A newborn boy with multiple hemorrhagic vesicles, lymphadenopathy, and respiratory distress

Article Abstract:

A newborn boy was admitted to a hospital shortly after birth because he had bloody blisters over much of his body. A chest X-ray also revealed abnormalities in the lungs and an enlarged liver and spleen. His doctors suspected some kind of congenital bacterial or viral infection and gave him antibiotics and antiviral drugs. He was also placed on ventilation but progressively deteriorated. He died on the second day of admission. Microscopic examination of tissue samples at autopsy revealed an infiltrate of Langerhans cells in the skin, lungs, liver and spleen. Langerhans cells are derived from bone marrow. Cause of death was determined to be congenital Langerhans' cell histiocytosis. The nature of this disease is not known but there is evidence it is a type of cancer. Some patients survive but many, especially those afflicted before the age of two, have a much poorer prognosis.

Myeloproliferative disorders

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A 6 1/2-year-old girl with status epilepticus, cervical lymphadenopathy, pleural effusions, and respiratory distress

Article Abstract:

A six-and-a-half year old girl was diagnosed with cat-scratch disease with encephalopathy. Cat-scratch disease is a condition caused by a bite or scratch from a healthy cat, and characterized by inflammation, swelling of lymph nodes and fever. The patient was admitted to the hospital in a epileptic condition. She had developed a sore throat with a headache and fever three weeks earlier, and a rash appeared on her chest and abdomen a day later. Her symptoms were intermittent over the next few weeks, and she was treated with penicillin for a throat infection starting 18 days before admission. She began having seizures the morning of admission. A chest X-ray showed fluid in both lungs. A lung biopsy did not show any signs of a bacterial infection, but a lymph node tissue biopsy revealed that she had cat-scratch disease.

Encephalopathy

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An 11-year-old boy with a seizure

Article Abstract:

Doctors describe an unusually-severe case of cat scratch encephalopathy in an 11-year-old boy. Cat scratch disease is caused by a bacteria called Bartonella usually transmitted in scratches by cats. The patient had a seizure and became unresponsive after he fell and struck his head. A brain scan ruled out traumatic injury or a tumor. He developed a fever and inflammation of the eyes, and his seizures continued. Blood tests conducted at the CDC identified infection with Bartonella, and the patient's mother then confirmed he had been scratched by a kitten. He recovered following antibiotic treatment.

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