Blood pressure distribution among healthy schoolchildren aged 6-13 years in Tehran

To obtain blood pressure distribution for Iranian children, we assessed 10,288 students aged 6-13 years [4871 boys and 5417 girls] in Tehran. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed incremental increases with age, weight and height in both sexes. Mean increases in systolic blood pressure for boys and girls were 1.7 and 0.8 mmHg per year respectively and for diastolic blood pressure were 0.7 and 0.9 mmHg respectively. According to Second Task Force [STF] criteria, 4.9% of boys and 3.5% of girls had significant systolic hypertension and 10.1% of boys and 3.3% of girls had significant diastolic hypertension. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were higher than STF reports, especially among boys

Auditory Brainstem Responses [ABR] in hyperbilirubinemic newborns

To evaluate the changes of ABR values in hyperbilirubinemic newborns, 85 cases with severe jaundice [total bilirubin levels over 16 mg/dL and direct bilirubin less than 2 mg/dL] were selected from those admitted to Children's Medical Center by simple sampling method. These infants had no other problem except jaundice. ABR was taken before treatment in all cases and in some [10 cases] after exchange transfusion or phototherapy as treatment modalities. 41 neonates [48%] had abnormal ABR values, such as increased hearing threshold, prolonged latencies of waves I, III and V [p- value<0.05], prolonged interpeak latencies of I- V and III-V [p-value<0.05], absence of waves and abnormal wave morphology. These findings could be indicative of both peripheral [8th nerve] and brainstem disturbances. After treatment ABRs showed improvement in some aspects, such as latencies of waves I, ITI and V [p value<0.05], but not in interpeak latencies [I-III, III-V and I-V] and hearing thresholds. In accordance with previous studies, there was no association between serum total bilirubin concentration and ABR test results. This could be interpreted as low significance of serum total bilirubin as a criterion for early prediction of bilirubin induced encephalopathy