SENSORY NERVE CONDUCTION VELOCITY IN MALNOURISHED CHILDREN

BACKGROUND Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) is the most widespread condition affecting the health of children in developing countries. Malnutrition in early childhood is characterized by nutritional deficiency at a crucial time in the development of the peripheral nerves. Nerve conduction studies can detect conduction changes in the peripheral nerves by measuring nerve conduction velocity. This study has been carried out to compare and analyse the Sensory Nerve Conduction Velocity (SNCV) between healthy controls and malnourished children. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was conducted on 60 children under five years of age with PEM who were divided into three age groups for statistical analysis: - Group 1: 01 year - 02 years, Group 2: > 02 years - 03 years, and Group 3: > 03 years - 04 years. Within each age group the patients were further divided into 2 groups on the basis of severity of malnutrition, first as suffering from mild-tomoderate malnutrition (grade 1 and 2 malnutrition) and second as suffering from severe malnutrition (grades 3 and 4 malnutrition). 45 healthy children (n= 15 for each age group) without any nutritional problems served as control subjects. Assessment of nutritional status was done according to the guidelines of the Nutrition Subcommittee of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics. Nerve conduction study was performed on median, ulnar and sural nerves with neuroperfect EMG/NCV/EP System and SNCV was measured. One-Way ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer post-hoc test was applied to analyse the statistical significance of changes in the SNCV. RESULTS The SNCV was significantly reduced in children with severe malnutrition. No significant difference in SNCV was found in children with mild-to-moderate malnutrition. CONCLUSION The results of this study show significant reduction in SNCV in children with severe PEM which may be due to nutritional deficiency affecting myelination of peripheral nerves. Moreover, no significant difference in SNCV in children with mild to moderate PEM indicate an association between severity of malnutrition with changes in nerve conduction.