Background: Serial echocardiography is strongly recommended in asymptomatic B-thalassemia major (TM) patients for early detection of subtle cardiac dysfunction. T2*magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive measurement of myocardial iron burden. Yet, it is not always available in many centers. Our study aimed to evaluate the myocardial function in TM patients using different echocardiographic modalities and to correlate these findings with cardiac T2*MRI. Patients and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that was carried out on 140 children with a mean age of 10.9±3.7 years. One hundred children with TM and 40 healthy children were matched for age and sex as a control group. Serum ferritin, serum iron, and iron-binding capacity were measured. Cardiac iron overload was assessed by T2*MRI and cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography. The local ethics committee approved the study. Results: Among 100 children with TM, only 32% had cardiac iron overload of 8.525±5.45 detected by cardiac T2*MRI. Iron deposition correlated significantly with age. Markers of iron overload were significantly correlated with cardiac T2*MRI. There were significantly lower values of myocardial performance index, longitudinal strain, circumferential strain, area strain, and radial strain in TM patients compared with the controls (P<0.001). Only the myocardial performance index was correlated with T2*MRI. Conclusions: This study confirms that some parameters measured by tissue Doppler imaging such as the myocardial performance index could be useful for the early detection of cardiac impairment in asymptomatic TM patients when cardiac MRI is lacking. Further studies on a large scale to identify other parameters with high sensitivity are recommended.
Introduction: Cardiac failure in children with Thalassemia major (TM) is the major cause of death due to iron overload. Spirulina is a micro alga with proven anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and may have a cardioprotective effect. Aim of the Work: The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible beneficial effect of spirulina supplement in TM children. Subject and Methods: It is an interventional study carried out in 60 children with TM and 30 healthy children matched for age and sex as control. Both groups received spirulina supplement at a dose of 250 mg/kg/d for 3 months. 2D Echo, Tissue Doppler, and speckle tracking imaging (STI) were done for all the studied cohort before and after the 3-month duration of spirulina supplement. Results: There was significant improvement in hemoglobin level at the end of 3-month period (8.27±1.3 vs. 9.023±1.7; P <0.033) with decrease the frequency of blood transfusion in TM patients (66.6% vs. 40% required transfusion at interval less than 2 wk). Left ventricle global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) significantly improved after 3-month period (−21.7±4.64 vs. −24.67±4.478; P <0.002). Conclusions: Spirulina supplement has possible beneficial effect in minimizing the frequency of blood transfusion as well as cardioprotective effect against cardiac damage in TM patients.
Background: Childhood obesity is a worldwide chronic public health problem. It was found that obesity is associated with iron deficiency and iron profile abnormalities, which appear to be caused by several factors such as decreased intake, insufficient bioavailability, and deficient intestinal iron uptake as well as iron release from stores because of an over expression of hepcidin. Aim of the Work: Was to estimate serum hepcidin levels in obese children and adolescents and to evaluate its relation with iron deficiency anemia in these children. Subjects and Methods: The current study included 50 patients recruited from the Nutrition Clinic of Pediatric Department at Tanta University Hospital, 25 of them were obese with iron deficiency anemia and the other 25 were obese without iron deficiency anemia and 25 healthy children and adolescents of matched age and sex enrolled as controls. All studied children were subjected to complete history taking, thorough clinical examination including anthropometric measures (Weight, height, Body mass index), assessment of pubertal status using Tanner criteria and laboratory investigations including: CBC, BUN, creatinine, ALT, AST, stool analysis, occult blood in stool, CRP, iron profile, Serum Hepcidin, abdominal ultrasound. Results: There were significant differences between patients and control group as regard Weight, BMI and their z scores. Significantly lower levels of hemoglobin, serum ferritin, serum iron and transferrin saturation in obese children with IDA than obese children without IDA and controls and significantly higher levels of TIBC were found in obese children with IDA compared to obese children without IDA and controls. As regard CRP it was significantly higher in obese children than controls. Serum hepcidin was significantly higher in obese children than controls but there is no significant difference between obese children with IDA and obese children without IDA. Significant positive correlation between Serum hepcidin levels and BMI in obese children was found. Conclusion: Serum hepcidin level was significantly higher in obese children and adolescents in comparison with healthy lean control with no significant difference between obese children with IDA and obese children without IDA. So, estimation of serum hepcidin level is not diagnostic but it may be beneficial in screening of iron deficiency anemia in pediatric obese individuals. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to verify these findings.
Background: There are few biomarkers that can be easily accessed in clinical settings and may reflect refractory Th2-eosinophlic inflammation and remodeling of the asthmatic airways. Serum periostin may be one such biomarker to aid our understanding of the patho-bio-physiology of asthma and exercise induced asthma. The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between serum periostin level and exercise induced bronchoconstriction in asthmatic children. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on (90) children both sexes aged from 6 to 15 years including, (60) children with bronchial asthma and (30) children were enrolled as control group in the period from January 2018 to January 2019. Patients were randomly classified into two groups: I) Patient group: divided into 2 groups according to standardized treadmill exercise challenge test: Group A: (30) asthmatic children with positive test. Group B: (30) asthmatic children with negative test. II-Control group: (30) children apparently healthy with no personal or family history of asthma. All children were subjected to the following Investigations: Chest x-ray, pulmonary functions tests (FEV1 & PEFR) except controls, Laboratory investigations as CBC and Serum periostin level. Results: The mean values of both the percentage of PEFR and FEV1 after exercise in group A were significantly lower than those in group B and the percentage of PEFR and FEV1 after exercise in each group were significantly lower than the percentage before exercise in the same group. The mean value of eosinophilic count in group A was significantly higher than (group B and control group) and the mean value of eosinophilic count in group B was significantly higher than control group. The mean value of serum level of periostin in group A was significantly higher than (group B and control group), however, there was no significant difference between group B and control group as regard to serum level of periostin. Chest tightness, cough and wheezes after exercise and eosinophilic count in patients with high serum periostin level were significantly higher than patients with low serum periostin level, and both PEFR and FEV1 after exercise in patients with high serum periostin level were significantly lower than patients with low serum periostin level. Also the normal serum periostin levels vary among different age groups. Conclusion: Serum periostin level can be considered as a useful biomarker for diagnosis of Exercise induced bronchospasm (EIB) in asthmatic children especially when lung function test cannot be done However, cautious is required in evaluating serum periostin levels in children because it varies with age.
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