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INTRODUCTION: Screening of newborns with seizure, who have curable pathologic brain findings, might be able to improve their final outcome by accelerating treatment intervention. The present study aimed to evaluate the brain ultrasonography findings of newborns hospitalized with complaint of seizure. METHODS: The present cross-sectional study designed to evaluate brain ultrasonography findings of hospitalized newborns complaining seizure. Neonatal seizure was defined as presence of tonic, clonic, myoclonic, and subtle attacks in 1 - 28 day old newborns. RESULTS: 100 newborns with the mean age of 5.82 ± 6.29 days were evaluated (58% male). Most newborns were in the < 10 days age range (76%), term (83%) and with normal birth weight (81%). 22 (22%) of the ultrasonography examinations showed a pathologic finding. A correlation was only found between birth age and probability of the presence of a pathologic problem in the brain as the frequency of these problems was significantly higher in pre-term newborns (p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of the present study, frequency of pathologic findings in neonatal brain ultrasonography was 22%. Hemorrhage (12%) and hydrocephaly (7%) were the most common findings. The only factor correlating with increased probability of positive findings was the newborns being pre-term.
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OBJECTIVES: Drooling is a physiological phenomenon in infants which becomes unusual and even pathologic after 18 months of age. Cerebral palsy (CP), the most common etiology for physical disability, mostly occurs in cases of normal-intelligence kids who are socially active and therefore their disorders require special attention. One of the major problems kids with CP face is excessive drooling and several therapeutic methods have been suggested to treat this problem. In this study described herein, bilateral submandibular duct rerouting (BSMDR) surgery was performed to investigate its effect on drooling in children with CP. METHODS: From March 2007 to April 2011, 16 children aged 6-16 years old with cerebral palsy who suffered from excessive drooling were recruited. A thorough physical examination was performed and a questionnaire was completed for each case. Those who met the inclusion criteria and provided an informed consent were selected for BSMDR surgery. They were followed-up twice, 10 days and 6 months after the operation to evaluate the degree of drooling or other possible side effects of the surgery. RESULTS: Sixteen patients entered the study and underwent surgery. On the first follow-up visit 87.50% presented overall improvement, of which 56.25% showed good to excellent improvement in contrast to 31.25% who exhibited fair improvement. On the second follow-up an overall improvement was observed in 81.25%, of which 43.75% showed good to excellent improvement compared to 37.50% with fair improvement. CONCLUSION: Considering that during both the first and second follow-up visit only two cases (12.5%) did not respond to treatment, it could be concluded that BSMDR surgery is an effective treatment for reducing drooling in CP children.
