Impact of malnutrition on head size and development quotient

Background: Malnutrition is one of the most common global health problem. It produces notable morphological changes in the brains which damage the intellectual potential and leads to reduced brain size, inferred from measurements of head circumference(HC). Aim is to study the impact of malnutrition on head size and development quotient(DQ) in children suffering with malnutrition.Methods: It is a hospital based study on 120 children including 100 moderates to severely malnourished children and 20 healthy controls aged 6-60 months admitted in malnutrition treatment center. Statistical analysis of head circumference and development quotient was done with severity of malnutrition and with each other.Results: Out of 120 children, 80 were severely malnourished (SAM) and 20 were moderately malnourished (MAM) and 20 age and sex matched controls were taken. Mean age was 19.00±8.54 months. 36.25% of severely malnourished, 5% of moderately malnourished children and none in control had microcephaly (HC<-3SD). Mean DQ was 57.46±14.98, 78.35±6.60 and 94.45±3.96 in SAM, MAM and control children respectively. Statistically significant association was found for head circumference and development quotient with severity of malnutrition and with each other.Conclusions: SAM adversely affects the developing brain of children as evidenced in our study by reduced head size and low DQ scores in children suffering from malnutrition. As seen in this study, prevalence of microcephaly and lower DQ scores increases with severity of malnutrition. Therefore, the study emphasizes the importance of early and timely intervention in such children before the severity of malnutrition increases to an extent of irreversible effects on brain and development

Brittle bone disease - A rare genetic disorder: A case report

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a group of rare inherited disorders of connective tissue with the hallmark of excessive fragility of bones caused by mutations in collagen characterized by remarkable soft and large cranium and short-curved limbs. Radiological findings, such as, under mineralization of skull, platyspondyly, severely short and deformed long bones, and small continuously beaded ribs, pathognomonic for OI, were observed. Considering the clinical/radiological manifestations, a diagnosis of OI was made

Evaluation of modified nitrite test as a diagnostic test in urinary tract infection of children

Objective: Urinary tract infection is common infection in children. Urine culture is the gold standard method for diagnosing urine infection but it takes more than 48 hours to give results. The objective is to evaluate the diagnostic ability of modified nitrite test as a rapid diagnostic screening test for diagnosis of UTI in children. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Udaipur over a period of 1 year. Children aged up to 60 months with suspected UTI were enrolled in the study. Children with congenital uro-genital anomalies and prior antibiotic treatment were excluded. Urine culture and modified nitrite test was done for every children. Results: 90 children with suspected urinary tract infection were enrolled in the study. Urine culture was positive in 14 (15.55%) out of 90 urine samples. When modified nitrite test was compared to positive urine culture, true positives were 9 and 1 was false positive. Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV, NPV and Accuracy was 64.29%, 98.68%, 90%, 93.75% and 93.33% respectively. Conclusion: Sensitivity and specificity of modified nitrite test are good enough as a diagnostic test for detection of UTI. It can be used as a Point of care test for rapid screening and identifying the cases

MATERNAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LOW BIRTH WEIGHT NEWBORNS IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE OF SOUTHERN RAJASTHAN.: Maternal factors associated with Low birth weight newborns

Introduction: Low birth weight is defined as weight at birth of less than 2500 g as per WHO. LBW is associated with foetal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The aim of the study is to find out the maternal factors leading to low birth weight in newborns. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was done for a period of one year. Mothers delivering term LBW babies from singleton pregnancy were taken as cases and mothers with term, normal weight newborns from singleton pregnancy were termed as control group. Babies with congenital malformations, still births and multiple gestations were excluded from the study. Written consent was obtained from the study group. Institutional ethical clearance was obtained. Results:&nbsp; 1256 babies were born during the study period and out of these 258 babies were weighing &lt;2.5 kg thus the incidence of LBW &lt;2.5 kg was 20.54%. Young maternal age (&lt;30 yrs) and multi parity (≥3) had significantly increased LBW incidence of 28.7% and 32% respectively. Pregnancy complications like anaemia and Pre eclampsia had significantly increased incidence of LBW newborn of 33.455 and 29.1% respectively. Conclusion: Pregnancy related anaemia and hypertension are important risk factor for LBW. Young maternal age pregnancy and Poor ante natal visits also contributes towards LBW. &nbsp; Keywords: Anaemia; Pre eclampsia; LB