Journal of child neurology
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The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence of acute flaccid paralysis in the pediatric population of Honduras over an 11-year period, determine what percentage of acute flaccid paralysis was Guillain-Barré syndrome, and identify the epidemiologic features of Guillain-Barré syndrome. There were 546 childhood cases of acute flaccid paralysis seen between January 1989 and December 1999 at the Hospital Escuela Materno-Infantil in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Of these cases with acute flaccid paralysis, 394 (72.2%) were diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. ⋯ The Honduran pediatric Guillain-Barré syndrome population had an increased mortality rate. Guillain-Barré syndrome has become the leading cause of childhood paralysis in Honduras. A better understanding of the population at highest risk and opportunities for earlier intervention with more effective therapeutic modalities may permit reducing the mortality among Honduran children who develop Guillain-Barré syndrome.
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Case Reports
Toxic pediatric parkinsonism: report of a child with metabolic studies and response to treatment.
We successfully treated a child with parkinsonism secondary to cytosine arabinoside with levodopa/carbidopa and attempted to elucidate the pathogenesis of the disorder by sequential analysis of cerebrospinal fluid biogenic amines, sequential magnetic resonance imaging, and fluorodopa positron emission tomography, which revealed both permanent and reversible biochemical and structural alterations. The parkinsonian disorder resolved in 9 months. Metabolic changes and structural abnormalities on imaging studies were chronologically correlated with the clinical course.