prevalence of clubfoot in the neonates who were referred to the emergency department of Mofid children hospital

Club-foot is one of the most prevalent congenital anomalies of the lower extremities. Since there is no epidemiologic study on the prevalence of this disease in Iran, we decided to assess it in a sample population in Tehran. We assessed all neonates who were referred to the emergency department of mofid children hospital between October 2007 and November 2008, due to a paediatric emergency problem. None of the patients had chief complaints of lower extremity deformity. During this time period [13 months], we could examine 682 neonates. None of the parents of these neonates had complaints regarding anomaly of lower extremities of their neonates at the time of the emergency referral. Of them, 371[54%] were female and 311 [46%] were male. The age of the mother at the time of pregnancy was < 20 yr in 124 [18%] neonates, between 20 and 35 yr in 472[69%] neonates and > 35 yr in 86 [13%] neonates. There was a previous history of clubfoot in the siblings of one of the neonates who was under orthopaedic treatment. Among all these neonates, we found two cases of clubfoot [0.3%], with bilateral involvement. In one of these cases, the older sibling also had clubfoot. The incidence of clubfoot has been reported between 0.39 and 6 cases in 1000live birth in the literature. In the present study, we found a prevalence of 0.3 for clubfoot in every 1000 neonates

[Assessment the relationship between anal stenosis and neonatal colic]

Due to abundance of neonatal colic in neonates, there is a need to discover the etiology of this problem by performing etiologic studies. There are some reports that show the anal stenosis has a probable etiologic role in these colics. This study aimed to determine the relationship between neonatal colic and anal stenosis in the neonates presenting to Mofid children hospital during the spring to autumn of 2009 to determine. This is a case-control study. The case group was the neonates at the age of 3 months or less with a documented diagnosis of neonatal colic. The control group was age and sex matched group of neonates with case group, without any neonatal colic. A total of 192 cases were studied and there were 96 cases in each group. Diagnosis of neonatal colic was confirmed by Wessel criteria and that of anal stenosis by bougie. The data were analyzed using Chi-square test, and OR was calculated. With respect to age and sex, the cases in two groups were matched. In case group, 23 patients [24%], and in control group 1 patient [1%] had anal stenosis [OR=23; p<0.000]. It appears that neonatal colic and anal stenosis have statistical relationship. Therefore, we recommend clinical trial to assess the etiologic relationship between neonatal colic and anal stenosis

Distal renal tubular acidosis and its relationship with hearing loss in children: preliminary report

In autosomal recessive distal renal tubular acidosis [DRTA], a substantial fraction of the patients have progressive bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. This coexistence is due to the mutations of a gene expressed both in the kidney and in the cochlea. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between hearing loss and DRTA. In this study, 51 children diagnosed with renal tubular acidosis were evaluated. Diagnosis of DRTA was based on clinical manifestations and detection of normal anion gap metabolic acidosis, urine pH higher than 5.5, and positive urinary anion gap. Audiometry was performed in children with DRTA and sequencing of the ATP6V1B1 gene was done for those with sensorineural hearing loss. Twenty-seven patients [52.9%] had DRTA, of whom 51.9% were younger than 1 year old, 55.6% were boys, and 44.4% were girls. Eleven patients [40.7%] had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, consisting of 5 of 15 boys [33.3%] and 6 of 12 girls [50.0%]. There was no correlation between hearing loss and gender. Three patients with hearing loss had mutation in the ATP6V1B1 gene [11.1% of patients with DRTA and 27.3% of patients with DRTA and hearing loss]. This study indicated that a significant percentage of the children with DRTA had sensorineural hearing loss and mutation in ATP6V1B1 gene. It is recommended to investigate hearing impairment in all children with DRTA