Biparietal diameter: significant gender difference is present in later weeks of gestation

Objective of this study was to find the presence and significance of difference in biparietal diameter values of male and female fetuses of local population at 35 weeks of gestation. Study was conducted at Lahore General Hospital, and partly in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital/Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan in the year 2005. Outer to inner biparietal diameter in 60 normal singleton fetuses was measured at 35 weeks of gestation. Among them 30 fetuses were male and 30 females. All had comparable values of femur length and fetal abdominal circumference. Mean BPD and standard deviation were calculated for the total, male and female groups separately. Mean BPD in total 60 patients was 87.1 mm, SD2.6. Mean BPD of male group was 88.4mm, SD2, while that of female group was 85.9mm, SD2.4. Lower limit of 2SD range was accordingly different. When lower 2SD limit of male group was used, significant [P<0.05] number [23%] of female fetuses showed BPD<2SD. Using common mean and SD, 13% females showed BPD<2SD, while use of female specific mean and SD showed normal distribution. Biparietal diameter values at 35 weeks of gestation are significantly different in fetuses of each sex. Mean BPD of female fetuses at 35 weeks is 2mm shorter than mean BPD of male fetuses of same age. Male fetuses have a relatively narrow range of normal BPD; and this parameter can be used in males for reliable estimation of gestational age. Females have relatively wider range of normal BPD. Female BPD seems to be responsible for wider range of common nomograms. This parameter alone should not be used for age estimation or diagnosis of small for dates, or microcephaly, in later weeks of gestation in females. Gender specific BPD nomograms may improve the prenatal assessment of fetal growth and structural anomalies

Evaluation of C-reactiveprotein as early indicator of blook culture positivity in veonates

To determine the Sensitivity, Specificity and Predict values of C - reactive protein as an early indicator of Neonatal Sepsis. Design: It was an observational study of newborns suspected sepsis. Place and Duration of study: The study was carried out in the Department of Paediatrics, Karachi Medical Et Dental College and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi over a period of eight months [March 1, 2001 to October 31, 2001]. Patient and Neonates admitted to intensive care nursery of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital Karachi were evaluated for Neonatal Sepsis. C-reactive protein as screening test was performed along with blood culture from peripheral venepuncture. The gold standard for the Diagnosis of Sepsis was positive blood culture. Result: The positive C- reactive protein found in 14 of 21 episodes associated with the positive blood culture, but in 15 of 29 negative cases it was also found positive. The sensitivity and specificity are equal to negative predict value and positive predict value respectively i.e. 66.66% and 48.27%. CRP estimation have some value in early diagnosis of Neonatal sepsis but the frequent occurrence of raised CRP in sera of uninfected neonates eliminates it as a useful indicator of infection but may suggest an active tissue damaging process. We do not advocate to rely on the result of single test, even with the combination of test, we still stress the importance of correlating the clinical and laboratory data. We recommend that a scoring system should be designed for our setup, using those test that are easy to perform, economical, reliable, should have high predictive value and should ideally identify all infected infants [high sensitivity]

Bioavailability of zinc from different pakistani cereal grains

The zinc has been determined by Neutron Activation Analysis while phytate by spectrophotometric method in some Pakistani cereal grains. The zinc : phytate ratio found is more than 40:1 in all cereal grains which is far more than the suggested binding ratio of 4:1. Therefore, bioavaliability of zinc from Pakistani cereal grains is more than sufficient and no deficiency can be encountered due to bioavailability of zinc. The only deficiency of zinc which could happen will be due to the pathological conditions