR sin causa evidente. El descubrimiento del meningocele nos llevó a conjeturar la apertura de una fístula, un diagnóstico infrecuente que fue confirmado posteriormente mediante RM (AU)
