ABSTRACT
Background: Malaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide. India contributes a substantial burden of malaria. It can cause several complications. Aims and Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the association of parasitemia of current malaria with age of patients, hemoglobin level, liver function test (LFT), platelet count, previous history of malaria, and relapse/recrudescence of malaria up to 1 year. Materials and Methods: An observational study conducted in hospital settings included thin and thick smear preparation with Leishman’s staining to determine the parasitemia as per the WHO guidelines from the blood samples of 280 malaria parasite dual antigen (MPDA) kit positive patients and their details were taken during study period of 2 years. Hemoglobin, LFT, and platelet count were tested and they were correlated with parasitemia. The previous history of malaria was taken and follow-up was done up to 1 year for relapse/recrudescence and their association with parasitemia in current disease was evaluated. Statistical tool R was used for data analysis. Results: Age group 20–40 years was most commonly affected with maximum mean percentage parasitemia. Higher parasitemia was associated with higher grade of anemia, LFT derangement, and thrombocytopenia. Disease severity was maximum for mixed infection followed by falciparum and vivax malaria. About 9.28% of patients with the previous history of malaria developed lower parasitemia in current infection. Relapse rate in vivax malaria –2.325% and recrudescence rate in falciparum malaria–12.5%. Conclusion: Malaria parasitemia should be reported routinely as it carries prognostic importance.
ABSTRACT
Background: Primary extra-nodal lymphomas (ENLs) are rare neoplasm but can affect many organ systems of body. Proper and timely diagnosis and justified treatment of primary ENL are often affected due to variety of lymphoma types and the relative rarity of many of these tumor types. They are mainly of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma which further consists of many subtypes having variation of epidemiology and clinical presentation along with geographic distribution. Aim and Objectives: Aim and objectives of the study were to find out topographical distribution and histological patterns of ENL along with their immunohistochemical character in a tertiary care hospital of Eastern India. Materials and Methods: All the cases from April 2015 to March 2018 diagnosed as ENL by histopathological examination were included in this descriptive cross-sectional study for further immunohistochemical analysis for CD45 Life-cycle assessment (LCA), CD3 and CD 20 to identify the cell of origin (B cell vs. T cell). Results: Out of total 31 cases, 67.74% were male and the most common age group was 51–60 years. Gastrointestinal tract was the most common organ system (61.29% of cases) affected and stomach (29.03%) followed by Ileum (9.67%) were the most common sites affected by ENL. Histomorphologically diffuse large cell lymphoma was the most common pattern while immunohistochemistry study revealed all the cases were B cell type with LCA and CD 20 positive and CD3 negative. Conclusion: This study revealed the topographical pattern along with predominant histomorphological and immunohistochemical character of ENL in study population. However, further studies with meta- analysis can enlighten these characters more comprehensively.
ABSTRACT
Background: Although most of the COVID-19 patients presented with mild symptoms and recovered, a considerable number of cases became serious with poor prognosis in an unpredictable manner. They mostly presented with respiratory symptoms and coagulation abnormalities with thrombosis and multi-organ failure. Hence, timely prediction of these cases with the early intervention might decrease mortality. Aims and Objectives: The objectives of this were to determine whether values of fibrinogen, fibrin degradation products (FDP), and D-dimer level correlates with disease severity in COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: This observational cross-sectional study was done on total 400 hospitalized COVID-19 adult patients where patients were categorized into moderate and severe cases as per guideline of Government of India. Patients with pre-existing coagulation disorder or receiving anticoagulant drugs were excluded from the study. FDP, fibrinogen, and D-dimer values of these two groups were evaluated and compared statistically to determine their significance. Results: Overall mean and standard deviation of fibrinogen, FDP, and D-dimer were 607.48 ± 177.73, 34.93 ± 29.2, and 6.23 ± 6.48 for severe category, while for moderate category disease, they were 389.77 ± 110.16, 10.79 ± 10.47, and 1.96 ± 3.3, respectively. Unpaired t-test showed that the study parameters are significantly higher in severe COVID-19 patients compared to moderate ones. Conclusion: It was concluded that elevated level of D-dimer, fibrinogen, and FDP is indicator of disease progression in COVID-19. Thus, regular estimation of these simple coagulation parameters may predict disease severity and help in adequate management.