Objective To analyze clinical and laboratory results of 38 children with brucellosis for providing theoretical basis for its clinical diagnosis and treatment. Methods The epidemiology, clinical features, laboratory characteristics and therapeutic effect of pediatric patients at HulunBuir People's Hospital from January 2011 to December 2015, were retrospectively evaluated. Results Totally there were 38 child patients with brucellosis, 24 males and 14 females, 36 children had directly contacted with animals, and onset seasons were mainly in Summer and Autumn. The dominant manifestations were fever in 33 (86.8%), anorexia in 21 (55.3%), arthralgiaand myalgia in 17 (44.7%), hepatomegaly in 5 (13.2%), splenomegaly in 11 (28.9%), and lymph nodes enlargement in 10 (26.3%). Abnormal laboratory findings included elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) level in 27 (71.1%) and erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR) in 24 (63.2%). Both the Rose Bengal test and serum agglutination test (SAT) were positive in 37 patients, only one patient was negative but the blood culture was positive. After at least 12 weeks of combined, adequate and standardized treatment, there were 30 pediatric brucellosis patients cured, improved in 8 cases, the total effective rate was 100.0%. Conclusions In endemic regions, the presence of persistent fever, joint pain and hepatosplenomegaly should alert clinicians the possibility of brucellosis. Early diagnosis and treatment will reduce the incidence of complications.

BACKGROUND:Dysphagia is one of common early complications after anterior cervical fusion. Medium and severe dysphagia often causes serious influence on the patients. A variety of factors have been shown to have a correlation with the postoperative dysphagia, but specific mechanism is stil unclear. OBJECTIVE:To explore the risk factors for dysphagia after single-level anterior cervical fusion. METHODS:From January 2011 to June 2013, data of 44 patients with dysphagia and 213 patients without dysphagia after single-level anterior cervical fusion were compared. The baseline data (age, gender, ethnicity, body mass index, smoking history, drinking history, hypertension, diabetes, course length, and type of cervical spondylosis) and perioperative data (intraoperative blood loss, internal fixation, the location of the operated level, operation time, and the side of operation approach) between two groups were compared by Logistic regression analysis to determine risk factors for postoperative dysphagia.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 257 patients were included with a fol ow-up for 6 to 24 months postoperatively and 44 of them suffered from dysphagia after single-level anterior cervical fusion. The overal prevalence for postoperative dysphagia was 17.1%. Univariate analysis indicated that age, gender, the location of the operated level, and course length were associated with postoperative dysphagia. Logistic regression analysis of multivariate analysis demonstrated that independent predictors for postoperative dysphagia included gender (female), age (>60 years), the location of the operated level (C 4-5 , C 5-6 ), and course length (>12 months). Clinicians should give appropriate recognition and take corresponding measures to avoid it.