Evaluation of the relationship between cranial magnetic resonance imaging findings and clinical status in children with cerebral palsy

Background/aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and clinical features in cerebral palsy (CP). Materials and methods: Children aged 3 to 18 years, who were followed with the diagnosis of CP between January 2012 and September 2015, were included. The type of CP was classified using the European Cerebral Palsy Monitoring Group's classification system and then, patients were divided into two groups as spastic or nonspastic groups. The Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) was used to determine the level of mobility. According to the GMFCS, levels 1, 2, and 3 were grouped as mobile, and levels 4 and 5 were grouped as immobile. Cranial MRI findings were reevaluated by a voluntarily radiologist and grouped as periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) (grades 1, 2, and 3), cerebral atrophy, migration anomaly, cerebellar involvement, basal ganglion involvement, and normal MRI findings. Results: Sixty-two patients were enrolled. The rate of mobile patients did not differ between the spastic and nonspastic groups. The incidence of PVL was significantly higher in cases of prematurity and spastic CP (p < 0.05). The rate of mobilization was significantly lower and the rate of epilepsy was significantly higher in patients with PVL. Immobile patients were more common among cases of grade 3 PVL (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The most common cranial MRI pathology was PVL, and the presence of PVL and its grade might help clinically assess the patient's CP type and level of mobilization. While pathology was observed mostly in cranial MRI in cases of CP with similar clinical features, the fact that cranial MRI was completely normal for 14.5% of the cases suggests that there may be some pathologies that we could not identify with today's imaging technology

A case of severe thrombocytopenia developed due to cytomegalovirus and ganciclovir treatment in a healthy infant

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a common disease worldwide. While infection in immunocompetent individuals has traditionally been considered a benign and self-limited condition, a few studies have reported the clinical manifestations and treatment of CMV infection among immunocompetent patients. Ganciclovir treatment in children with cytomegalovirus infection is still controversial and it is used only in selected cases. We report here a case of a previously healthy 52-day-old girl who developed severe CMV disease with prolonged fever and profound thrombocytopenia. Short-term intravenous ganciclovir treatment was associated with immediate and sustained resolution of the symptoms as well as a sharp decrease of CMV viremia. Antiviral therapy should be considered in select cases of severe primary CMV infection in immunocompetent children

The knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of parents who have children with recurrent seizures concerning the non-hospital management of seizures

Objective: Sufficient information should be given to parents who have children with recurrent seizures about the approach to seizures outside the hospital. This study was aimed to identify the approach of the parents towards children with recurrent febrile seizures and epilepsy, and their requirements about management of seizures outside the hospital

Evaluation of immunization status in patients with cerebral palsy: a multicenter CP-VACC study

Children with chronic neurological diseases, including cerebral palsy (CP), are especially susceptible to vaccine-preventable infections and face an increased risk of severe respiratory infections and decompensation of their disease. This study aims to examine age-appropriate immunization status and related factors in the CP population of our country. This cross-sectional prospective multicentered survey study included 18 pediatric neurology clinics around Turkey, wherein outpatient children with CP were included in the study. Data on patient and CP characteristics, concomitant disorders, vaccination status included in the National Immunization Program (NIP), administration, and influenza vaccine recommendation were collected at a single visit. A total of 1194 patients were enrolled. Regarding immunization records, the most frequently administrated and schedule completed vaccines were BCG (90.8%), hepatitis B (88.9%), and oral poliovirus vaccine (88.5%). MMR was administered to 77.3%, and DTaP-IPV-HiB was administered to 60.5% of patients. For the pneumococcal vaccines, 54.1% of children received PCV in the scope of the NIP, and 15.2% of children were not fully vaccinated for their age. The influenza vaccine was administered only to 3.4% of the patients at any time and was never recommended to 1122 parents (93.9%). In the patients with severe (grades 4 and 5) motor dysfunction, the frequency of incomplete/none vaccination of hepatitis B, BCG, DTaP-IPV-HiB, OPV, and MMR was statistically more common than mild to moderate (grades 1-3) motor dysfunction (p = 0.003, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.00, and p < 0.001, respectively). Physicians' influenza vaccine recommendation was higher in the severe motor dysfunction group, and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.029)