ABSTRACT
Background: Hyperbilirubinemia in newborn is quite common. Phototherapy (PT) is one of the most common noninvasive methods for the treatment of this hyperbilirubinemia. There are limited studies available on effect of PT on platelet count with contrasting results. So, this study was conducted to determine the effect of phototherapy on platelet counts of hyperbilirubinemic neonates in tertiary care hospital.Methods: This was a hospital based prospective study on 60 eligible neonates admitted in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and phototherapy during January 2021 to June 2022. Platelet count was done before starting phototherapy, 24 hours after phototherapy and before discontinuing phototherapy. The results were analyzed statistically using Chi square test and t-test. P value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: In this study, total of 60 neonates were included of which 33 were males and 27 were females. The mean (±SD) platelet counts were 201764.92±18 before phototherapy and 156578.33±38 after phototherapy. There was a significant decline in the mean platelet count 24 hours after phototherapy and before stopping phototherapy. (p<0.05).Conclusions: In our study, the mean platelet count was decreased significantly after phototherapy. Hence, unnecessary use and prolongation of phototherapy should be avoided.
ABSTRACT
Background: Birth weight is the single most important indicator of survival, growth and overall development of the child. New-borns with less than 2.5 kg birth weight are termed as low birth weight (LBW). Approximately 28% babies in India are LBW. LBW is associated with high neonatal morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis of LBW and apt intervention can lead to favourable outcome. The 70-80% of births take place either at home or at peripheral hospitals. Measuring birth weight is difficult in India due to resource limited set up. There is a need of alternative methods to detect LBW which should be simple, handy, quick and cost effective. Hence, we decided to do study of correlation of calf muscle circumference and chest circumference with birth weight to determine LBW in new-borns. Aim of the study was to study head circumference and foot length in diagnosing LBW babies. Objectives were to correlate above-said anthropometric parameters with birth weight and to decide indicator with better correlation with birth weight amongst head circumference and foot lengthMethod: Its a cross sectional study conducted in tertiary care centre in North Maharashtra. The 162 new-borns (34- 42 weeks gestation) were included in Study. Birth weight, head circumference, and foot length were measured with appropriate scientific method. Results are analyzed with SPSS software and Microsoft excel.Results: Cut-off value to detect LBW is 31cm and 8.2 cm for head circumference and foot length respectively. Head circumference had better correlation (r=0.73) as compared to foot length (r=0.30). Head circumference has 87% sensitivity and 68% specificity as compare to foot length which has 74.8% sensitivity and 46.8% specificity respectively.Conclusions: Head circumference and foot length circumference can be used to determine LBW, though larger study with a greater number of patients is needed to establish precise correlation.
ABSTRACT
Background: Neonatal septicemia is one of the commonest causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Interleukin-6 Levels appears to be one of the most promising candidate cytokine for early diagnosis of neonatal septicaemia. The aim and objectives of this study was to study the role of IL-6 levels as an early marker for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis and to compare IL-6 levels with other septic markers. Methods: This is a hospital based prospective study to evaluate the efficacy of IL-6 as an early diagnostic marker of neonatal sepsis. Eighty neonates, delivered in the hospital, having risk factors for neonatal sepsis, along with those coming to hospital with signs and symptoms of sepsis up to 28 days of life (as study group ) along with normal newborns admitted to the postnatal ward without high risk factors (control group) were enrolled for this study. Results: IL-6 Levels has shown maximum sensitivity of 95.83%, specificity of 87.50%, positive predictive value of 92%, negative predictive value of 93.33% and accuracy of 92.50 %. E. coli was the most common organism responsible for sepsis. CRP was reported to be highly sensitive (84.21%), and CBC was highly specific (75.00%), IT ratio has sensitivity of 62.5% and specificity of 56.25% while micro-ESR has shown sensitivity of 50.0% and specificity of 62.5%. Out of 80 cases, blood culture (BacTalert) showed growth in 48 cases in study group while two cases in control group. Thus blood culture positivity was 60%. Conclusion: IL-6 test has maximum sensitivity as well as specificity in comparison with other septic markers. Blood culture is the gold standard for the diagnosis of septicemia. CRP is most sensitive while CBC is most specific marker in neonatal sepsis.