Nitric oxide and oxidative stress in Egyptian children with congenital heart disease

This study focused on the relationship between NO concentration and different parameters of the free radical scavenging system. The study was performed on 40 children with congenital heart disease [20 cyanotic and 20 acyanotic] as well as 15 healthy children serving as a control group, aiming to evaluate the effect of a long period of hypoxia on NO level, enzymatic antioxidants [copper-zinc superoxide dismutase] and glutathione peroxidase [GPX], nonenzymatic antioxidants [vitamins C and E] and plasma level of malondialdehyde [MDA] as a marker of lipid peroxidation plus reduced glutathione [GSH]. The results showed that there was a significant reduction in the NO concentration in parallel with a reduction in the plasma antioxidant vitamins, blood enzymes and GSH in children with cyanotic heart defects, meanwhile the level of MDA was significantly increased

Oral rehydration fluid as an early postoperative fluid therapy in pediatric surgery

In this study, oral rehydration fluid was used to substitute the classical methods of intravenous fluid therapy in 161 children underwent a wide variety of surgical procedures. The failure rate was 4.9% [it was necessary to rehydrate the child through the intravenous route]; but, in the rest of the cases, the fluid was given successfully. The statistical analysis of those cases showed that there was no significant difference in the clinical or laboratory criteria selected for the evaluation of electrolytes and hydration status before and 12 hours after oral rehydration solution [ORS]; these criteria included weight, pulse rate, urine osmolarity, hematocrit value, serum sodium [Na] and potassium [K]. This new application of ORS as a postoperative fluid therapy in pediatric surgery can avoid the complications of intravenous fluid therapy and may enable the small and discrete hospitals to deal with these delicate cases