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Background Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive motor disability that mostly results from perinatal complications. It demands extensive and multidisciplinary care, which poses a burden for patients and their families and a challenge to health systems. We aimed to evaluate the effect of stem cells transplantation on gross motor functioning of CP patients. Patients and Methods: It is a prospective study conducted on 20 children diagnosed with cerebral palsy with severe motor disability (GMFC 5) further classified into two groups according to age. The study was carried out from January 2018 to January 2020. Follow up of the patients was done before injection of stem cells and 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after injection of stem cells using Gross motor function classification scale (GMFC). Results: The study revealed that GMFC scores in pre-injection and 3,6,9and 12 months evaluations were not statistically significant when compared among the two groups while significant improvement was found in gross motor scale from pre-injection to final injection score in each group. Median GMFC changed from 5 to 2 among all cases. Conclusion: Gross motor function in children with CP remarkably improved after stem cell transplantation.

Background: The heterogeneous clinical presentation of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) turned the wheel of clinical research work toward verification of the nature of this disorder. Tools that assess language skills among children with language delay of unidentified causes should be overlooked, updated and standardized in order to help in understanding language development in relation to other developmental profile.Patients and Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study carried on in the period between January 2017 and January 2019. Two groups of children were examined: 20 children previously diagnosed by exclusionary and inclusionary criteria as children with SLI and 40 (20 males and 20 females) were normally developed children matching the socio-demographic data of children in the first group. They were subjected to an assessment protocol that included: Standardized Arabic test (Modified Preschool Language Scale -4th edition Arabic form (PLS-4) and assessment of gross and fine motor skills by developmental scale of preschool children (Arabic standardized LAP)).Results: Children with SLI were significantly impaired in the gross-motor developmental quotient as well as their fine-motor developmental quotient. Delayed developmental quotient in the motoric domains were mainly related to late age of presentation of language deficit, first order of birth, increased the gap between language age and chronological age.Conclusion: SLI showed varied degrees of motoric deficit either on the gross aspects or fine one. This deficit was related to some aspects of the disorder.

Current research has shown that gut microbiota may play a fundamental role in neurological activity, behavior, mood, cognition, and possibly for the onset as well as the severity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous studies emphasized the possible correlation between Clostridium spp., gut colonization, and possible development or exacerbating of ASD in affected children. The aim of the present study was to investigate how Clostridia gut colonization can have an impact on the neurological outcome and anthropometric values in ASD children. The present study included 60 children (30 ASD and 30 neurotypical controls) of both sexes aged from 2 to 8 years. Children with ASD were diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), as well as the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) was used to determine Clostridium presence in the stools of the enrolled subjects. The number of Clostridium spp. (Clostridium paraputri, Clostridium bolteae, and Clostridium perfringens) found in the stools of ASD children was greater than neurotypical children. Children with ASD had two types of Clostridium (Clostridium diffiicile and Clostridium clostridiioforme) not found in neurotypical children, whereas neurotypical children yielded only one species (Clostridium tertium) not found in the ASD children. The present study emphasizes the potential correlation between gut colonization of Clostridia and the probability of developing or exacerbating ASD among Egyptian children. If Clostridium bacteria play a potential role in the etiology of ASD, this may open the possibility for effective treatment of these patients.

Introduction b-Thalassemia major (B-TM) is a serious health problem in which children are in need of regular blood transfusions from a very young age to survive. They also need to receive iron chelation therapy to remove excess iron from their bodies, which imposes serious risk on their health and quality of life (QOL). Hence, this study was designed to assess the QOL of Egyptian B-TM children and adolescents in comparison with their healthy peers. Materials and methods A total of 127 B-TM patients and 65 healthy volunteers were enrolled and interviewed at the Ain Shams University Thalassemia Center. QOL assessment was made using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 Generic Core Scale. Results The controls had higher QOL scores in all domains at the start of the study (P Conclusion B-TM patients had a poor QOL; high hemoglobin level and low iron overload were associated with improved QOL scores. Egyptian J Haematol 39:-0 © 2014 The Egyptian Society of Haematology.