ABSTRACT
Background and Aim:The spleen is the largest lymphoid organ in the human body. It is highly vascular andfriable.It is affected in various clinical conditions like infections and storage functions. The aim of the study isto find out the morphological variations of spleen.The present study is undertaken to report the prevalence ofvariations involving weight, length, breadth, width (thickness) and the number of notches of spleen in thecadavers of South India population.Materials and Methods: The study was done in 50 human adult cadaveric spleens of both sexes preserved in 10%formalin. The weight, length, breadth, thickness were measured and the number of notches present were noted.Results:The weight of fifty spleens studied varied from 80- 200gm in 43(86%), 201-300gm in 6 (12%) and above300gm in 1(2%) , the length of the spleen on the visceral surface measured from upper pole to lower pole variedfrom 6-9cm in 25(50%) and 10-15 cm in 25 (50%) .The breadth of the spleen varied from 2-5 cm in 16 (32%)specimen, 6-9 cm in 32 (64%) specimen and 10-13 cm in 2 (4%) specimen respectively. The width (thickness) takenat the midpoint of the spleen varied from 2-4 cm in 48 (96%) specimen and 5-6 cm in 2 (48%) specimenrespectively.In the present study the number of notches varied from zero to six, but in most of the specimens therewere one or two notches.However accessory spleen was not found at the hilum of thespleen.Conclusion:The findings of the present study will be of fundamental importance to the physicians,surgeons andradiologists.It also furnishes much insights on clinical utility and significance of spleen.
ABSTRACT
The practice of colostrum feeding and factors influencing the same were studied by interviewing 2158 mothers belonging to low socio-economic group from urban slums and rural areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Statistically significant (p less than 0.001) difference was found between rural and urban areas with regard to the practice of feeding colostrum. Though the percentage feeding colostrum was very poor, the discard of colostrum was very less among rural mothers. Developmental programmes such as ICDS and others also showed significantly beneficial effects on colostrum feeding practice in both urban and rural (p less than 0.001) areas. Socio-economic factors such as better income (p less than 0.001) and hospital delivery were noted to have positive influence on colostrum feeding. Religion did not seem to affect the practice of colostrum feeding.