Hepatic involvement in common neonatal problems

Hepatic involvement has been reported to occur in the common neonatal problems as neonatal asphyxia, neonatal sepsis, and neonatal jaundice. However the exact type of involvement, incidence of occurrence, risk factors associated in and the impact outcome are not exactly known. To identify the risk factors, the incidence, and the types of hepatic involvement in the common neonatal problems and to determine the correlation between the types of hepatic involvement and the outcome of all cases. We studied 3 groups of neonates:- group with perinatal asphyxia, group with neonatal sepsis and group with neonatal jaundice and all the 3 groups were subjected to complete perinatal history, clinical examination, and some investigations for the diagnosis of the neonatal affections according to the clinical condition but all groups were subjected to liver function tests at admission and repeated according to clinical indications and hepatic involvement. Only the patients who showed severe hepatic affection will be subjected to liver biopsy. There was hepatic involvement in 20.5% in septic cases [transient in 87.5% and persistent in 12.5%]. There was hepatic involvement in 18% of cases with perinatal asphyxia [40% transient and 60% persistent]. There was hepatic involvement in 16% of cases with neonatal jaundice [80% transient and 20% persistent]. Three newborns with persistent hepatic affection were subjected to liver biopsy which showed galactosemia in one case, neonatal hepatitis syndrome in other case and biliary atresia in the third case

Serum cardiac troponin T in children with chronic renal failure

Cardiovascular complications is the leading cause of death in the patients with chronic renal failure on dialysis, so earlier detection of cardiovascular affections in those patients might allow earlier interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality. Serum cardiac troponin T is an indicator of cardiomyocyte damage. We evaluate serum cardiac troponin T in patients with chronic renal failure and their correlation with echocardiographic measurements of cardiac structure and functions. We studied 20 patients with chronic renal failure under 18 years of age seen at Minoufiya University Hospital. All patients were on hemodialysis. Also we studied 20 apparently healthy children of similar age and sex as a control group [group II]. All patients and control were subjected to: 1-Detailed history taking. 2- Thorough clinical examination. 3- X-ray chest and heart. 4- ECG 5-Echocardiography for estimation of left ventricular size and systolic function 6-Evaluation of serum cardiac troponin T:- by enzyme immunoassay. A value of 0.01 ng/ml or higher was considered elevated on the basis of our analytical validity testing. Our results showed a highly significant increase in the serum cardiac troponin T in chronic renal failure patients on hemodialysis comparable to the control group. There was a significant negative correlation between serum cardiac troponin T and the left ventricular echo- parameters [LVEDV- EF and FS] indicating that serum cardiac troponin T is a good indicator of the left ventricular dysfunction

Lung function tests in children with rheumatic mitral valve diseases

Alterations in cardio-respiratory interactions can cause significant changes in cardio-respiratory function including alterations of pulmonary blood flow and respiratory mechanics. The effects of cardio-respiratory interactions are exaggerated in infants and children with heart disease. In this study, we aim to detect and evaluate the pulmonary functional abnormalities in a group of children with isolated rheumatic mitral valve diseases at different stages using spirometry. This study included 30 patients with mitral valve disease with an age ranges from 7 to 15 [13.5 +/- 1.5] years, and 20 apparently normal children of comparable age, sex and socioeconomic status as a control group. All patients and control group have been divided into three groups: Group I: Patients with isolated mitral regurgitation [22 patients]. Group II: Patients with double mitral disease [8 patients]. Group III: 20 apparently healthy children. All groups were subjected to: detailed history, thorough clinical examination, laboratory investigations [CBC, CRP, ESR and ASOT], plain X-ray for chest and heart, ECG, echocardiography and pulmonary function testing using spirometry. Our results showed that, there was a significant decrease in different spirometric parameters of group I and II when compared to group III. The patterns of pulmonary function impairment were restrictive, obstructive and combined. The only echocardiographic parameter that correlated with the impaired pulmonary function tests in our study was the pulmonary artery pressure which shows a statistically significant increase among different pulmonary dysfunction patterns. We concluded that, patients with mitral valve disease often demonstrate changes in the resting pulmonary functions

Regulation and overexpression of the bacillus subtilis -manganese operon

Some of the regulatory features of the Bacillus subtilis beta- mannanase operon [man A] have been investigated. The results proved that man A is extremely sensitive to cell growth state as a modulator, glucose, as a catabolite repressor and galactomannan as an inducer. It seems likely that catabolite repression of man A is mediated by two routes, one of which is commonly responsive to readily metabolizable carbon sources while the other is specific to glucose. At optimized physiological condition, the maximum enzyme yield [34 U/ml] was achieved within 4 hours. It was also demonstrated that mutated sporulation genes may block spore formation without affecting enzyme production. This would allow an extended enzyme production phase especially in continuous culture