Coarctation of the aorta: A call for early detection.

Background: Early repair of coarctation of the aorta (COA) is associated with few perioperative complications and better long-term outcome. Therefore, early detection and treatment of COA patients is extremely desirable. The aim of this study was to review our referral system, the effectiveness of neonatal screening examination, and orient physicians about this abnormality, the mode and age of presentation, differences in presentation between cases with isolated COA, and cases associated with other cardiac lesions.

Childhood epidemiology of hepatitis A virus in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The prevalence of anti-HAV antibody in children was tested in subjects presenting at clinics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A blood sample was taken to test for the presence of IgG (indicating past infection) and a questionnaire concerning personal and epidemiological data relating to hepatitis A was completed. In total, 592 children aged 6 months to 15 years were suitable for the analysis.

Follow-up of Saudi children vaccinated with Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine.

Background: Saudi children vaccinated with a primary series of Hib vaccine (HbOC) at six weeks, three and five months have shown higher antibody titers compared to recent data from the U.S. The aim of this study was to evaluate the persistence of antibodies and to measure the immunogenicity of a booster dose of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine in Saudi children.

Immunogenicity of FDA DTP versus WHO DTP.

Background: The aim of this report was to study the immunogenicity of three doses of DTP in six-week-old Saudi infants when given either as World Health Organization (WHO) DTP or Federal Drug Administration (FDA) DTP formula.

Methods: As part of the Haemophilus influenzae type b immunization research protocol, six-week-old infants were randomized into three groups to receive three doses of HbOC and WHO DTP formula, HbOC and FDA DTP formula, or in a control group to receive the usual vaccines without HbOC, at six weeks, three months and five months. Antibody levels for PRP, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis were measured after the third dose.

Measles in Saudi Arabia: from control to elimination.

This article describesthe tremendous efforts made in the field of measles immunization in Saudi Arabia in the past 20 years, from the control phase to the elimination phase. Mandatory measles vaccination with one-dose Schwartz vaccine was introduced in 1982 by a royal decree, a step aimed at increasing vaccine coverage. In 1991, a two-dose schedule was implemented using Edmonston-Zagreb measles vaccine, with a first dose at 6 months to protect children younger than 9 months and a second dose of MMR at 12 months of age to protect those who did not respond to the first dose.

Immunogenicity study for Tetra and Penta component vaccines in infants.

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.

Response to measles revaccination among toddlers in Saudi Arabia by the use of two different trivalent measles-mumps-rubella vaccines.

This trial confirmed the immunogenicity of a standard dose of measles vaccine Edmonston-Zagreb strain administered at the age of 6 months as evaluated serologically at 12 months of age in 94 healthy children in Saudi Arabia. The residual seropositivity rate for measles was 53.4 and 80.

Ceftriaxone treatment failure of meningitis due to penicillin and ceftriaxone resistant streptococcus pneumonia.

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.

Congenital para-oesophageal hiatal hernia in infancy.

Congenital para-oesophageal hiatal hernia (PEHH) is a rare problem in infancy, however, it constitutes a clinical entity that mandates surgical repair once the diagnosis is made. In the paediatric age group, acquired PEHH has been described as a major complication in a number of patients who were treated surgically for gastro-oesophageal reflux (GER) by Nissen fundoplication. PEHH is a frequently encountered condition in elderly patients; it accounts for 5% of diaphragmatic hiatal hernias.

The role of bronchodilators in the management of bronchiolitis: a clinical trial.

A randomized clinical trial was conducted on young children with bronchiolitis admitted to hospital with moderate illness to determine the efficacy of the bronchodilators Salbutamol and ipratropium bromide, either as a single drug or in combination, given as a nebulized solution, compared with a normal saline placebo. Eighty-nine patients, aged from 23 days to 11 months, were randomized into four groups, depending on administered drug or placebo, as follows: group 1--Salbutamol (n = 20); group 2--ipratropium bromide (n = 23); group 3--combined Salbutamol and Ipratropium bromide (n = 24); group 4--normal saline (n = 22). The groups were identical with respect to age, sex, family history of atopy, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) positivity and enrollment score.

Rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata with isolated DHAP-AT deficiency.

An infant with the characteristic phenotype of classical rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata was found to have an isolated deficiency of the peroxisomal enzyme acyl CoA dihydroxyacetone phosphate acyltransferase (DHAP-AT). All other peroxisomal functions measured were found to be normal. Previously described in one other case report, this confirms the existence of another distinct form of peroxisomal disorder characterised biochemically by a deficiency in de novo plasmalogen biosynthesis only.