Mitral valve prolapse in children: a comparative study between cases with and without frank history of rheumatic fever

A comparative study between cases of MVP with and without frank history of rheumatic fever was done. Fifty cases of MVP were randomly recruited from school health insurance clinics in Cairo Governorate with ages ranged between 7-15 years. MPV was diagnosed by M mode and 2 dimensional echocardiography. All cases were subjected to full medical history and clinical examination. History of rheumatic fever [RF] was diagnosed on the basis of modified Jones Criteria. Out of the 50 cases of MVP, 32 patients proved to have frank history of RF. The study showed that children with frank history of rheumatic fever had significantly higher incidence of anterior leaflet prolapse, higher incidence of thickening of MV leaflets and more prone to mitral regurgitation was significantly higher in rheumatic group; while clicks were significant higher in non-rheumatic group. It was concluded that children suffering from MVP associated with ALP and/or thickened valve leaflets with mitral regurgitation especially of moderate to severe degree must be considered having a rheumatic heart disease even if frank rheumatic history was lacking. Those children may benefit from prophylactic long acting penicillin

Relationship between blood pressure and body size in Egyptian school children

This study was done in 1989. It included 349 students aged 7 to 12 years. For each student a clinical examination, anthropometric and blood pressure measurements were done. A strong correlation was found between blood pressure and the indices of body size. Close association between obesity and blood pressure was observed, although not every obese individual becomes hypertensive. Body weight and height must be considered during evaluation of juvenile hypertension. Attention to minimizing weight gain in childhood might have long term beneficial effects in preventing subsequent hypertension or excess blood pressure increase with aging

Assessing blood pressure in Egyptian primary school population

A blood pressure study of 349 students 7 to 12 years old, in public primary school at Giza, revealed that the mean of both systolic and diastolic pressure was slightly higher than that recorded in other places in the world. The prevalence of high blood pressure was 15.7% in the initial screening. The overall prevalence on the third examination was 5.4%. Only 0.85% of the students with high blood pressure need medication with drugs. Because the yield from mass screening of children is low and its potential for creating anxiety among families with children having only transiently elevated blood pressure, case findings of childhood hypertension should remain the responsibility of the physician in the clinical setting