الفهرس 
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Abstract
Severe malnutrition during the first year of life is harmful to the infant, results in a reduced number of cells in the brain as well as reduction in total lipids, cholesterol and phospholipid content. If the malnutrition is prolonged into the second year then the lipid/DNA ratio or the amount of lipid per cell is also reduced.
Aim of the work:
The study was designed to investigate the effect of malnutrition on the developing brain of the children suffering from PEM by measurement of visual evoked potentials (VEP), using Neuropack Manager NIHON-KOHDEN VERSION 08-14 copyright 1997-2008.
It is obvious that protein deficiency and deficiency of essential fatty acids can have persistent effects on the biochemical maturity of the brain.
VEPs are used primarily to measure the functional integrity of the visual pathways from retina via the optic nerves to the visual cortex of the brain (Hemalatha et al., 2015).
Subjects and methods:
The present study was done during the period from January 2014 to June 2015. Patients were recruited from the pediatric inpatient department at Maternity and Children’s university hospital.
This included 34 children who were classified into two groups:
Study group: This group included 20 children, 6 males (30%) and 14 females (70%) with protein energy malnutrition. Their ages ranged from 2 months to 14 months.
Control group: This group include 14 healthy children.
Studied children were subjected to, thorough history taking, full clinical examination, their measurements were taken and were plotted on WHO growth charts, they were classified into normal and malnourished according to Z- score, samples were taken for laboratory investigations and finally measurement of gVEPs was done under chloral hydrate sedation by using Neuropack Manager NIHON-KOHDEN.