pica and Seizures

Blood lead levels were measured by atomic absorption spectrometry in 82 children suffering from various neurological disorders (cerebral palsy 42, seizure disorders 35, acute encephalopathy of unknown origin 5) and in 28 healthy children, aged 1 to 12 years. Mean blood lead levels were 11.96 +/- 10.97 micrograms/dl in control children and 19.30 +/- 17.65 micrograms/dl in children with neurological disorders. A significant number of control children as well as those who had neurological disorders were found to have blood lead concentrations of > or = 10 micrograms/dl and > or = 20 micrograms/dl, the cut-off limits for lead poisoning and medical evaluation, respectively. Blood lead levels were, statistically, elevated in children with cerebral palsy compared to controls. Children with pica behaviour exhibited higher blood lead concentrations.

Topics: Central Nervous System Diseases; Cerebral Palsy; Child; Child, Preschool; Encephalomyelitis; Female; Humans; India; Lead; Lead Poisoning; Male; Pica; Reference Values; Risk Assessment; Seizures

Topics: Adult; Alkalosis; Aspirin; Citrates; Drug Combinations; Female; Humans; Iron Deficiencies; Kidney Failure, Chronic; Pica; Renal Dialysis; Seizures; Sodium Bicarbonate

Topics: Cheek; Chelation Therapy; Child, Preschool; Dimercaprol; Drug Therapy, Combination; Edema; Edetic Acid; Environmental Exposure; Foreign Bodies; Humans; Lead; Lead Poisoning; Male; Pica; Play and Playthings; Protoporphyrins; Seizures; Self-Injurious Behavior; Succimer; Wounds, Gunshot

Ocular toxocariasis in humans is typically a unilateral disease caused by second-stage larvae of the Toxocara species. Serological evidence of widespread infection in humans provides little information on clinical disease. There is only a single previous estimate of the prevalence of ocular toxocariasis (from Alabama). The present survey examined the extent of consultant-diagnosed toxocaral eye disease among a population of schoolchildren. More than 120,000 participants were surveyed by questionnaire and follow-up. Two sets of control subjects from the same school and from the same county were compared with persons who had ocular toxocariasis. The prevalence of consultant-diagnosed toxocaral eye disease was 6.6 cases per 100,000 persons when only cases regarded as definite by the consultant ophthalmologist were included. This increased to 9.7 cases per 100,000 persons when both definite and strongly suspected cases were included. Geophagia and a history of convulsion were associated with toxocaral eye disease in both of the case-control studies.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Animals; Animals, Domestic; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Dogs; Eye Infections, Parasitic; Female; Humans; Ireland; Male; Pica; Prevalence; Respiratory Sounds; Risk Factors; Seizures; Toxocariasis

A non-fatal case of sodium toxicity in a six-year-old boy is presented. Hypernatremia is the clinical term for an excessive concentration of sodium relative to water in the body. The diagnosis of hypernatremia was made at serum sodium (Na(+)) concentrations exceeding 150 mEq/L, and few people have been reported to survive concentrations greater than 160 mEq/L. This case involves a six-year-old boy who was taken to the hospital following a seizure attack, and lab analyses revealed serum sodium (Na(+)) levels of 234 mEq/L and serum chloride (Cl(-)) levels of 205 mEq/L. Clinical tests ruled out diabetes insipidus, dehydration, renal pathology, and other primary causes of hypernatremia. The child's purported history of pica, and the lab results indicating corresponding increases in levels of serum sodium (Na(+)) and serum (Cl(-)), led to a diagnosis of acute sodium toxicity by ingestion of sodium chloride. A search of the boy's house led to the discovery of rock salt in the cabinet and a container of table salt. Extrapolating from the serum sodium (Na(+)) level, it was estimated that the child had ingested approximately four tablespoons of rock salt, leading to the acute toxicity. A literature search revealed that the serum sodium (Na(+)) concentration in the present report was the highest documented level of sodium in a living person.

Topics: Algorithms; Child; Humans; Hypernatremia; Male; Pica; Respiratory Insufficiency; Seizures; Sodium

In 1697, seven people were condemned at Paisley for using witchcraft to torment Christian Shaw, daughter of the laird of Bargarran. For seven months, Christian had bizarre seizures during which she claimed to see the Devil and her tormentors assaulting her. She also exhibited pica and said that the foreign material had been forced into her mouth by her invisible assailants. The notable Glasgow physician, Matthew Brisbane, was consulted and gave evidence at the trial; he could find no natural explanation for the pica. It is likely that Christian had a dissociative (conversion) disorder after being cursed by a servant. Christian recovered and later married the minister of Kilmaurs. After his untimely death, she established a highly successful spinning business which lead to the Paisley cotton industry.

Topics: Dissociative Disorders; Female; History, 17th Century; Humans; Pica; Scotland; Seizures; Witchcraft

Acute lead encephalopathy has become a rare syndrome in the United States. Early recognition of the disease, with institution of specific chelation therapy, is critical in order to minimize mortality and morbidity. Lead intoxication, however, may mimic other more common diseases. We report an 8-year-old child with known sickle cell anemia who presented initially with findings suggestive of vaso-occlusive crisis but who deteriorated rapidly and was found to have severe lead poisoning. We present her hospital course and review the management of lead encephalopathy in detail.

Topics: Anemia, Sickle Cell; Brain Diseases; Chelating Agents; Child; Diagnosis, Differential; Emergencies; Erythrocytes; Exchange Transfusion, Whole Blood; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Lead; Lead Poisoning; Pica; Protoporphyrins; Seizures; Socioeconomic Factors

To investigate the relation between low-level absorption and neuropsychological function, blind evaluations were under-taken in forty-six symptom-free children aged 3-15 years with blood-lead concentrations of 40-68 mug. per 100 ml. (mean 48 mug. per 100 ml.) and in seventy-eight ethnically and socioeconomically similar controls with levels greater than mug. per 100 ml. (mean 27 mug. per (100 ml). All children lived within 6-6 km. of a large, lead-emitting smelter, and in many cases residence there had been lifelong. Mean age in the lead group was 8-3 years and in the controls 9-3. Testing with Wechsler intelligence scales for schoolchildren and preschool children (W.I.S.C. and W.P.P.S.I.) showed age-adjusted performance I.Q. to be significantly decreased in the group with higher lead levels (mean scores, W.I.S.C. plus W.P.P.S.I., 95 v. 103). Children in all ages in the lead group also had significant slowing in a finger-wrist tapping test. Full-scale I.Q., verbal I.Q., BEHAVIOUR, AND HYPERACTIVITY RATINGS DID NOT DIFFER.

Topics: Absorption; Adolescent; Affective Symptoms; Age Factors; Child; Child, Preschool; Cognition Disorders; Colic; Environmental Exposure; Humans; Hyperkinesis; Lead; Lead Poisoning; Motor Skills; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Examination; Neurologic Manifestations; Perceptual Disorders; Pica; Seizures; Socioeconomic Factors; Texas; Wechsler Scales

Topics: Abnormalities, Drug-Induced; Age Factors; Air Pollutants; Air Pollution; Brain Diseases; Child; Child, Preschool; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Intellectual Disability; Lead; Lead Poisoning; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Motor Skills; Paint; Pica; Pregnancy; Seizures