METHODS: The setting was the University of Kuala Lumpur. Thirty-four Malay, 35 Chinese and 34 Indian normal pregnant middle-class women were studied longitudinally by monthly ultrasound scans for 18 to 38 weeks of gestation. The data were subjected to regression analysis; the quadratic curve was found to be the most adequate. Dummy variables were used to determine any effects by gender, parity as well as ethnicity on the length of limb growth. There was no difference in birth weights of the three ethnic groups studied, nor in gender or parity.
RESULTS: There were found to be significant differences in limb lengths of the Indians (longer) when compared with the Malays and Chinese. Parity seems to affect only Indians in whom the multiparous fetuses have shorter limb lengths than the primaparous. There appears to be no effect by gender.
CONCLUSION: There appear to be definite differences in growth of limb length between the different Malaysian ethnic groups and this should be taken into account when growth charts are used and when fetal weight formulas are calculated using limb lengths. The limitation of this study was that the numbers of subjects studied were small. Larger studies will be able to confirm or refute the findings.
DESIGN: Single-center retrospective observational study.
SETTING: Thirty-six-bed surgical/medical tertiary PICU.
PATIENTS: Children from birth to less than or equal to 16 years old admitted between 2015 and 2018.
INTERVENTIONS: None.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Clinical data were extracted from the PICU clinical information system. Patients with baseline creatinine at admission greater than 20 micromol/L above the calculated normal creatinine level were classified as "high risk of acute kidney injury." Models were created to predict acute kidney injury at admission and on day 1. Out of the 7,505 children admitted during the study period, 738 patients (9.8%) were classified as high risk of acute kidney injury at admission and 690 (9.2%) developed acute kidney injury during PICU admission. Compared to Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes criteria as the reference standard, high risk of acute kidney injury had a lower sensitivity and higher specificity compared with renal angina index greater than or equal to 8 on day 1. For the admission model, the adjusted odds ratio of developing acute kidney injury for high risk of acute kidney injury was 4.2 (95% CI, 3.3-5.2). The adjusted odds ratio in the noncardiac cohort for high risk of acute kidney injury was 7.3 (95% CI, 5.5-9.7). For the day 1 model, odds ratios for high risk of acute kidney injury and renal angina index greater than or equal to 8 were 3.3 (95% CI, 2.6-4.2) and 3.1 (95% CI, 2.4-3.8), respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between high risk of acute kidney injury and acute kidney injury needs further evaluation. High risk of acute kidney injury performed better in the noncardiac cohort.
METHODS: We did a non-systematic review, and the literature was searched in Google, Science Direct and PubMed. An overview is provided for the formulation of polymeric nanoparticles using different methods, effect of surface modification on the nanoparticle properties with types of polymeric nanoparticles and preparation methods. An account of different nanomedicine employed with therapeutic agent to cross the BBB alone with biodistribution of the drugs.
RESULTS: We found that various types of polymeric nanoparticle systems are available and they prosper in delivering the therapeutic amount of the drug to the targeted area. The effect of physicochemical properties on nanoformulation includes change in their size, shape, elasticity, surface charge and hydrophobicity. Surface modification of polymers or nanocarriers is also vital in the formulation of nanoparticles to enhance targeting efficiency to the brain.
CONCLUSION: More standardized methods for the preparation of nanoparticles and to assess the relationship of surface modification on drug delivery. While the preparation and its output like drug loading, particle size, and charge, permeation is always conflicted, so it requires more attention for the acceptance of nanoparticles for brain delivery.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional review was conducted on medical records of all cataract surgeries carried out in Hospital Keningau, Sabah. This study used all patients' medical records who had been assessed using immersion biometry pre-operatively, underwent phacoemulsification cataract surgery besides attending a post-operative refraction session within 90 days from the operation date. Clinical details were recorded in the form of standard proformas and analysed. The refractive outcome was evaluated using spherical equivalence (SE) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). The percentage of cases with post-operative SE within ±1.00 diopter (D) and BCVA of '6/12 or better' were determined. The association between demographic factors and surgical-related factors with post-operative SE was evaluated using Fisher's exact test.
Results: Of 140 cataract surgeries, 113 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The average patient age was 66.3 (SD = 10.9) years old. The technique was proven to replicate a good outcome of 84.1% of cases with post-operative SE within ±1.00 D while 90.3% of the cases achieved BCVA of '6/12 or better'. Age and ethnicity were found to be associated with post-operative SE.
Conclusion: The study proves the reproducibility of good refractive outcome in a rural facility using immersion biometry. The findings provide a benchmark for performance surveillance in rural facilities.
METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study in our multi-disciplinary Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from January 2015 to December 2018. All patients from birth to 16 years of age who were admitted to the pediatric ICU were included. The Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) definition was considered as the reference standard. We compared the incidence data assessed by KDIGO, pediatric risk, injury, failure, loss of kidney function and end- stage renal disease (pRIFLE) and pediatric reference change value optimised for AKI (pROCK).
RESULTS: Out of 7505 patients, 9.2% developed AKI by KDIGO criteria. The majority (59.8%) presented with stage 1 AKI. Recovery from AKI was observed in 70.4% of patients within 7 days from diagnosis. Both pRIFLE and pROCK were less sensitive compared to KDIGO criteria for the classification of AKI. Patients who met all three-KDIGO, pRIFLE and pROCK criteria had a high mortality rate (35.0%).
CONCLUSION: Close to one in ten patients admitted to the pediatric ICU met AKI criteria according to KDIGO. In about 30% of patients, AKI persisted beyond 7 days. Follow-up of patients with persistent kidney function reduction at hospital discharge is needed to reveal the long-term morbidity due to AKI in the pediatric ICU.