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isive cuta-
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treatment
provement d that this history of ster 1938 aun et al ation with
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Arch Arch Dis Child
Feb. , 1977
we
2
52 157-159 157-159
Short reports 157
As ;
Smith for performing the diagnostic radiological studies and to Dr. Pamela Davies for her help ^fin
the preparation of this report
The child was found choking her face covered with
powder The mother cleaned the upper airways and normal breathing returned About 24 hours after the accident she developed steadily increasing
References .
respiratory distress and was admitted to hospital
Braun P. Ducharme J. C. and Davignon A. 1975 - H^'mangiomatoseh^'patiquedu nourrisson diagnostic et
traitement Helvetica Paediatrica Acta 30 159 167
Physical examination 6 hours after the accident showed a nourished and developed baby in
severe respiratory distress pulse min respira-
deLorimier A. A. Simpson E. B. Baum R. S. and Carlsson E. 1967 Hepatic ligation for hepatic heman-
giomatosis New England Journal of Medicine 277 333 337
Fost N. C. and Esterly N. B. 1968 Successful treatment of juvenile hemangiomas with prednisone Journal of
tions min temperature 38 C The upper airways were clear Expiration was prolonged with scarce fine rhonchi over both lungs which were resonant to percussion The liver could be felt
Tc -
Pediatrics 72 351 357
2 cm below the costal margin
,
Kundstadter R. H. 1933 Hemangioendothelioma of the liver in infancy American Journal of Diseases of Children
46 803 810 Leonidas J. C. Strauss L. and Beck A. R. 1973 Vascular
tumors of the liver in newborns A pediatric emergency
Laboratory results showed a capillary Pco of
42 mmHg a and leucocytosis of 15 mm 15-4x
109/1 with a strong shift to the left The first ray film of the chest showed fine and diffuse alveolar
American Journal of Diseases of Children 125 507 510 Lister W. A. 1938 The natural history of strawberry
:
nacvi Lancet 1 1429 1434 McLean R. H. Moller J. H. Warwick W. J. Satran L.
and Lucas R. V. 1972 Multinodular hemangiomatosis
infiltrates on both sides partially confluent a barely visible interlobal fissure on the right and a small pleural effusion on the left Fig )
of the liver in infancy Pediatrics 49 563 573
Sardemann H. and Tygstrup I. 1974 Prolonged obstructive jaundice and haemangiomatosis Report of 2 cases Archives of Disease in Childhood 49 665 667
Touloukian R. J. 1970 Hepatic hemangioendothelioma during infancy pathology diagnosis and treatment with
prednisone Pediatrics 45 71 76
Treatment was begun with intravenous infusions .
ampicillin cloxacillin and prednisone During
the next 3 hours respiratory distress increased the Pco rising to 58 mmHg requiring nasal intubation and controlled ventilation under neuromuscular
blockade with pancuronium Loosco Baby Respira-
DIANA Robinson and Garry HambleTON Department of Paediatrics and Neonatal Medicine Hammersmith Hospital 150 Du Cane Road London
W12 OHS
Correspondence to Dr. D. Robinson
Present address Park Hospital Davyhulme Manchester
tor IPNV with maximal inspiratory pressure Repeated vigorous bronchial washing with normal saline still showed even after many hours viscous .
.
whitish material Besides the antibiotics and pred-
nisone aminophylline orciprenaline and potassium iodide were administered However it was impos-
sible to ventilate the child sufficiently because of
Powder aspiration in children
Report of two cases
Acute aspiration of zinc or talc powder is a very dangerous condition in childhood and several fatalities have been reported Recently we saw 2
cases The first showed the classical course with
delayed respiratory distress and extreme measures
were needed to save the baby Using an aggressive
therapeutic approach we were able to avoid acute sequelae in the second patient We report our experiences and give clinical recommendations
Case reports
Case 1. A month girl was admitted to hospital
6 hours after aspiration of Fissan Baby powder containing talc zinc oxide and other substances
Fig 1 Case 1. Chest ray 7 hours after powder aspiration Note the alveolar infiltrates in both lungs with partial confluence and the pleural effusion on the
left
me
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158 Short reports
tremendous airway resistance arterial blood gases
12 hours after aspiration Pao 63 mmHg with an
F of 0.8 pH 9 Paco 99 mmHg bicarbonate 18.5 mEq BE -17-6 mEq At this time signs of
hypercapnia were most impressive with tachycardia hypertension with wide pulse pressure flushed and sweating skin and a bulging and bounding fon-
.
_ tanelle ; ;
About 6 hours after starting mechanical ventilation
the Paco dropped to 60-65 mmHg and the airways
obstruction improved Despite hypoventilation the baby was never hypoxaemic because of high F10 The following day signs of right heart failure developed massive weight gain tachycardia hepa-
tomegaly and digitalis and frusemide were
given Chest ray showed early atelectasis of the|
right upper lobe and bilateral basal emphysema bronchograms were seen at different levels
On day 6 after the accident still with maximal
respiratory pressure a sided pneumothorax
developed which was treated by insertion of a chest tube and suction 2 days later the baby again had
fever and a leucocytosis with a strong shift to the
left the tracheal aspirate grew | Pseudomonas
.
aeruginosa The antibiotics were changed to gentamicin and Cephapirin On day 9 we were able to change to assisted ventilation and the following day
the child was extubated She remained another 10
Fig 2 Case 1. Chest ray 14 days after powder
aspiration Note the confluent perihilar densities
-
bronchial wall thickening and atelectasis of the posterior
:
segment of the right upper lobe
wards the boy received prednisone ampicillin humidified air and acetyl cysteine by inhalation The course was uneventful and the patient recovered completely within 4 days
Discussion
days in hospital all treatment being gradually
stopped
ae
:
At examination before discharge she was in good
general health with no neurological deficit The lungs were clear Capillary saturation breathing room air and crying was 92 Pco 30 3m5 mHg Chest ray showed some confluent perihilar densities bronchial wall thickening and a small area of atelec-
tasis in the posterior segment of the right upper
lobe Fig 2
.
On clinical follow after 3 months we found no
symptoms and signs of respiratory tract or pulmonary disease The lungs were clear no cardiac
abnormality was detected Capillary saturation
was % The ray still showed some regressing
right hilar densities and discrete peribronchial infiltrations An electrocardiogram was normal
7
Until now 22 cases of powder aspiration have
been reported Cless and Anger 1954 Gould and Barnardo 1972 Gouvea et al 1966 Heiman and
Aschner 1922 Hughes and Kalmer 1966 Jenkins
1963 Lund and Rasmussen 1969 Molnar et al 1962 Tortorolo and Romano 1966 The patients were mainly children around 1 year of age The mortality rate was % Nearly always there is a characteristic silent period of several hours between
the initial event and the beginning of severe respira-
tory distress This asymptomatic period can lead to wrong medical decisions The respiratory distress is due mainly to bronchiolar obstruction by the aspirated powder and massive bronchitis and
. bronchiolitis with pulmonary oedema atelectasis
and compensatory emphysema Our first case presented most severe lower airway
Case 2. A month boy was admitted to hospital
half an hour after aspiration of Merfen powder
containing talc and borate of phenylmercury No signs of respiratory distress were visible but
over the left lung some rhonchi were heard The
initial chest ray had the same characteristics as
seen in the first patient mainly alveolar infiltrates
Intubation
was
performed
under, fluothane
under,
anaesthesia with intensive bronchial wash
Plenty of whitish material was aspirated After-
obstruction compatible with the pathoanatomical
findings described in the literature Acute right heart
failure pneumothorax and pseudomonas infection
were secondary to the pulmonary disease or to our
treatment
The results obtained by Gouvea et al 1966 and those in our Case 2 justify an aggressive therapeutic approach We recommend therefore early bronchial wash or lavage in a child who has aspirated powder especially talc or zinc even
if this tory d distress forced
doses
clinical ventilat resistan
adjustn
asthma F FO O1 infusio
especia functio
'
Summa
Two c
mo
asymp
respira
insuffic cal ver includ
pneun
recove
in the
media cheal opcra distre
Pov obstr
high obtain
washtoms
specia
resist be he
Rafer
Cless Asp 506
Gouk afte Chi
Gouv de pel Cli -,,
Heim ste An
Hugt
tio 65
powder sities
the posterior
2 ampicillin by inhalation
ient
regered
piration have * Gould and
; Heiman and 1966 Jenkins 1969 Molnar
1966 The
1 year of age ways there is a ours between
evere respira-
od can lead to ory distress is
ction by the
onchitis and
a atelectasis
: lower airway
thoanatomical
ute right heart onas infection
case or to our
et al 1966
gressive thera-
herefore early
hild w
has
r zind
ven
Short reports 159
"
if this child presents without any signs of respiratory distress Children already in respiratory distress should have optimal medical treatment with forced intravenous fluids corticosteroids in high
Jenkins M. Q. 1963 Poisoning of the month dusting pow-
der inhalation Journal of the South Carolina Medical
Association 59 62
Lund J. S. and Rasmussen M. 1969 Accidental
aspiration of talc Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica 58
doses and bronchodilators Depending on the clinical course and blood gas analysis mechanical ventilation may be required Very high airway
295-296
Molnar J. J. Nathenson G. and EdberSg. 1962 Fatal :
powder aspiration of talcum
by a child New England
:
Journal of Medicine 266 36 37
resistance must be overcome and respiratory adjustment should be done as in severe bronchial
Tortorolo G. and RomanCo. 1966 Pneumopatia acuta da inalazione di talco Minerva Nipiologica 16 15 19
asthma Hypoxaemia can be avoided by increasing Fo Respiratory acidosis may be corrected by
J^ RGPFENNINGER and VINCENZO
D'APUZZO
.
infusion of THAM especially when high functions
not sodium bicarbonate
Paco interferes with vital
University Children's Hospital Bern and Ospedale
della Beata Vergine Mendrisio Switzerland
a
Correspondence to Dr. J. Pfenninger Intensive Care Unit
Summary
University Avenue The Hospital for Sick Children 555
Toronto Ontario Canada M5G 1X8
Two cases of powder aspiration are reported A
month girl showed a classical course with an
asymptomatic period of 3-4 hours then severe
Pyogenic meningitis respiratory distress developed Acute respiratory
insufficiency made tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation necessary for 10 days Complications
in chronic gastroenteritis and marasmus
included insufficient alveolar ventilation atelectasis
pneumothorax and superinfection But the baby recovered with some residual radiological changes in the lungs A month boy was treated immediately after massive powder aspiration by tra-
cheal intubation and bronchial wash The post-
operative course was uneventful and no respiratory distress developed
Powder aspiration leads to severe bronchiolar
obstruction with a delay of several hours and has a
We report a series of cases of infants presenting with
a severe illness with gastroenteritic symptoms in whom the initial cerebrospinal fluid CSF was nor-
mal but pyogenic meningitis developed during the
course of the illness Clinical presentation was atypical and the development of meningitis was unexpect-
combination ed and unpredictable This unusual
prompted this paper
high mortality rate The best results in treatment are Case reports
obtained by immediate intubation and bronchial
wash even in the absence of respiratory symp-
toms Artificial ventilation may be necessary with the
special problem of overcoming very high airway resistance Corticosteroids and bronchodilators may be helpful
References
Case 1. A male aged 3 months was readmitted 10
days after a previous episode of chronic gastroenteritis with a history of diarrhoea for 2 days He was % dehydrated opisthotonic and after rehydration was below the 3rd centile for weight Lumbar
puncture yielded sterile CSF Table Enteropathic E. coli O127 was cultured from the stool
Cless, and Anger R. 1954 Erstickungstod durch
Aspiration von
Kinder^/rztlichePraxis 22
Kinderpuder 506-508
Respiratory Gould S. R. and Barnardo D. E. 1972
distress
after talc inhalation British Journal of Diseases of the
Chest 66 230 233
Gouvea F. P. Gonsalves P. E. Lebrun E. and Faria M. F.
de 1966 Aspiracao aguda de talco e outros pos terapeutica por lavagem bronquica Revista do Hospital das Clinicas de Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de S^o
H. Paulo
49
55
Heiman , and Aschner P. W. 1922 Aspiration of
stearate of zinc in infancy clinical and experimental study American Journal of Diseases of Children 23 503 510
Hughes W. T. and Kalmer T. 1966 Massive tale aspiration American Journal of Diseases of Children 111 653
654
Opisthotonus persisted 2 weeks after admission the diarrhoea was severe he was pyrexial a lumbar puncture again yielded sterile CSF Table A week later the diarrhoea was stained pyrexia and opisthotonus persisted a third lumbar puncture yielded sterile CSF Table rays of chest abdomen were normal Improvement occurred until 6 weeks after admission another pyrexial episode prompted a fourth lumbar puncture which now yielded purulent CSF Table After treatment for meningitis total nerve deafness was diagnosed
Case 2. A male aged 8 months was admitted with a history of diarrhoea for the previous month He was
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