This book describes a child neurologist’s recollections from the past five decades in academic centers in The United States, Panama and the Middle East. The author recalls the deadly epidemic of Reye syndrome, unusual and challenging diagnostic dilemmas, as well as snakebite, malaria, diphtheria and parasitic diseases in the tropics. He includes memories of the 1964 Panama Canal Zone riots, his experience as an expert witness, the future of child neurology and a hypothesis about the role of dendritic spines in autism and ADHD. The author describes his experiences as a pediatrician and child neurologist during five decades in the United States, Panama and the Middle East. His encounters with sick children who suffered from Reye syndrome, child abuse, snakebite, diphtheria, malaria, epilepsy, parasitic diseases, as well as his recollections of the Panama student riots protesting the American presence in 1964, are presented in this book in forty-five interesting chapters. In addition, he describes his experiences as a medicolegal expert witness and offers a hypothesis to explain autism and ADHD as disorders of dendritic spines. Above all, the author demonstrates his compassion for sick children. Sick children, sick brains, tropical diseases and other maladies are the main subjects for this collection of encounters by a pediatrician and child neurologist during five decades in the United States, Panama and the Middle East. These include the Reye syndrome epidemic; cases of methemoglobinemia, pica, hemorrhagic shock and rare inborn errors of metabolism; tropical diseases including snakebite, diphtheria, toxoplasmosis, yellow fever, intestinal parasites and drug-resistant malaria; neurological problems such as migraine, concussion, status epilepticus, hypotonia, Rett syndrome, heatstroke, vertigo, autism and hyperekplexia; and personal essays on medicolegal cases, medical writing, the student riots protesting the American presence in the Panama Canal Zone, and the possible involvement of dendritic spines in autism and ADHD. Above all, the author’s respect and compassion for sick children are palpable throughout this book. A collection of unusual and interesting case reports is presented in this book by the author, a pediatrician and child neurologist, based on his experiences spanning five decades in academic centers in the United States, Panama and the Middle East. The subjects include the Reye syndrome epidemic; cases of methemoglobinemia, pica, hemorrhagic shock and rare inborn errors of metabolism; tropical diseases including snakebite, diphtheria, toxoplasmosis, yellow fever, intestinal parasites and drug-resistant malaria; neurological problems such as migraine, concussion, status epilepticus, hypotonia, Rett syndrome, heatstroke, vertigo, autism and hyperekplexia; and personal essays on medicolegal cases, medical writing, the student riots protesting the American presence in the Panama Canal Zone, and the possible involvement of dendritic spines in autism and ADHD. Above all, the author’s respect and compassion for sick children are palpable throughout this book.
