Spirometric assessment of pulmonary functions in adult with documented primary hypothyroidism

Introduction: Hypothyroidism is a common endocrine problem, state of deficient thyroid hormones, may be result of many etiologies. Primary hypothyroidism is a subset of Hypothyroidism which accounts for 95% of the cases, only 5% are due to secondary causes. Respiratory manifestations are seldom the major complaints in hypothyroidism. Lung volumes are usually normal, but few studies have shown findings suggestive of restrictive pattern of impairment. This has been attributed to decrease in both expiratory and inspiratory muscle strength, alveolar hypoventilation due to depression of hypoxic and hypercapnic ventilatory drives. Aim of the Study: To study the pulmonary functions of individuals with primary hypothyroidism by performing spirometry, to compare the spirometric findings of primary hypothyroidism patients with euthyroid individuals. Materials and methods: Sample size of the study was around 50 patients. 25 patients were controls who were free from thyroid disease. 25 subjects were diagnosed primary hypothyroidism patients were included in the study. The patients and controls were evaluated as per the predesigned proforma and relevant investigations were done to assess their cardiac status and pulmonary status. Results: The FEV1, FVC, PEFR were found to be decreased and the FEV1/ FVC % was found to be increased in Primary hypothyroidism group when compared to control group. G Ramachandran, N. Chidambaram, S. Periyasamy, R. Santhaprabu. Spirometric assessment of pulmonary functions in adult with documented primary hypothyroidism. IAIM, 2016; 3(12): 115-122. Page 116 Conclusion: Pulmonary functions of individuals with primary hypothyroidism patients was by assessed by spirometry and compared with euthyroid individuals. Spirometry values were consistently lower in primary hypothyroidsm patients .Females are more affected than males. Spirometry values shows restrictive pattern.

Empirical model for estimating dengue incidence using temperature, rainfall, and relative humidity: a 19-year retrospective analysis in East Delhi / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVES: Aedes mosquitoes are responsible for transmitting the dengue virus. The mosquito lifecycle is known to be influenced by temperature, rainfall, and relative humidity. This retrospective study was planned to investigate whether climatic factors could be used to predict the occurrence of dengue in East Delhi. METHODS: The number of monthly dengue cases reported over 19 years was obtained from the laboratory records of our institution. Monthly data of rainfall, temperature, and humidity collected from a local weather station were correlated with the number of monthly reported dengue cases. One-way analysis of variance was used to analyse whether the climatic parameters differed significantly among seasons. Four models were developed using negative binomial generalized linear model analysis. Monthly rainfall, temperature, humidity, were used as independent variables, and the number of dengue cases reported monthly was used as the dependent variable. The first model considered data from the same month, while the other three models involved incorporating data with a lag phase of 1, 2, and 3 months, respectively. RESULTS: The greatest number of cases was reported during the post-monsoon period each year. Temperature, rainfall, and humidity varied significantly across the pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon periods. The best correlation between these three climatic factors and dengue occurrence was at a time lag of 2 months. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that temperature, rainfall, and relative humidity significantly affected dengue occurrence in East Delhi. This weather-based dengue empirical model can forecast potential outbreaks 2-month in advance, providing an early warning system for intensifying dengue control measures.

Are we overlooking infections owing to non-tuberculous mycobacteria during routine conventional laboratory investigations?

A large number of potentially pathogenic non-tuberculous mycobacteria [NTM] encountered in the clinical laboratory makes it necessary to identify their species to ensure appropriate treatment. However, labor-intensive conventional methods of speciation are not used in every laboratory, and hence NTM infections are often ignored. Polymerase chain reaction [PCR] restriction analysis [PRA] was applied in this study for early identification and speciation of mycobacterial species on 306 cultures of acid-fast bacilli isolated from patients suspected of suffering from tuberculosis. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was identified in 85.6% of the isolates. The NTM isolated most commonly was Mycobacterium kansasii/gastri group [3.5%], followed by Mycobacterium fortuitum [3.2%]. Four of the M. fortuitum were grown from cultures obtained on the same day, but from samples from different patients and were probably laboratory contaminants. Mycobacterium intracellulare and Mycobacterium avium were identified in 2.94% and 2.28% of the isolates, respectively. Three isolates of M. avium and two isolates of M. intracellulare were obtained in repeated cultures from sputum samples of the same patients and were thus pathogenic. A single isolate of Mycobacterium abscessus was obtained from a breast abscess. A rare pathogen Mycobacterium phocaicum was isolated from one patient with epididymitis. However, whether it was the causative agent of epididymitis in this patient remains doubtful. The results of this study highlight the importance of speciation of mycobacteria for appropriate diagnosis and the importance of including molecular assays to augment conventional methods of diagnosis of mycobacterial diseases for rapid identification of NTM so that these potential pathogens are not overlooked in routine diagnostic procedures.

Adenoviral conjunctivo-corneal epithelitis: an unusual clinical presentation of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis study / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

Adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis is caused by adenovirus serotypes 8,19,37.Typical signs of adenoviral con-junctivitis include preauricular lymphadenopathy, conjunc-tival hyperemia, chemosis, subconjunctival hemorrhage and follicular conjunctival reaction. Corneal involvement in adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis is variable. Most patients have a diffuse, fine, superficial keratitis with focal, elevated, punctate epithelial lesions which become subepithelial opacities later. We had a 35 years old male who had unusual clinical presentation of adenoviral conjunctivitis in the form of conjunctivo-corneal epithelitis which has not been described in the literature.Patient was managed successfully by conserva-tive treatment alone. Conjunctivo-corneal epithelitis can be unusual clinical presentation of adenoviral kerato-conjunctivitis.