Falls are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children. We performed a retrospective analysis of pediatric patients under 7 years of age admitted to our department after a fall from January 1994 through December 1999 to describe the characteristics of fall-related head injury and to determine the clinical parameters influencing outcome. The patients were divided into two groups according to age: group I (babies and toddlers, 0-3 years) and group II (preschool children, 4-6 years). Falls were classified as low and high level. Sixty-eight cases were identified and falls accounted for 35.2% of head injuries. There were more boys than girls, and more low-level falls(LLF) than high-level falls (HLF), particularly in group I. Although more common in HLF, significant intracranial injuries were also sustained from LLF. Calvarial fractures were the most frequent type of head injury and were more common in LLF than HLF. Admission Glasgow Coma Scale score, types of head injury and hypoxia on admission were significantly correlated with Glasgow Outcome Scale score, but age, sex, extracranial injury and height of fall did not influence clinical outcome. From this study, we concluded that the height of fall should not limit the evaluation of patients and that aggressive management is mandatory to improve outcome even in patients with poor prognostic factors.
In light of this data, we suggest that oblique lumbar MRI can precisely demonstrate nerve roots in foraminal and extraforaminal areas. This technique is a simple and useful diagnostic tool for extraforaminal lumbar disc herniations.
The authors report on a case of a metastatic choriocarcinoma that mimicked systemic necrotizing vasculitis on a cerebral angiogram. A 35-year-old woman presented with right hemiplegia and a drowsy mental state. A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed an intracerebral hemorrhage in the left frontal region. A cerebral angiogram showed multiple microaneurysms arising from the bilateral anterior cerebral arteries and middle cerebral arteries, and the renal angiogram showed multiple microaneurysms arising from the left distal renal artery. A chest CT scan revealed multiple metastatic lesions in the left lower lung field. The hematoma and microaneurysms were surgically removed. Choriocarcinoma was diagnosed after histological examination. Despite receiving postoperative chemotherapy, the patient died 1 month after the operation.
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