Pediatric ocular trauma: Characteristics and outcomes among a French cohort (2007-2016).

Pediatric ocular trauma is a major cause of acquired monocular blindness. Post-traumatic visual impairment can lead to significant handicap. In France, recent data on the epidemiology of pediatric ocular trauma are lacking. AIM: To describe the characteristics of a pediatric cohort with ocular trauma and to analyse patient outcomes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study of pediatric ocular trauma (age<15 years) presenting to pediatric and ophthalmology emergency units of our tertiary university hospital between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2016. Data were collected on: age, sex, time and circumstances of trauma, injury type and location, trauma mechanism, other associated injuries, hospitalisation rate and length of stay, treatment, and sequelae (visual impairment). Ocular traumas were classified according to the Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology (BETT) system and the Ocular Trauma Score (OTS). RESULTS: A total of 337 children were included (247 males). The global mean age was 8.4±4.1 years (range 6 months to 14.9 years). The trauma occurred at home (51%) or in a public area (21%). Blunt objects (22%) and direct trauma (17%) were the main mechanisms. According to the BETT, 23% of ocular traumas were open-globe traumas (OGT): penetrating (n=39), perforating (n=12), with intraocular foreign body (n=24). Among closed-globe injuries (CGT), hyphema was the most frequent lesion (22%). Associated injuries were recorded in 32 patients. In all, 63% of patients had an OTS of 5 (good visual prognosis) while 39 children (12%) had an OTS of ≤3. In 47 patients, there was an initial surgery; 62% of children were hospitalised. By the end of the ophthalmic follow-up, 32 patients (9.5%) had sequelae. Children aged between 2 and 5 years had the greatest proportion of sequelae (15%). Compared with female patients, male patients were older (P=0.0007) and were more frequently injured by projectiles (P=0.036). Compared with CGT, OGT were more frequent among younger children (P=0.0015). Ocular injuries secondary to a projectile and spring-summer accidents were associated more frequently with a poor visual prognosis (OTS ≤3; P=0.036, OR=2.5 [1.1-5.8] and P<0.0001, OR=5.8 [3.2-10.7] respectively). COMMENTS: The annual admission for pediatric ocular trauma was stable during the study period (200 cases per 100,000 annual trauma admissions in the first period [2007-2011] and 195 cases per 100,000 during the most recent period [2012-2016]). Projectiles such as Airsoft gun bullets and paintball are still the cause of severe injuries while reports on ocular injuries secondary to blaster or Nerf guns use are starting to be published. CONCLUSION: The great majority of ocular traumas could be prevented, especially by wearing protective goggles during at-risk activities. French legislation should be stricter about the sale of any Airsoft gun to children under 18 years old. Parents must repeat educational warnings to their children handling sharp objects. The social and psychological burden of relative visual impairment is of importance: One in ten children will have a permanent visual defect.

Purpura of the chin: Two consecutive cases.

Two healthy children, a 10-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, both with no previous medical history, unrelated, presented with pinpoint purpura of the chin and the upper lip. It had appeared 2 days before and extended from the chin to the lower lip. Neither had fever or recent trauma, nor had they taken any medication. Their vital parameters and physical examination were normal. Their peripheral blood cell counts and coagulation parameters were normal. A week later, upon the follow-up consultation, the purpuric lesions had disappeared and both children reported they had played the glass game.

[Hallucinations: Etiological analysis of children admitted to a pediatric emergency department]. / Hallucinations : analyse étiologique chez des enfants admis en service d'accueil des urgences.

Children's hallucinations pose the dual challenge of diagnosing a possible medical emergency and a possible psychiatric disorder. PURPOSE: The main objective was to analyze the causes of such hallucinations in children presenting to a pediatric emergency department. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a single-center, observational, retrospective study including all children aged less than 15 years experiencing hallucinations and admitted to our tertiary level pediatric emergency department between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2015. The data collected were demographic; medical: previous medical or psychiatric history, current medications, associated clinical or psychiatric symptoms, type and character of hallucinations, length and recurrence of hallucinatory phenomena; and other biological, radiological and neurological explorations. RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients were included (29 boys). The mean age was 9.1±3 years (range, 2-14 years and 10 months; median, 9.2 years). Admissions were seasonal with a bimodal distribution (a peak during springtime and another one during fall). Hallucinations were mainly visual (90%), acute (77%) and complex (63%). Visual hallucinations were associated with other types of hallucinations: auditory (n=17), somatosensory (n=7). Fifteen children had a psychiatric history and had already experienced hallucinatory phenomena (93%). Among 47 patients (69%), these hallucinations were associated with other symptoms: agitation (41%), headaches (28%), hyperthermia (21%) and negative symptoms of the schizophrenia spectrum (15%). On admission, 20 patients (29%) had one or more treatments under way (34 drugs, 41% known for hallucinogenic adverse effects). Neurological explorations were undertaken in half of the cases. Toxicological analysis prescribed in 19 children was positive in five cases (26%). Fifty-three percent of patients were hospitalized and 51 children received a specialized follow-up (by a neurologist and/or a psychiatrist). A nonpsychiatric origin of these hallucinations was diagnosed in 29 patients (43%): neurological causes (n=10), infectious diseases (n=10), intoxications (n=5) and a medication side effect (n=4). CONCLUSION: Hallucinations with a suspected underlying psychiatric cause differed on several factors: chronic duration (p=0.02), an onset after 10 years of age (p=0.004), previous identical episodes (p=0.014) and a parental psychiatric history (p=0.036), auditory hallucinations (p=0.0009), absence of fever (p=0.005), headaches (p=0.036) and the presence of negative symptoms of the schizophrenic spectrum (p=0.02).

[Choking games among 2nd and 3rd graders]. / Jeux d'asphyxie chez les élèves de CE1 et CE2.

UNLABELLED: It is suspected that elementary school age children engage in "the choking game" or other asphyxial practices, but the prevalence is unknown. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence among 2nd and 3rd graders. METHODS: Twenty-five schools in a region in Southeastern France were sampled on the following criteria: school size, rural/urban location, underprivileged neighborhood or not, and private/public school. Second and third grade classes were randomly sampled in each school. Another sample of 25 schools was selected in case a school refused to participate. A self-administered questionnaire, previously validated in two nonsampled schools, was administered in selected classes by the pediatrician leading the project. RESULTS: A total of 1125 questionnaires were distributed and 95% were completed. The mean (SD) age of children was 8.3 (0.7) years. Forty percent of children reported they had already played choking games. Among all the declared players (n=401), the male to female ratio was 1.4; 13% of them played this game every day or several times a day (91% were male). This prevalence varied between schools (16-75%) and games and was significantly higher among children schooled in underprivileged neighborhoods. Seventy-six percent of non-players and 48% of players were aware of the potential life-threatening risk. CONCLUSIONS: The mean prevalence in elementary school (40%) appears to be higher compared to middle and high schools (5-10%). Motivation differs in elementary school children compared to older children and teenagers. Prevention of choking games should start at elementary school and determinants leading to the continuation of such practices from elementary school to high school need to be explored.

[Severe hyperthermia and neurological disorders following prostaglandin treatment for uterine atonia after caesarean section]. / Hyperthermie sévère et troubles neurologiques après administration de sulprostone dans un contexte d'atonie utérine post-césarienne.

Uterine atony is the most frequent cause of post-partum haemorrhage. In France, the management is based on early administration of oxytocic agents and prostaglandin analogues (sulprostone-Nalador®). We report the case of a 30-year-old woman who presented soon after administration of sulprostone, a severe hyperthermia with neurological disorders. A complete reversibility was observed a few hours after discontinuation of sulprostone administration. Other causes were eliminated by biological and radiological findings.

[Diagnostic and prognostic value of umbilical and cerebral Doppler velocimetry in intrauterine growth retardation]. / Valeur diagnostique et pronostique de la vélocimétrie Döppler ombilicale et cérébrale au cours des retards de croissance intra-utérins.

The diagnostic and prognostic value of Doppler velocimetry in delayed intrauterine growth was investigated in a series of 105 abnormal pregnancies. The diagnostic value of the umbilical Doppler velocimetry, whether alone or combined with simultaneous exploration of the umbilical and cerebral vessels was very limited. In contrast, the simultaneous exploration of the umbilical and cerebral vessels was of considerable prognostic value, since with regard to the risk of fetal distress, the sensitivity was 86.6%, the specificity 80% and the positive predictive value 63%. The negative predictive value was 95% and the prevalence 28.5%. The authors' experience also confirms the prognostic seriousness of the absence of diastolic flow or of reverse flow (2 perinatal deaths out of 6 cases). The interval between the changes in Doppler velocimetry and fetal distress is variable, however, ranging from two days to three weeks or more in these cases.