ABSTRACT
Background: Epilepsy is widespread in developing countriescompared to that in developed countries. The reason ofepilepsy in most cases is unknown. Considering the factthat the nutritional status of children in developing countriesis generally poor, our objective was to determine possiblerelationship between nutritional status and epilepsy.Material and methods: Towards this, we gather a datasetof 34 Cases from the Department of Pediatric and as manyControls from the local populace. The age group (5-8.5 years),sex, and gender data is also augmented with educationaland socioeconomic history along with the results of clinicalexaminations, such as, weight, height and body mass index.Results: Our statistical results unveil insignificantdifference in socioeconomic status and educational levels inbetween the parents of Cases and Controls. Additionally, asignificantly higher value of anthropometric measurementsin Controls is observed compared to that of the Casesi.e.Height (117.38±6.05 vs. 112.21±6.82 cm; p value 0.002),Weight (21.29±2.83 vs. 18.14±2.94 kg; p value <0.001) andBody mass index(15.39±1.03 vs.14.33±1.26 kg/m2; p value<0.001).Conclusion: Our results show that generalized epilepsymay have effect on growth and development of children,reflecting that nutritional programs are required to improvethe nutritional status in children with generalized epilepsy soas to optimize their growth and development.
ABSTRACT
Background: Intravenous fluid and electrolyte therapy in most of the acutely ill hospitalized children has beenthe cornerstone of medical practice for a well over 50 years.Objective: To determine optimal maintenance fluid therapy by comparing the incidence of hyponatremia orhypernatremia in hospitalised children.Methods: A prospective Randomized study done in PICU in patients admitted to paediatric emergency. The studywas conducted between September 2007 to May 2008. Children of age group 1 month to 16 years were included.The fluid groups were divided into four groups. SPSS version 18 was used for analysis.Results: The mean age in group I is 4.42, in group 2 is 3.84, in group 3 is 3.67 and in group 4 is 4.45. The meanserum sodium levels in fluid group 1 is 137.4 mmol/L, in fluid group II 138.2 mmol/L, in fluid group III is 138.9mmol/L and fluid group IV is 137.8 mmol/L. After initiating maintenance fluid therapy serum sodium levelschanged in each group. As we can see in group 1 mean serum sodium level at the start of the therapy is 137.43mmol/L and after 24 hours of hypotonic fluid infusion it reduced to 135.4 mmol. 69 patients had hyponatremiaand 44 had hypernatremia.Conclusion: Amount of free fluid in the IV maintenance fluid can be factor in causing hypernatremia. Caution iswarranted to guard off a rapid fall of serum sodium level.