ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Vitamin D plays a vital role in the maintenance of bone health. The fetuses and exclusively breastfed neonates depend on maternal vitamin D store to meet their need. Widespread vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women have been reported with adverse fetal outcome. Nigeria lacks guideline on Vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy and infancy due to the paucity of data. We thus determined serum vitamin D of delivering mothers and their offsprings and other indicators of bone mineral health. AIMS: This study aimed to determine serum Vitamin D and other indicators of bone mineral health of delivering mothers and their offspring. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cross-sectional study of delivering mothers and their newborns recruited consecutively until the minimal sample size was reached. Relevant information was obtained on a questionnaire. Maternal and cord serum vitamin D, calcium, albumin, phosphate, and alkaline phosphatase were determined. Data management was done using SPSS version 16.0. RESULTS: Of the 84 newborn-mother pairs studied, 17 (20.2%) of the mothers were Vitamin D deficient and 23 (27.4%) insufficient. Seven (8.3%) of the mothers were hypocalcaemic and 3 (3.6%) hypophosphataemic, while 19 (22.6%) had elevated alkaline phosphatase. Only 15 (17.9%) of the neonates were vitamin D insufficient and none of them was vitamin D deficient, hypocalcaemic, hypophosphataemic nor had elevated alkaline phosphatase. There was strong positive correlation between cord and maternal blood vitamin D level (r = 0.740, P = < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is high among pregnant women in Maiduguri while insufficiency is common among the neonates. We recommend vitamin D supplementation to pregnant women and newborns in Maiduguri.
Subject(s)
Minerals , Vitamin D , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Nigeria , Pregnancy , Tertiary Care CentersABSTRACT
Aniridia is a spectrum of abnormalities of the iris anatomy, which range from a total absence of the iris to a mild stromal hypoplasia with normal pupil. Aniridia associated with ptosis in three generations of the same family is described. The cases fit the autosomal dominant familial aniridia (AN1) type, a genetic form of congenital aniridia characterised by isolated ocular defects.
Subject(s)
Aniridia/complications , Blepharoptosis/complications , Family Health , Adolescent , Aniridia/genetics , Blepharoptosis/genetics , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , PedigreeABSTRACT
A 12-year-old boy presented with a 5-month history of yellowness of the eyes, progressive painless abdominal swelling and weight loss. Physical examination revealed a grossly wasted child with marked jaundice and non-tender hepatomegaly. Liver function tests and abdominal ultrasound suggested obstructive liver disease. Tissue biopsy at laparotomy showed histological findings consistent with Burkitt's lymphoma. He was commenced on cytotoxic chemotherapy and, after two courses, the jaundice disappeared and he remained well. Although ante-mortem presentation of Burkitt's lymphoma as hepatic disease is rare, this condition should be included in the differential diagnosis of a child with obstructive jaundice.
