Cerebral Palsy - Early Diagnosis and Intervention Trial: protocol for the prospective multicentre CP-EDIT study with focus on diagnosis, prognostic factors, and intervention.

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP) is important to enable intervention at a time when neuroplasticity is at its highest. Current mean age at diagnosis is 13 months in Denmark. Recent research has documented that an early-diagnosis set-up can lower diagnostic age in high-risk infants. The aim of the current study is to lower diagnostic age of CP regardless of neonatal risk factors. Additionally, we want to investigate if an early intervention program added to standard care is superior to standard care alone. METHODS: The current multicentre study CP-EDIT (Early Diagnosis and Intervention Trial) with the GO-PLAY intervention included (Goal Oriented ParentaL supported home ActivitY program), aims at testing the feasibility of an early diagnosis set-up and the GO-PLAY early intervention. CP-EDIT is a prospective cohort study, consecutively assessing approximately 500 infants at risk of CP. We will systematically collect data at inclusion (age 3-11 months) and follow a subset of participants (n = 300) with CP or at high risk of CP until the age of two years. The GO-PLAY early intervention will be tested in 80 infants with CP or high risk of CP. Focus is on eight areas related to implementation and perspectives of the families: early cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), early genetic testing, implementation of the General Movements Assessment method, analysis of the GO-PLAY early intervention, parental perspective of early intervention and early diagnosis, early prediction of CP, and comparative analysis of the Hand Assessment for Infants, Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination, MRI, and the General Movements method. DISCUSSION: Early screening for CP is increasingly possible and an interim diagnosis of "high risk of CP" is recommended but not currently used in clinical care in Denmark. Additionally, there is a need to accelerate identification in mild or ambiguous cases to facilitate appropriate therapy early. Most studies on early diagnosis focus on identifying CP in infants below five months corrected age. Little is known about early diagnosis in the 50% of all CP cases that are discernible later in infancy. The current study aims at improving care of patients with CP even before they have an established diagnosis. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ID 22013292 (reg. date 31/MAR/2023) for the CP-EDIT cohort and ID 22041835 (reg. date 31/MAR/2023) for the GO-PLAY trial.

A 9-year-old boy with a nonmalignant forehead tumor - a rare case of pediatric Pott's puffy tumor.

BACKGROUND: Pott's puffy tumor (PPT) is a rare and potentially deadly complication of frontal sinusitis consisting of subperiosteal abscess and osteomyelitis of the frontal bone. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 9-year-old boy who presented with fever and soft tissue swelling of the forehead. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) depicted an abscess in the subcutaneous tissue frontally and an epidural empyema, while a cranial computed tomography (CT) scan revealed bone erosion as a sign of osteomyelitis. The patient was treated accordingly. CONCLUSIONS: This rare condition is essential to keep in mind as it needs a multidisciplinary approach and relevant imaging to start proper treatment and thus decrease the risk of intracranial complications.

Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Syndrome in Children With Acute Postinfectious Cerebellar Ataxia.

BACKGROUND: Acute postinfectious cerebellar ataxia is the most common cause of acute ataxia in childhood. One previous case study has suggested that cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome may be comorbid with acute postinfectious cerebellar ataxia, but this was not confirmed by formal assessments. METHODS: Children aged three to 15 years with a confirmed diagnosis of acute postinfectious cerebellar ataxia were invited to participate. Three patients were included and assessed by a pediatrician, neuropsychologist, and logopedist at the subacute stage (less than 14 days post-onset) and after six months and one year of follow-up. RESULTS: All three children complied with the diagnostic criteria of cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome. The cognitive and affective symptoms persisted longer than the motor symptoms. Child A (girl, aged three years and eight months) was most severely affected with slow progression of motor cerebellar symptom; the cerebellar cognitive affective symptoms had not entirely remitted at one-year follow-up. Child B (boy, aged four years and four months) had more subtle motor cerebellar symptoms that swiftly remitted within the first week; the cerebellar cognitive affective symptoms were also more subtle. Child C (boy, aged seven years and eleven months) was considerably affected by motor cerebellar symptoms but showed marked improvement within the first month; the cerebellar cognitive affective symptoms had not entirely remitted at one-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: Cognitive affective cerebellar syndrome may be an overlooked complication of acute postinfectious cerebellar ataxia. The severity of cerebellar cognitive affective symptoms seemed to correspond to the severity of the cerebellar motor symptoms, but the improvement was remarkably slower.

Is Tadpole Pupil in an Adolescent Girl Caused by Denervation Hypersensitivity?

Tadpole pupil is a rarely encountered phenomenon caused by episodic, segmental iris dilator muscle spasm of short duration (2-15 minutes), occurring in clusters without a known precipitating factor. It has most commonly been described in women aged 28 to 48 years. A few hypotheses on pathogenesis have been discussed but none has been proved. Here, we present an adolescent girl with bilateral tadpole pupil that appeared during physical exercise. This is the first pediatric case of tadpole pupil, not caused by preceding surgery, to be published. Based on (1) this case in which tadpole pupil developed when the norepinephrine level rose during exercise, (2) the high ratio of patients with tadpole pupil who concurrently have or later develop Horner syndrome, in which denervation hypersensitivity is well described, (3) a previous report of a patient with both tadpole pupil and Horner syndrome who had denervation hypersensitivity on pharmacological testing, (4) a 29-year-old man with unilateral tadpole pupil induced by exercise, and (5) a 19-year-old man with bilateral tadpole pupil and possible autonomic neuropathy, we suggest denervation hypersensitivity as a probable pathogenic mechanism causing tadpole pupil. In addition, a suggestion for investigations to be performed in future pediatric cases is provided.

A case of the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome in a 12-year-old boy with acute post-infectious cerebellar ataxia.

BACKGROUND: The cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS), is characterised by disturbances in executive functions, visuospatial difficulties, personality changes, and linguistic difficulties. It is well described in other diseases of the cerebellum such as tumour resection and cerebellar stroke but has not previously been described in detail in paediatric cases of acute post-infectious ataxia (APCA). METHODS: Case study. A 12-year-old boy was admitted with severe ataxia, dysmetria, dysdiadokinesia, and dysarthria. He was diagnosed with acute post-infectious cerebellar ataxia (APCA). Besides motor symptoms, the patient showed signs of disturbances in executive functions, visiospatial difficulties, personality changes, and linguistic difficulties. These symptoms correspond to CCAS. CONCLUSION: CCAS may be an overlooked complication to APCA. In addition, APCA is considered a transient, monophasic disease and studying CCAS in this disease may give insight into subtle cases of CCAS and thus provide new knowledge about CCAS.

Tourette syndrome and procedures related to dental treatment: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: Dental treatment of patients with Tourette syndrome (TS) may present special challenges to the dentist. The aim was to systematically review the literature regarding perioperative procedures including sedation and general anaesthesia (GA) of patients with TS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Literature searches were performed in PubMed and Embase to identify papers concerning TS in combination with dental treatment, sedation, and/or GA in order to study outcomes regarding co-morbidity, perioperative complications, and drug interactions. RESULTS: The literature search identified six publications (case reports or series) which addressed the topic. No unexpected adverse effects or drug interactions in relation to sedation or GA in TS patients and no perioperative complications were reported. CONCLUSIONS: The literature on TS is scarce and the evidence level is low. Therefore, guidelines regarding the dental treatment of patients with TS cannot be formulated at the present time.

Hand activities in infantile masturbation: a video analysis of 13 cases.

BACKGROUND: Infantile masturbation is considered a variant of normal behaviour. The abrupt and spontaneous onset, altered sensorium and autonomic phenomena during episodes may suggest an epileptic fit. Therefore, children with infantile masturbation are often admitted to hospital and undergo unnecessary tests. The purpose of the present study was to provide a detailed description of hand activities in infantile masturbation. METHODS: The authors reviewed video recordings of 2 boys and 11 girls with infantile masturbation. Position, movements and activities of hands and fingers during episodes were registered. RESULTS: Five patterns of hand activities were registered: Fisting (four infants), grasping of toys, furniture or clothing (ten infants), chorea-like "piano playing" hand movements (two infants), pressure over the diaper/genital region (one infant) and bimanual manipulation of items (four infants). Fisting was primarily observed in the younger infants, and bimanual manipulation was primarily seen in the older infants. CONCLUSIONS: Recognizing one or more of the five distinct patterns of hand activities in infantile masturbation may help establishing the diagnosis.