An appendicular mass, on the whole, is managed medically with intravenous antibiotics and monitoring for signs of obstruction or on-going sepsis. If the child is not responding to medical management, then surgery is performed. This is due to the high morbidity risk associated with operating on an appendicular mass. Consent for a limited right hemi-colectomy must be taken after explaining the increased risk of complications. The decision whether or not to perform an interval appendicectomy is controversial and currently subject to a multicentre national trial. The likelihood of another episode of appendicitis is 1 in 5. Other options:- Ultrasound and clinical examination is sufficient to confirm the diagnosis, especially in a boy. This may not be the case in females.- Majority of appendicular masses respond to conservative management. – Raised CRP indicates significant inflammatory response and thus intravenous antibiotics are indicated. – Intravenous antibiotics are indicated due to sepsis. Oral antibiotics are not sufficient to tackle sepsis in this scenario.

Puberty is when a child’s body begins to develop and change as they become an adult.The average age for girls to begin puberty is 11, while for boys the average age is 12.It’s completely normal for puberty to begin at any point from the ages of 8 to 14. The process can take up to 4 years.

Benign intracranial hypertension is characterized by an elevation of the CSF pressure that is not caused by hydrocephalus or any space-occupying lesion. The cause is most likely the decreased absorption of CSF into the dural sinuses. The main symptoms are headache and visual abnormalities. It can lead to blindness if not managed on time. The most important risk factors for BIH are female gender and obesity. The causes of BIH include iron deficiency anaemia, sarcoidosis, Lyme disease, SLE, polycythaemia vera, chronic kidney disease, meningitis, and sleep apnoea.

Measles and chickenpox are spread by droplets. Thus, patients should be isolated. Rheumatic fever and post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis are immune mediated diseases that don’t require isolation. Herpetic gingivostomatitis spreads by direct transmission of infected secretions to the stratified squamous epithelium. HSP is not an infectious disease.

Atopic dermatitis (AD), also called atopic eczema, is a common chronic or recurrent inflammatory skin disease and affects 15-20% of children and 1-3% of adults worldwide. It is characterized by acute flare-ups of eczematous pruritic lesions over dry skin.The incidence has increased by 2- to 3-fold during the past decades in industrialized countries.Some of the most valuable AD prevalence and trend data have come from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). This is the biggest (close to 2 million children in 100 countries) and only allergy study that has taken a truly global approach. The strength of the study is the use of a uniformly validated methodology allowing a direct comparison of results between paediatric populations all over the world (http://isaac.auckland.ac.nz/index.html).

The symptoms of a partial generalized seizure are consistent with this patient.

Time and EventWeek 1: ImplantationWeek 2: Formation of bilaminar diskWeek 3: Formation of primitive streakFormation of notochordGastrulationWeek 4: Limb buds begin to formNeural tube closesHeart begins to beatWeek 10: Genitals are differentiated

Noonan syndrome is a condition that affects many areas of the body. It is characterized by mildly unusual facial features, short stature, heart defects, bleeding problems, skeletal malformations, and many other signs and symptoms.People with Noonan syndrome have distinctive facial features such as a deep groove in the area between the nose and mouth (philtrum), widely spaced eyes that are usually pale blue or blue-green in colour, and low-set ears that are rotated backwards. Affected individuals may have a high-arched palate, poor teeth alignment, and micrognathia. Many children with Noonan syndrome have a short neck, and both children and adults may have excess neck skin (also called webbing) and a low hairline at the back of the neck.Between 50 and 70 % of individuals with Noonan syndrome have short stature. At birth, they are usually a normal length and weight, but growth slows over time. Individuals with Noonan syndrome often have either a pectus excavatum or pectus carinatum. Some affected people may also have scoliosis.Most people with Noonan syndrome have some form of critical congenital heart disease. The most common heart defect in these individuals is pulmonary valve stenosis. Some have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.A variety of bleeding disorders have been associated with Noonan syndrome. Some affected individuals have excessive bruising, nosebleeds, or prolonged bleeding following injury or surgery. Rarely, women with Noonan syndrome who have a bleeding disorder have excessive bleeding during menstruation (menorrhagia) or childbirth.Adolescent males with Noonan syndrome typically experience delayed puberty. They go through puberty starting at age 13 or 14 and have a reduced pubertal growth spurt that results in shortened stature. Most males with Noonan syndrome have undescended testes (cryptorchidism), which may contribute to infertility (inability to father a child) later in life. Females with Noonan syndrome can experience delayed puberty but most have normal puberty and fertility.Most children diagnosed with Noonan syndrome have normal intelligence, but a few have special educational needs, and some have an intellectual disability. Some affected individuals have vision or hearing problems. It has been estimated that children with Noonan syndrome have an eightfold increased risk of developing leukaemia or other cancers over age-matched peers.

The most probable cause for the patient’s presenting symptoms is encephalitis secondary to measles infection.Encephalitis:Encephalitis occurs in 1 per 1000 measles cases. It usually presents within 1-14 days of the rash, usually day 5. It may present with fever, headache, vomiting, stiff neck, meningeal irritation, drowsiness, seizures, reduced consciousness; 15% will have neurological sequelae; 10% mortality.Other options:- Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis occurs in 1 per 1000 measles cases. It is thought to be a postinfectious immune response. Clinical manifestations include fever, headache, neck stiffness, seizures and mental status changes. It could fit this presentation although it tends to present in the recovery phase of measles infection, typically two weeks after the exanthem. In contrast, encephalitis tends to occur within a few days of the rash.- The history is not that of a typical febrile seizure as it lasted >15 minutes. He has also not recovered consciousness at 4 hours. The diazepam should have been eliminated within 4 hours and so should no longer be contributing to his reduced level of consciousness. Also, the history states the recent diagnosis of measles, and so complications of measles should be considered.- Intracranial bleed secondary to thrombocytopenia: Measles is not known to cause thrombocytopenia.- Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (also known as Dawson’s encephalitis): This is an extremely rare complication of measles. It is a progressive degenerative disease of the central nervous system that occurs 7-10 years after a measles infection. The treatment for SSPE is mainly intraventricular interferon therapy through an Ommaya reservoir. The prognosis is poor, and it is usually fatal.

The sign being elicited in this patient is Nikolsky’s sign. Based on the findings, the patient is suffering from toxic epidermal necrolysis.Nikolskys sign: Rubbing the skin causes exfoliation of the outer layer and usually blistering within a few minutes. Other options:- Cullen’s sign: Periumbilical bruising due to intra-abdominal haemorrhage. If the discolouration is seen in the flanks, it is called Cullen’s sign. Underlying pathology includes ruptured ectopic pregnancy and haemorrhagic pancreatitis. – Forscheimer’s sign: It is a fleeting exanthem that is seen as small, red spots (petechiae) on the soft palate. Associated with rubella and glandular fever. Gorlin’s sign: It is the ability to touch the tip of the nose with the tongue. Increased incidence in children with connective tissue disorder, e.g. Ehler Danlos syndrome. – Auspitzs sign: These are small bleeding points are left behind when psoriatic scales are lifted off. It is not a very sensitive or specific sign. Other cutaneous signs include:- Hair collar sign: It is a collar of hypertrichosis around an area of cranial dysraphism.- Hertoghe’s sign (Queen Anne’s sign): It is the loss of lateral one-third of eye-brows. It is associated with numerous conditions, including lupus, HIV, and hypothyroidism. – Dariers sign: It is the swelling, itching and erythema that occurs after stroking skin lesions of a patient with systemic mastocytosis or urticarial pigmentosa. – Dermatographism: Rubbing the skin causes a raised, urticarial lesion. – Koebners phenomenon: It is the appearance of new skin lesions in areas of trauma.- Breakfast, lunch, and dinner sign: Linear pathway of a group of three to five papules caused by the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius. – Buttonhole sign: In type 1 neurofibromatosis, neurofibromas can be invaginated with the finger back into the subcutis. The nodule will reappear after the release of pressure. The sign is also positive for dermatofibromas. – Crowe’s sign: Axillary freckling seen in type I neurofibromatosis.