Use of facility assessment data to improve reproductive health service delivery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Background: Prolonged exposure to war has severely impacted the provision of health services in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Health infrastructure has been destroyed, health workers have fled and government support to health care services has been made difficult by ongoing conflict. Poor reproductive health (RH) indicators illustrate the effect that the prolonged crisis in DRC has had on the on the reproductive health (RH) of Congolese women.

Early cranial ultrasound changes as predictors of outcome during first year of life in term infants with perinatal asphyxia.

Objectives: To identify the types of early cranial ultrasound changes that were significant predictors of adverse outcome during the first year of life in asphyxiated term infants.

Methodology: This was a prospective cohort study. Shortly after birth, cranial ultrasonography was carried out via the anterior fontanelles of 70 normal control infants and 104 asphyxiated infants with a history of fetal distress and Apgar scores of less than 6 at 1 and 5 min of life, or requiring endotracheal intubation and manual intermittent positive pressure ventilation for at least 5 min after birth.

Enzyme activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient Malaysian neonates during the first 10 days of life.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the degree of severity of enzyme deficiency in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD)-deficient Malaysian neonates as part of an effort to identify risk factors associated with severe hyperbilirubinaemia in G6PD-deficient infants.

Methodology: During this study, enzyme activity was measured in 53/59 (89.8%) hospital-diagnosed G6PD-deficient neonates (34 Malays, 12 Chinese, and seven other ethnic groups) born consecutively in the Kuala Lumpur Maternity Hospital.