ABSTRACT
The present cross-sectional study was undertaken with the aim of establishing norms for birth weight, crown heel length, and head circumference of the newborns in the population of Karachi. It was conducted in four public and private hospitals of Karachi, covering middle to low-income areas during a period of 2 years. There were 404 mothers and their babies included in this study that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study. Anthropometric measurements including birth weight, crown heel length, and occipitofrontal circumference [OFC] were recorded within 24 hours of birth. Maternal age, parity, gestational age, newborn gender, Apgar score, and delivery mode were also recorded. The data entry and analysis was done on Statistical Packages of Social Sciences [SPSS] version 21. The mean birth weights of the babies were found to be 3.03 +/- 0.39 kg, crown heel length were 49.2 +/- 2.4 cm, and OFC were 34 +/- 1.5 cm. A statistically significant difference was found between the gender of the babies [male=3.07 +/- 0.4 kg versus female=3.0 +/- 0.4 kg] for birth weight [p=0.02]. This study provides the mean values of anthropometric measurements of the newborns in low-income areas of Karachi
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The relationship of vitamin D and asthma is known but the association between vitamin D and time required to recover from acute asthma exacerbation has not been studied. Aims: To find an association between serum vitamin D levels and time required to recover from an asthma exacerbation (recovery days) in asthmatic children from age 5 to 15 years. And to find association of other risk factors of asthma on recovery days. Study Design: It was a cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Paediatrics, Qatar Hospital Orangi Town and Abbassi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi, between February 2012 to June 2014. Methodology: We included 99 asthmatic children (60 male and 39 females; age range 5 to 15 years) at the time of an acute asthma exacerbation. Spirometry was done using Vitalograph (alpha) (UK). FEV1/FEVC ratio <80 % was used to confirm acute asthma exacerbation. Serum vitamin D levels were measured by chemiluminescence method using Abbott's ARCHITECT clinical chemistry analyzer. Children were followed up for confirming recovery by spirometry. FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC ratio within the reference ranges (The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and Polgar) were taken as normal. Results: Applying Poisson regression model it was found out that that there was no association between vitamin D levels and time to recover from asthma (P =.398). 28.6% (n=2) children showed early recovery when recovery days were associated with exposure to home environment (P =0.000). Conclusions: Despite the fact that 95% of the subjects with asthma had either vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency but there was no significant association between vitamin D levels and the time required to recover from an asthma exacerbation. Further studies are needed to establish the role of vitamin D in asthma.
ABSTRACT
To determine any significant correlation between the routine haematological parameters of maternal blood and umbilical cord blood of their respective newborns. Cross sectional study. The study was conducted at four public and private hospitals of Karachi including Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, Sindh Government Hospital, Liaquatabad, Ziauddin University Hospital and Chinniot Maternity and Child Hospital, respectively from July 2006 to April 2008. Three milliliters venous blood was collected in EDTA containing tube for complete blood count of mothers before delivery. Five milliliters cord blood was collected from the umbilical cord of the babies immediately after delivery by clamping and cutting the babies' end of the cord. For haematological parameters a standard coultergram was done including haemoglobin, RBCs count, haematocrit [HCT], mean corpuscular volume [MCV], mean corpuscular haemoglobin [MCH], mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration [MCHC], white blood cell count, differential leukocyte count and platelet count. Pearson's correlation co-efficient was used to determine an association between the maternal and cord blood parameters. A total of 404 maternal and umbilical cord blood samples were analyzed. All the blood parameters including haemoglobin, RBCs count, HCT, MCV, MCH, white blood cell count, differential leukocyte count and platelet count were found to be high in cord blood as compared to the maternal blood, but they showed a very weak to negligible correlation. Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration [MCHC], showed a moderate correlation. Routine haematological parameters of newborns are independent of maternal routine haematological parameters