Ultrasound /Computed tomography Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Abdominal Lesions

Background:Abdominal masses always are mystery in clinical prac?ce. Improvements have taken place in fine needle aspira?on cytology with technical advances in imaging methods of ultrasound and CT. Aims:To study the u?lity of guided FNAC in the diagnosis of abdominal lesions and categories the abdominal lesions. To study cytological features of abdominal lesions and correlate with histopathological features wherever possible. Materials and methods: The study included 82 abdominal lesions. History, clinical features, radiological inves?ga?ons were obtained in each case. USG or CT guidance was used and the FNA procedure was done. Smears were stained with Giemsa and viewed under the microscope for diagnosis. Diagnos?c yield was 95%. Extra material obtained was given for cell block. Results: The age was from 14 years old to 82 years and majority of them were in the age group of 40 – 60 years. Male to female ra?o is 1:1.1. Among 82 cases, 45 cases (54.87%) were malignant, followed by 17 cases (20.74%) benign, 14 cases (17.08%) inflammatory, 04 cases (4.87%) suspicious of malignancy and 02 cases (2.44%) unsa?sfactory for evalua?on. Majority of the cases are in liver and hepatocellular carcinoma was the most common malignant lesion. In 60 cases histopathological correla?on was available and for these cases the diagnos?c accuracy is 95%, sensi?vity is 92.1%, specificity is 100% and p value is <0.001 which is highly significant. Conclusion:Abdominal fine needle aspira?on cytology is simple, cost effec?ve, rapid and repeatable procedure which helps in categorizing the abdominal lesions.

Cognitive Deficits And Alcohol Dependence Syndrome – A Paradigm Relationship

@#Objectives: Background- Chronic alcohol use causes not only physical consequences but causes cognitive deficits also. 50 and 80% of the Alcohol dependent syndrome patients present with cognitive deficits. These cognitive deficits will significantly contribute to poor functional outcomes which lead to reduced health related quality of life. Objectives- To assess Cognitive deficits in Alcohol Dependent syndrome (ADS). To find the relationship between early onset of alcohol use, duration of Alcohol use and large quantity of alcohol use with Cognitive deficit pattern. MethodA cross sectional study was done on 38 patients with ADS, aged 18- 45 years, education ≥7th std, with no major psychiatric or medical co- morbidities. AUDIT scale was administered to look for dependence pattern, CIWA scale was applied to look for withdrawal symptoms. MoCA scale was applied to screen for cognitive impairment in patient with MMSE score (25 and above). In subjects with cognitive impairment on MoCA scale (25 and below), neuropsychological assessment was done using neuropsychological battery of test from NIMHANS Neuropsych battery standardised on Indian Population. Results- There was impairment in the Cognitive domains as follows, speed of processing (BACS - 100%), attention (DF- 97%) working memory (DF-97%, DB-100%, LNS - 84%), visual memory (100%), visuospatial memory (78%), executive functions (CT2 -92%), reasoning and problem solving (maze- 81%) in majority and a significant relation between early onset of alcohol use, duration of Alcohol use. Conclusions- There is a significant impairment in the areas of speed of processing, attention, executive functions, reasoning and problem solving domains. Significant association between Age of onset of ADS (Early onset) with Executive functions. Attention domain was found to be associated with longer duration of alcohol intake, whereas working memory deficits was associated with large quantity of alcohol intake.

Prevalence and risk factors of postpartum depression at a tertiary care institute

Background: Up to 85% of the women experience some type of mood disturbance in the postnatal period. Postpartum depression affects bonding with infant which may lead to malnutrition and other complications in the infant. This article focuses on the prevalence of depression among postnatal women attending a tertiary care institute in Chennai and to identify the risk factors that affect postpartum depression.Methods: This study was a cross sectional study, performed over a period of three months from January 2019 to March 2019. 200 postnatal mothers were recruited for the study, who were in postpartum period from 1 to 6 weeks after delivery. Specially designed proforma was used to record various determinants to assess the risk factors which could contribute to postpartum depression. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was used to detect the depressive symptoms in postnatal mother.Results: A total of 200 cases were studied. Prevalence of postpartum depression was found to be 25%. Primi gravida, history of miscarriage and unplanned pregnancy were associated with increased risk of developing depression in the postnatal period. Fear regarding gender of the child and failure of lactation were not contributing risk factors to postpartum depression. Spacious house and partner support were found to be protective factors to combat depression in postnatal women.Conclusions: Prevalence of postpartum depression was 25%. Significant association was found between primi gravida, history of miscarriage, unplanned pregnancy and postpartum depression. Early screening of the women will reduce the adverse outcomes among both mother and the child.

Type III collagen disorders: A case report and review of literature.

Collagen type III is a normal component of interstitium and blood vessels. Collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy (CG) and nail patella syndrome (NPS) are the diseases of abnormal type III collagen deposition. In spite of these curved frayed structures with a periodicity of 45–60 nm are deposited in subendothelium and mesangium in CG, they are found only in the basement membrane in NPS. The clinical features of CG are confined to the kidney, NPS has associated extra‑renal manifestations. Electron microscopy is essential to make the renal diagnosis in both these rare diseases. Both the entities considered to be systemic diseases evidence to suggest similar deposition in other organs, understanding etiopathogenesis and disease progression await research.

Biodegradation of Phenol and Emulsification Properties of Native Microorganisms from Coal Carbonization Plant.

Phenols (aromatic organic compounds) are commonly occurring organic pollutants in the environment. Some of the toxic effects of phenol in humans are corrosive to eyes, skin and respiratory track, in addition also causes lethal effects in animal and plant community when discharged even in low concentrations. The problem associated with phenol in the environment, is in need to removal such hazardous compound. Considering the importance, the present investigation attempts for degradation of phenol by native bacterial strains isolated from coal carbonization plant wastewater. About 36 bacterial isolates were found to exhibit phenol degrading activity. Among them, higher phenol degrading strains were identified tentatively as CA1 – Rhodococcus sp., CA2 – Bacillus sp., CA3 – Pseudomonas sp. and CA4 –Citrobacter sp. Phenol degrading ability of Rhodococcus sp. was found to be 60% with maximum cell dry weight. Surface active compounds were observed to be 1.31G for Rhodococcus sp, 0.85 G for Bacillus sp, 1.26 G for Pseudomonas sp. and 1.02 G for Citrobacter sp. In case of mixed cultures, 1.62 G maximum rate among the tested was observed. The Emulsification Index (E24) for CA1, CA2, CA3, CA4 and mixed culture was observed as 78%, 65%, 59%, 22% and 80% respectively. The plasmid profile was additionally studied for the isolates. Significantly, the study reveals the potentials of native strain, Rhodococcus sp. (CA1), in degradation of phenols.

A comparative study of the intestinal parasites prevalent among children living in rural and urban settings in and around Chennai.

A comparative analysis of the various intestinal parasites detected among children attending schools was carried out in a rural and urban location in and around Chennai. A total of 324 stool samples were examined by routine microscopy using normal saline and Lugol's iodine preparation as well as by saturated sodium chloride flotation technique. All suspicious samples were subjected to zinc sulphate concentration technique as well as modified Ziehl Neelson stain and Trichrome stains to identify the other uncommon intestinal parasites. Out of 125 specimens tested from the rural location, the overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 91%. Ascaris lumbricoides was the most common helminthic parasite detected (52.8%) followed by Trichuris trichura (45.6%), Ancylostoma duodenale (37.6%), Strongyloides stercoralis (3.2%) and Hymenolepis nana (1.6%). Giardia lamblia was the most common protozoan parasite detected (16%), followed by Entamoeba histolytica (4%). In contrast under urban settings, out of the 199 stool specimens tested the positivity rate was 33%. Giardia was the most common parasite detected (22.6%) followed by Entamoeba histolytica (10.6%). All other intestinal parasites such as T. trichura (2.01%), H. nana (1.01%) and A. lumbricoides (0.50%) were found to have much lower prevalence in comparison to the rural area tested. Enterobius vermicularis (0.50%) was also detected. Ancylostoma duodenale and Strongyloides stercoralis were not encountered at all in the urban setting studied.

Prevalence, species distribution and antifungal sensitivity of vaginal yeasts in infertile women.

A total of 326 high vaginal swabs from infertile women attending the Institute of Reproductive Medicine were cultured from June 1999 to May 2000. Candida species was isolated from 42(12.88%) patients. Candida albicans (40.47%) followed by Candida glabrata (38.09%) were the most common isolates. Other species included Candida tropicalis (14.28%) and Candida krusei (7.14%). All isolates were tested for sensitivity by disc diffusion method on Yeast Nitrogen Agar base towards four antifungals. Seven (16.7%) candida strains showed resistance to Fluconazole and 19(45.23%) of the strains showed resistance to Itraconazole, and 4(9.5%) strains showed resistance to Nystatin. There was no resistance to Amphotericin B. Of the 7 strains resistant to Fluconazole, 3 were Candida krusei, 3 were Candida glabrata and 1 was Candida tropicalis.