Consultant for Pediatricians Vol 5 No 10

A 3-month-old infant was brought for evaluation after the sudden development of a tonic-clonic seizure that involved the left upper extremity. He had no history of fever, trauma, rash, refusal to suck, vomiting, diarrhea, upper respiratory tract infection symptoms, or bleeding. He was not taking any medications.

The child has orbital cellulitis, an infection with sometimes serious sequelae that involves the soft tissue of the orbit posterior to the orbital septum. Children are more likely than adults to contract orbital cellulitis; the median age of those affected is 7 years. Preseptal cellulitis--the other major infection of the ocular and adnexal orbital tissue--involves the soft tissue of the eyelids and periocular region anterior to the orbital septum and is considered less severe.

As our children are becoming fatter, diabetes is becoming more common. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) can lead to cerebral edema, a complication unique to the pediatric population and a common cause of death in this young group.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) affects as many as 1 in 200 white adolescent girls. Mean onset of this disorder, which is characterized by dramatic weight loss, a disturbed perception of body shape, and an intense fear of weight gain, is between 13 and 14 years.

his 7-year-old boy presented with mental retardation and delayed gross motor milestones: he first sat up at 12 months, walked at 18 months, and ran at 2 years. His level of speech development was that of a 5-year-old; his IQ was 75.

A 4-year-old African American boy presented with his second episode of orbital cellulitis in 9 months. William Demshok, PA-C, of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, reports that a CT scan showed an abscess in the ethmoidal sinus with extension into the left orbit that impinges on the medial rectus muscle.

Sixteen-year-old with a recurrent, painful, pruritic rash on right cheek and right eyelid. Current outbreak started 2 days earlier. The rash always appears in the same fashion and in the same location; it typically lasts a few days and resolves spontaneously.

The patient is a healthy 5-year-old boy who typically awakens 90 minutes after falling asleep. His parents find him screaming, sweaty, and standing up wide-eyed in bed (Figure A). These episodes occur 3 or 4 times a week. He is otherwise a happy, well-adjusted child who attends kindergarten. He has an older sibling with whom he gets along well. There have been no changes in the family.

If you are reading this editorial, you've already seen the 2 special supplements to Consultant For Pediatricians that came wrapped with our October issue. The editors of those special issues and I hope that you'll find information in the vaccine and dermatology supplements that you can put to good use in your practice. We hope you'll find the same in our regular issue.

Photoclinic: Incontinentia Pigmenti

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Tuberculosis (TB) remains one the most important infectious diseases in the world. More than 8 million people are infected every year. The vast majority of infections--95%--occur in developing countries, where the disease accounts for 25% of avoidable adult deaths.

How long should I keep giving anticonvulsant medications to a child with benign genetic epilepsy?

A 2-year-old boy was brought to the emergency department by his mother after he slipped and fell in the bathtub. The boy's father, who had been bathing the child when the injury occurred, reported that he had briefly turned his back while the child was attempting to drink from the hook-shaped faucet. The child had jerked his head upward when he fell, thus causing the sharp edge of the faucet tip to lodge in the soft floor of the mouth beneath the tongue. The father, in desperation, wrenched the faucet from its base and then was able to remove the tip from the child's mouth. During the removal process, the child reached up and also cut his finger on the sharp edge of the faucet.

This infant's mother noted the development of 2 reddish-pink firm papules on her son's forehead when he was about 1 month old. These are the only lesions present, and they are asymptomatic. The only change in the lesions has been their color, which is now yellow-orange.