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Background: Sirenomelia is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by the fusion of two lower limbs, resulting in the mermaid’s tail appearance. Sirenomelia is a very rare syndrome and can be fatal to the infant. This syndrome might be sporadic or have a genetic basis. The etiology of sirenomelia is unknown but said to be multifactorial. Some maternal factors associated with sirenomelia include diabetes melitus, maternal age under 20 years and monozygote twinning. Case report: This report presented four cases of sirenomelia that occurred during 2006-2019 at Fatemieh Hospital, a tertiary maternal-neonatal center, Hamadan, Iran. All of the pregnancies were complicated by oligohydramnios. None of the mothers were younger than 20 years, and none had diabetes mellitus. Moreover, their drug history during pregnancy was negative. All newborns had low Apgar scores and died a few minutes after birth, indicating their poor outcomes. None of the cases were diagnosed prenatally, and all newborns were firstborn infants. Conclusion: Sirenimelia is a rare lethal condition, which requires prenatal diagnosis for abortion planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: So far, no study has been conducted in Iran on the effect of COVID-19 on neonates. Therefore, the present cross-sectional study has been evaluated to determine the clinical manifestations and outcomes in neonates infected with COVID-19 in the west of Iran. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among neonates infected with COVID-19 in six provinces of Hamadan, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Ilam, Zanjan and Lorestan, located in the west of Iran, from 1 March to 1 July 2020. In these neonates, the polymerase chain reaction test was positive. The data were collected by a checklist and were analysed using SPSS Statistics Software. Result: During the study period, 16 neonates infected with COVID-19 were identified including Kurdistan Province with five cases, Hamadan Province four cases, Kermanshah with three cases, and Lorestan and Zanjan provinces with two cases. Neonate gender of them had equal distribution. Two (15.38%) of them needed CPR after delivery. The delivery method for 9 (56.25%) was vaginal, and one of them died during the study period. The medical care used for these neonates was as follows: 87.5% were hospitalized in the intensive care unit and antibiotics were used for 68.75%. 12.5% underwent COVID-19-specific treatment, and for 25%, a ventilator was used. The laboratory findings in neonates infected with COVID-19 showed that in 18.75%, blood urea nitrogen has increased. 46.15% of neonates reported lymphocytopenia. The blood haematocrit and haemoglobin decreased by 31.35% and 56.25%, respectively. Conclusion: The coronavirus disease 2019 has occurred among neonates, but they seemed to have a milder disease course and better prognosis than adults. Findings showed that there is a possibility of vertical intrauterine transmission from pregnant mothers to newborns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Objective: Iron deficiency before birth or in infancy can cause long-term behavioral and neurological disorders. Measuring serum ferritin is an effective way to diagnose iron deficiency but requires significant blood volume from a low birth weight infant. Therefore, the present study was performed to investigate the relationship between serum and urinary ferritin levels in low birth weight infants. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 76 infants weighing less than 2500 g were studied. To measure serum ferritin level, 1.5 mL of blood and to measure urinary ferritin level, at least 1 mL of urine was collected from each infant. Then the results were compared. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 16, and the significance level was considered less than 0.05. Results: Out of 76 neonates studied, 51.3% were boys, and 80.3% were premature infants. The mean birth weight of infants was 2056.31±318.74 g, and the mean serum and urinary ferritin levels were 134.77±72.35 and 85.55±70.97 ng, respectively. There was a statistically significant relationship between serum and urinary ferritin levels. Also, serum ferritin and urinary ferritin levels had a statistically significant relationship with birth weight and gestational age. The higher the birth weight as well as the age at birth, the higher the serum ferritin and urinary ferritin. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, measurement of urinary ferritin level can be used as a noninvasive tool for iron deficiency screening in low birth weight infants instead of serum ferritin level . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]