Objectives To detect cathelicidin levels in pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) as a potential marker for diabetic vascular complications and to assess its relation to diastolic dysfunction as an index for subclinical macrovasculopathy. Methods Totally, 84 patients with T1D were categorized into three groups; newly diagnosed diabetes group (28 patients with a mean age of 12.38 ± 1.99) years, T1D without microvascular complications group (28 patients with a mean age of 13.04 ± 2.27), and T1D with microvascular complications group (28 patients with a mean age of 13.96 ± 2.30). Patients were evaluated using serum cathelicidin levels and echocardiography. Results Total cholesterol, microalbuminuria, and cathelicidin levels were significantly higher in patients with microvascular complications when compared to the other two groups (p<0.001). Additionally, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) echocardiography values and diastolic functions were significantly higher in patients with complications (p<0.001). Cathelicidin was positively correlated to the duration of diabetes (r=0.542, p<0.001), total cholesterol (r=0.346, p=0.001), recurrence of hypoglycemia (r=0.351, p=0.001), recurrence of diabetes ketoacidosis (r=0.365, p=0.001), CIMT (r=0.544, p<0.001), and E/A values (r=0.405, p<0.001). Conclusions Serum cathelicidin levels can be used as an early marker for the occurrence and progression of vascular complications in patients with T1D.

Background: Cardiac catheterization is one of the most widely performed cardiac procedures. Medical record completeness and registry is a key performance indicator that is related with delivery of healthcare services in the hospital. At hospital level, statistics derived from the daily bed census and medical records are used to assess the utilization of services and enable the hospital to make appropriate financial and administrative plans and to conduct vital research.

Background Diagnosis of post-contrast acute kidney injury (PC-AKI) by serum creatinine can be delayed because of various factors. A new biomarker neutrophilgelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) is postulated to be more sensitive for recognizing patients prone to PC-AKI. Objective To assess serum NGAL changes as an early biomarker of PC-AKI in children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac catheterization. Methods This observational study included 30 children with congenital heart disease who underwent cardiac catheterization at the Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Unit, New Children’s Hospital, Ain Shams University. They had a median age of 30 months and 63% were females. Serum NGAL was measured just before the catheterization, 6hrs and 24hrs after contrast media administration while serum creatinine was measured before and after 24hrs of contrast media administration. Results Significant rise of serum NGAL was noted within 24hrs after contrast administration (p &lt; 0.05) while serum creatinine showed a non-significant rise (p &gt; 0.05). Serum NGAL was positively correlated with age, weight, height, body surface area and rate of contrast injection (p &lt; 0.01). Higher levels of serum NGAL were found among patients who underwent diagnostic cardiac catheterization and those who received Midazolam for initial sedation during induction of anesthesia (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusions Serum NGAL was elevated as early as 6 hours post contrast injection, however its serum level is affected by many factors. It’s important to be aware of other possible risk factors of PC-AKI rather than contrast media as type of cardiac catheterization and the anaesthetic Midazolam.

Objective To determine the efficacy of unfractionated heparin in reducing central venous catheter-related deep venous thrombosis and/or catheter thrombotic occlusion in children by systematically searching the literature and conducting a meta-analysis study. Methods Four electronic databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Elsevier’s thrombosis journal, and the Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials) were searched for journal peer-reviewed articles published in the period from Jan 2000 to Dec 2018. The search criteria included observational studies, and randomized controlled trials on patients aged 0–18 years with central venous catheters (CVC), which compare between the effect of UFH (flushes, lock solutions, continuous infusion, and heparin bonded catheter) and no prophylaxis (Normal saline flush or no treatment) for the prevention of CVC thrombotic complications (CVC-related deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and/or catheter thrombotic occlusion). Two authors independently reviewed and identified the eligible studies, which were assessed for study methodology including bias, and extraction of unadjusted data whenever available. To pool data from eligible studies, the meta-analysis was performed on RevMan version 5.3. Odds ratios were generated with the corresponding 95% CI through the random-effect model. Results Of the 413 articles identified, only eight studies were eligible with 1380 patients. Our results revealed that UFH was significantly superior on control group in reducing thrombotic occlusion and/or CVC-related DVT (odds ratio 0.39, 95% CI: 0.19:0.8) (p 0.01). Conclusion The published data support the hypothesis that using UFH as a thromboprophylaxis may significantly reduce catheter thrombotic complication in pediatric patients with CVC.