Presse Med
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Clinical assessment is an essential fundamental element in the evaluation of comatose states, particularly in children. Paediatricians quickly recognized that the early Glasgow Coma Scale, used for over 20 years in adults, is inadapted for children because it lacks brain stem criteria, involves interpretation of motor response (particularly difficult in infants) and uses verbal response which is of little value before language acquisition. The first attempt at standardized coma assessment in children was the Paediatric Coma Scale, developed in Australia in 1982. ⋯ Several comparative studies have been conducted to determine the positive predictive value and interpersonal variability of these scales. In a prospective multicentric study of 277 comatose children aged 6 months to 15 years, we found that the Bicêtre scale had a positive predictive value of 94% for good outcome at 24 hours and that interpersonal disagreement occurred in only 10.1% of 65 cases studied (compared with 13.5% for the Glasgow scale which was studied simultaneously). Paediatricians now have reliable clinical scales for assessing the conscious level in children.
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Four cases of Behçet's disease with aortic and peripheral lower limb lesions illustrated the characteristics of the disease: multifocal lesions, false aneurysms suggesting infectious perforation and iterative false aneurysm in 1 case. The symptoms of Behçet's disease must be looked for stubbornly. In the presence of any arterial abnormality of this type, this cause must be seriously considered.