Comparison of different modalities for reducing childhood intussusception

Idiopathic intussusception is an important abdominal emergency in infancy and childhood. Non operative management for treatment is firstly considered due to less invasiveness, less complications and cost effectiveness compared to surgical treatment. This study summarizes our experience in the management of intussusception in children who were referred to a children hospital. A total of 102 children who were diagnosed as having intussusception were referred to one children hospital in Tehran during a period of 10 years, from 1997 to 2007. Reductions were performed upon 57 cases by a radiologist or radiology residents, if there was no medical contraindication. We used chi-square test for analysis. The success rate of reduction was eight out of 13 [61.5%] with barium, nine out of 17 [53.5%] with air and 22 out of 27 [81.5%] with saline [p value=0.116]. One patient had recurrence with air reduction. Another case was complicated by peritonitis using barium enema. There was no significant relationship between the success rate of reduction and the type of reduction

[Associations of red blood corpuscle mean volume and hematocrit with severity of beta-globin gene mutations in beta-thalassemia carriers]

Thalassemia, a heterogeneous disease, is one of the most common single-gene diseases worldwide. The aim of this study was to find associations between hematological indices and severity of beta-globin gene mutations in beta-thalassemia carriers. In this cross-sectional study, 30 beta-goblin gene mutations [beta[+] and beta°] in 1206 unrelated beta-thalassemia carriers were investigated. In addition, their hematological indices, including CBC and electrophoresis results, were determined. The association between genetic findings and hematological parameters [mean corpuscular volume [MCV] and mean hematocrit corpuscular hematocrit [MCH]] were determined using the SPSS software, the statistical test being the t-test. The results indicated that beta[+]-thalassemia carriers had higher MCV and MCH means than beta°-thalassemia carriers. These findings would certainly have practical implications in public health. The results show a significant correlation between two hematological indices and certain types of mutations in beta-thalassemia carriers

[Stereotypic movements in children]

To study the prevalence of Stereotypic Movements [SM] in children. Using a multistage sampling method, we selected 300 children from 13 day care centers and primary school in Urmia [Western Azerbaijan Province]. Data collection involved parent interviews in the presence of the children. Three hundred children [167 boys and 133 girls] were included in the study. Nearly 50% [149 out of 300] had one type of SM. The prevalence of different type of stereotypic movements were as follows: bruxism 16%, head banging 13%, hair pulling 8%, nail biting 7% and thumb sucking 6%; each of the affected subjects had only one type of SM. There were not any significant relationships between sex and various SM varieties- except for heads banging, which was more common in boys [P<0.001]. There were no significant associations between parents' education or occupation and the presence of any type of SM [P>0.04]. The prevalence of Stereotypic Movements is high in children. To confirm the findings more comprehensive studies are recommended

[Relationship between ESR, CRP, platelet count and coronary artery disease in Kawasaki disease]

Cardiac involvement that persists after Kawasaki disease is a major problem in the coarse of disease and it is the leading cause of death. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between inflammatory markers [CRP, ESR, PLT] that are potential mediators for atherogenesis at the onset of disease and coronary involvement as a sequelae and also the incidence of clinical manifestation in Kawasaki disease. A case-series study was performed to test the hypothesis that late coronary involvement is associated with elevated level of CRP, ESR and PLT at the onset of Kawasaki disease. A total of 36 patients [26 male and 10 female] were studied. All of them were treated with IVIG, and coronary involvement was studied with Echocardiography. Levels of CRP, ESR and PLI were measured in all patients. Among 14 patients [38%] that had coronary involvement ESR level was above 90 in 71% patients, CRP levels were elevated in 92.9% and PLT count was elevated in 73% of patients. The results were analyzed by ANOVA, chi-square and Independent t-test and demonstrated that there is no valuable association between the level of ESR [p= 0.38], CRP [p=0.16], PLT count [p=0.11], and cardiac involvement. Among 36 patients the clinical manifestations were as follow: fever [100%]. Oropharyngeal mucosal inflammation [88%]. [lymphadenopathy [75%], skin rash [55%] and edema of the extremities [50%]. The results demonstrate that there is no statistical association between the level of ESR, CRP and PLT with late cardiac involvement. It seems that further investigations in longer period of time are needed to confirm the relation between cardiac involvement and these laboratory tests