RESUMO
Objective: The current study was carried out to compare pulmonary function tests [PFTs] in pediatric Kuwaiti sickle cell disease [SCD] patients to age-matched normal controls and to investigate the association of PFTs with selected clinical and laboratory parameters
Subjects and Methods: There were 38 patients with SCD and 36 controls in the study. The patients were recruited from the Pediatric Hematology Clinics of Mubarak AI-Kabeer and AI-Amiri Hospitals, Kuwait, and were studied in steady state. The controls were healthy, non-sickle cell siblings of the patients. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV], forced vital capacity [FVC], total lung capacity, and other PFT parameters were obtained using a constant-volume, variable-pressure, body plethysmograph. Hemoglobin, fetal hemoglobin, serum bilirubin, and lactate dehydrogenase were determined using standard methods
Results: The mean ages of the patients and controls were 10.5+/- 3.2 and 10.5 +/-3.5 years, respectively. The FEV/o predicted of 84.1 +/- 15.4% among the patients was significantly lower than the 92.1 =/- 11.8% in the controls [p = 0.003]. The FVC% predicted was also significantly lower [p = 0.022] in the patients than in the controls, although the values were generally within the normal range. There was no association of FEV] with pain phenotype, acute chest syndrome [ACS], or blood transfusions. Also, there was nosignificant correlation with reticulocytes, bilirubin, or lac-tate dehydrogenase
Conclusions: In this study, changes in PFT, especially FEV1; developed early in the SCD patients. There was no demonstrable association with frequent vaso-occlusive crisis, ACS, and other variables. Hence, there is a need for follow-up studies with serial PFTs to identify vulnerable patients, who might need intervention to prevent early mortality
RESUMO
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of human coronavirus [HCoV]-NL63, human metapneumovirus [hMPV], human bocavirus [Boca], human polyomavirus KI [KIV] and human polyomavirus WU [WUV] in respiratory tract infections [RTI] in Kuwait
Materials and Methods: Respiratory samples from 735 hospitalized patients with RTI from September 2010 to April 2013 were evaluated for the presence of HCoV-NL63, hMPV, Boca, KIV and WUV using molecular assays, polymerase chain reaction [PCR] and reverse-transcription PCR
Results: Of the 735 patients, 285 [38.8%] were diagnosed with viral RTI. The distribution of respiratory viruses was hMPV: 15 [5.3%], Boca: 14 [4.9%], WUV: 10 [3.5%] and KIV: 4 [1.4%]. HCoV-NL63 was not detected in any of the samples
Conclusions: These newly discovered viruses were associated with the development of RTI in Kuwait. The rapid identification of these viral infections could aid in the control of nosocomial transmission, reduce the use of antibiotics and improve treatment and management strategies