Prevalence of malnutrition among patients on admission to a pediatric hospital

At the time of admission to the pediatric hospital of Cairo University 150 Children whose age ranged form birth to 12 years; 106 males and 44 females complaining of acute or chronic medical illness, were examined to assess their nutrition status. The aim was to know the extent of malnutrition problem among them. Their weight and length/ height were obtained as well as blood hemoglobin, serum albumin and total lymphocyte count. Most of the patients were coming from families of low socioeconomic class. The study revealed high prevalence of malnutrition and anemia together with low blood lymphocytic count. This may have predisposed to their medical illness. Hence, it is recommended to supply proper nutrition care to help limiting the period of hospital stay

Nutrition status and serum uric acid levels in adult men and its relation to atherosclerosis

The study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum uric acid [SUA] concentration and atherosclerosis. Forty five adult men aged 40-60 years were volunteers from three different institutions in Cairo. They were divided into 3 equal groups: one group being clinically healthy and normal serum uric acid was taken as control. The second group suffered from hyperlipidemia and hyperuricemia. The third group sufferred from hyperuricemia only. All groups were subjected to socioeconomic data collection, dietary and anthropometric [weights and heights] assessment, chemical analysis included serum levels of uric acid, lipid profile and platelets count. The results showed that all groups had their requirements from total calories and total proteins but low in carbohydrates. Group II had high fat and purine intake. It also showed positive correlation between serum uric acid and each of protein, fat and purine intake and the highest atherogenic index. Also there was positive correlation between serum uric acid and blood levels of triglycerides and cholesterol and negative correlation with blood platelets. Hence, it is recommended to have balanced diet with reasonable amount of foods rich in purine as prophylactic measure against atherosclerosis

Diagnostic accuracy of visualization of the pedicle artery in cases of intrauterine polypi. A study performed by transvaginal color Doppler sonography

To assess diagnostic accuracy of transvaginal color Doppler in visualization of the pedicle artery, to diagnose intrauterine polypi. Study A prospective study. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University. In all patients who participated in this study, transvaginal color Doppler sonography was done. 103 women were initially included, 24 were excluded as they refused surgical intervention, in the remaining 79 presence of intrauterine polyps was confirmed by visualization of the uterine cavity at the time of hysteroscopy or after hyeterectomy. In the 79 patients who continued in the study, visualization of the pedicle artery was associated with a sensitivity of 95.5% in detection of intrauterine polyps, a specificity of 91.6%, positive predictive value [PPV] of 98.5%, and negative predictive value of 78.6%. Postive and negative likelihood ratios were 11.3 and 0.054 respectively. .Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive for detection of the pedicle artery in premenopausal patients were 95.9%, 88.9%, 97.9% and 80% respectively, while in postmenopausal women these values were 94.4%, 100%, 100% and 75% respectively. Transvaginal color Doppler sonography 'for visualization of the pedicle artery has a high sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value for diagnosis of intrauterine polyps

use of fetal biophysical profile, vibroacoustic stimulation and Doppler indices of the umbilical artery to assess the effect of dexamethazone administration on healthy preterm fetuses

To examine the effect of antenatal Dexamethazone administration on healthy preterm fetuses using fetal biophysical profile, vibroacoustic stimulation and umbilical artery Doppler indices. Prospective study. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University 120 singleton pregnancies between the gestational ages of 30 and 34 weeks who received two consecutive doses of Dexamethasone 12 hours apart. Fetal biophysical profile, Vibroacoustic stimulation and Doppler measurement of the umbilical artery S/D and PI were performed at 0 [pre-steroid], 48, 96 hours after the administration of first dose. 109 of 120 fetuses [90.8%] displayed a startle response to vibroacoustic stimulation prior to Dexamethasone administration, in comparison to 37 of 120 fetuses [30.8%] at 48 hours after exposure [p<0.05]. At 48 hours after Dexamethazone administration, 83 fetuses [69.16%] displayed no startle response [p<0.05]. At 96 hours after Dexamethazone exposure, no significant differences in the number of fetuses with present or absent startle responses were observed in comparison to 0 hours. None of the Doppler indices was found to be affected by the steroid administration. Maternal Dexamethasone administration can cause a significant but transient, reduction in sonographically observed fetal startle response to vibroacoustic stimulation and biophysical profile scores, accordingly, these modalities cannot be used for the ascertainment of fetal well-being of steroid exposed fetuses. Doppler indices of the umbilical artery were found to be unaffected suggesting the reliability of this modality for the evaluation of the fetuses previously exposed to the antenatal steroids