Predictive Factors for Clinical Severity and Cardiopulmonary Arrest in Pediatric Electrical Injuries in Southeastern Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: An electrical injury (EI) is an emergency that causes high morbidity and mortality each year. The aim of this study was to define the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory factors that might predict severe patients and cardiac arrest in pediatric EI cases. METHODS: All of the patients' medical files were reviewed retrospectively through a 2-year period for the demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings. The patients were classified into the severe injury group or the mild injury group. The SPSS (Chicago, Ill) software was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Among the 38 patients, 18 patients (47.4%) were in the mild group, and 20 patients (52.6%) were in the severe group. Low-voltage injuries were observed in 35 (92.1%) of the patients. Most of the severe patients were injured with low voltage (75%) and in household settings (85%). Plug and sockets were the most observed source of the injuries in all of the patients, whereas water-related injuries were most prevalent in the severe group. The source of injury was different in the mild and severe groups (P = 0.009). In the severe group, 13 patients (34.2%) were resuscitated after cardiopulmonary arrest. In the multivariate analysis of the demographic data, the most predictive parameters for cardiac arrest and the clinical severity in EIs are the factors of electrical cables and water. CONCLUSIONS: Electrical injuries are a significant concern in the pediatric population. Our results showed that low voltage and household electricity could cause morbidity and mortality.

Prevalence of hypertension among high school students in a middle Anatolian province of Turkey.

Hypertension may lead to irreversible damages in vital organs, such as heart, brain, and kidney, and may cause death in children if treatments are not given despite early diagnosis. This cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted during 1 January-31 March 2004 to investigate the prevalence of hypertension among high school students. The study cohort included 1,041 students of six high schools, who were selected from among 14,789 students of 26 high schools in Sivas province of Turkey, using the cluster-sampling method. A questionnaire was used for collecting information from students on age, gender, smoking, and whether they or their families have any diseases. Blood pressure, height, and weight of the participitants were determined by the research group. Students whose repeated systolic or diastolic blood pressures were higher than the 95th percentile were considered to be hypertensive patients. Hypertension was prevalent among 4.4% (n=45) of the students. There was a significant correlation between prevalence of hypertension and body mass index. No significant correlation was found between prevalence of hypertension and other variables, such as smoking, age, gender, and family history of diabetes. The results suggest that hypertension is an important public-health problem among high school students. The results also showed that the body mass index was an important parameter in hypertension in such a study group. Researchers should consider overweight a causative risk factor for development of hypertension in early-onset groups.

Brainstem encephalitis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis following mumps.

A previously healthy female, aged 4 years 3 months, developed brainstem encephalitis with clinical manifestations of fever, decreased level of consciousness, and left facial and abducens paralysis 1 week after bilateral parotitis. Twenty days after remission of encephalitis, she manifested new symptoms of ataxia, dysarthria, and fever. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple hyperintense lesions which were increased in size when compared with the first magnetic resonance imaging. She was treated with glucocorticoids and intravenous immunoglobulin. Forty-eight days after therapy, she was able to walk with support and recovered completely on follow-up. Brainstem encephalitis and acute disseminating encephalomyelitis are discussed as rare complications of mumps.