Spontaneous subdural empyema in malaria: a case study

Malaria is one of the most common diseases in tropical countries. In our country, malaria is endemic in some parts of south and east. Cerebral malaria is usually a diffuse symmetric encephalopathy with focal signs being unusual. We present a two-year old girl with fever and seizure while undergoing treatment for malaria. Imaging disclosed acute subdural empyema. Investigations revealed anemia, thrombocytopenia and positive peripheral blood smear for vivax malaria. Treatment involved surgical evacuation of the subdural empyema, oral chloroquin and antibiotics. This is the third case report of spontaneous subdural empyema in complicated malaria and highlights a rare but surgically manageable complication

[Effects of mothers' training about complementary feeding and developmental skills on growth and development of 5-7 month infants referring to health centers in Shiraz, 2003]

Central nervous system develops during the first years of life. Millions of synapses form among nervous cells before two years of age. The present research was performed to assess the effects of mothers' training about complementary feeding and developmental skills on growth and development of 5-7 month infants referring to health centers in city of Shiraz in Southwest of Iran. Mothers of 5-7 month old infants were the units of this study. Two hundred and forty infants were selected randomly from those referring to two urban clinics and were assigned randomly to two groups of intervention and comparison. Mothers in the intervention group participated in monthly sessions for six months where pamphlets and movies were used for training. Infants' height, weight, head circumference, arm circumference, and gross motor developmental functions [using Denver Developmental Test] were monthly assessed in both groups. Statistical analysis was performed on 207 subjects remaining after attrition. Mean weight gain [and its standard deviation] was 8.05 [and 7.52] Kg in intervention group and 0.64 [and 0.60] Kg in comparison group. Weight, height, head circumference, and arm circumference charts were drawn for the two groups and were compared with each other, with pertinent charts form National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS], and with charts published by Ayatollahi et al. Developmental functions in the two groups were compared with each other and with Denver's study results. The results of this research show that the training of mothers on complementary feeding can contribute to infants' weight gain [p=0.003], but does not have an effect on their height [p=0.1], head circumference [p=0.173], and arm circumference [p=0.882]. Mothers' training on developmental skills did not have any effect on developmental functions' progression

[Demographic characteristics and predisposing factors of febrile seizures in children presenting to hospital No. 1 of Kerman University of Medical Sciences]

Febrile convulsion is one of the most common CNS disorders of children for which several predisposing factors have been mentioned.The objcective of this study was to determine predisposing factors and analysis of the demographic characteristics of children with febrile seizures. Patients group consisted of 115 children aged 5-60 months.Control group was 345 healthy children with the same age and sex. According to demographic charactristics, positive correlation between mean weight and family history for febrile seizure; were statistically significant. where as differences between head circumfrence, height, breast feeding, birth APGAR score and multi vitamins and Iran supplement in patients and control group were not statistically significant. We concluded that febrile convulsion was more common among children with higher weight and family history of febrile seizures