Pediatric Inpatients at the King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1985G-1989G

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Letters to the EditorPediatric Inpatients at the King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1985G-1989G Khalid N. HaqueFRCP (Lond, Edin, Ire) FAAP, FPAMS, DCH Khalid N. Haque Consultant Neonatologist/Senior Lecturer, St. Helier Hospital, Surrey, England Search for more papers by this author Published Online:1 Nov 1993https://doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.1993.570SectionsPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail AboutIntroductionTo the Editor: I was very interested in the article by Professor Bahakim et al [1] in a recent issue of the Annals. Whereas I would fully agree with the authors that “hospital-based data is selective and at best reflects only the general pattern of diseases in a given population”, even to do this, the data must be truly representative of the pattern of hospital admissions. For example, it is not made clear in the article whether the high number of neonatal admissions were due to “outborn” babies or “inborn” babies at King Khalid University Hospital. If the latter is the case, as I suspect it is, then the authors’ comment that “This preponderance of neonates and infants among the admissions probably reflects the high birth rate in Saudi Arabia” is incorrect; it only reflects the increasing number of deliveries at that hospital.I am also not quite sure whether in 1993 it is prudent to classify prematurity and intrauterine growth retardation into one category. They are two entirely different diagnostic and management categories. Although there may be some overlap, they should be classified quite separately. I stress this point because it has implications in provision of health care, i.e., whereas it is slightly more difficult to reduce the rate of prematurity, it is much easier to reduce the rate of intrauterine growth retardation. If my memory serves me correctly, Drs. Youssef Al-Essa and Ba-Akeel of King Saud University had determined the high risk population for intrauterine growth retardation and suggested measures to reduce this. I am afraid that I do not have the reference at hand.My third query to the authors would be, how did they overcome the overlap in the diagnostic categories such as premature plus/minus birth asphyxia or prematurity plus/minus respiratory disorders? I was also intrigued by the high incidence of hyperthermia; I would have thought that hypothermia was more likely to feature as a diagnostic category than hyperthermia, which is unusual in neonates.My last point is to congratulate the authors on being able to allocate diagnostic categories in 44 (5%) cases of neonatal jaundice. In many institutions, etiological factors for jaundice are documented in much smaller numbers.ARTICLE REFERENCES:1. Bahakim HM, Bamgboye EA, Mahdi AH, et al.. "Pediatric inpatients at The King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh Saudi Arabia 1985-1989" . Ann Saudi Med. 1993; 13(1):8-13. Google Scholar Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 13, Issue 6November 1993 Metrics History Published online1 November 1993 InformationCopyright © 1993, Annals of Saudi MedicinePDF download