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Growth indices in urinary tract infection children with or without vesicoureteral reflux
Majid Malaki1, Sayed Abolhassan Sayedzadeh, Maryam Shoaran
1Pediatric Nephrology Department, Tabriz Medical University, Tabriz Children Hospital, Tabriz, Iran. madjimalaki@gmail.com
Insights
Urinary tract infections (UTI) in young children do not impact growth, even with vesico-ureteral reflux (VUR). Studies show no correlation between VUR severity or laterality and growth indices like weight-height index (WHI) or height standard deviation score (HSDS).
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Nephrology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Urinary tract infections (UTI) are common in children under five.
- Vesico-ureteral reflux (VUR) is a potential complication of UTI.
- Assessing the impact of VUR on child growth is crucial for clinical management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate growth quality in children under five with UTI.
- To compare growth indices between children with and without VUR.
- To determine if VUR severity or laterality affects growth.
Main Methods:
- A study of 106 children under five with UTI was conducted.
- Children were categorized into four groups based on VUR presence and severity (none, mild, moderate, severe).
- Growth was assessed using weight-height index (WHI) and height standard deviation score (HSDS).
Main Results:
- All subgroups showed a weight-height index (WHI) below 100%.
- No statistically significant correlation was found between VUR severity and WHI.
- The difference in mean height standard deviation score (HSDS) across VUR groups was statistically insignificant.
Conclusions:
- VUR, regardless of severity or laterality, does not impact growth indices in children with UTI and normal glomerular filtration rate.
- Growth quality in young children with UTI is not significantly affected by the presence or grade of VUR.
- Clinical monitoring of growth may not require specific stratification based on VUR in children with normal kidney function.
Abstract:
To determine the growth quality in children, less than 5 years of age, affected with urinary tract infection (UTI) and to compare the indices between patients with and without vesico-ureteral reflux (VUR) based on their reflux severity and/or laterality, we studied 106 children less than 5 years of age with UTI at Imam Reza Hospital of Kermanshah, Iran, and divided the study group into four subgroups based on their cystouretrography results as follows: Group 0: without reflux (as control group); Group 1: mild VUR; Group 2: moderate VUR; and Group 3: severe VUR. In all the subgroups, weight height index (WHI) was lower than 100% and was 96%, 93%, 95%, and 98%, respectively. We found no correlation between reflux severity and WHI in all the subgroups. In addition, the difference in the mean height standard deviation score (HSDS) (0.10, -0.12, -0.19, and -0.22, respectively) in the different subgroups was statistically insignificant. The mean WHI in the group with unilateral and bilateral reflux was 94.5% ± 8.9% and 95.0% ± 8.16%, respectively, while the mean HSDS was -0.16 ± 0.35 and -0.18 ± 0.38, respectively, and the difference was statistically insignificant in both the cases. We conclude that in children with UTI and normal glomerular filtration rate, the existence of reflux with all grades of severity and laterality exerts no impact on the growth index.
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