[Successful treatment of congenital cytomegalovirus infection with valganciclovir].

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection occurs frequently in neonates. However, there are no screening tests or definitive treatments for this infection in Japan. We report a case of a 21-day-old Japanese boy with congenital CMV infection. He was referred to our hospital for treatment of congenital bilateral deafness. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed cortical dysplasia of the temporal poles, enlarged ventricles, and areas of abnormal intensity in the white matter. He was given a diagnosis of congenital CMV infection based on the detection of CMV DNA in his urine and the umbilical cord. After the administration of valganciclovir, no CMV DNA was detected in his serum, and brain MRI and electroencephalogram findings, motor development, and deafness improved. Further investigation is needed to establish a screening test and treatment for congenital CMV infection in Japan.

Myopathy and neurogenic muscular atrophy in unexpected cardiopulmonary arrest.

BACKGROUND: Neuromuscular disorders can be the cause of sudden death of infants because of their weakness and gastroesophageal reflux (GER). METHODS: Muscle biopsy and genetic studies were performed by usual method. RESULTS: In this report four cases of infants with neuromuscular disorders (two cases of congenital myopathy and two cases of spinal muscular atrophy) who had unexpected cardiopulmonary arrest on arrival (CPAOA) are presented. Two of the cases did not show any symptoms, such as muscle weakness prior to CPAOA. The diagnosis was based on the results of the muscle biopsy and genetic examination. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that sudden infant death caused by neuromuscular disorders should be considered.

Diagnostic and predictive value of CSF d-ROM level in influenza virus-associated encephalopathy.

The aim of this study was to assess the validity of serum and CSF oxidative status of patients with IE in their initial stage through the d-ROM (Diacron-Reactive Oxygen Metabolites, Italy) test, compared to those with other neurological diseases. The study was conducted on the following four groups: (1) influenza virus-associated encephalopathy (IE, n = 8), including four patients showing neurological sequelae or mortal; (2) influenza virus-associated febrile seizures (IFS, n = 11); (3) febrile convulsion (FC, n = 10): (4) enterovirus-associated encephalopathy (EE, n = 4), including one patient with neurological sequelae. The CSF d-ROM levels in the IE group were significantly higher than those in the IFS and the FC groups but not in the EE group. In addition, general laboratory findings such as leukocytes, platelets, C-reactive protein, aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, creatinine kinase and LDH, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), were analyzed in each group. The CSF d-ROM levels in the IE group were significantly higher than those in the IFS and FC groups but not in the EE group. As for the serum d-ROM levels and general laboratory findings, with the exception of CSF IL-6 levels in IE, no significant differences were detected compared with the other groups. In patients with IE, the CSF d-ROM levels could be a valid predictive biomarker of the severity, and oxidative stress may be related to the pathogenesis of IE.

[Retinopathy of prematurity in extremely low birth weight infants: a Tokyo multicenter study].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how the increase in survival rate in extremely low birth weight (a birth weight of 1,000 g or less) infants had affected the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and the frequency of laser treatment. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 122 surviving premature infants with birthweights less than 1,000 g to determine the severity of ROP observed at 16 neonatal intensive care units in Tokyo between April and October 2002. RESULTS: The survival rate was 85.6%. The mean gestational age was 26.74 weeks and the mean birth weight was 782.25 g. One-hundred-and-five infants (86.1%) developed ROP, fifty (41.0%) received laser treatment, and six (4.9%) had retinal detachment. The median postmenstrual age (gestational age at birth plus chronological age in weeks, PMA) at the onset of ROP was 32.5 weeks, and the first laser treatment was performed at the median PMA of 35.7 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: In these extremely low birth weight infants, there was an increase in the survival rate and in the incidence of severe ROP that progressed to the stage that required treatment.

FSHD-like patients without 4q35 deletion.

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is characterized by progressive weakness and wasting of facial, shoulder-girdle and upper arm muscles. Despite of the characteristic clinical features, the diagnosis of FSHD is sometimes difficult because clinical symptoms are extremely variable including facial sparing type, limb-girdle type, and distal myopathy type. Most of the FSHD patients have a deletion in the subtelomeric region of chromosome 4q35 (FSHMD1A), however the linkage analysis in some families suggested genetic heterogeneity. In the present study, we identified 40 patients without a deletion in the 4q35 region (non-4q35del) among 200 Japanese patients who were clinically suspected to have FHSD. All non-4q35del patients had shoulder-girdle weakness and 75% also had facial weakness. Eight patients showed clinical features that were indistinguishable from FSHD, but two of them had Becker muscular dystrophy. FSHD is clinically, and most likely genetically, as well, variable. Other forms of muscular dystrophy can also mimic FSHD.

A case of Wilson-Mikity syndrome with high serum KL-6 levels.

KL-6 and surfactant protein D (SP-D) serum concentrations are known to rise in adult patients with various types of interstitial pneumonia. We evaluated the time course of serum KL-6, SP-D, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in an infant with Wilson-Mikity syndrome. In this case, serum KL-6 levels correlated with clinical symptoms better than serum SP-D and LDH levels. The findings of this case suggest that high serum levels of KL-6 show activity of interstitial lung disease of Wilson-Mikity syndrome.