No abstract

No abstract

The aim of this work is to study the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) over a six-month period from September 2011 to March 2012. This prospective study was performed on 250 neonates admitted to the NICU at the Children's Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University. All neonates were subjected to detailed history taking, including pre-natal, natal and post-natal history, with stress on symptoms suggestive of AKI. All neonates were examined thoroughly and the following investigations were performed: Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, sodium, potassium, calcium, complete blood count, C-reactive protein, arterial blood gases, urine sodium and urine creatinine. AKI was diagnosed in 27 cases (10.8%), including 12 females and 15 males. 40.7% of the AKI cases were born after full-term pregnancy while 59.3% were pre-term babies. 29.6% of the AKI cases had oliguria, and there was male sex predominance, with a male-female ratio of 1.3:1. The cause of AKI was pre-renal in 96.3% and intrinsic renal in 3.7% of the cases. The predisposing factors for AKI were sepsis in 63% of the cases, respiratory distress syndrome in 55.6%, mechanical ventilation in 51.9%, peri-natal asphyxia in 18.5%, dehydration in 14.8%, surgical operation in 11.1%, congenital heart disease in 7.4%, sub-galeal hematoma in 3.7%, polycythemia in 3.7% and intra-ventricular hemorrhage in 3.7% of the cases. Our data suggest that pre-renal failure was the most common form of AKI in our patients. Early recognition of risk factors such as sepsis, peri-natal asphyxia or peri-operative problems and rapid effective treatment of contributing conditions will reduce the incidence of AKI in the neonatal period.

Super LED is a safe rescue treatment for severe neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia, and its implementation may reduce the need for exchange transfusion.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text

Objective: In individuals with asthma, obesity induces the production of leptin and is associated with disease severity. Our objective was to evaluate the levels of serum leptin and their effect on Th1/Th2 balance in obese and non-obese children with asthma, as well as to investigate the association between serum leptin levels and clinical outcomes. Methods: We evaluated 50 atopic children with physician-diagnosed moderate-to-severe persistent asthma and 20 controls. The children with asthma were divided into two groups, by body mass index percentile: obese (n = 25) and non-obese (n = 25). From all subjects, we collected peripheral blood samples in order to determine the levels of leptin, IFN-γ, and IL-4. Asthma severity was assessed by an asthma symptom score, and the results were correlated with the parameters studied. Results: Serum leptin levels were significantly higher in the obese asthma group than in the non-obese asthma group, as well as being significantly higher in the children with asthma than in the controls, whereas IFN-γ levels were significantly higher and IL-4 levels were significantly lower in the obese asthma group than in the non-obese asthma group. In addition, the obese asthma group showed higher asthma symptom scores and significantly lower FEV 1 (% of predicted) than did the non-obese asthma group. There was a significant positive correlation between leptin and IFN-γ levels only in the obese asthma group. Conclusions: Although leptin is involved in the pathogenesis of asthma in obese and non-obese children, its effect is more pronounced in the former. In the presence of high leptin levels, only obese children with asthma exhibited Th1 polarization, with higher IFN-γ levels and greater asthma severity.Keywords: Leptin; Asthma; Interferon-gamma; Interleukin-4. ResumoObjetivo: A obesidade induz a produção de leptina em asmáticos e está associada à gravidade da doença. Nosso objetivo foi avaliar os níveis de leptina sérica e seu efeito no equilíbrio Th1/Th2 em crianças asmáticas obesas e não obesas e investigar a associação desses níveis com desfechos clínicos. Métodos: O estudo envolveu 50 crianças atópicas com diagnóstico médico de asma persistente moderada a grave e 20 controles. Os asmáticos foram agrupados como obesos (n = 25) e não obesos (n = 25) de acordo com o percentil do índice de massa corpórea. Amostras de sangue periférico foram coletadas de todos os sujeitos, e os níveis de leptina, IFN-γ e IL-4 foram determinados. A gravidade da asma foi avaliada por um escore de sintomas de asma, e os resultados foram correlacionados com os parâmetros estudados. Resultados: Os níveis séricos de leptina foram significativamente maiores nos asmáticos obesos do que nos asmáticos não obesos, assim como nos asmáticos comparados aos controles, enquanto os níveis de IFN-γ foram significativamente maiores e os de IL-4 foram significativamente menores nos asmáticos obesos do que nos asmáticos não obesos. Os asmáticos obesos tiveram maiores escores de sintomas de asma e VEF 1 (% do previsto) si...

Protein C plays a major role in the hypercoagulable state in thalassemic patients. These findings raise the issue as to whether it would be cost-beneficial to recommend prophylactic antithrombotic therapy in high-risk thalassemic patients. A wider prospective study is necessary to delineate under which circumstances therapy might be needed, and at what level of protein C deficiency to start prophylactic antithrombotic therapy.

Only patients who underwent Ceftriaxone therapy have developed renal stones, even with a short course of therapy (5 days), and in the absence of a known predisposing cause for nephrolithiasis. We have thus concluded that Ceftriaxone by itself maybe a predisposing factor for nephrolithiasis.