Differential diagnosis

Cinque casi, un unico messaggio: quando il neuroblastoma si presenta in modo atipico

Grassi C.

2026/26 — pag. 192-192 — DOI

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumour in children, yet its diagnosis is frequently delayed due to a highly heterogeneous clinical presentation at onset. While over 50% of cases originate in the adrenal medulla causing abdominal m...

Colite eosinofila in età pediatrica: una sfida diagnostica illustrata da due casi clinici

Gallo F.

2026/26 — pag. 190-191 — DOI

Eosinophilic colitis (EC) is a rare disease belonging to the group of non-esophageal eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (non-EoE EGIDs). The paper reports two paediatric cases that highlight the clinical heterogeneity of intestinal eosinophilia....

Quando l'intestino parte con calma: meconium plug syndrome

Marino C, Farruggia P, Imparato S, Guida M, Saia GF, Menager S, Mescolo F, Guida Rutilio T, Sciortino MG, Torrente B, Volpe F, Guccione G, Caruso AM, Corsello G.

2026/26 — pag. 175-177 — DOI

Meconium plug syndrome (MPS) is a usually benign cause of delayed meconium passage in neonates. The paper reports the case of a term female newborn who, at 18 hours of life, passed a dense, tubular meconium mass with a membrane-like appearance reprod...

Un lattante immobile

2026/6 — pag. 357-359 — DOI

This case-based teaching article, part of the 'Binomi e diagnosi a colpo d'occhio' series and framed as a dialogue between an experienced pediatrician and an AI (ChatGPT), presents a 6-month-old infant brought to the emergency department for persiste...

Quando il vomito diventa un appuntamento fisso

Fioretto A, Falcone M, Esposito S, Fiorenza G

2026/6 — pag. 168-168 — DOI

Recurrent vomiting in children presents a significant diagnostic challenge and requires differentiation among organic, metabolic and functional disorders. This report details the case of an 8-year-old boy with a two-year history of stereotypical, sev...

Quando il ferro non basta: l’anemia che nasconde altro

Marchiori M.

2026/5 — pag. 326-328 — DOI

The paper describes the case of a 10-year-old boy with iron deficiency anaemia refractory to oral therapy. The condition was indicative of chronic H. pylori gastritis, which hindered iron absorption....

In carrozzella per il dolore alle ginocchia

2026/5 — pag. 287-290 — DOI

Brucellosi cervicale in un adolescente

Morelli R

2026/5 — pag. 135-136 — DOI

The report describes the case of a 14-year-old male presenting with painful, subacute cervical lymphadenopathy and CT imaging revealing a large, partially abscessed mass closely related to the parotid gland. While brucellosis is a well-known zoonosis...

Non tutto ciò che sibila è wheezing: dispnea persistente da massa cervico-mediastinica

Perna M, Pugliese F, Gatti S

2026/5 — pag. 129-130 — DOI

The paper presents the case of a 13-month-old girl admitted to the Emergency Unit with progressive respiratory failure, initially misdiagnosed as asthmatic bronchitis or foreign body aspiration. Due to her rapid clinical deterioration and an exceptio...

Esposizione accidentale a sostanze stupefacenti: descrizione di due casi clinici

Marchesini A, Tartagni L

2026/5 — pag. 113-114 — DOI

Accidental exposure to illicit drugs in paediatric patients, though rare, is an increasing clinical emergency, especially in high-risk families. Symptoms are often nonspecific, mimic acute neurological conditions and necessitate rapid diagnosis. The ...

Astasia-abasia psicogena a 13 anni... è possibile?

Menghi A, Addeo A, Radice C, Vignutelli L, Marchetti F.

2026/1 — pag. 53-56 — DOI

Anna, a 13-year-old girl with a family background of separation and fluctuating academic performance, manifested sudden gait disturbances and muscle weakness. Despite the alarming symptoms, all clinical investigations (CT scan, EEG, blood tests) w...

Oltre la diagnosi: quale ruolo per il pediatra nei casi di maltrattamento?

Adavastro M, Ocello L, Lazzerotti A, Biondi A.

2024/9 — pag. 585-587 — DOI

Child abuse is a persistent and serious problem, even though children are regarded as individuals with full rights. Indeed, the protection of minors has been recognized and defined in its many forms since 1989 by the Convention on the Rights of the C...

La diagnosi differenziale del dolore osseo in età pediatrica: quando preoccuparsi

Barolo R, Asaftei SD.

2023/9 — pag. 581-587 — DOI

Bone pain is a common cause of admission to the Paediatric Emergency Department. Although in most cases it is associated with benign processes, this symptom should be investigated thoroughly when anamnestic and clinical features suggest the possible ...

Il bambino con anemia severa: proposta di gestione diagnostico-terapeutica

Muratore E, Ruggi A, Abram N, Zanaroli A, Pierantoni L, Lanari M, Zama D.

2023/3 — pag. 159-168 — DOI

Anaemia is a common issue in the paediatric age group and it is not uncommon to encounter severe cases of anaemia in the Paediatric Emergency Unit. The correct identification of patients requiring urgent care is of central importance to provide timel...

Kawasaki? Adenovirus? Kawasaki da adenovirus o con adenovirus?

Accomando F, Aricò MO, Valletta E.

2023/1 — pag. 55-58 — DOI

Kawasaki disease (KD) still represents a challenge for differential diagnosis because it shares clinical features with other infectious diseases. Adenovirus infection has many symptoms that can be found among the diagnostic criteria of KD. However, t...

Kawasaki? Adenovirus? Kawasaki da adenovirus o con adenovirus?

Accomando F, Aricò MO, Valletta E

2023/1 — pag. 6-10 — DOI

Kawasaki disease (KD) still represents a challenge for differential diagnosis because it shares clinical features with other infectious diseases. Adenovirus infection has many symptoms that can be found among the diagnostic criteria of KD. However, t...

Ematoma surrenale bilaterale in un neonato

Ficociello C, Masiello E, Masi L, Montano AV, Marzano M, Buttaro G, Colella MG

2022/3 — pag. 58-60 — DOI

Neonatal adrenal haemorrhage is a relatively uncommon condition (0.2-0.55%). Various risk factors have been reported in addition to birth asphyxia, such as sepsis, coagulation disorders, traumatic delivery and perinatal injuries. Adrenal haemorrhage ...

Quando non trascurare la splenomegalia nel lattante

Zama D, Parladori R, Muratore E, Melchionda F, Baronio F, Pession A

2021/8 — pag. 501-507 — DOI

Splenomegaly in children is really common and its main cause is infectious disease. The aetiology in newborns and older children is well established, while it is less defined in suckling infants. The paper describes three cases of splenomegaly in inf...

Una storia che zoppica

Lambertini AG, Falcioni A, Mambell L, Farneti C, Chiaravalloti A, Foschi N, Marchetti F

2021/6 — pag. 379-382 — DOI

The paper reports the case of a 5-year-old boy who presented with Perthes’ Disease with a long and underhand history of persistent coxalgia, which later became bilateral. Therefore, the main clinical data were reviewed with a particular focus on the ...

Corea, artrite, eritema marginato: malattia reumatica e diagnosi differenziali

A.M.Q. Alberio, F. Pieroni, G. Bini, A. Bonuccelli, A. Orsini, D. Peroni, R. Consolini

2020/10 — pag. 643-650 — DOI

The revision of the Jones criteria by the American Heart Association allowed the identification and diagnosis of a greater number of cases of Rheumatic Disease (RD); however, the higher incidence of RD is associated with "pathomorphic" phenotypic pic...

A tutta bier spots

F. Panin

2020/7 — pag. 461-463 — DOI

La narcolessia è una malattia pediatrica: le red flags per riconoscerla

E. Antelmi, L. Vignatelli, I. Ceretelli, et al.

2020/1 — pag. 29-34

Rationale - Narcolepsy is a chronic rare disease that frequently develops in children. It is characterised by excessive daily sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations as well as disturbed nocturnal sleep. More...

Un’istiocitosi evanescente

A.M.C. Galimberti

2019/6 — pag. 130-130

La sindrome di Panayiotopoulos dal punto di vista del Pronto Soccorso: dove si nasconde?

M. Budel

2018/9

Lo stroke in età pediatrica: una sfida diagnostica e terapeutica

A. Suppiej

2018/7 — pag. 433-434

Torcicollo parossistico benigno dell’infanzia

C. Muratori, S. Strocchi, S. Mainetti, P. Ricciardelli, F. Marchetti

2018/3

Benign paroxysmal torticollis (BPT) is a rare paroxysmal dyskinesia presenting with recurrent stereotypic episodes of torticollis. The diagnosis is primarily one of pattern recognition and exclusion of alternative conditions; other symptoms, such...

Il bambino che non funziona: cosa deve sapere e saper fare il pediatra

G. Cozzi, E. Barbi

2018/1 — pag. 21-26

Epidemiological studies show that a considerable proportion of children and adolescents complains of physical symptoms associated with a great functional disability. At least a part of them fulfil the diagnostic criteria for a somatic symptom disor...

Coxalgia benigna o artrite settica?

F. Marchetti, G. Papucci, C. Udina, L. Mambelli

2017/7 — pag. 435-439

Children with a painful hip present a diagnostic challenge since clinical differentiation between septic arthritis and transient synovitis may be difficult. Septic arthritis, a potentially life-threatening and debilitating medical emergency, requir...

La leucemia ridotta all’osso: fatti e misfatti

A.G. Grasso, C. Radice, F. Corrias, F. Verzegnassi, F. Marchetti

2017/7 — pag. 428-434

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) is the most common cancer disease in paediatric age. Even though in the last decade there has been a steady improve of the chances of survival from this disease, it is relatively uncommon in the life of a general...

Una crepa invisibile

A.G. Grasso, C. Radice, F. Marchetti

2017/4 — pag. 247-249

The article reports the case of a three-year-old boy that was brought to the Emergency Unit because of fever and refusal to bear weight on the right leg in the last four days. Blood exams and X-ray scan of the leg were normal without other signs or s...

Quella strana pallina sulla guancia: un caso di mucocele orale

F. Forte

2016/8

Un "incidentaloma" post-traumatico

V. Genchi, C. Cafagno, R. Francavilla

2016/6

The paper reports a case of pseudopapillary solid tumour of the pancreas, or Frantz tumour or Hamoudi tumour, accidentally discovered after a traumatic event. US + ECD, CT and MRI were used for final diagnosis, suspected by the imaging and histologic...

Lo scroto acuto

S. Salis, I. Rabach, R. Giorgi, E. Cattaruzzi, L. Calligaris, E. Barbi

2015/7 — pag. 448-451

Acute scrotum is a common cause of medical evaluation for children and adolescents. Diagnostic delay in case of a testicular torsion can lead to an ischemic damage of the gonad. The medical history and the clinical findings are not always clearly i...

Dura Legius sed Legius

E. Benelli, I. Berti

2015/5

Pleurite tubercolare: una diagnosi non sempre immediata

S. Nider, G. Gortani, A. Ventura

2014/10 — pag. 642-646

Tuberculous pleuritis usually presents as an acute illness with fever, cough and pleuritic chest pain. The pleural fluid is an exudate that usually shows predominant lymphocytes. Pleural fluid cultures are positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in...

Encefalite da anticorpi anti-NMDAR

T. Granata, S. Matricardi

2014/10 — pag. 637-641

Anti-N-metyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibodies encephalitis is a potentially treatable disease characterized by the abrupt onset of a constellation of symptoms resulting from diffuse brain dysfunction. First described in young women as parane...

Una tumefazione sternale da osteomielite

M. Giovannini, F. Pugliese, L. Casadio, F. Marchetti

2014/4

Primary sternal osteomyelitis cases are rare. The etiological agents are those of osteomyelitis. In the case presented the hypothetical diagnosis was osteomyelitis caused by Kingella kingae, a pathogenic bacterium that is a frequent cause of osteomye...

Cheilite granulomatosa: descrizione di un caso clinico

P. Serraino, L. Cattaneo, D. De Benedetti, R. Lera, A. Secco, F. Pesce

2013/7

Granulomatous cheilitis in the paediatric population may be an initial manifestation of Crohn’s disease. The article reports the case of a 13-year-old boy who presented with epigastralgia and fever for ten days. Nine months before he had been diagnos...

La sindrome di Kawasaki nel 2013: casi clinici e novità

T. Giani, G. Simonini, G. Vannucci, D. Moretti, I. Pagnini, E. Marrani, G.B. Calabri, R. Cimaz

2013/6 — pag. 359-366

Kawasaki disease is one of the most common vasculitis in childhood. The typical expression of Kawasaki disease is characterized by persistent fever for at least five days, polymorphous rash, bilateral non-exudative conjunctivitis, changes in the li...

Casi contributivi, casi indimenticabili: quanto, perché e come le riviste mediche devono raccontarli?

F. Marchetti

2011/6

Crying infant?... non solo coliche!

R. Cinelli, F. Lotito, G. Pipola, L. De Catals, G. Alifano, B. Coppola, G. Mazzarella

2011/2

A newborn younger than 30 days old shows a clinical picture very similar to that of colic: crying episodes, good general conditions, exclusive breastfeeding, normal weight growth, no temperature Despite normal laboratory values, a septic arthritis of...

Il sanguinamento rettale nel lattante

M. Bramuzzo, M. Mainetti, M. Azzalli, G. Tornese, E. Rossetto, M. Pocecco

2011/2 — pag. 125-126

Rectal bleeding in newborns and infants is an alarming symptom that raises parental anxiety and usually leads to rapid medical attention. In children who are apparently well, rectal bleeding can be explained by an allergic proctocolitis triggered...

Aftosi orale ricorrente: una, nessuna, centomila

Gianluca Tornese, Ines L'Erario, Loredana Lepore, Giovanna Ventura, Federico Marchetti, Alessandro Ventura

2008/5 — pag. 291-299

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) (also referred as aphthae or canker sores) is a common disorder affecting up to 60-70% of the general population at any time. Usually, RAS is a well-defined clinical condition (recurrent painful ulcers confined t...

La splenomegalia

M. Rabusin, F. Patarino

2007/8 — pag. 493-499

The spleen in infants and children is involved in a wide variety of pathological conditions. Splenic disorders may be isolated like splenic cysts or, more frequently, due to multiorgan or systemic disease including hepatic diseases, malignancy, hemo...

Un lattante distrofico con alcalosi metabolica

L. Calligaris, G. Cont, D. Codrich, F. Zennaro, F. Marchetti

2006/2 — pag. 111-114

We describe a case of a 4 months-old girl who come to our attention because of an history of failure to thrive and recurrent vomiting started during the second month of life; only remarkable laboratory data were the presence of hyponatriemia and hypo...

Il ruolo della profilassi ambientale nella prevenzione e nel trattamento dell’asma

R. Buzzetti

2004/4 — pag. 212

Semeiotica medica dell’abuso sessuale nei bambini prepuberi: requisiti e raccomandazioni

2004/4 — pag. 243-248

A document prepared by a multidisciplinary task force provides recommendations on medical evaluation of suspected sexually abused pre-pubertal children. The document identifies the objectives and the environmental requisites for the assessment, des...

L’abuso sessuale: un fantasma?

M&B

2004/4 — pag. 211-213

Sette piccoli indiani: riflessioni in merito a sette casi di eritrodermia a esordio precoce

L. D. Notarangelo

2003/8 — pag. 488

Edema emorragico acuto del lattante, descrizione di un caso clinico e revisione della letteratura

E. Miorin, A. Meneghini, B. Don, C. Romanello, A. Tenore

2002/3

Linfoadeniti da micobatteri non tubercolari

F. Massei e coll.

1999/2 — pag. 95-101

Non-tubercolous mycobacteria (NTMB) are responsible for 6,2% of all diseases due to mycobacteria in Italy. Lymphadenitis is the most common infection due to NTBs. Differential diagnosis must be made with tubercolous lymphadenitis, cat-scatch diseas...