Breastfeeding practices in nursing mothers during COVID-19 pandemic: Dual center study in Karachi, Pakistan.

Objective: To identify the breastfeeding practices in nursing mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Pediatrics and Gynecology & Obstetrics departments at two of the tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan from September 2020 to February 2021. Recently delivered mothers and mothers of children till two years of age on breastfeeding/formula feed were consecutively enrolled. Result: Of 484 participants, breastfeeding was practiced by 180 (37.2%) participants, formula-fed by 85 (17.6%), and mix feed by 219 (45.2%) participants. Out of 185 mothers who had to breastfeed previous babies, 80.2% of mothers still opted to breastfeed their newborns despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Breastfeeding practices exhibited higher incidence in illiterate mothers (aOR 0.229 95% CI 0.05-0.95, p- 0.042), housewives (aOR 0.35 95% CI 0.13-0.95 p-0.040) and shorter length of stay (aOR 0.290 95% CI 0.15-0.57, p- 0.001) while formula /mixed feeding was found higher in mothers with exposure to formula feeding in previous babies (aOR 17.842, 95% CI 8.33-38.19, p- 0.001) and mothers with pain after delivery (aOR 4.526, 95% CI 2.11-9.71, p-<0.001). Conclusion: Mothers who had to breastfeed their babies in a previous pregnancy, who were less educated, and housewives with a shorter stay in hospital have shown a stronger association with breastfeeding whereas mothers who had previous exposure to formula milk and pain after delivery have shown association to formula feed or mixed feed.

Response to nebulized salbutamol versus combination with ipratropium bromide in children with acute severe asthma.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of nebulised salbutamol alone and in combination with ipratropium bromide in acute severe asthma in children. METHODS: The randomised controlled trial was conducted at the National Institute of Child Health, Karachi, from October 2012 to March 2013, and comprised patients with acute severe asthma who were randomised into two equal groups. Group A patients received 3 doses of nebulised salbutamol alone (0.03 ml/kg/dose) at 15-minute intervals and Group B received 3 similar doses of salbutamol along with ipratropium (250 ug/dose). Acute severe asthma was categorised as serve exacerbation (clinical score >10) and moderate (5-10 score) based on Bentur Modification. Efficacy was measured after 5minutes of the last dose by change in severity score from severe exacerbation (baseline) to low score. SPSS 10 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There were two groups of 100(50%) patients each. The mean age in Group A was 9.1±3 years and 9.3±2.8 years in Group B. Male-Female ratio in Group A was 1.5:1 and in Group B it was 1.2:1. In Group B, 93(93%) children showed improvement in clinical score (<10 score) while it was 84(84%) in Group A. There was better response in clinical score in Group A than Group B, but it was not significant (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The combination of nebulised salbutamol along with ipratropium bromide in the treatment of acute asthma exacerbation was not superior to salbutamol alone.

Knowledge Of Maintenance Intravenous Fluid Therapy In Acutely Ill Hospitalized Children Among Residents.

BACKGROUND: Isotonic saline is recommended as maintenance intravenous fluid therapy (MIVFT) for most of the acutely ill hospitalized children. The aim of this study is to assess the current knowledge of paediatric residents regarding the selection of MIVFT in hospitalized children. METHODS: We conducted a paper-based questionnaire survey to paediatric residents from ten centres asking selection of MIVFT in four common clinical scenarios in 6-month and 10-year old patients as well as monitoring of fluid balance and electrolyte. RESULTS: 445 responses were collected (>90% response rate). Majority [78.3% (n=348)] of them were FCPS-trainees. The 0.9%, 0.45% and 0.2% solution were selected by 45.8%, 43.98% and 10.92% respectively. The isotonic and hypotonic solution was prescribed in 6- mo (35.22% vs. 64.76% [p<0.001]) and 10-year (54.49% vs. 44.98%) in four different clinical scenarios respectively. 0.45% solution was most commonly prescribed MIVFT in pneumonia (50.22%) and meningitis (45.39%) and 0.9% solution was most commonly selected in acute gastroenteritis (55.05%) and post-operative patients (51.23%). Fluid balance and electrolyte monitoring were selected by 96.9% and 55.7% respondents respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our survey reports that more than fifty percent of paediatric residents have inadequate knowledge about maintenance intravenous fluid therapy in acutely ill hospitalized children.

Comparative Studies of Salivary and Blood Sialic Acid, Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidative Status in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC).

Objective : Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is considered to be a serious life threatening issue for almost two decades. The objective of this study was to evaluate the over production of lipid peroxidation (LPO) byproducts and disturbances in antioxidant defense system in the pathogenesis of oral cancer. Methods : Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in OSCC patients were estimated and compared the sensitivity and specificity of circulating biomarkers (MDA, Sialic acid, Catalase, SOD, GSH and Neuraminidase) with ß-2 microglobulin (ß-2MG) at different thresholds in blood and saliva using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve design. R esults : Our results showed that the levels of MDA and Sialic acid were significantly increased in plasma of OSCC patients as compared to healthy subjects whereas antioxidant level was significantly decreased. Conclusion : ROC analysis indicated that MDA in saliva is a better diagnostic tool as compared to MDA in blood and ß-2MG in blood is better diagnostic marker as compared to ß-2MG level in saliva.

Identification of etiological agents by LPA and PCR in childhood meningitis.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the etiological agents by Latex Particle Agglutination (LPA) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in patients admitted with Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) culture negative bacterial meningitis Methods: This descriptive case series was conducted at National Institute of Child Health, Karachi from January 2010 to December 2012. Patients meeting the WHO case definition of suspected meningitis from one month to 59 months of age were included in the study. CSF examination and culture was carried out on every patient and CSF culture negative patients were enrolled. Demographic data, clinical signs & symptoms and laboratory findings were entered into the proforma. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 17. P-value <0.05 was taken as significant. RESULTS: A total of 166 patients were included. Male were 96 and female were 76 with the male to female ratio of 1.26. The mean age of patient was ± SD 14.6 ± 14.5 months. The etiological agents identified by LPA were in 26/166 (15.66%) cases and the organisms were H. influenzae type b 10 cases, streptococcus pneumoniae 15 cases and meningococcus only one case respectively. The organisms identified by PCR were in 65/166 (39.15%) cases and the isolates were H. influenzae type b 16 cases, streptococcus pneumoniae 48 cases and meningococcus 01 case respectively. CONCLUSION: LPA and PCR are superior and useful diagnostic tools in microbiology. They can be used for rapid etiological diagnosis of bacterial meningitis for the early administration of proper antibiotic. Abbreviation: LPA = Latex Particle Agglutination, PCR = Polymerase Chain Reaction, CSF = Cerebrospinal Fluid, CNS = Central Nervous System.

Cardioprotective and Metabolomic Profiling of Selected Medicinal Plants against Oxidative Stress.

In this research work, the antioxidant and metabolomic profiling of seven selected medicinally important herbs including Rauvolfia serpentina, Terminalia arjuna, Coriandrum sativum, Elettaria cardamom, Piper nigrum, Allium sativum, and Crataegus oxyacantha was performed. The in vivo cardioprotective potential of these medicinal plants was evaluated against surgically induced oxidative stress through left anterior descending coronary artery ligation (LADCA) in dogs. The antioxidant profiling of these plants was done through DPPH and DNA protection assay. The C. oxyacantha and T. arjuna showed maximum antioxidant potential, while the E. cardamom showed poor antioxidative strength even at its high concentration. Different concentrations of extracts of the said plants exhibited the protection of plasmid DNA against H2O2 damage as compared to the plasmid DNA merely treated with H2O2. The metabolomic profiling through LC-MS analysis of these antioxidants revealed the presence of active secondary metabolites responsible for their antioxidant potential. During in vivo analysis, blood samples of all treatment groups were drawn at different time intervals to analyze the cardiac and hemodynamic parameters. The results depicted that the group pretreated with HC4 significantly sustained the level of CK-MB, SGOT, and LDH as well as hemodynamic parameters near to normal. The histopathological examination also confirmed the cardioprotective potential of HC4. Thus, the HC4 being safe and inexpensive cardioprotective herbal combination could be considered as an alternate of synthetic drugs.

Infections in children with nephrotic syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the different types of infections in nephrotic children and their association with the activity of disease. DESIGN: A descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: It was carried out at National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Karachi from August 1995-July 1996. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All children with nephrotic syndrome who had various infections during the study period were evaluated for the activity of disease and type of infections. RESULTS: Out of 62 children with nephrotic syndrome having infections, 45 (72.58%) were boys and 17 (27.42%) girls in a ratio of 2.5:1. Out of them 53 (85.45%) were known nephrotics and 36 (58%) of them were on steroid therapy. Nine were new cases and had not received steroids. A total of 74 episodes of infections were observed in 62 children. Acute respiratory infections (ARI) and skin infections were the most common (29.27% and 27.02% respectively) followed by diarrhoea (13.51%), UTI (12.5%) and peritonitis (10.81%). Two patients had pulmonary tuberculosis and 3 patients had more than one infection (cellulitis, peritonitis and pneumonia). All children with cellulitis and peritonitis were in active disease, whereas more than 80% of patients with ARI, diarrhoea and UTI were having either relapse or had recent onset of disease. CONCLUSION: The study showed that ARI, cellulitis and diarrhoea were most common infections followed by UTI and peritonitis. Majority of the infections (>78%) were associated with active disease

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy for obstructive hydrocephalus.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the success rate of endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) for treating obstructive hydrocephalus. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The Neurosurgery Department of PGMI, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, from May 2010 to November 2011. METHODOLOGY: Patients with obstructive hydrocephalus due to aqueductal stenosis, tectal and non-tectal tumour and already shunted patients for obstructive hydrocephalus presented with blocked shunt were included in the study. Patients with congenital hydrocephalus and secondary to meningitis were excluded. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy was performed. Success, complications and mortality was noted. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics using SPSS software version 17. RESULTS: There were 155 patients including 72 males and 83 females with ratio of 1: 1.33. Success rate was 71%. Indication of surgery was obstructive hydrocephalus due to aqueductal stenosis, posterior fossa tumour, brain stem and CP angle tumour. Complications were seen in 18 patients including mortality in 3 patients. CONCLUSION: ETV is effective, safe and successful procedure in patients with obstructive hydrocephalus. It may be used as replacement procedure of ventriculo-peritoneal shunt as initial line of management in selected patients.

Intestinal transplantation: a review.

Parenteral nutrition is a life-saving therapy for patients with intestinal failure. Intestinal transplantation is now recognized as a treatment for patients who develop complications of parenteral nutrition and in whom attempts at intestinal rehabilitation have failed. Patients with parenteral nutrition related liver disease will require a liver graft typically part of a multivisceral transplant. Isolated intestinal transplants are more commonly performed in adults while multivisceral transplants are most commonly performed in infants. Isolated intestinal transplants have the best short-term outcome, with over 80 % survival at 1 year. Patients requiring multivisceral transplants have a high rate of attrition with a 1 year survival less than 70 %. Prognostic factors for a poor outcome include patient hospitalization at the time of transplant and donor age greater than 40 years while systemic sepsis and acute rejection are the major determinant of early postoperative outcome. For patients surviving the first year the outcome of transplantation of the liver in addition to intestine affords some survival advantage though long-term outcome does not yet match other abdominal organs. Outcomes for intestinal retransplantation are poor as a result of immunology and patient debility. Overall intestinal transplantation continues to develop and is a clear indication with cost and quality of life advantages in patients with intestinal failure that do not remain stable on parenteral nutrition.