Clinical Profile of Childhood Tuberculosis in a Tertiary Care Rural Hospital

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem, despite noteworthy socioeconomic development and advances in medical science. It is a curable disease but still millions of people suffer every year and a number of them die from this infectious disease, resulting in devastating social and economic impact. TB treatment requires several months of swallowing a combination of 3 to 4 drugs every day. Patients often forget to take their medicines or stop taking them when they start to feel better. The Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP), based on the internationally recommended Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) strategy was launched. Studies of paediatric TB are scantily available both in global and national context. Reliable data on the treatment of paediatric TB and its follow up are not available. Hence, a study of paediatric TB is designed to evaluate the clinical profile of childhood tuberculosis and following up the treatment outcome upto 6 months Materials and methods: The study was carried out in the Department of Pediatrics at Dhiraj Hospital, Piparia. Recruitment took place from February 2014 to February 2015. The clinical profile of 71 patients was studied. Results: There was preponderance of males (60.56%, n=43) in study population as compared to females (39.44%, n=28). Most of the patients were belonging to age group of <6 years (32.4%, n=23) and >10 years (38.0%, n=27). Among 6 to 10 years, 21 (29.6%) patients were included in study. Most common form of TB was extra-pulmonary TB (60.56%, n=43) followed by pulmonary TB (39.43%, n=28). Non-specific symptoms like fever (82.5%, n=66) was the commonest presenting symptoms. Other symptoms included cough (33.8%, n=24), altered sensorium (19.71%, n=14), swelling (15.5%, Muley P, Odedara T, Memon R, Sethi A, Gandhi D. Clinical Profile of Childhood Tuberculosis in a Tertiary Care Rural Hospital. IAIM, 2017; 4(6): 109-124. Page 110 n=11). From all, the patient with follow up (n=50), 44 (88.0%) were cured, 3 (6.0%) patients expired during the course of treatment, 3(6.0%) patient showed no improvement. Conclusion: Diagnosis of paediatric tuberculosis still continues to be a challenge. In the study TB was more common in extra-pulmonary than pulmonary forms in our setting. Diagnosis was based on a combination of epidemiological and clinical suspicion supported by results of various investigations. Presence of paediatric TB is an indication of prevalence of TB in that community. As the source of transmission of TB to children is usually an adult, control of tuberculosis in adult is necessary to decrease the prevalence of TB in children. DOTS is an effective strategy for treatment of TB.

Clinico-epidemiological profile and validation of symptoms and signs of severe illness in young infants (< 60 days) reporting to a district hospital.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical and epidemiological profile of infants less than 2 months of age reporting to a district hospital and to assess the ability of simple clinical symptoms and signs used by health workers to detect severe illness warranting hospital admission. METHODS: It was an observational study done at a general district hospital at Chandigarh, North India. Infants less than 2 months of age presenting to this hospital were enrolled. All infants were first evaluated by an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) to record a pre-determined set of symptoms and signs. A pediatrician who was blinded to the findings of the ANM did an independent assessment for severe illness needing urgent hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 1268 infants were enrolled. Of these, 356 (28%) were below 7 days of age. Overall, regurgitation, vomiting and stool problems (25%) were the most common presenting complaints in the first 2 months of life, followed by jaundice (22%) and respiratory symptoms (15%). 112 (8.8%) infants were classified as having "severe illness requiring urgent hospital management" by the pediatrician. Nearly half (46%) of the admissions were because of jaundice while 17% each were due to sepsis and pneumonia / lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). A history of not feeding well (OR 14.7, 8.0 and 11.3 in 0-6, 7-27 and 28-59 days age groups, respectively) and a respiratory rate >60/min (OR 21.5, 6.2 and 10.5 in 0-6, 7-27 and 28-59 days age groups, respectively) had significant positive predictive value to predict severe illness (except jaundice) in all the 3 age groups studied. In the second month of life, severe chest in-drawing (OR 4.6) was also a significant predictor. CONCLUSIONS: Simple clinical signs are useful in hands of health worker for identifying neonates with serious illness warranting hospital admission. These will be of use in the further development of clinical algorithms for the national integrated management of childhood illnesses.

Juvenile hyaline fibromatosis--a rare case report.

Fibromatosis is a group of disorders characterized by infiltrating fibroblastic proliferation. Among them Juvenile hyaline fibromatosis (J.H.F) is a rare, progressive, crippling autosomal recessive disorder diagnosed based on the characteristic clinicopathological findings of generalized cutaneous nodular lesions, gingival hypertrophy, flexion contractures of large joints with osteolytic lesions, and proliferating fibroblasts set within a hyalinized stroma. This disorder commonly manifests in childhood with family history of consanguinity and in siblings. A case of seven year old boy born to consanguinous parents is reported who presented with multiple subcutaneous nodules and gingival hypertrophy. Histopathological examination revealed proliferating fibroblasts embedded in an abundant homogeneous eosinophilic hyalinized matrix. The matrix showed PAS stain positivity, supporting the pathogenesis of this disorder as an inborn error of glycosaminoglycans metabolism. The differential diagnosis is discussed and the literature reviewed.

Isolated pure lipoma of the uterus--a case report.

Lipoma primary to uterus is a rare entity among uterine fatty tumors. These create preoperative diagnostic confusion and their histogenesis is still unclear. Only a few cases of pure lipoma of uterus have been reported in the last few decades. A case of isolated pure lipoma primary to uterus diagnosed postoperatively by pathological examination is presented.

Hairy polyp of nasopharynx--a case report.

A specific subtype of teratoid tumour occurring in nasopharynx and oropharynx has been mentioned as 'hairy polyp'. This is a rare lesion and is to be differentiated from true teratomas. A case of hairy polyp of nasopharynx in a 12 year old girl is reported.

Primary synovial chondromatosis--a case report.

Synovial chondromatosis are rare tumours encountered in hip, knee and shoulder joints. Synovial chondromatosis at metatarso-phalangeal joints are still rarer. Herein is reported a case of primary synovial chondromatosis of metatarsophalangeal joint in 54-year-old male. A brief review of previous published articles has been dealt herewith.

Dermatoglyphics in nasobronchial allergic disorders.

Fifty persons having nasobronchial allergy diagnosed by a positive skin test were compared with age and sex matched normal individuals for dermatoglyphic palmer patterns. The palmer prints were obtained on white art paper using Kores duplicating ink. In female patients, total number of whorls was less, more so on digit IV of left hand. Digit V of right hand had low frequency of ulnar loops, the d-t ridge count was low. In male patients, ulnar loops were less frequent on digit III of right hand. Total finger ridge count was less in both sexes. High frequency of arches was observed in female patients and in total. Digit V of left hand in females and in total patients revealed high frequency of arches. a-b ridge count was high in males and in total patients.

Correlation between serum choline esterase and serum albumin in leprosy.

The clinical material included 255 cases of leprosy consisting of Tuberculoid leprosy (74), Lepromatous leprosy (116), Lepromatous leprosy with lepra reaction. Liver biopsy could be performed on 50 cases of Lepromatous leprosy. Specific granulomatous changes and parenchymal cell damage were the significant findings. Serum choline esterase and serum albumin are synthesized in liver. Serum Choline esterase levels in the present study decreased abruptly with exacerbation of the disease but the serum albumin levels declined gradually and slowly. Possible hypothesis to explain the correlation and uneven fall in activity is discussed at the cellular level.