Frequency and mortality associated with hyperglycemia in critically Ill children

Objective: To determine the frequency of hyperglycemia in critically ill children admitted in PICU of a tertiary care hospital of Karachi and to compare the mortality of critically ill children with and without hyperglycemia. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Paediatrics Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Karachi, from November 2011 to April 2012. Methodology: One hundred fifty critically ill children admitted to PICU were included. Patients who had fasting blood sugar levels more than 126 mg/dl within 48 hours of admission were included in the hyperglycemic group. The normoglycemic and hyperglycemic groups were followed till 10 days to determine the mortality associated with hyperglycemia. Results: Out of 150 patients, 82 (54.7%) had hyperglycemia. Mortality rate was 48.7% (n=73/150). However, mortality rate was significantly high 57.3% (n=47) in hyperglycemic patients than non-hyperglycemic patients (p=0.019). Conclusion: The presence of stress-induced hyperglycemia in critically ill patients is a well established marker of poor outcome, and a very high mortality rate. Normoglycemia was associated with favorable outcomes in terms of hospital stay and mortality

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings: Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8-13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05-6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50-75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life

Vitamin D deficiency: a risk factor for myopia in children: a cross sectional study in a tertiary care centre

Objective: To study the role of vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for myopia in children aged 5-15 years. Method: The cross-sectional observational study was conducted from January to September 2019 at the Ophthalmology and Paediatric departments of Shifa Foundation Community Health Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan, and comprised patients with suspected / symptomatic vitamin D deficiency who were enrolled from the paediatric outpatient department and referred to the ophthalmology clinics for eye exam. Apart from taking detailed ocular history, slit lamp examination, Snellen’s distance visual acuity, auto-refraction to calculate spherical equivalent, and amplitude scan for measuring the axial length were performed. An average of 3 measurements was taken for both refraction and axial length calculation. Myopia was labelled if mean spherical equivalent was 0.25 dioptres. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D level <20ng/ml. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. Results: There were 72 subjects with a mean age of 10.11±2.69 years; 37(51.4%) boys and 35(48.6%) girls. Myopia was seen in 40(55.6%) patients, while 32(44.4%) were emmetropic. The overall mean vitamin D level was 20.25±12.18 ng/ml. There was no significant association between myopia and vitamin D deficiency (p=0.115). Significant associations were found between myopia and relatively older age (p=0.005), higher height (p=0.001), more weight (p=0.001) and higher body mass index value (p=0.008). Conclusion: Low vitamin D levels were not significantly associated with myopia in children aged 5-15 years, but significant associations were found between myopia and relatively older age, and various anthropometric measures

Celiac Disease With Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia and Autoimmune Hepatitis in a Young Child: Case Report and Literature Review

Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic autoimmune condition with intestinal and extra-intestinal features. Extra intestinal features including hematological, neurological, and endocrine symptoms are seen more frequently in elder children. A 4 years 7 months old male child presented in clinic with history of abdominal pain and diarrhea on and off for 1 year. On examination, he was hemodynamically stable, pale, and malnourished with distended abdomen. He was investigated for CD, Anti TTG IgA 10), Anti TTG IgG 13 (positive >10). To confirm celiac disease, Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) was done which was consistent with diagnosis of Celiac disease (MARSH Type 3a). Gluten free diet was advised. Later, after 12 days he again presented with jaundice, fever, anorexia, and dark colored urine and irritability. He was admitted for fulminant hepatic failure, his workup revealed direct hyperbilirubenemia, ANA +ve, and hyper IgG. Liver biopsy confirmed autoimmune hepatitis. Further workup for anemia showed reticulocyte count 7.1, LDH 423, direct and indirect coombs test was positive confirming autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Child responded well to Azathioprine and prednisolone with clinical improvement. We report a rare presentation of celiac disease with polyautoimmunity in a young child. Case reports of autoimmune hepatitis with CD patients have been reported in adult patients. Association of celiac disease with autoimmune hemolytic anemia and autoimmune hepatitis is a distinct and rare condition

Barriers to Exclusive Breastfeeding in Mothers Belonging to Low, Middle, and High Socio-Economic Families in Pakistan

Introduction: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months of life improves health and increases infant survival. In Asia, Pakistan ranks second in child mortality. Socioeconomic status (SES) is an important predictor of healthy behaviors. The study aims to understand the barriers to exclusive breastfeeding faced by mothers from different socioeconomic classes in Pakistan. Method: The cross-sectional study was done in the Pediatric outpatient department (OPD) of Shifa International hospital and community health center from November 2020 to 1 March 2021. Mothers and their children 1 to 3 years of age were included in the study. Results: A total of 175 mothers and their children were included. EBF for the first six months was done by 120 (68.6%). However, by one year of age, only 99 (56%) continued breastfeeding. Out of these 175 mothers, 79 (45%) were from the lower class, 69 (39.4%) were from the middle class, and 27 (15.4%) were from upper SES. Among the lower, middle, and high socioeconomic classes frequency of EBF practiced by mothers was 51, 54, and 15 (p 0.03), respectively. Pre-lacteals were given to 102 (58.2%). This practice was more frequent in lower SES families (0.03). The majority of working women belonged to upper SES (0.04). Mothers in the upper class are least likely to EBF their children (OR 0.5 CI 0.2-1.3). The adjusted odds ratio for EBF is highest for lower SES mothers, followed by the middle class. Conclusion: Support from family, place and mode of delivery, working mothers, and high socioeconomic class are important factors affecting exclusive breastfeeding in Pakistan

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P &lt; 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)