ABSTRACT
This prospective, hospital based study aims to perform preliminary screening of Glucose-6-phosp hate Dehydrogenase G6PD deficiency in newborns at Wad Medani Maternity Teaching Hospital. A cord blood samples from 221 newborns during a 3-month period were examined for G6PD activity using both qualitative and quantitative tests. Fluorescent Spot Test [FST] was used and the deficient samples were confirmed by quantitative assay and some of the normal samples were also assayed to know the level in normal subjects. The relation between G6PD deficiency and the variables of gestational age, sex, jaundice, haemolysis and anaemia was also examined and their statistical correlations were tested. Five neonates [3 males and 2 females] were found to be G6PD deficient. The incidence of G6PD deficiency was 2.3% [1.4% for boys and 0.9% for girls], this agreed to the international figures. The three male subjects had low WBC with low haemoglobin level and low packed cell volume [PCV], but none of them had high reticulocyte counts. There was no correlation between G6PD deficiency and the gestational age, haematocrit and reticulocyte counts of the cord blood. The incidence of G6PD deficiency in newborns in this preliminary study was 1.4% in males and 0.9% in females. Selective male newborns screening for enzyme deficiency by examining the cord blood using FST is recommended
ABSTRACT
Epilepsy is a common medical and social disorder and usually defined as a tendency to recurrent seizures. Freedom from seizures is the ultimate goal in treatment of patients with epilepsy. At the same time, the side effects of antiepileptic drugs [AEDs] should not outweigh the benefits of treatment. This is particularly important in epileptic women who wish to become pregnant. Those women have a higher risk for pregnancy-related complications. For babies whose mothers take AEDs, the risk of birth defects is 4 to 8 percent, compared with 2 to 3 percent for controls. The risk seems to be highest when multiple AEDs are taken, but without medication, uncontrolled seizures may deprive the baby of oxygen. Seizures can also increase the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth. By working with her physicians, a woman with epilepsy can become pregnant and have a happy outcome. In the Sudan we lack national epidemiological studies using standardized definitions and case ascertainment methods on epilepsy as general and in pregnancy, but according to the WHO the number of people with epilepsy is high in most regions of the world. The mean number per 1000 population is 8.93 [SD 8.14, median 7.59]. This knowledge is essential for the identification of needs and the planning of appropriate services. This is a though review of more than 40 articles published over the last 10 years. However, it is not a complete reference for designing a protocol for the management of epilepsy in pregnant women. It aims at discussing current management of epilepsy and pregnancy, including the fetal outcome and teratogenicity of AEDs. It is part of a series mandated by the Gezira Epilepsy Care Prgram [GECP], to obtain baseline data for a community-adapted epilepsy education and awareness program