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CONTEXT:T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is being increasingly used for the assessment of organ iron content in thalassemics, but cost is a major prohibitive factor for repeated measurements. If serum ferritin correlates well with the T2* MRI liver and heart, it will be economical and more simple tool to assess organ iron deposition.AIMS:The aim of this study was to find out the relationship between serum ferritin level and T2* MRI-derived liver and heart iron content in transfusion-dependent thalassemic childrenSETTINGS:Thalassemia day-care center of a teaching hospitalDESIGN:This was a cross-sectional studySUBJECTS AND METHODS:Seventy-three transfusion-dependent beta thalassemic children belonging to 2–18 years of age were subjected to T2* MRI of heart and liver to assess their iron content. Values obtained here were related to serum ferritin.STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED:Keeping the correlation between serum ferritin and T2* MRI as primary outcome, spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated.RESULTS:We found poor (negative) correlation between serum ferritin level and T2* MRI liver (r = -0.448, P = 0.000) but no correlation between serum ferritin and T2*MRI heart (r = -0.221, P = 0.060).Conclusions:Serum ferritin cannot reliably predict the liver and heart iron content in Indian children with β thalassemia.

Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity in the pediatric population of both the developing and developed countries. Objective: To find the prevalence and pattern of CHD in a tertiary care centre of Western Rajasthan Methods: A descriptive type of study conducted during the period of January 2017 to December 2018, a total of 163842 patients sought medical help in pediatric department of Dr SN Medical college hospital. All data were analyzed by SPSS-software. Results: The prevalence of heart disease was 0.89% in our study. The prevalence of congenital heart disease (CHD) was 0.84% and acquired heart disease was 0.05% in this study. Conclusion: Prevalence of heart disease was 0.89% among the hospital attending patients could be an underestimation of the actual disease burden in our community. Increased awareness regarding cardiac diseases reduces the mortality and morbidity associated with these ailments. Keywords: Children, congenital-heart disease, echocardiography, prevalence

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Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection can adversely affect the birth and neonatal outcomes. The authors prospectively enrolled 196 neonates born to 193 SARS-CoV-2–positive mothers to determine the rate of mother-to-baby transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and its effect on short-term neonatal outcomes in Indian population. Nineteen babies turned out to be RT-PCR–positive for SARS-CoV-2, carrying a perinatal transmission rate of 9.8%. Rates of prematurity and low birth weight were 12.8% and 18.9% in the neonatal group, respectively. On comparing SARS-CoV-2–positive ( n = 19) and negative ( n = 177) neonatal groups, rate of prematurity, hospital admission rate, and death rate were higher in the former group. The placental positivity rate for SARS-CoV-2 was 8.1%, but no relation was found between placental and neonatal infection.