Abstract
Objective: To determine the clinical presentation of congenital adrenal hyperplasia and short- term response to treatment.
Background: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a genetic disorder which usually presents with life threatening emergencies. Awareness of physicians regarding these presentations is an essential for early diagnosis and lifesaving treatment. In view of the prevalence of the condition as reported from tertiary care centers within the country and other parts of the globe, we had carried out a study in the paediatric department of Shaheed Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana.
Material and Methods: The study was conducted over a period of one year from July 2012 to June 2013. All infants presenting with vomiting, dehydration, shock, failure to thrive and ambiguous genitalia were examined and investigated thoroughly. The diagnosis was based upon a raised level of serum 17 OHP in a child with suggestive clinical features.
Results: A total of 40 children were diagnosed to have CAH during the study period. The major presenting features were vomiting in 13 (32.5%), ambiguous genitalia 17 (42.5%), vomiting and ambiguous genitalia 10 (25%), shock 5(12.5%) and failure to thrive in 13 (32.5%) of cases. All the patients were followed up after initiation of treatment and good response was observed to short-term treatment.
Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of common clinical features like vomiting, unreasonable dehydration, shock and ambiguous genitalia being the presenting features of CAH and the effectiveness of replacement therapy in amending life threatening emergencies due to this condition.

Key words: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, vomiting and shock, ambiguous genitalia.