Infantile neuropathy with unstable myelin: study of the P0 protein.

An unusual form of hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy characterized by a prominent disruption of the myelin lamellae is reported. In addition to detailed morphological analysis, we investigated the protein P0, which is the major protein of peripheral myelin involved in adhesion. No major gene rearrangement and no differences in P0 protein expression were observed in the present case.

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease: clinical and nosological study.

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease can be diagnosed on genetic and clinical criteria. These include: involvement of several males in a lineage in a manner consistent with X-linked recessive inheritance; early nystagmoid movements; precocious psychomotor deterioration; progressive pyramidal, dystonic, and cerebellar signs. We present seven cases from three families and review 148 cases in 19 families from the literature. Laryngeal stridor present in two of our patients may be a presenting feature. Neurophysiological investigations may be helpful in the diagnosis.

Leukoencephalopathy, megalencephaly, and mild clinical course. A recently individualized familial leukodystrophy. Report on five new cases.

Five children presented in the first months of life with progressive megalencephaly and leukodystrophy characterized by diffuse swelling of the white matter, cystic cavitations in frontal and temporal lobes, and a slow progressive course contrasting with the intensity of the leukodystrophic process. Four had epilepsy. Two were brothers and three had consanguineous parents. No metabolic defect was detected. The clinical and magnetic resonance imaging features are similar to those of patients previously reported. These five new cases add arguments to delineate a new type of leukodystrophy with megalencephaly in infancy and autosomal recessive inheritance.

[Multifocal epileptic crises following mumps]. / Crises épileptiques multifocales post-ourliennes.

A 15 years-old girl with no previous history of epilepsy or neurological disease presented three types of epileptic symptoms the same day: 1) clusters of rhythmic myoclonus of the left hemiface; 2) episodes of painful paresthesias of the left arm followed by secondary generalised seizures; 3) episodes of elementary visual hallucinations of the right hemifield. She had several seizures each hour and some were recorded. There were no EEG abnormalities during the facial myoclonus but rapid rhythms were seen during the sensory and visual partial seizures on the right parietal and left occipital lobes. There was no fever and no drowsiness. The CSF tap showed pleocytosis. Serological studies indicated recent mumps. The drugs were initially inefficient. The seizures disappeared after a month. The drugs were stopped after three months and the seizures had not relapsed after a one year's follow-up. Though there were no other sign of encephalitis, we believe that episode of multifocal seizures was due to mumps encephalitis.

[Dystonia in the child]. / Les dystonies de l'enfant.

A classification of child dystonias is proposed as a guide to etiological diagnosis. The analysis of symptoms and signs provides a distinction between dystonia and other involuntary movements: dystonia is a tonic involuntary movement which appears during voluntary activity as a slow and involuntary movement. Two groups of child dystonic syndromes can be distinguished: 1) dystonic syndromes where dystonia is the main neurologic abnormality; they result mainly from toxic and anoxic disorders and from torsion dystonia; 2) dystonic syndromes with associated dystonia and intellectual impairment; they are often familial neurometabolic disorders. Analysis of child dystonias show some common features: a long interval between the causative brain lesion and the onset of dystonia is possible, and may last several years. In neuro-metabolic disorders also dystonia appears after the first year of life, when psycho-motor impairment has already appeared. Etiologic investigations can provide a diagnosis and sometimes a treatment in several varieties of dystonia, e. g. L-Dopa in torsion dystonia, correction of metabolic disturbance in Wilson disease or glutaric aciduria. Genetic counselling should be provided.

[Early myoclonic epileptic encephalopathy and non-ketotic hyperglycemia in the same family]. / Encéphalopathie myoclonique précoce et hyperglycinémie sans cétose dans une même fratrie.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal myoclonic encephalopathy is of lesional or metabolic origin; non ketotic hyperglycinemia is one of its causes. CASE REPORT: A girl, born from consanguineous parents, died from myoclonic epileptic encephalopathy at the age of 3 months. Screening for metabolic disease was negative, except for increased levels of urine serotonin and 5-hydroxyindol-acetic in cerebrospinal fluid, blood and urine. Two sisters died with non ketotic hyperglycinemia, corpus callosum agenesis and clubfoot. CONCLUSION: Familial occurrence of non ketotic hyperglycinemia and early myoclonic epileptic encephalopathy is uncommon.

[Use of interferon in a case of hepatic hemangioma]. / Utilisation de l'interféron dans un cas d'hémangiome hépatique.

UNLABELLED: Hepatic hemangioendothelioma can have a fatal outcome. After failure of classic therapies, and when surgery or arterial embolization are not possible, those benign tumours may benefit from interferon alpha treatment. CASE REPORT: We report a case of a 14-month-old infant who presented with hepatic hemangiomatosis and cardiac failure. The disease can neither be controlled by steroids nor by radiotherapy associated with digitalo-diuretic treatment. Due to the important vascular volume of the tumour, neither surgical care nor arterial embolization were possible. Thus this infant was treated for ten months by interferon alpha. The evolution was favourable: cardiac failure, calcifications and volume of the angiomatosis were regressive. CONCLUSION: Interferon alpha treatment helps to control cardiac failure and the course of hepatic hemangioma in childhood.

[Lyme disease in Upper Normandy: report of a hospital survey]. / Maladie de Lyme chez l'enfant en Haute-Normandie: à propos d'une enquête hospitalière.

This study presents the results of a hospital survey on Lyme disease in children living in upper Normandy, a region that is quite densely wooded (with 18% forest areas and woods). The aim of this survey was to assess the prevalence of this disease in children from the Seine-Maritime and L'Eure, hospitalized in pediatric wards in the Seine-Maritime department, which includes Rouen, Dieppe, Fécamp, Elbeuf, and Le Havre. Fifteen cases of Lyme disease were diagnosed between September 1988 and June 1997. The children (6 girls and 9 boys) were aged between 5 and 14 years old. Only 7 subjects showed primary symptoms, while secondary symptoms were observed in 12 children. In the study population, a high prevalence (11 out of the 15 children) of neurological disorders was found. The following secondary symptoms were noted: 5 cases of erythema migrans, 2 cases of non-malignant cutaneous lymphocytoma, and 4 cases which in fact had previously displayed primary clinical signs (3 subjects with erythema migrans and 1 subject with non-malignant cutaneous lymphocytoma); 7 cases of uni- or bilateral facial paralysis, the most frequent neurological manifestation with or without lymphocytic meningitis; 1 case of central vestibular syndrome with a hyperalgesic meningoradicular reaction in the vicinity of the tick bite; 1 case of peripheral radicular involvement and intense pain in the left lower limb; 4 cases of ocular disorders (3 diplopias, 1 bilateral conjunctivitis complicated by kerato-uveitis, 1 bilateral complete cecitis). Only 10 child had rheumatological symptoms, i.e., Lyme arthritis of the right knee. Treatment consisted of amoxicillin (10 children) administered at a dosage of 50 to 100 mg/kg/d over a period ranging from 10 days to 1 month, or ceftriaxone (7 children) at a dosage of 50 to 100 mg/kg/d administered intravenously over a period ranging from 8 days to 3 weeks. Two of the children received combined antibiotic therapy, and 5 subjects had adjunct corticotherapy.

[Epidemiology of infantile asthma in the Le Havre region]. / Epidémiologie de l'asthme infantile dans la région du Havre.

BACKGROUND: Prevalence of asthma is influenced by environmental factors which may be different from area to area. POPULATION AND METHODS: A cross-sectional epidemiological survey was carried out among 1,395 children attending primary schools in the city of Le Havre and the canton of Fécamp (Haute-Normandie). Questionnaires including data about the disease, family history, environmental and socio-economic factors were completed by the school physician in presence of the parents. RESULTS: Prevalence rate of asthma calculated from 1,193 questionnaires was 7.8%. The logistic regression curves pointed out four risk factors: family history of asthma (odds ratio: 2.52) or hay fever (OR: 1.98), atopic dermatitis (OR: 3.96), and parental smoking (OR: 1.79). Sex, socioeconomic status of parents, type of housing, presence of pets in the house were not related to prevalence of asthma. Frequency of cough during the day was only significantly different between both areas. CONCLUSIONS: The high level of school absence (21.1%) and frequency of hospitalizations for acute asthma (20.4%) should lead health professionals and educators to improve management of asthma in these areas.

[Benign infantile convulsions. French collaborative study]. / Convulsions bénignes du nourrisson. Etude collaboratrice française.

BACKGROUND: Benign infantile non febrile seizures are not well known, leading us to study their clinical and EEG characteristics. METHODS: Between 1981 and 1994, we assembled 34 patients with the following inclusion criteria: non febrile seizures between 1 month and 2 years of age, normal personal history, no abnormality on clinical, biological and radiological investigations, normal developmental outcome with at least 1 year follow-up. RESULTS: These 34 patients were recognized as 14 familial cases (identical seizures affecting parents) and 11 non familial cases. The other nine cases had different or undefined epilepsy in the family. The clinical and EEG characteristics were the same: at the mean age of 6 months, brief partial seizures (often secondarily or apparently generalized) occurring in a cluster of two to 12 episodes a day for a mean duration of 2.5 days, with ictal EEG showing focal discharge, often slow waves or focal spikes on post-ictal tracing and normal interictal EEG. CONCLUSION: The clinical and EEG characteristics are important in order to recognize this type of infantile convulsions (familial or not familial), which have a good prognosis and need no aggressive treatment.

[Respiratory manifestation of Crohn's disease. Apropos of a case in an adolescent]. / Manifestations respiratoires de la maladie de Crohn. A propos d'un cas chez un adolescent.

The authors report an original case of Crohn's disease in a teenager with breathlessness and alveolar lymphocytosis. This respiratory involvement is uncommon in pediatric. About the literature, the authors review the significant and the prognostic value of alveolitis in Crohn's disease.

[Bullous mastocytosis in infancy: a rare presentation]. / Mastocytose bulleuse diffuse du nourrisson : une forme clinique rare.

Mastocytosis is a rare condition related to an abnormal proliferation of mast cells and their accumulation in tissues. Cutaneous mastocytosis is the most common form and mainly affects newborns and infants. The symptoms are caused by the release of mediators contained in mast cells, including histamine. Mastocytosis may be associated with a mutation in the gene encoding the c-kit receptor. Clinically, there are different dermatological findings, which combine acute cutaneous, digestive, or even hemodynamic manifestations in varying degrees. The diagnosis is confirmed by the histological study of a skin sample. We report here the case of a 4-month-old infant suffering from diffuse cutaneous bullous mastocytosis, a very rare variety of mastocytosis. This infant had an erosive and bullous manifestation of dermatosis, initially confused with impetigo. The proliferation of bullous lesions led to her hospitalization. Codeine intake for pain was responsible for a large and extensive bullous reaction associated with anaphylactic shock. This context of bullous spread occurring after taking codeine led to the suspicion of bullous diffuse cutaneous mastocytosis, a diagnosis that was confirmed histologically. This observation demonstrates the difficulty of mastocytosis diagnosis, mostly due to its rarity, especially in its diffuse bullous forms. The rapid deterioration of this patient, after the codeine prescription, emphasizes the importance of the eviction of histamine-releaser compounds in the management of this disease.

[Palatal myoclonus syndrome with spontaneous recovery in a child]. / Syndrome de myoclonies du voile du palais spontanément régressif chez l'enfant.

In a 71/2 year-old boy clinically isolated palatal myoclonus was observed. It was continuous even during sleep. It disappeared spontaneously after 3 years of evolution. The authors distinguish this syndrome from the one observed in adults, which never regresses.

Dystonic reactions with metoclopramide: is there a risk population?

The authors examine 18 cases of early dystonic syndromes and review all the pediatric cases published previously in order to determine the evolutive and epidemiological characters of these intolerance reactions. These unrecognized manifestations normally occur within the first 24 hours of treatment and disappear within a few hours when the treatment is discontinued. The use of diazepam and trihexyphenidyl accelerates the regression of the disorders. The doses of metoclopramide were mostly above the recommended doses, 60% of the cases correspond to doses in excess of 0.5 mg/kg per day or 0.2 mg/kg in a single dose. In the absence of overdosage, dystonic reactions occur essentially in female subjects aged over 9 years. For this part of the population, the possible occurrence of such a reaction should be mentioned to the family when the drug is prescribed.