[Lead poisoning. A case of polyneuropathy in an infant]. / Intoxicación por plomo. Un caso de polineuropatía en el lactante.

A case of a four month-old child diagnosed of lead polyneuropathy is reported. He has been under mechanical ventilation without significant problems for eleven months which has allowed respiratory neuromuscular function to recover. Skeletal muscle function is undergoing an awkward improvement. According to this case, in cases of child polyneuropathy, chance that the child might have lead poisoning should be considered. Finally it should be noted that supportive measures, such as mechanical ventilation and muscle physiotherapy, have a very important role in the recovery.

[Coarctation of the aorta. In infancy (author's transl)]. / Coartación aórtica en el lactante.

We review our experience in 38 patients with coarctation of the aorta during infancy. Cardiac failure was present in 30 patients, being the maximal incidence during the first and second weeks of the life. Sixteen infants died, 43% of them during the first week. Cardiac catherization and angiocardiography were performed in 22 infants. The coarctation of the aorta was isolated in 38 infants (36%). The most frequently associated malformations were: patent ductus arteriosus (6 cases), ventricular septal defect (5 cases) and the pathology of the left heart. The post mortem examination was performed in 11 infants; in all of them the CoAo was preductal with patent ductus arteriosus; the most frequently associated malformation was ventricular septal defect (6 cases). 5 infants were operated upon with succes during the first year of the life.

[Diagnostic of the heart tumors in newborn and children (author's transl)]. / Diagnóstico de los tumores cardíacos en el recién nacido y lactante

Heart tumors in children are rare. Though of benign pathology they are clinically malignant and should be diagnosed early and promptly treated by surgery in spite of the poor results usually obtained. Any heart enlargement in the absence of congenital heart disease accompanied by rhythm and conduction troubles must be considered as suspect. Five cases of heart tumor are reported and clinically described. Four occurred in newborns and the remaining one before the age of one. Heart enlargement was a constant finding. The ECG findings were: W.P.W. syndrome, intraventricular conduction troubles and ventricular tachycardia, wandering pacemaker (one case each) and ventricular hypertrophy with surprisingly low voltages in the corresponding chest leads (two cases).