title: Clinical features, laboratory findings and differential diagnosis of benign acute childhood myositis.
abstract: We report clinical and laboratory data from 32 children with benign acute childhood myositis (BACM), children who presented with calf tenderness and gait abnormality. Laboratory evidence of a viral infection was evident in 23 patients, while serum creatine phosphokinase was uniformly increased (558 to 6800 U/L). Twenty-five patients (78.1%) were given a diagnosis other than BACM by their general practitioner or paediatrician. All patients made a rapid recovery within one week. We conclude that BACM should be encountered among the main causes of sudden-onset gait abnormality in young children.
authors.affiliation: 1st Pediatric Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. jeff@med.auth.gr
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Zafeiriou
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Katzos
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gombakis
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Kontopoulos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsantali
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009220:Myositis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D003402:Creatine Kinase