Mortality in the special care baby unit of the main children's hospital in Tripoli, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Abstract

We investigated the prevalence of neonatal deaths in the special care baby unit (SCBU) at the main children's hospital in Tripoli and the factors associated with these deaths. We reviewed the medical records of all neonates who died in our SCBU from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2005. A total of 1176 neonates were admitted to our SCBU (59.6% males and 40.4% females). Of these, 260 (22.1%) died: 165 males and 95 females. The reasons for admission to SCBU of the neonates who died were: prematurity (43.9%), birth asphyxia (16.7%), congenital malformations (15.9%), neonatal infections (14.6%), other reasons (4.6%) and data unavailable (4.3%). The factors associated with death were: respiratory distress (40.4%), congenital malformation (19.6%), neonatal infections (18.5%) and perinatal asphyxia (15.8%), with 5.8% attributed to other causes. The majority of deaths (63.1%) occurred during the early neonatal period. Mortality in our SCBU is high and action is needed to reduce it with emphasis on prematurity.

Review of Kangaroo Mother Care in the Middle East

“…The study found that 63.1% of the deaths occurred during the early neonate phase, the most critical phase. These results support the early safe intervention of KMC to sick newborns [ 33 ]. A WHO report on Libya in 2017 [ 34 ] showed that KMC is practiced in 23.1% facilities.…”

Patterns of inborn errors of metabolism: A 12 year single-center hospital-based study in Libya

“… (16) Causes of neonatal death were recorded as respiratory distress (79%), sepsis (32%) and stillbirths (38.35%); most deaths were in the first week of life (61.65%). A study in Tripoli during mid-2000 (3) has shown that the associated causes of neonatal death were respiratory distress (40.4%) and infection (18.5%); the majority of deaths (63.1%) occurred during the early neonatal period whereas (30.8%) were during the late neonatal period and (6.2%) during the post-neonatal period. In both of these studies, (2,3) no metabolic disorders were mentioned as possible causes of death in this critical age which might indicate poor facilities for identifying these diseases.…”

“…Causes of mortality in neonatal intensive care units are prematurity (43.9%), hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (16.7%), congenital malformations (15.9%), neonatal infections (14.6%) and other reasons (4.6%) (3) . Due to limited diagnostic facilities and lack of experienced pediatricians trained in metabolic diseases, many unexplained deaths have been reported and are likely to have been misdiagnosed.…”

“…Causes of mortality in neonatal intensive care units are prematurity (43.9%), hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (16.7%), congenital malformations (15.9%), neonatal infections (14.6%) and other reasons (4.6%). (3) Due to limited diagnostic facilities and lack of experienced pediatricians trained in metabolic diseases, many unexplained deaths have been reported and are likely to have been misdiagnosed. High rates of consanguineous marriages in Libya (48.4% as inter-marriages between relatives including 30% between first cousins) (1,4,5) play an important role in increasing expression of autosomal recessive disorders.…”