Bmc Pediatr
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Myringoplasty can be technically difficult in the pediatric patients due to the narrowness of the external auditory canal and the generally small size of the ear. Moreover, temporalis fascia grafts and myringoplasties for anterior perforations are more likely to fail in children. Surgical management of anterior perforations requires total exposure of the anterior angle however a microscope may fail to provide a view of the anterior edge in most of perforations. Recently, different endoscopes are used in the performance of ear surgery in general and myringoplasty in particular. Current study aimed to investigate the outcome of transcanal microscope-assisted endoscopic myringoplasty in homogenous group of children. ⋯ The transcanal microscope-assisted endoscopic myringoplasty had a 100% rate of surgical success in children. This technique can be especially appropriate for patients with narrow external canals, anterior defects and bone overhang making the perforation margins barely visible under a microscope.
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Immunization remains one of the most important public health interventions and cost effective strategies to reduce child mortality and morbidity associated with infectious diseases. It is estimated to avert between 2 and 3 million deaths each year worldwide. The objective of this study was to assess complete immunization coverage and its associated factors among children aged 12 to 23 months in Sinana district, Bale Zone, Southeast Ethiopia. ⋯ Even though, immunization coverage of children in Sinana district gets improvement over national coverage, yet it is below governmental plan to increase the coverage i.e. 90%. Maternal health care utilization and knowledge of mother about vaccine and vaccine preventable diseases are the main factors associated with complete immunization coverage. It is vital that local programmatic intervention should be strengthened to upgrade awareness of the community on the importance of immunization, antenatal care and working on advancing economic status of community is the way to optimize children's immunization coverage.
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There is conflicting evidence about the accuracy of estimates of childhood obesity based on parent-reported data. We assessed accuracy of child height, weight, and overweight/obesity classification in a pediatric clinic population based on parent data to learn whether accuracy differs by child age and race/ethnicity. ⋯ While the majority of parents of overweight or obese children tend to be unaware that their child is overweight, use of parent-reported height and weight data for young children and pre-teens will likely result in overestimates of prevalence of youth overweight and obesity.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Optimising nutrition to improve growth and reduce neurodisabilities in neonates at risk of neurological impairment, and children with suspected or confirmed cerebral palsy.
Neurological impairment is a common sequelae of perinatal brain injury. Plasticity of the developing brain is due to a rich substrate of developing neurones, synaptic elements and extracellular matrix. Interventions supporting this inherent capacity for plasticity may improve the developmental outcome of infants following brain injury. Nutritional supplementation with combination docosahexaenoic acid, uridine and choline has been shown to increase synaptic elements, dendritic density and neurotransmitter release in rodents, improving performance on cognitive tests. It remains elusive whether such specific 'neurotrophic' supplementation enhances brain plasticity and repair after perinatal brain injury. ⋯ This is the first study to supplement neonates and infants with perinatal brain injury with the combination of factors required for healthy brain development, throughout the period of maximal brain growth. A further study strength is the comprehensive range of outcome measures employed. If beneficial, supplementation with brain phosphatide precursors could improve the quality of life of thousands of children with perinatal brain injury.
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Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) results in high morbidity and mortality globally each year, although it is a vaccine-preventable disease. This study aimed to characterize the clinical features of IPD in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Taiwan. The seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was introduced in the private sector in October 2005. The estimated coverage rate of PCV7 vaccination in 2010 was 45.5% among children <5 years of age. ⋯ Meningitis is the most severe type of invasive pneumococcal disease in our pediatric intensive care unit. It may progress rapidly even when subjects are given antibiotics promptly. The most common serotype in meningitis is 19 F, which is vaccine preventable. Thus, universal mass pneumococcal vaccination is still needed.