Congenital heart disease is most common heart disease in children and causes significant morbidity and mortality. This study was done to evaluate the frequency and pattern of congenital heart disease in neonates (age ≤ 28 days) admitted in a tertiary care level hospital. It was a cross-sectional descriptive type of study conducted at the Department of Paediatrics of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital from January 2014 to December 2015. Among the 4120 neonates admitted in RMCH in that period, 52 cases had cardiac murmur on auscultation. Incidence of cardiac murmur in the newborn was 1.26%. Clinically, among the 52 cases, 40 cases were thought to have pathological murmur and 12 cases were thought to have innocent murmur. During echocardiography, structural cardiac defect (congenital heart disease) was detected in 38 cases. So, incidence of congenital heart disease was 9.22/ 1000 live births. Remaining 14 cases had normal cardiac anatomy in echocardiography. VSD (12 cases) was the most common type of acyanotic congenital heart disease (23.08%) followed by ASD (11 cases) and PDA (6 cases). Among the cyanotic congenital heart disease, tetralogy of Fallot was the most common abnormality and it was found in 4 cases (7.69%). In this study, parental consanguinity was detected in 4 cases (7.69%). Early diagnosis, timely referral and proper management of congenital heart can save valuable lives and allow normal growth and development. TAJ 2018; 31(2): 35-38

Micronutrient deficiencies, especially those related to iodine and iron, are linked to different cognitive impairments, as well as to potential long-term behavioral changes. Among the cognitive impairments caused by iron deficiency, those referring to attention span, intelligence, and sensory perception functions are mainly cited, as well as those associated with emotions and behavior, often directly related to the presence of iron deficiency anemia. In addition, iron deficiency without anemia may cause cognitive disturbances. At present, the prevalence of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia is 2%–6% among European children. Given the importance of iron deficiency relative to proper cognitive development and the alterations that can persist through adulthood as a result of this deficiency, the objective of this study was to review the current state of knowledge about this health problem. The relevance of iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia, the distinction between the cognitive consequences of iron deficiency and those affecting specifically cognitive development, and the debate about the utility of iron supplements are the most relevant and controversial topics. Despite there being methodological differences among studies, there is some evidence that iron supplementation improves cognitive functions. Nevertheless, this must be confirmed through adequate follow-up studies among different groups. TAJ 2021; 34: No-1: 115-122

Background: Adequate nutrition during infancy and early childhood are essential to ensure growth and development, and it depends significantly on the pattern of complementary feeding. As Bangladesh is a high burden of infant malnutrition, the present study was designed to assess the practices regarding complementary feeding among mothers attending a tertiary care hospital.  Objective: To observe the attitude and practices of mothers regarding complementary feeding.  Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Pediatrics in Rajshahi Medical Hospital for one year. A total of 227 mothers of children aged between 6 to 24 months attending pediatric OPD at Rajshahi Medical Hospital were included in this study. Data collection was conducted through a pre-designed questionnaire. After data collection of data, data were analyzed by SPSS 23.0. Results: A total of 227 parents were interviewed. The mean age of the respondents was 26±8.42 (SD) years. Nearly half (45%) of the mothers belonged to lower-middle-income families. Of all, 82% of the mothers knew about the perception of complementary feeding, and about 21% knew the WHO recommended age for complimentary food initiation (at six months). About 71% and 60% had knowledge about iron-rich food and iodized salt accordingly. Half of them knew the appropriate consistency of complimentary food. About 64% of mothers gave complementary foods ≤2 times a day while 36% fed≥3 times a day. Regarding attitude, 78% of mothers approached the necessity of maintaining dietary diversity and variety of food for a balanced diet. In comparison, 52% preferred homemade food, 22% preferred commercially available food, and 26% preferred a combination of both. About 71.8% of mothers believed in different food taboos. In this study, dilution of cow's milk as a complementary food was done by 76% of mothers, while complementary feeding was discontinued by 80%. About 78% and 65% of the mothers reported washing their hands and utensils and baby's hand before feeding the child, 66% of them covered the food after cooking, and 43% reheated the food before serving. Conclusion: This study shed light on existing knowledge, attitude, and practice among mothers attending a tertiary care hospital. But to get the exact scenario, further extensive study is recommended. TAJ 2022; 35: No-1: 83-90

Interstitial lung disease is rare diseases in children. Respiratory symptoms appear progressively, are often subtle and diagnosis is often delayed by many months after onset. The histological diagnosis is confirmatory but high-resolution chest computed tomography is the most sensitive imaging technique for demonstrating and identifying interstitial lung disease. Interstitial lung disease in children mostly is idiopathic though it may be caused by several conditions. TAJ 2018; 31(2): 73-79

This study was a cross-sectional descriptive type of study, conducted at Pediatrics department of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital from July 2014 to June 2016. A total 382 children were enrolled by purposive sampling among which 219 (57.3%) male, 163 (42.7%) female. The aim of this study was identify demographic as well as social status of malnourished children in tertiary care hospital. In this study the prevalence of underweight 42% (moderate & severe), wasting 34% (moderate & severe), and stunting 24% (moderate & severe) were found. Considering various Socio-demographic characteristics - maternal factors, paternal factors, socioeconomic status, and residential status had significant association with nutritional status of the children. Beside these various risk factors- birth weight, exclusive breast feeding, colostrum feeding, timing of weaning practices, type of complementary feeding and associated morbidities also had significant association with nutritional status of the children. The degree of malnutrition was found to more prevalent in the early age of children. Among the studied children more than half (60.5%) lived in rural area and rest of them lived in urban area (36.6%), semi urban area (2.9%) respectively. Children more than half (53%) were from lower class family. Rest of them was middle class (40.6%) and upper class (6.3%) family. Education level of the majority (59.4%) mother were primary to SSC, (22.5%) were below primary and (18.1%) were HSC and above. Education level of the majority ie.40.6% father were below primary, 39.8% were primary to SSC and 19.6% were HSC and above.TAJ 2017; 30(1): 56-60