Bronchial asthma and convulsive seizures [a case report]

A two years old boy who had an attack of acute severe bronchial asthma complicated by stuporous consciousness and serial clonic hemiconvulsive seizures is reported. The most probable precipitating factor was the damaging effect of hypoxic hypoxia on both gray and white matters of the brain as evidenced by EEG, C.T. of the brain and blood gas analysis. Vigorous treatment of asthma could control seizures and prevented the further damaging effect of hypoxic hypoxia on the brain

Concentration of some plasma proteins in low birth weight and in term infants at birth

This study comprised 60 neonates at birth. The cases were classified according to birth weight into 3 groups: Group [1] comprised 20 infants of normal birth weight as [control] [mean 3.35 +/- 0.3818 Kg] Group [1] comprised 20 infants of low birth weight [LBW] [mean 2.1 +/- 0.2695 Kg] and Group [3] comprised 20 infants of very low birth weight [VLBW] [mean 1.3075 +/- 0.1830 Kg]. According to the gestational age the cases were grouped into two groups: Group [1] full term infants [gestational age 38 - 42 weeks]; Group [2] preterm infants [gestational age less than 38 week] and the cases within each group were classified into either appropriate for gestational age [AGA] or small for gestational age [SGA]. Full clinical examination and blood sample were obtained from the umbilical cord immediately after delivery for measuring the concentration of total and five variants of plasma proteins [albumin, fibronectin, apolipoprotein A-I [APo A-I], apolipoprotein B [Apo B] and alpha-fetoprotein]. Statistical analysis of the results showed that the concentration of total plasma protein, albumin, fibronectin and APo A-I were significantly higher in full term infant with normal birth weight than in the preterm infant with [LBW] and [VLBW] infant, while the concentration of alpha-fetoprotein was significantly higher in preterm with [LBW] or [VLBW] than in the full term with normal birth weight but there was no significant difference between the three groups with the [APo] at birth