PLEURISY IN CHILDREN : EXPERIENCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS

Purpose: Our study aims to investigate the epidemiological, clinical, biological, therapeutic and evolutionary profile of pleurisy in children.

Materials and methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 245 cases of pleurisy who were seen from 2008 to 2023 in the pediatric department of the university hospital center of Marrakesh.

Results: Pleurisy represent 1.4% of hospitalized cases. Boys were the most affected. The average age was 7.8 years. 75.5% of the patients we treated were vaccinated, and the history of tuberculosis infection was present in 18.36% of patients. Functional signs were represented by fever in 88.5% (217 cases), dry cough in 50.2% (123 cases) and productive cough in 22.8% (56 cases), dyspnea in 66.5% (163 cases) and chest pain in 66.12% (162 cases). A chest X-ray was performed in all patients showing pleurisy of high abundance in 30.6% (78 cases), medium abundance in 46.1% (113 cases) and low abundance in 22% (54 cases). Pleurisy was associated with a pulmonary focus in 37 cases (15.1%). A chest ultrasound was performed in 193 cases (78.77%) with the aim of identifying and eliminating a hydatid cyst before puncturing. Pleural puncture was performed in 177 patients. The etiologies were dominated by purulent pleurisy representing 66.5%, tuberculous causes 29.8% and 3.7% were of malignant origin. The treatment has two components: an etiological component and a symptomatic component. The evolution of pleurisy is generally good.

Conclusion : Pleurisy is a pathology that is common in our environment of poor functional prognosis, necessitating early treatment.