Standardized percentile curves of body mass index of northeast Iranian children aged 25 to 60 months

Growth charts are widely used to assess children's growth status and can provide a trajectory of growth during early important months of life. Racial differences necessitate using local growth charts. This study aimed to provide standardized growth curves of body mass index [BMI] for children living in northeast Iran. A total of 23730 apparently healthy boys and girls aged 25 to 60 months recruited for 20 days from those attending community clinics for routine health checks. Anthropometric measurements were done by trained health staff using WHO methodology. The LMSP method with maximum penalized likelihood, the Generalized Additive Models, the Box-Cox power exponential distribution distribution, Akaike Information Criteria and Generalized Akaike Criteria with penalty equal to 3 [GAIC[3]], and Worm plot and Q-tests as goodness of fit tests were used to construct the centile reference charts. The BMI centile curves for boys and girls aged 25 to 60 months were drawn utilizing a population of children living in northeast Iran. The results of the current study demonstrate the possibility of preparation of local growth charts and their importance in evaluating children's growth. Also their differences, relative to those prepared by global references, reflect the necessity of preparing local charts in future studies using longitudinal data

Distilled water as an irrigation fluid in percutaneous nephrolithotomy

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of distilled water as an irrigation fluid for percutaneous nephrolithotomy [PCNL] on the serum concentrations of sodium. A total of 30 patients with kidney calculi underwent tubeless PCNL using distilled water as the irrigation fluid. During the procedure, intravenous Ringer lactate solution was used if necessary. The patients received infusion of two-thirds dextrose 5% and one-third normal saline solution postoperatively. Four blood samples were taken to determine serum sodium and potassium levels at admission, just before the operation, after the operation, and on the first postoperative day. The mean distilled water used was 8.1 L [range, 5.6 L to 11.2 L]. Target and complete stone-free rates were 100% and 80%, respectively. None of the patients developed hyponatremia. The mean serum levels of sodium [meq/L] were 141.5 [range, 140 to 143], 140.7 [range, 125 to 159], 139.7 [range, 125 to 164], and 138.9 [range, 125 to 146], respectively [P = .005]. Comparing every 2 samples, a significant difference was seen only between samples 1 and 4 [P = .005]. Serum levels of potassium were all in normal range and there was no difference between the 4 samples [P = .12]. Our findings showed that using distilled water as an irrigation fluid during PCNL does not result in a clinically significant decrease in the serum level of sodium and can be used if necessary. However, evaluation of the serum sodium level on the postoperative day is mandatory