Reviews

Buccal midazolam is at least as good as rectal diazepam at stopping continuous fits in young epileptic patients, according to a randomised trial in the Lancet (1999;353:623-6). Researchers found no differences between the two drugs when given by nurses to young people at a residential school with medical facilities on site. Most of the patients were teenagers, but two were under 10 years old. How these results will translate to the treatment of unexpected fits in young children at home is unclear, and the authors call for further clinical trials to find out.

Haemolytic uraemic syndrome has no lasting effects on children's intellectual and behavioural development as long as they have no obvious neurological damage at discharge (Archives of Diseases in Childhood 1999;80:214-20). A case-control study of nearly 200 children showed that fears of subclinical and longlasting neurological deficit are probably unfounded. One in 10 children had seizures or coma during the illness but had fully recovered by the time they went home. Parents can be reassured, say the authors, that their children will develop normally after this frightening illness.

In the early 1950s, 251 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder were admitted to a Swedish psychiatric hospital. Nearly 40 years later, 122 of the 176 survivors were interviewed again by the same …