Background: Serial echocardiography is strongly recommended in asymptomatic B-thalassemia major (TM) patients for early detection of subtle cardiac dysfunction. T2*magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive measurement of myocardial iron burden. Yet, it is not always available in many centers. Our study aimed to evaluate the myocardial function in TM patients using different echocardiographic modalities and to correlate these findings with cardiac T2*MRI. Patients and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that was carried out on 140 children with a mean age of 10.9±3.7 years. One hundred children with TM and 40 healthy children were matched for age and sex as a control group. Serum ferritin, serum iron, and iron-binding capacity were measured. Cardiac iron overload was assessed by T2*MRI and cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography. The local ethics committee approved the study. Results: Among 100 children with TM, only 32% had cardiac iron overload of 8.525±5.45 detected by cardiac T2*MRI. Iron deposition correlated significantly with age. Markers of iron overload were significantly correlated with cardiac T2*MRI. There were significantly lower values of myocardial performance index, longitudinal strain, circumferential strain, area strain, and radial strain in TM patients compared with the controls (P<0.001). Only the myocardial performance index was correlated with T2*MRI. Conclusions: This study confirms that some parameters measured by tissue Doppler imaging such as the myocardial performance index could be useful for the early detection of cardiac impairment in asymptomatic TM patients when cardiac MRI is lacking. Further studies on a large scale to identify other parameters with high sensitivity are recommended.

Background:Cardiovascular morbidity (CVM) is the main etiology of mortality in children and adolescents with chronic kidney disease (CKD). CKD associated cardiovascular mortality is more common in children with diastolic cardiac dysfunction which was considered as an early indicator for death, while increased left ventricular mass (LVM) is a strong independent risk factor for these patients. Vitamin D deficiency was previously studied as one of the risk factors for CVM.Aim:The aim of the work was to investigate the relationship between biomarkers of mineral bone disorder including serum 25(OH) Vitamin D3 (25-OH D3), phosphorus and calcium × phosphorus (Ca×Po4) product with diastolic cardiac function and LVM in children and adolescents with CKD.Subjects and Methods:This was a cross-sectional observational study. Participants were classified into two groups: Group I including 86 pediatric patients with CKD (stages 4 or 5) and Group II including 40 healthy controls. Group I was subdivided into IA included children with diastolic dysfunction and IB included cases without diastolic dysfunction. 25-OH D3 level was measured by enhanced chemiluminescence method and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) by electrochemiluminescence method. Parameters for diastolic function and LVM were assessed by Doppler echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging, and M-mode echocardiography.Results:25-OH D3 level was significantly lower in Group I when compared to Group II. Diastolic dysfunction was present in 48.8% of the studied patients and was significantly associated with increased serum phosphorus and calcium-phosphorus product but not with decreased level of 25-OH D3. There was a significant positive correlation between LVM and iPTH.Conclusions:Hyperphosphatemia and high Ca×Po4 product were considered of prognostic value as they predict early diastolic dysfunction and increased LVM in children with CKD.

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Background:It is not easy to suspect whether newly born infants diagnosed as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) will develop impairment of renal function, so there is an urge to scientifically research about correlations of severity of HIE, which is represented by Sarnat scoring and brain computerized axial tomography (CAT) and serum creatinine level in these newly born infants.Aim:To evaluate renal function in the form of serum creatinine levels in full-term neonates with HIE and their correlation with severity degree of HIE, which is represented by Sarnat scoring and CAT.Aim:To evaluate renal function in the form of serum creatinine levels in full-term neonates with HIE and their correlation with severity degree of HIE, which is represented by Sarnat scoring and CAT.Subjects and Methods:This study was a case–control type. It was conducted on 72 full-term neonates who were classified into group 1, which included 36 full-term neonates who were diagnosed as HIE according to the definition of the World Health Organization and group 2, which included 36 full-term neonates who were matched for age and sex and who served as the control group. Serum creatinine levels were measured at days 1 and 7 postnatally. CAT scans were carried out for cases only.Results:Serum creatinine levels were elevated in group 1 when compared to the control group at days 1 and 7 postnatally. They were significantly correlated to the Sarnat scoring system of HIE, meaning that serum creatinine levels gradually increased with the increase in severity of HIE according to Sarnat and Sarnat staging. A statistically significant difference was observed between serum creatinine levels in patients with different findings of brain CAT, meaning that more elevation in serum creatinine levels were reported with more severe cases represented by marked changes in brain CAT.Conclusion:Serum creatinine levels correlate with the severity of HIE of neonates according to Sarnat scoring and brain CAT.

Background:Trauma is a worldwide health problem and the major cause of death and disability, particularly affecting the young population. It is important to remember that pediatric trauma care has made a significant improvement in the outcomes of these injured children.Aim of the Work:This study aimed at evaluation of pediatric trauma BIG score in comparison with New Injury Severity Score (NISS) and Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS) in Tanta University Emergency Hospital.Materials and Methods:The study was conducted in Tanta University Emergency Hospital to all multiple trauma pediatric patients attended to the Emergency Department for 1 year. Pediatric trauma BIG score, PTS, and NISS scores were calculated and results compared to each other and to observed mortality.Results:BIG score ≥12.7 has sensitivity 86.7% and specificity 71.4%, whereas PTS at value ≤3.5 has sensitivity 63.3% and specificity 68.6% and NISS at value ≥39.5 has sensitivity 53.3% and specificity 54.3%. There was a significant positive correlation between BIG score value and mortality rate.Conclusion:The pediatric BIG score is a reliable mortality-prediction score for children with traumatic injuries; it uses international normalization ratio (INR), Base Excess (BE), and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) values that can be measured within a few minutes of sampling, so it can be readily applied in the Pediatric Emergency Department, but it cannot be applied on patients with chronic diseases that affect INR, BE, or GCS.