Somatosensory evoked potential measures of conduction in peripheral and central pathways in children with protein-calorie malnutrition.

The effects of malnutrition on conduction in peripheral and central somatosensory pathways in humans, as measured by short-latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) have not been previously reported. A group of 28 children with kwashiorkor were compared to a control group of 35 children, aged 6-36 months. The malnourished group had longer reciprocal conduction velocities (ms/m) for pathways between the wrists and the brachial plexi (CL1 response) and between the brachial plexi and the upper cervical region (CL1-CVN). While an individual child with kwashiorkor had abnormal intracranial reciprocal conduction velocities (CVN-N1), the inter-group differences did not attain statistical significance, possibly due to inadequate indices of central pathway lengths. These findings expand the extent of conduction delays revealed by previous studies of peripheral nerve conduction velocities in PCM.

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials in severely malnourished children with kwashiorkor.

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) were recorded in a group of 22 children hospitalized for the treatment of severe malnutrition (kwashiorkor). Recordings were repeated after three weeks of treatment. The control group consisted of age- and sex-matched healthy infants. Abnormal BAEP interpeak-latencies (IPLs) were found in 32% of the kwashiorkor group in the initial recording and in 40% of this group in the follow-up recording. Abnormalities were evenly distributed between the I-III, III-V and I-V IPLs and in the majority of cases were unilateral. The influence of increasing stimulus rate was investigated. The findings may reflect defects in myelination of auditory brainstem pathways, however, BAEP abnormalities were not related to several indices of growth retardation or to serum albumin and hemoglobin levels.

[Initiation of a cure for kwashiorkor patients using a whey milk product. A comparison with cows milk]. / Inisiasie van herstel by kwashiorkor-pasiënte d.m.v. 'n weimelkproduk. 'n Vergelyking met beesmelk.

Whey milk, a side-product of cheese production, is not utilized for human nutrition. Whey protein is of good nutritional quality with a high biological value, exceeding that of whole-milk protein. A whey milk product consisting of liquid whey milk 60%, whole cow's milk 40% and skimmed milk powder 0.5% was mixed, spray-dried and prepared in instant form. After reconstitution with water, it was compared with sterilized whole cow's milk for the initiation of cure in 30 acute kwashiorkor patients randomly allocated to the two feeds. The diets were given for 3 weeks. There were no statistically significant differences between the two diets with regard to weight gain or levels of serum albumin, globulin, calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, urea or haemoglobin. Judging from this limited investigation, whey milk deserves consideration for human utilization. Should economical production be possible, it could contribute towards preventing and treating protein energy malnutrition.