Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: a useful tool to diagnose hypertension and supervise it's treatment.

Automatic ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) for the diagnosis and treatment ofhypertension(HTN) is not common in Nepal. The purpose of this study is to evaluate various characteristics of hypertensive patients undergoing ABPM before starting antihypertensive treatment and evaluate the adequacy of the blood pressure (BP) control during antihypertensive treatment. ABPM was performed in 108 consecutive patients attending the hypertension clinic of Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital from 1st March 2005 to 30th April 2007 with DynaPulse 5000A (version 3.20q ) for approximately 24 hours. Male female ratio was 59:49 and age (mean +/- SD) was 47.8 +/- 16.4 years. The maximum use of ABPM (25.9%) was noted in the age group of 40-49 years. Body mass index was 25.7 +/- 3.8. Diabetes was noted in 13% patients. Maximum use of ABPM was observed in Newar ethnic group (56.5%). ABPM was used for the diagnosis of HTN in 62.0% patients and for follow up in 38.0% patients. Severe HTN was seen in approximately half (47.2%) of the hypertensive patients. Majority of the patients (88.0%) had dipper type of HTN. Beta-blocker (35.6%), ACE inhibitor/Losartan (31.1%) and calcium channel antagonist (26.7%) were the usual antihypertensive agents used. Single antihypertensive agent was used in the majority of patients (64.1%). In a small number of patients (42, 38.9%) undergoing ABPM during antihypertensive therapy, the adequacy of control of HTN was very poor.

Drug use among the urban poor in Kolkata: behaviour and environment correlates of low HIV infection.

BACKGROUND: HIV infection in injecting drug users (IDUs) has worked as a driving force for further spread of the virus in other population groups. Major metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Kolkota, Chennai and Delhi have seen a diffusion of injecting drug use within the last decade. The prevalence of HIV infection among injectors ranges from 2% to 30%. Identifying effective interventional elements that have kept the prevalence of HIV low for the past 7 years among IDUs of Kolkata is thus of public health importance. METHODS: A purposive sample of opioid/opiate users was studied. Primary and secondary data on drug users, law-enforcement environment, records at drug treatment centres, jail admission data related to the 'Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substance Act' and interventions in other risk groups were collected. Laboratory tests for HIV, hepatitis B surface antigen and syphilis were done on consenting IDUs (n=129) and non-IDUs (n=120). For univariate and multivariate analysis, IDUs were taken as cases and non-IDUs as controls. RESULT: Of the IDUs, 2% were positive for HIV. No non-IDU was HIV-positive. Significantly more non-IDUs (10% v. 4%, p=0.05) were positive for syphilis. Sharing injection equipment within the past 6 months was reported by 71% of IDUs; sharing partners were stable and ranged from 1 to 3. More IDUs compared to non-IDUs reported being in touch with intervention programmes. The police has been tolerant to needle-syringe exchange and oral sublingual buprenorphine substitution conducted in Kolkata. Unlike in the early 1990s, non-IDUs did not switch to injecting during non-availability of brown sugar in the latter half of the 1990s and instead sought tratment. The availability of high quality heroin (>20%-50%) was low and the proportion of moderate quality heroin (>10%-20%) went up during these times due to increased police seizures. No intervention exists in jails despite the fact that a large number of drug users spend time in jail. CONCLUSION: Stable and few injection equipment-sharing partners of IDUs, launching of early targeted interventions among IDUs and sex workers in the city, police tolerance to harm reduction activities and preference of non-IDUs for detoxification during heroin draught periods have kept HIV prevalence at a low level among drug users of Kolkata for the past 7 years. immediate launching of interventions for drug users in jails seems necessary. Similar multi-pronged strategies with targeted and environmental intervention could work in other settings as well.

Percutaneous retrogasserian radiofrequency thermal rhizotomy for trigeminal neuralgia.

Forty patients suffering from intractable unilateral trigeminal neuralgia involving more than one division of the trigeminal nerve were treated by percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation of the trigeminal sensory root. The aim of the operation was to relieve the pain without producing dense sensory deficit in the face. This goal was achieved by making selective lesions in the sensory root with gradually increasing temperature 60 degrees C to 90 degrees C. Three to four consecutive lesions each for 60 seconds have been found to produce excellent pain relief in 77.7% with good and fair results in the rest. The recurrence rate has been found to be 15% during 2 years of follow-up. Considerable dysaesthesia was observed in 5% of cases. Corneal anaesthesia was found in 5% cases while one patient developed neuroparalytic keratitis. Transient trigeminal motor weakness was observed in 10% of patients.