[Antibiotic therapy of bone and joint infections in children: recent changes]. / Antibiothérapie des infections ostéo-articulaires de l'enfant : ce qui a changé

Management of bone and joint infections in children associates early appropriate antibiotic therapy against Staphylococcus aureus and Kingella kingae and, if necessary, surgical drainage of abscess or septic arthritis. In 2007, the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Group of the French Society of Paediatrics (GPIP) proposed guidelines for antibiotherapy in acute and non-complicated cases, with an intravenous therapy during 4 to 7 days followed by oral therapy during 3 weeks.

[Tolerance and efficacy of atovaquone-proguanil for the treatment of paediatric imported Plasmodium falciparum malaria in France: clinical practice in a university hospital in Paris]. / Tolérance et efficacité de l'atovaquone-proguanil dans le traitement du paludisme d'importation àPlasmodium falciparum de l'enfant en France métropolitaine: expérience d'un centre hospitalier parisien.

UNLABELLED: Only few drugs for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria are available in children. Atovaquone-proguanil is a recent antimalarial drug licensed in France for the uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in adults. Few paediatric studies have evaluated atovaquone-proguanil in children for uncomplicated malaria in endemic area, but no study have evaluated this treatment for imported malaria. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate treatment by atovaquone-proguanil for uncomplicated and imported P. falciparum malaria in children. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the tolerance and the efficacy of atovaquone-proguanil in the children admitted in Robert-Debré Hospital (Paris) for a P. falciparum malaria. From January 2004 to December 2005, 48 children with a median age of 7,5 years (IQR 4-11) were treated with atovaquone-proguanil for a uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria, except for 5 children who had an isolated hyperparasitemia greater or equal to 5%. RESULTS: Atovaquone-proguanil was stopped for 3/48 children because of vomiting. Fever resolved in all the children between Day 3 and 7, following the beginning of the treatment. One child, with a favourable outcome, had a positive parasitemia at Day 4 equal to the initial parasitemia (0,1%). No late therapeutic failure was observed among the 24 children evaluated up to one month after starting treatment. CONCLUSION: Atovaquone-proguanil is an efficient and well-tolerated antimalarial treatment for uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in children. The risk of vomiting should lead to a systematic initial hospitalisation of children treated with atovaquone-proguanil.

M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography in the routine follow-up of central venous catheters in children receiving total parenteral nutrition.

A retrospective study in 38 children (1 day to 7 years) on total parenteral nutrition (TPN) (1 month-24 months) with a central venous catheter (CVC) evaluated the contribution of two-dimensional echocardiography (2D) and M-mode in the follow-up of CVC location and early diagnosis of related complications. Fifty examinations were performed routinely in 21 patients (group I) and 40 in 17 patients for sepsis of the CVC or clinical suspicion of thrombosis (group II). The tip of the CVC was located in the upper right atrium in 17 cases (45%), superior vena cava in 14 cases (37%), jugular or subclavian vein in 5 cases (13%), and was not visualized in 2 cases (15%). In group I, 2D was normal in 19 cases, and catheter thrombosis suspected in 2 was not confirmed by digital angiography (DA). In group II, 2D was normal in 11 cases. In 6 patients, subxiphoid and suprasternal planes identified superior vena cava thrombus in the right atrium (DA confirmed the diagnosis in 2). In 2 pulmonary embolism occurred (1 case died); the remaining patients were successfully treated by medical therapy and removal of the catheter. Echocardiography is a useful noninvasive technique to control CVC tip location and follow-up. In this study, the sensitivity of cardiac thrombus detection by echocardiography was 100% and the specificity 93%; this method appeared, therefore, appropriate for early detection of cardiac thrombosis in pediatric patients on TPN.

[Neurocristopathy. The association of Hirschsprung's disease-ganglioneuroma with autonomic nervous system dysfunction in 2 children]. / Neurocristopathie. Association "Maladie de Hirschsprung-ganglioneuromes et dysfonctionnement du système nerveux autonome" chez 2 enfants.

Two children with the coexistence of long segment Hirschsprung's disease, ganglioneuroblastoma with Ondine's curse in one case and autonomic nervous system impairment in the other are presented. All lesions may be related to aberrations of neural crest cell growth, their migration, or differentiation. A genetic etiology, and the link between Hirschsprung's disease and multiple endocrine adenomatosis is discussed. The combination of Hirschsprung's disease and a neurocristopathy strongly suggests that exploration of the autonomic nervous system and APUD system be carried out.