Basal ganglia involvement is a typical finding in patients with neurological complications of HUS. Even in patients with severe CNS involvement on acute imaging studies, prognosis was favourable for clinical outcome and resolution of pathological imaging findings.

The incidence of severe traumatic head injury in children has constantly increased over the last years. Diagnostic imaging has become an unrenounceable tool for the documentation and follow-up of intracranial lesions. The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the early posttraumatic phase has led to a more thorough understanding of intracranial injuries. We retrospectively analyzed the cranial computed tomography (CCT) and magnetic resonance (MR)-studies of patients with traumatic head injuries for primary cerebrovascular complications. In 64 children (45 male, 19 female) with traumatic head injuries, CCT and MR examinations were available for analysis. The children's age ranged from 3 months to 15 years with a median age of 7 years. All patients had initial CCT on admission to the hospital with follow-up examinations depending on clinical state and initial imaging findings. All patients had at least one MR examination between 0 to 120 days after the trauma with a median time interval of 17 days. In five of 64 (7.8%) patients, cerebrovascular complications were found on imaging studies. Initial imaging within the first 24 h after the trauma detected a complete middle cerebral artery infarction in one patient and extensive sinus thrombosis after a complex skull fracture in another. In two patients, thrombosis of the transverse sinus appeared on MRI 4 to 6 days after the trauma. In another patient with open-skull injury, a posttraumatic aneurysm of the pericallosal artery was diagnosed on MRI 30 days after the trauma. Our study shows that, although primary cerebrovascular lesions after traumatic head injuries in children are rare, the radiologist should be aware of the characteristic injury patterns and the time appearance of imaging findings on CT and MRI.

Background: Urticaria pigmentosa (UP) is characterized by dense aggregates of mast cells in the dermis. There is consistent evidence from the literature that mast cells may play a pathogenetic role in the development of neurofibromas and other tumors. Objective: To study the concomitant appearance of UP with neurofibromas and neurofibroma-like neoplasms. Methods: We analyzed 31,752 records of patients examined at the Department of Dermatology in the year 2000, looking for UP and associated neurofibromas and neurofibroma-like neoplasms in persons younger than 18 years. Results: We identified a total of 27 patients suffering from UP, with 16 persons younger than 18 years. One 12-year-old Caucasian boy demonstrated multiple cutaneous mastocytomas consistent with the diagnosis of UP. On his trunk, four café-au-lait spots were found. A cutaneous neurofibroma was confirmed by skin biopsy. Magnetic resonance imaging detected multiple neoplasms located at the nerve roots of the spine, resembling plexiform neurofibromas. Conclusions: There may be a concomitant appearance of UP and neoplasms, with mast cells possibly playing a causative role. The existence of neoplasms, including neurofibromas and neurofibroma-like lesions should be considered when examining UP cases.

Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis is an opportunistic infection in AIDS. Therapeutically, various regimens containing two to three different antimycotic drugs show good efficacy but resistance to antimycotics has to be considered. As in other HIV associated infections, an IRIS has to be taken into account.