Coeliac disease in north-eastern Libya.

We studied 243 children aged between 6 months and 18 years presenting with features suggestive of coeliac disease to Al-Fateh Children's Hospital, Benghazi, Libya from 1976 to 1993. The diagnosis of coeliac disease was made using the revised diagnostic criteria of the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. Seventy-seven of the children conformed to these criteria. The demographic and clinical features of the disease were studied and compared with other studies in Arab countries and elsewhere. The male:female ratio was 1:1.3. Weight loss, anaemia, anorexia, diarrhoea and abdominal distention, in descending order of frequency, were the most frequently occurring clinical features. Jejunal biopsy is mandatory for the diagnosis of coeliac disease.

Dexamethasone as an adjunctive treatment of bacterial meningitis.

This study was conducted on 77 Libyan infants and children aged month to 10 years with acute bacterial meningitis. Upon admission, the patients were divided randomly in two groups. Group I (38 patients) received ceftriaxone plus dexamethasone i.v. Group II (39 patients) received ceftriaxone alone. Both groups were compared for mean changes in CSF sugar, CSF protein and CSF polymorph count at 4th day of treatment. There was a significant difference between the two groups in CSF sugar and protein changes (P < 0.05) but not in CSF polymorph (P > 0.05). Both groups showed prompt clinical response and similar occurrence of acute complications, fatality rate and permanent neurological sequelae. However, group I manifested shorter duration of fever (P < 0.05). Dexamethasone improved the inflammatory reaction in acute bacterial meningitis and shortened the duration of fever but it did not have any significant effect on the fatality and the occurrence of neurological sequelae of this disease.