Minor malformations: neonatal or anthropological story?

Minor malformations (mM) are mild physical deformities that with their incidence, number and evolution may be external indicators of hidden, more serious disorders. Most often these are recognized by the neonatologists. First studies done some forty years ago showed an average incidence of 15% in the general population of newborns and about 50% in children with major malformations (MM). A study done in Maternity Hospital Mostar covering a one-year cohort of the newborns and assessing 38 mM showed an average incidence 23.7% mM in children without MM. Twelve mM have had a frequency above 1%, many of them in the head region. The most frequent specific mM was a deep sacral dimple (4.6%). Eighteen mM malformations that appeared more often were re-evaluated three months later. A large part (50-80%) disappeared, but a small number (about 17%) were newly discovered. In the newborns with MM, the incidence of mM was 57.5%. 15 of 23 children with MM (65.2%) had more than three associated mM. The highest percentage was in the group of hypotrophic newborns. The connection of mM with MM and specificity of incidence of mM in one population are the reason why the search for mM in the neonatal period could be benefit also for children and whole population.

Vasodilatory prostaglandins in perinatal hypoxic brain damage.

Prostaglandin (PGE2 and PGI2) synthesis was determined in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of 19 hypoxic neonates at the age of 5-96 hours by using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. Control group consisted of 8 children of the same age whose samples were taken due to initial suspicion of neonatal meningitis. The prostaglandin concentrations in CSF were correlated with initial hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) stage and neurological findings of patients at the age of 12 months. The values of PGE2 and PGI2 in the CSF of children with perinatal hypoxia (PNH) were significantly higher than in the children from the control group. The values of PGI2 in serum were significantly higher than in "CSF" of patients with PNH. Although average values of PGE2 and PGI2 in the liquor were higher in children with advanced stage of HIE, the differences between different stages were not statistically significant. We did not find any significant correlation between average concentrations ofprostaglandins and neurological findings of the 12-month-old children.