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Aim: A feverish high temperature is the symptom that most frequently leads families to take their children to a Pediatric First Aid unit. In the differential diagnosis of the causes of hyperpyrexia the presence of infections of the genito-urinary tract have to be excluded. Infections of the urinary ways are often the cause of high temperatures in infancy, particularly during the 1st year of life; early identification at the moment of examination at the Paediatric First Aid clinic of patients with infections of the urinary ways makes it possible to prevent the onset of renal complications. We carried out a retrospective study with the purpose of evaluating the incidence of infections of the urinary ways and their complications in paediatric patients who had come to the First Aid unit for hyperpirexia and were later hospitalised after examination of the urine revealed and infection of the urinary ways., Methods: The study was carried out by consulting the registers listing arrivals at the First Aid unit and the subsequent discharge diagnosis. We then consulted the clinical records of patients who required admission to our Paediatrics Clinic arter the first aid examination., Results: Re-reading the registers of examination carried out and the clinica records of hospitalised patients there emerged an increase in the observation of this pathology, diagnosed at the moment of the First Aid examination by means of rapid tests and thereafter assessed by haematochemical and radiological tests., Conclusions: In our opinion this increase could be attributed to the greater attention paid to diagnosing the causes of fever of apparently unknown origin.

Background: The aim of the study was to value the behaviour of systolic (S) and diastolic (D) arterial pressure (AP)/24 hrs in a group of diabetic patients insulin-dependent (IDDM) and non insulin-dependent (NIDDM) with preserved renal function., Methods: We examined 65 diabetic patients (aged 39.1 +/- 23.3), 33 IDDM (aged 18.2 +/- 7.5; years of diabetes: 5.8 +/- 4.9) and 32 NIDDM (aged 60.7 +/- 11.4; years of diabetes: 7.2 +/- 7.5). In all of them we computed BMI and determined creatinine clearance, glycosylated haemoglobin A, total and HDL-associated cholesterol, triglyceridemia, middle glycemia and microalbuminuria. AP measurement was performed by 24 hrs monitoring (periodicity 15') using a Takeda 2420 measurer. Chronobiological characteristics of AP were analysed by statistical method of cosinor according to Halberg, examining if there was or not a blood pressure circadian rhythm (PCR) (p < 0.05) and its characteristics represented by the mesor, the amplitude and the acrophase. Moreover the patients were subjected to a diet with fixed contents of sodium (130 mEq/day) and afterwards we drew (every 4 hours) renin (R), aldosterone (A1) and atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) which were analysed with cosinor's method. The purpose was not to compare the two populations, not homogeneous between them and not different only for the years of diabetes, but to study their blood pressure behaviour, the rhythm, the order of the indicated hormones for possible pathogenetic connections., Results: NIDDM presented higher blood pressure values (PAS 134.2 +/- 3.5 and PAD 80.9 +/- 2 mmHg) than IDDM (PAS 116.6 +/- 1 and PAD 66.4 +/- 1.7 mmHg), still in limits of substantial normality. The acrophase was in the midday for NIDDM (PAS 11:25', PAD 12:06') and in the early afternoon for IDDM (PAS 14:15', PAD 14:06'). Analysing the trend of the AP in the single cases, PCR was present in 70% and absent in 30% of IDDM while it was persistent in 56% and disappeared in 44% of NIDDM. IDDM without PCR differed from those with it in years of diabetes (p < 0.001), body weight (p < 0.02), BMI (p < 0.01), triglyceridemia (p < 0.05), all more elevated, as well as in higher PAS and PAD (p < 0.001) and in higher concentration of ANF (p < 0.05). The same comparison was done in NIDDM. Patients without PCR were older (p < 0.025), had higher PAS (p < 0.025) and PAD (p < 0.001) and also a more activated ANF (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: This hormonal anomaly may be ascribed to a lower excretion of sodium with consequent expansion of extracellular volume due to antinatriuretic action of insulin often found at high plasmatic levels particularly in NIDDM.

Septic arthritis is a serious pyogenic infection that may lead to permanent orthopedic sequelae. Infants represent the most of the cases. It usually develops as a result of bacterial seeding into the capillary-rich synovium in the course of a bacteremic episode. Etiology changes according to different ages; in children after the neonatal period but younger than 24 months, Haemophilus influenzae is the most frequent causative organism. A case of sepsis due to Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) with septic arthritis in a patient 3 months old, is reported. The child was admitted to the hospital with a very high temperature (39 degrees C) for five days. His right wrist and ankle appeared swelling and hyperemic. He was affected by congenital cardiopathy from birth. He was not immunizated against Hib. The blood colture was positive for Hib. The leukocyte count was 21,400 cell/mm3 with 55% of polymorphonuclear cells. During the second day of recovery, the patient was transfused, because of the very low value of hemoglobin (5.2 g/dl). The child was treated with netilmycina and ceftriaxone for 15 days. The temperature fell in two days. The articular pathology resolved in nearly ten days. The case reported confirms the importance of septic arthritis as a pathology that necessarily requires an early diagnosis and treatment. The Haemophilus influenzae vaccine, is recommended especially in immunocompromised or cardiopathic subjects and before the age of 2 years.

Encephalitis represents an important event in pediatric practice. Between the different causes Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) seems to be the most significant etiological agent, not only for its frequency but chiefly for conditioning prognosis. The Authors report a new case of HSV encephalitis with biphasic course illustrating the most recent pathologic, diagnostic and therapeutic features in the attempt to individualize those factors, between clinical data, laboratory findings and imaging that allow early diagnosis and consequently precocious specific antiviral therapy.