No abstract

Rib fractures have occasionally been described in children receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Because child abuse is sometimes suspected in these cases, it is both medically and legally important to establish whether the rib fractures are secondary to abuse or CPR. One hundred thirteen children, including 41 victims of child abuse, 50 patients who had CPR, and 22 patients who had rib fractures, were studied. Twenty-nine patients had rib fractures; 14/29 (48%) were abusive. Other causes of fracture were: motor vehicle accidents (four), rickets/osteoporosis (five), surgery (five), and osteogenesis imperfecta (one). In spite of prolonged resuscitation performed with variable degrees of skill, no fractures could be attributed to CPR. On the other hand, rib fractures occurred frequently in abused children (6/41 or 15%). Abusive fractures were often multiple, of different ages, and affected multiple adjacent ribs. Patients with abusive rib fracture also had other physical and radiologic signs of abuse or neglect.

Two immunochemical methods were used to identify Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae capsular antigens in the urine and serum of 162 children with acute lower respiratory tract infection. These methods were compared with standard bacterial blood culture. Viral and mycoplasma cultures of respiratory secretions were obtained simultaneously to determine the frequency of antigenuria at the time of nonbacterial acute lower respiratory tract infection. Urine from groups of well children and children with acute otitis media was tested for capsular antigens to determine the incidence of antigenuria. Antigenuria was found in 24% of children 2 months to 18 years of age with acute lower respiratory tract infection compared with a 2% incidence of bacteremia. Antigenuria was found in 4% of asymptomatic children and 16% of children with acute otitis media. One third of children with symptoms of acute lower respiratory tract infection and viral isolates from the oropharynx had bacterial antigenuria. The sixfold increase in frequency of bacterial antigenuria in children at the time of lower respiratory symptoms suggests that bacterial acute lower respiratory tract infection may be more common than identified by traditional culture techniques. Because bacterial antigen may come from other sites such as the middle ear, further studies are needed to determine the role of antigen detection in the diagnosis of pediatric acute lower respiratory tract infection.