Lead poisoning with encephalic and neuropathic involvement in a child: case report.

Lead is a toxic substance in our environment that affects adults and children of all socioeconomic backgrounds, lead poisoning is one of the most common exposures that can cause inter alia significant neurological and functional damage in humans. Children are particularly vulnerable because of the effects of the toxicity on their developing nervous systems with potentially irreversible consequences. We report a case of severe lead poisoning encephalo-neuropathy in a 3-year-old girl, admitted for progressive paraplegia, swallowing disorders, and aphasia. A multitude of investigations undertaken could not explain her atypic symptoms, so anamnesis was redone in the sense of a toxic origin, we found a notion of pica, and a traditional herbalist father, so probably consumption of medications based on traditional medicine products. A venous blood lead level (BLL) was extremely elevated at 176.4 µg/l. The child was treated with an oral chelator succimer (SUCCICAPTAL). During the two following months in the intensive care unit, the child showed progressive respiratory distress and worsening signs of the nervous system. Despite treatment and the use of lead chelators, the patient died due to septic shock. Lead is highly toxic even at very low exposure levels, at high levels of exposure, it can damage the reproductive organs, immune system, liver and kidneys. in children, it can affect neurocognitive and behavioral development that could be irreversible. Peripheral and central nervous system damage should be considered as a possible manifestation of lead poisoning.

Assessment of eligibility for thrombolysis in acute ischaemic stroke patients in Morocco.

INTRODUCTION: intravenous thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) is an approved treatment for acute ischaemic stroke (AIS). However, its use remains low. We aimed to assess the eligibility of thrombolysis for our patients with AIS before implementing this treatment method in our teaching hospital. METHODS: we conducted a prospective cross-sectional study in the emergency department of Casablanca University Hospital. We included every patient admitted for a stroke-related symptom. Delays between symptom-onset and admission and delays regarding the in-hospital evaluation of patients were recorded. Patients eligible for intravenous thrombolytic therapy were identified according to American Heart Association guidelines. RESULTS: in all, 463 patients were included. Only 8.42% of patients were eligible for thrombolysis; 74% of patients were ineligible because of an onset-to-thrombolysis delay longer than 4.5 hours. Mean onset-to-thrombolysis time was 27.2 hours. Patients were admitted with a mean delay of 24.9 hours. The in-hospital evaluation, from admission to computerized tomography (CT) interpretation, averaged 2.3 hours in length. CONCLUSION: the percentage of patients eligible for thrombolysis remains very low in our structure. The majority would not have benefitted from the therapy because of an extra hospital delay far exceeding the recommended therapeutic window. To shorten our delays and increase the number of patients benefiting from thrombolysis, we must implement strategies aiming to improve the recognition, evaluation and management of patients from the general public to the neurovascular unit.