Clinical features and outcomes of children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit due to posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to analyze the clinical features, neuroimaging findings and outcomes of the children admitted to our tertiary pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) due to posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). METHODS: This was a retrospective study where the hospital records of children admitted to PICU due to PRES between January 1, 2011 and January 1, 2021 were reviewed. RESULTS: We enrolled 14 patients with a median age of 8 years (IQR 2.2-14.2) to study. Eight (57 %) patients were male. All patients had comorbid illnesses such as hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in 3, Β-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2, and different diagnosis in other patients as one one. Three patients had cardiac arrest, 9 patients had seizures, 5 patients had SE, 12 patients had altered mental status, 8 patients had hypertensive crisis, 1 patient had visual impairment. Thirteen patients had occipital involvement, 11 had parietal involvement, 4 had temporal involvement, 1 had thalamic involvement, 2 had cerebellar involvement, 1 had involvement of the corpus callosum, 1 had brainstem involvement, 1 had hippocampus involvement and 1 had involvement of the basal ganglia. Fourteen patients had supratentorial involvement while 3 had infratentorial involvement. Electroencephalogram was performed for 7 patients, out of which 6 revealed encephalopathy. Median PICU LOS was 19.5 days (IQR 13.2-49.2, minimum 2 - maximum 84 days). Five patients had neurologic sequelae. Four (28.5 %) patients died and ten patients survived. CONCLUSION: Co-occurence of hypertension and seizures should prompt consideration of PRES and urgent neuroimaging, particularly in patients on immunosuppressants or chemotherapeutics. Hypertension should be addressed aggressively in patients with PRES. Electroencephalographic monitoring should be performed if there is suspicion of SE or nonconvulsive SE. Despite its usually good prognosis, PRES can cause serious morbidity and mortality with delay in diagnosis or treatment.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae fungemia due to an unexpected source in the pediatric intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the microorganisms commonly used as a probiotic. Although it is primarily known as non-pathogenic, it may cause fungemia, particularly in immunocompromised patients or children with a history of long-term hospital stay. CASE: A 6-month-old boy with a history of ventriculostomy, ventriculoperitoneal shunt implantation, and external drainage due to an intracranial mass and hydrocephalus was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) on postoperative day 14 due to respiratory distress and intubated on admission. He was started on broad spectrum antibiotics on day 25 of the admission due to fever and clinical deterioration. Culture of the central venous catheter (CVC) yielded S. cerevisiae, the CVC was removed, and the patient was started on caspofungin. We noticed that a patient near this patient was on a probiotic preparation containing S. boulardii for diarrhea before PICU admission. His fever subsided on day 2 of caspofungin, and laboratory findings normalized on follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Probiotics should not be used in PICUs because of the high risk for CVC-related sepsis in critically ill children.