Cardiac arrhythmias can present with the signs and symptoms of a seizure disorder. This potentially life-threatening underlying cause of non-febrile seizures should be recognized early, since successful specific treatment is possible. The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine common features in such patients. Over a period of 25 years, eight patients were initially treated for up to 5 years at our institution for a seizure disorder until dysrhythmia as the underlying cause of the seizures was disclosed. The main symptom was drop attacks coinciding with physical activity or emotional stress. Convulsions were only rarely observed. In five of the eight patients the underlying disorder was the long-QT-syndrome (Romano-Ward syndrome). In one patient intermittent complete atrioventricular block was found, another patient showed ventricular tachydysrhythmia of unknown etiology and the last patient suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
a t o t a l o f 18 c h i l d r e n born t o HIV-infected mothers were i d e n t i f i e d. Seventeen o f these pregnant women were IV drug abusers, one was a sexual p a r t n e r of a h i g h r i s k male and f o u r o f them were a l s o p r o s t i t u t e s. A l l 18 women were symptom-free during pregnancy and o n l y two developed HIV i n f e c t i o n. Nine c h i l d r e n were d e l i v e r e d by caesarean s e c t i o n and nine v a g i n a l l y. A l l newborns were HIV-seropositive by ELISA and Western-blot a t b i r t h. Seven c h i l d r e n had l o s t antibody a t a median time o f nine months, were negative f o r HIV antigen and remained asymptomatic a t a mean age o f 20 months. S i x c h i l d r e n were HIV-antibody p o s i t i v e a t a median age o f 7.3 months b u t were HIV-antigen negative and were c l i n i c a l l y w e l l. Four c h i l d r e n developed HIV i n f e c t i o n ; two o f them had serum HIV-antigen. Another c h i l d remained s e r o p o s i t i v e a t 24 months and a f o u r t h p a t i e n t had p e r s i s t a n t HIV-antibody together w i t h a c e l l u l a r and humoral imnunodeficiency and c l i n i c a l stage of P-2-A. Of these four HIV-infected c h i l d r e n , o n l y two were d e l i v e r e d by caesarean s e c t i o n and none o f them were breastfed. One c h i l d d i d n o t come t o follow-up c o n t r o l. Prevalence o f v e r t i c a l transmission o f HIV from i n f e c t e d mothers t o c h i l d r e n i n our seroepidemiological study was 23.5%, however
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