Nerve Conduction Among Children with Iron Deficiency

Authors

1 Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine for girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

2 Neurology, Faculty of Medicine for girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

3 Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine for Girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Background: Iron deficiency (ID) is a prevalent global nutritional issue, impacting myelin formation, neurotransmitter function, and brain energy metabolism, potentially leading to behavioral, developmental, and cognitive dysfunctions. Aim and objectives: To examine the electrophysiological consequences of iron deficiency on the peripheral nervous system. Patients and methods: This cross-sectional observational research was performed on 200 individuals, 100 of whom have iron deficiency anemia caused by iron deficiency. In addition, 100 age and sex-matched children were included as a control sample. They were selected from healthy siblings of admitted patients. This study was carried out at the Pediatric department of AL Zahraa University Hospital from October 2018 to November 2022. Results: Motor nerve conduction parameters revealed noted highly statistically significant variance as regards amplitude of peroneal nerve between control collection and patients' collection (P-value < 0.01).Regarding sensory nerve conduction parameters, a high statistically significant variance was observed regarding the peak latency of the bilat median nerve and ulnar nerve (P-value < 0.01); also, there was a statistically significant difference regarding the peak latency of the bilat sural nerve (P-value < 0.05). Conclusion: Iron deficiency, which affects over 2 billion individuals globally, is the most pervasive nutritional deficiency. The assessment and identification of peripheral nerve impairment in individuals with iron deficiency anemia can be facilitated through the electrophysiological investigation of the conductance of nerves.

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