Aims: To study the prevalence of tuberculosis infection among children in household contact with adults having pulmonary tuberculosis, and identify the possible risk factors. Methods: Children under the age of 5 years who were in household contact with 200 consecutive adults with pulmonary tuberculosis underwent tuberculin skin testing. Transverse induration of greater than 10 mm was defined as positive tuberculin test suggestive of tubercular infection. Infected children underwent chest radiography and analysis of gastric lavage fluid or induced sputum for detection of acid fast bacilli. Results: Tuberculin test was positive in 95 of 281 contacts (33.8%), of which 65 were contacts of sputum positive patients, while 30 were contacts of sputum negative patients. Nine of these children were diagnosed as having tuberculosis based on clinical features and/or recovery of acid fast bacilli; seven were in contact with sputum positive adults. The important risk factors for transmission of infection were younger age, severe malnutrition, absence of BCG vaccination, contact with an adult who was sputum positive, and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Conclusion: The prevalence of tuberculosis infection and clinical disease among children in household contact with adult patients is higher than in the general population, and risk is significantly increased by contact with sputum positive adults.

Over the last 10 years we have seen 31 children with systemic lupus: 10 (32%) of these have died. The commonest primary determinant of mortality was uncontrolled disease activity (60%), possibly contributed to by late referrals leading to delays in diagnosis and the institution of therapy. Thromboembolic disease was responsible for two deaths and tuberculosis for one. The major contributory factors were nephritis in two patients and myocarditis, endocarditis, lupus pneumonia and CNS disease in one patient each. Concomitant infections, predominantly nosocomial, occurred in a significant proportion of patients (40%) but were only cofactors in mortality. Autopsies were done in three cases. These patterns of death are significantly different from those seen in the developed world, where disease activity has ceased to be an important factor owing to early recognition of cases. Avoiding late referrals and delays in diagnosis can reduce mortality in childhood-onset lupus.

Cardiac tamponade is rare as an initial manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and even more so in paediatric patients.

This is an unusual case of childhood SLE with pulmonary hypertension. A ten year old girl had an illness of brief duration without clinically overt involvement of any organ system other than pulmonary vasculature. Pulmonary hypertension as an isolated presenting manifestation of SLE is extremely rare in childhood.

Introduction: Patients of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) are at an high risk of bleeding, and the risk of bleeding is maximum when platelet counts fall below 30,000/μL (severe ITP). Though it is not known not all patients have a similar risk of bleeding at a given platelet count. In 59th ASH annual meeting, 2017 (poster 2320) Mishra K et al showed that the platelet function measured by 'Sonoclot coagulation and platelet function analyzer' is significantly different in bleeders as compared to non-bleeders severe ITP patients. We aimed to investigate and follow up the non-bleeder severe ITP patients, whose platelet count remains <30,000 with or without treatment, and find out the incidence of bleed. Method: The study was conducted at the department of internal medicine, postgraduate institute of medical education and research, Chandigarh, India. In this prospective observational study, severe ITP (newly diagnosed) and without active bleeding (WHO bleeding grade <2) were included. All these patient were clinically evaluated, and blood samples were collected as per unit protocol for ITP including Sonoclot analysis. For Sonoclot analysis, fresh blood samples were drawn in citrated vacutainer and analyzed by Sonoclot coagulation and platelet function analyzer made by Sienco, Inc, model SCP1 (USA). The sonoclot signature assessment gives activated clotting time (ACT), clot rate (R1) and platelet function (PF). The samples for sonoclot analysis were monthly drawn for six months in patients who continued to have severe ITP. Results: A total of 50 patients with severe ITP were included. Twenty patients were not included in the final analysis as their platelet remained above 30,000/μL during follow up. The remaining 30 patients were divided into two groups based on normal platelet function (PF) (>1.5) and low PF (<1.5) as measured by the Sonoclot analyzer. The normal PF group (n= 17) had only one patient who had clinically significant bleeding (WHO grade > 2), while low PF group had four patients with clinically significant bleeding (Figure 1). Though the statistical significance level could not be achieved, likely due to a small cohort of patients, the results look promising and shows the potential of sonoclot to give valuable input regarding the risk of bleeding in severe ITP. Conclusion: The patients with poor platelet function as measured by 'Sonoclot coagulation and platelet function analyzer' had more bleeding episodes as compared to patients with normal platelet function. Therefore, Sonoclot may work as a point of care investigation to predict the risk of bleeding in severe ITP patients. This will help the clinician in being more conservative in the management of severe ITP patients with low risk of bleeding and avoid unnecessary therapy. We conclude that the use of Sonoclot during follow-up in severe ITP patients has prognostic significance. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.