Morphometric and Macroscopic Observations of Human Placenta in Eclampsia.

Objective: To assess some macroscopic changes in the placentas of eclamptic mothers in a tertiary care setting of eastern India. Design: Cross-sectional observational type of study. Methods: 44 placentas from 15 normotensive and 29 eclamptic mothers were collected after delivery at term and studied for area, weight and volume. Foetal surface was studied for insertion of umbilical cord, insertion of membranes and subchorionic fibrosis. Maternal surface was studied for retroplacental blood clot, calcification and infarct. Necessary statistical tests were done. Result: Statistically significant differences were observed in placental area, weight and volume between normotensive and eclamptic mothers. These showed that placental area, weight and volume were more in the former group with some exceptions. Subchorionic fibrosis, retroplacental blood clot, calcification and infarct were also more in placentas of eclamptic mothers. Conclusion: Eclampsia adversely affects the foetus through its harmful effects on placenta. The study agrees well with the findings of other investigators.

Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Deliberate Self Harm in Two Different Age Groups.

Objective: To study the different demographic and social factors predisposing to deliberate self harm in young (15 – 24 years) and elderly (45-74 years) people and compare. Method: Consecutive cases of Deliberate self harm attending Psychiatry OPD and admitted to Medical, Surgical and Psychiatric wards of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital were studied. Demographic history was taken both from patient and family members. For social factors two scales were used – Modified Kuppuswamy’s socioeconomic rating scale for urban people and Pareekh’s scale for rural people. Results: Demographic factors- In the present study some factors were found to be same but certain factors were found to be significantly different in these two age groups. In young age group females outnumbered males by a ratio of 3.8:1, whereas in elderly group number of females was less than males-ratio 1:2.1 In both groups Hindus were most common; most people came from urban area and studied up to secondary level. In young group most male people were self employed or students whereas elderly males were mostly in service or self employed workers, rest were retired. Most females in both groups were housewives. In young group 54.1% were single, rest were married. In elderly group all were married, but 12% were separated or divorced, widow or widower. In both groups most people came from small (member<5) nuclear family. Socioeconomic status: In both groups most people were from social class IV. Conclusion- Apart from age and sex composition there is not much difference in sociodemographic profile between young and elderly DSH patients. The difference found in marital status and occupation was probably due to their age difference.

Diagnostic evaluation of childhood cervical lymphadenopathy by fine needle aspiration cytology.

Lymphadenopathy is an age old affliction of mankind. It is one of the very common presentations in clinical practice. The present study was carried out to evaluate the merits and demerits of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) as a diagnostic procedure in childhood lymphadenopathy in comparison to open surgical biopsy. Altogether 70 children with lymphadenopathy in the age group of up to 12 years were selected for FNAC. Only 38 could be motivated for open surgical biopsy. Out of 38 cases, FNAC was consistent with histopathology in 33 cases, thus giving a diagnostic accuracy or percentage of agreement-86.8%. The diagnostic accuracy of FNAC, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values of FNAC in the present study were fairly high ranging from 80%-100%. FNAC gave false positive diagnosis in 13.2% cases and false negative result in 13.2% cases.