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The imidazole derivatives have potent therapeutic activity against cytotoxicity and parasites. The present study was planned to synthesize novel tetra aryl imidazoles compounds and evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity and anthelmintic activity. Firstly, 2-amine-4-chloro pyridine was condensed with substituted benzaldehyde to give corresponding Schiff’s base. These Schiff’s bases further on treatment with ammonium acetic acid derivation and isatin yielded comparing novel tetra aryl imidazoles. The synthesized compounds were examined for in-vitro cytotoxicity and anthelmintic activity. The discoveries showed that all the synthesized novel substituted imidazoles have moderate to great anthelmintic action. They additionally had critical in-vitro cytotoxicity against HEp2 cell lines (Human larynx malignancy cell line) against standard utilizing 5-fluorouracil. The compounds 1b, 2b, 4b, 6b, and 8b had higher anthelmintic action contrasted with standard mebendazole. The synthesized compounds 1b, 2b and 8b had noteworthy in-vitro cytotoxicity against HEp2 cell lines.
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Objectives: The study aimed at comparing the therapeuticefficacy of Terbinafine and Itraconazole in terms of clinical curein the treatment of Fluconazole resistant Tinea corporis andTinea cruris.Materials and Methods: A clinical trial with 154 patients’having Tinea corporis and Tinea cruris was performed. All thepatients were treated with fluconazole. The resistant patientswere randomly divided into two groups. The first group wastreated with Terbinafine 250mg daily for 4 weeks, whereassecond group was treated by Itraconazole for 4 weeks. Theparticipants were followed up till the end of treatment and onemonth after treatment.Results: At the end of the trial, terbinafine group developed78.84% clinical response, while Itraconazole treated groupdeveloped only 39.13%.Conclusion: Based on the marked observed difference, it maybe concluded that Terbinafine is more effective in treatingfluconazole resistant Tinea corporis and Tinea cruris.
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Eisenmenger syndrome (ES), the most advanced form of pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital heart disease, is a devastating condition that has a considerable impact on patient's life. Patients who develop ES typically exhibit one or more of a range of cardiac defects including ventricular septal defects (VSD), atrial septal defects (ASD) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The nature of the congenital defect underlying ES is important because it has prognostic implications. Early diagnosis & treatment of cardiac defect before development of pulmonary hypertension is the key to definite management, otherwise only supportive management can be offered. Our patient Mr. Abdul Khaleque, 55 years old, businessman, non diabetic, non hypertensive admitted in DAMCH, cardiac unit with the complaints of shortness of breath on exertion since childhood, bluish discoloration of nails and toes for 10 years, headache and vertigo for 2 weeks. Initially it was during severe exertion and relieved by rest. Gradually the severity of breathlessness has increased. Now he has developed NYHA class III. He had history of repeated attacks of cough with expectoration of mucoid sputum with occasional scanty amount of blood which did not foul smell and did not change with posture. We diagnose him as Eisenmenger syndrome secondary to ASD and treat him with only medical measure.
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Asthma attacks are serious respiratory problem that can be lethal when not treated appropriately. Till today the main stay of therapy is short acting ß2-agonist. Unfortunately in acute asthma episodes this is not enough to relieve the bronchospasm and reduce dyspnea. The shortcoming of ß2-agonist therapy has resulted in the use of a variety of other treatment in the management of acute asthma. The use of magnesium sulphate is one of the recent treatment options. This study was done to compare the efficacy of nebulized salbutamol with magnesium sulphate versus salbutamol with normal saline in the treatment of acute exacerbation of asthma in children. This randomized controlled trial was carried out among 60 patients with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma fulfilling the inclusion criteria, admitted in the department of Paediatrics, Mymensingh Medical College Hospital over a period of one year from January 2009 to December 2009. They were distributed randomly, 30 patients received nebulized salbutamol (0.15mg/kg; minimum dose 2.5mg) with 2.0 ml of isotonic magnesium sulphate solution and another 30 patients received the same dose of salbutamol with 2.0 ml of normal saline on 3 occasions at 20 minute intervals. With single dose of nebulization in the magnesium sulphate with salbutamol group, by 20 minute almost all 26 (86.7%) patients achieved at least 60% of predicted PEFR. Within 20 minute from control group none could achieve 60% of predicted PEFR. After second dose of nebulization control group started achieving 60% of predicted value. Regarding response criteria, with second dose of nebulization, at 40 minute 16 (53.3%) patient from magnesium sulphate with salbutamol group showed good response (PEFR>70% predicted). But within the first 40 minutes, none could show good response in control group. With 3rd dose of nebulization all from magnesium sulphate group showed good response but even at 60 minute, 5 (16.7%) patients in control group failed to be included as good responder. In conclusion, nebulization by isotonic magnesium sulphate solution with salbutamol provide early and better response as compared to conventional approach (salbutamol plus normal saline) in acute exacerbation of asthma in children.
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Lung cancer is an important & widespread disease that contributes a major health problem worldwide. Lung cancer kills over 1 million people per year. Cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung cancer. CT scan is the principal radiological examination adjunct to X-Ray chest examination in diagnosis & management of lung cancer. The main Objective of the study was to assess the diagnostic usefulness of CT scan in evaluating & characterize the different types of lung tumors and to correlate CT findings of lung tumors with that of cytopathology. This study was carried out in the department of Radiology & Imaging, Dhaka medical college hospital, Dhaka during the period from 1st January 2007 to March 2008. It was a cross sectional study. Total 51 patients were selected conveniently, detailed history particularly symptoms related to lung tumors was carefully elicited to obtain maximum possible information regarding the illness. Possible diagnosis was established by the combination of history, physical examination, laboratory & radiological investigations. Then patients were underwent CT examination of lung. Cytopathological sample were obtained from the lesion by guided aspiration. Collected FNAC samples were send for cytopathology & collected reports were compared with CT scan reports. Sensitivity of CT to diagnose lung tumor was 97.4%, specificity 76.9% & accuracy 92.2 %.
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Congenital mitral valve incompetence is a rare and complex congenital heart disease in children. We report, a case of a 4-year-old child admitted to hospital with fever, dyspnea on exertion or feeding and repeated respiratory infection for last 3 years. The transthoracic echocardiogram revealed grossly dilated left atrium and left ventricle and severe mitral regurgitation due to cleft in anterior mitral leaflet. Per-operatively mitral valve annulus was found very much dilated; leaflet thinned out and rudimentary posterior mitral leaflet. Morphology of mitral valve was totally distorted, leaflets were diminutive and beyond repairable. Mitral valve replacement was done with 25 mm Edward Life Science porcine tissue heart valve with total preservation of subvalvular structure and the patient showed dramatic symptomatic improvement and later follow up revealed good LV function with alleviation of symptoms. This is a rare and unusual case of congenital mitral valve disease with better prognosis after surgical replacement with tissue valve.
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Thyroid functions affect metabolic syndrome (MetS) parameters including blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, serum triglycerides and HDL-Cholesterol. But the relationship between MetS and thyroid functions is yet to be identified clearly. Metabolic syndrome is a state in which most features of hypothyroidism can be seen. The aim of the present study was to investigate the frequency of MetS in hypothyroid patients. Thirty one patients with overt hypothyroidism, 32 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and 58 euthyroid controls were enrolled in this study. NCEP-ATP III criteria was used to diagnose metabolic syndrome. Majority of the participants were in the age group of 30-40 years. Body mass index and waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and serum triglycerides were found to be higher in hypothyroid patients compared to that of euthyroid controls (p<0.001). On the other hand serum HDL-C was found to be significantly lower in hypothyroid patients compared to that of euthyroid controls (p<0.001). Prevalence of MetS was 82.5% in the hypothyroid group and 27.6% in eythyroid controls (p<0.001). No significant difference was found between SCH (81.3%) and overt hypothyroid (86.7%) groups in respect to prevalence of MetS (p<0.05). The findings of the study suggest a need to investigate the presence of hypothyroidism during the management of MetS patients.
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To find out the quality of ANC in the Upazila Health Complexes [PHC centres] of Bangladesh. This cross sectional study was done in purposively selected three upazilas among the clients receiving antenatal care [ANC]. Data were collected with questionnaire cum checklist in the context of two aspects of quality issues, namely assessment of physical arrangements for ANC [input] and services rendered by the providers [process]. The mean age of respondents was 24.6 +/- 4.5 years. Majority of the respondents were with primary level education [60.3%]. About half [52.8%] of the families had monthly income ranging from 3000-5000 taka [38-64 US$]. Nearly half [48.9%] had no child, little more than one third [42.3%] were primigravida and 528 [57.7%] were multigravida. Out of 528 multigravid respondents 360 [68.2%] took ANC in their previous pregnancy whereas 168 [31.8%] did not take ANC Pregnancy outcome was found to be associated with receiving ANC [? [2] =73.599; p=0.000]. Respondents receiving ANC had more good pregnancy outcome. The mean waiting time for receiving ANC was 0.77 +/- .49 hours. Out of the 13 centers, only 3 [23.1%] have sufficient instruments to render ANC services. Findings showed that where the modes of ANC service delivery in the ANC centers are fairly satisfactory. Though some of the points of standard operation procedures [SOPs] on ANC are not covered by some ANC centers, those were not considered necessary. But, regarding the physical facilities available for rendering ANC services, it is seen that facilities are not quite satisfactory. Number of doctors and nurses are not very satisfactory. One of the centers under this study has no doctor, where ANC services are given by nurses. It can be concluded that the ANC services at the primary health care level is not adequate in Bangladesh. To ensure further improvement of the quality of ANC services, instruments used in logistics and supplies should be enhanced
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Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between arterial stiffness determined noninvasively by pulse wave analysis (PWA) and the severity of coronary artery disease in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in the National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Dhaka over a period of ten months starting from July 2011 to April 2012. Patients were purposively selected from those who were admitted in NICVD with acute STEMI myocardial infarction agreed to do coronary angiography. Total 99 patients (male: 81, female: 18) were included in this study. Assessment of arterial stiffness was performed noninvasively with the commercially available SphygmoCor system using applanation tonometry with a high-fidelity micromanometer. Augmentation index (AIx), Augmentation pressure (AP) and Augmentation index corrected for heart rate 75beats/min (AIx@75) were derived from this with the technique of PWA. Coronary angiography was performed in those patients during the same hospital stay and severity was assessed by vessel score, Friesinger score and Leaman score. Results: It was found that 9 (9.1%) patients had score 0, 42 (42.4%) had score 1, 23 (23.2%) had score 2 and 25 (25.3%) had score 3. However higher the number of vessels is involved, the greater is the AIx @75. Mean score in single, double and triple vessel disease was 24.50, 33.57 and 34.60 respectively. The mean level of AIx @75 was observed 23.97±11.47 and 31.76±11.26 in insignificant and significant CAD respectively using Friesinger score. The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Spearman correlation analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between the AIx@75 and the severity of coronary artery disease (p= <0.05, r=0.40). Conclusion: In conclusion, the results presented herein indicate that augmentation pressure (AP), augmentation index (AIx), and augmentation index corrected for heart rate 75/minute (AIx@75), measures closely related to wave reflections and arterial stiffness, are predictors of severity of CAD. It may be considered as a recommended test for the evaluation of CV risk in addition to other routine investigations.
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Breast Cancer is the commonest maligrancy in woment. A study was carried out in the Department of Biochemistry, Dhaka Medical College to investigate some of the biochemical features that are associated with breast cancer occurring in Bangladeshi women. Thirty diagnosed breast cancer patients and thirty healthy women were selected. A questionnaire was used for collecting information regarding age, family history, physical activity and exercise, BMI, diet, smoking, alcohol abuse, addiction, details of menstrual and obstetric history, breast-feeding, parity, use of contraceptives and HRT. Blood samples were collected and tested for fasting lipid profiles, serum estrogen and progesterone. The study has revealed that high levels of serum total cholesterol (P<0.05), TAG (P<0.05), LDL-C (P<0.05) and low level of serum and HDL-C (P<0.05) were found to be associated with breast cancer. The study further reveals that blood levels of estrogen (P<0.05) and progesterone (P<0.05) were found to be lower than that of the controls.
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Background: Hypothyroidism is an important public health problem in Bangladesh. It is associated with increased risk for atherosclerosis and other complications. The frank development of hypothyroidism is associated with metabolic derangements including dyslipidemia- which is an etiopathologic factor for development of renal impairment. This study was to evaluate whether hypothyroidism is associated with impaired renal function. Methods: Using a cross sectional analytical study design, a total of 111 subjects attending Out Patient Department, Center for Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound, Bogra Medical College during January 2007 to December 2007 were included purposively. Eighty newly diagnosed hypothyroid patients (Group I) and 31 healthy adults (Group II) were enrolled in this study. Serum thyroid stimulating hormone and serum free thyroxine were assayed by radioimmunoassay. Serum fasting lipid profile, serum creatinine and serum uric acid were estimated by enzymatic colorimetric method. Estimated GFR was calculated using MDRD equation. Results: The mean (±SD) age of in Group I and Group II were 35.59 (±6.91) and 37.35 (±2.78) years and were comparable. In Group I, there were 66 females and 14 males. In Group II, there were 16 females and 15 males. The mean BMI was 25.49 ±2.17 kg/m2 in Group I and 24.24 ±1.99 kg/m2 in Group II. The mean (±SD) Serum total-cholesterol, LDL- cholesterol and tryacylglycerol in Group I were significantly higher than that in Group II. Serum HDL cholesterol in Group I was significantly lower than that in Group II (p<0.001). The mean (±SD) serum creatinine was significantly higher in Group I than Group II (P<0.001). The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was lower in Group I compared to Group II (p=0.011). In Group I (Hypothyroid), there were significant correlations of BMI, S Total-Cholesterol, S HDLCholesterol, S LDL-Cholesterol, S triglycerides and S creatinine with serum TSH level. In Group I (Hypothyroid), there were significant positive correlations of BMI and TSH with serum creatinine. Conclusions: Hypothyroidism is associated with dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia and impaired renal function. Therefore, patients presenting with these biochemical abnormalities are recommended to be investigated for hypothyroidism and vice versa.
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The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among nurses at a tertiary hospital in South Africa. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 125 nurses. The mean age of the nurses was 42 years. A high proportion of the nurses reported experiencing musculoskeletal discomfort and related disorders. Most (80.8) worked 12 hour shifts and 84 experienced some form of musculoskeletal discomfort (related to MSDs) in the past year. The lower back was the most commonly reported body site (58); followed by the shoulder (21); and neck (20). Logistic regression analysis showed that nurses working 12 hour shifts had an increased risk of MSD of 14.17 (OR= 14.17; 95 CI: 4.586; 43.766) when compared to those working 8 hours shifts. The number of working hours per shift needs to be reduced to prevent MSDs in nurses. One way of doing this is to increase nursing staff numbers
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Musculoskeletal Diseases/epidemiology , Nurses , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Cleft lip and cleft palate has been a recognized congenital malformation from a very early stage in recorded history. The infant born with an orofacial deformity, which leads to develop an unwilling psychosocial problem among the parents and also among the relatives. Successful treatment of cleft is based on overcoming in tissue shortage and repositioning of the tissues in normal anatomical pattern so that it restores both appearance and function. Various modalities of theme, works, observations and involvement of multidisciplinary approaches were tried to achieve better cosmetic, aesthetic and functional aspect in management of cleft face. Poorly performed primary surgery carries a high risk of iatrogenic disturbances of subsequent orofacial growth. Delayed nasal repair in patient with cleft lip did not produce satisfactory aesthetic and functioning result. Aim & objective of the study is to achieve a cosmetically well-accepted face in respect to lip, philtrum and nose of both sides after cleft lip surgery and to reduce the incidence of secondary correction of deformed nose in a patient with cleft lip. In our study total 86 cases are studied according to preformed inclusion and exclusion criteria. Simultaneous correction of alar cartilage deformity at the time of primary repair of cleft lip may lessen the staged operative procedure and markedly reduce the economic burden to the family.
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Hypertension is one of the most common diseases affecting humans throughout the world. The commonest variety of hypertension is benign essential hypertension. Cardiovascular risk is more in hypertensive patients as their lipid profile is more atherogenic than normotensive subjects. Traditionally, estimation of total serum cholesterol and LDL-C are used as an indicator of atherogenicity. But subjects may develop hypertension and CHD with normal levels of LDL cholesterol. So assessment of LDL cholesterol concentration may not entirely reflect its atherogenic potential. Because LDL-C is not a single entity rather it consists of seven distinct subclasses of different particle size. The size of the LDL particle is inversely correlated to their atherogenicity. Smaller LDL particles are more atherogenic despite their less cholesterol content than the larger more buoyant LDL particles containing more cholesterol. Therefore individuals having smaller LDL particles are more atherogenic and more at risk to develop hypertension inspite of even normal LDL cholesterol concentration. So measurement of small dense LDL particle is more important than any other lipid measure. With this aim 122 subjects were included in this study, among them 82 were diagnosed cases of essential hypertension with the mean age of 42.56±9.98 years and 40 were healthy controls. Serum apo-B was measured in all study subjects. The amount of apoB is almost similar in every LDL subtypes but the amount of cholesterol increases with the increasing particle size. So the ratio of cholesterol to apo-B decreases as the particle size decreases, thus LDL cholesterol / apo-B £ 1 indicates the presence of atherogenic small dense LDL. So the prevalence of small dense LDL was evaluated by calculating the ratio of LDL-C/apo B. The ratio was significantly lower in hypertensive cases (0.093±0.18) compared to controls, indicating presence of sd LDL in hypertensive patients. When the risk ratio was calculated, the patients having small dense LDL in their plasma were found to have 2.87 times more risk for developing CVD then the persons who doesn't have small dense LDL in their plasma.
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Contraception Behavior , HIV Infections , Sexual Behavior , Sexually Transmitted Diseases , StudentsABSTRACT
Background and aims: Hypertension is a frequent and almost ubiquitous health disorder, prevalent both in developed and developing countries. Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance have been suggested to be closely associated with the pathogenesis of essential hypertension. However there is considerable controversy in this regards. The present study was designed to explore the relationship between serum insulin and serum ionized calcium in non diabetic and diabetic hypertensive subjects. Subjects and Methods: A total of 57 hypertensive and diabetic hypertensive patients attending out patients department of the BIRDEM and NICVD were included in the study. Fasting serum glucose was measured by glucose oxidase method, lipid profile was measured by enzymatic method. Serum insulin was measured by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method and serum ionized calcium by the Ion Sensitive Electrode (ISE) technique. Results: Glucose-insulin ratios were calculated as the index for insulin. Serum insulin (pmol/ml), Mean ± SD, 147 ± 48 in DC and 170 ± 80 in DH groups vs 118 ± 21 in NC and 120 ± 41 in EH groups, p= 0.023 and p= 0.031 respectively. Although, from the serum insulin results, the diabetic groups seemed to have insulin resistance, the glucose-insulin ratios in the two groups were significantly lower compared to nondiabetic groups (Glucose-insulin ratio, mmol/pmol, 0.066 ± 0.025 in DC, 0.074 ± 0.025 in DH vs 0.044 ± 0.11 in NC, 0.043 ± 0.012 in EH, p= 0.005 - 0.0001). The serum ionized calcium in the healthy subject, first time reported in the country by an up to date method (1.17 ± 0.05 M ± SD), were within the range found in healthy subjects of the other populations. No significant difference in the serum Ca2+ could be found between any of the study groups. Also, serum Ca2+ did not correlate with blood pressure, glucose or insulin in any of the study groups or with all the patients as a whole. Serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDLc and LDLc levels in the DC, EH and DH group did not show any significant difference compared to NC group and among the groups. The lipid abnormality as reflected by the mean LDL-HDL cholesterol ratios was the highest in the DH group but the differences were not statistically significant compared to the NC, DC and EH group. Conclusions: The data suggest the following conclusions: a) Serum ionized calcium level in our population is similar to that reported for other population. b) Serum glucose and insulin by themselves do not have any direct influence on serum ionized calcium. c) Non obese diabetes mellitus subjects in our population do not show insulin resistance as the primary defect. Rather, there is significant decompensation of the insulin secretory capacity in the subjects. d) Insulin resistance should be measured directly in relation to blood pressure and Ca2+ in appropriate groups of subjects to explore the relationship between insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia and serum ionized calcium.
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Background: Accurate diagnosis of heart failure (HF) is essential for its proper management and logical drug therapy to reduce morbidity and mortality. On this perspective researcher are in search of a good biomarker as complementary to the clinical parameters to improve the performance of HF diagnosis. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) secreted by cardiac ventricles in HF has emerged as a new promising biomarker in this regard. Objective: To evaluate the performance of plasma BNP as a diagnostic biomarker in HF. Methods: In a cross sectional study 180 clinically suspected HF patients were selected. Their plasma BNP were measured and then subjected to echocardiogram. Patients were categorized as HF and without HF on the basis of echocardiogram and against this information the performance of plasma BNP of study subjects were evaluated as a diagnostic biomarker of HF considering 100 pg/ ml as its cut off point. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV, NPV, PLR and NLR of plasma BNP for diagnosis of HF found to be 88 %, 63.8 %, 77.2 %, 75.2 %, 81.0 %, 2.4 and 0.2 respectively. Conclusion: Plasma BNP concentration increases in HF. Based on 100 pg/ml as cut off point, plasma BNP shows good performance in diagnosis of HF.
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Myocardial infarction is associated with release of two important enzymes. The enzymatic diagnosis is mainly based on the measurement of CK-MB and troponin-I. Cardiac troponin- I(cTnI) is known to have higher specificity and analytic sensitivity than CK-MB for detection of myocardial injury & risk stratification. These are used both as diagnostic and prognostic marker. This prospective observational study included 60 patients of 40-65 years age range, diagnosed as acute myocardial infarction. The mean ages were 50± 8 years and 53±8 years respectively. Male and female patients included were 86.7% and 13.3%; BMI was 25.3±1.5. The two important cardiac markers troponin-I and CK-MB were studied in 60 patients, admitted in the hospital with acute MI. Blood samples to estimate these markers were collected from the patients after admission at 6-9 hours, 9-24 hours and after 24 hours and their mean values with ±SD were calculated, evaluated and compared between the two groups of patients with low and high risk MI. The patients with low risk MI were those who recovered early and the high risk patients improved later in comparison to low risk group. Out of 60 patients, 37 had troponin-I level>1.5 ng /ml. Among them 29 developed high risk MI and 8 recovered earlier than high risk group. 23 patients had troponin-I <1.5 ng /ml, out of whom 10 were high and 13 were low risk. The difference of troponin-I levels between high and low risk groups of patients was statistically significant (p<0.01). On the other hand CK-MB level was >7 ng /ml in 33 patients. Out of them 22 patients developed high and 11 patients were low risk but 18 patients out of 27 who had CK-MB <7 ng /ml became high and 9 patients were low risk. The difference of outcome in respect to higher and lower values of CK-MB between the two groups was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Both troponin-I and CK-MB were estimated in all 60 patients on three occasions. The mean troponin-I levels were statistically significant between the high and the low risk groups on all occasions .On the contrary, the values of CK-MB were not statistically significant on two occasions but was significant (p < 0.01) on one occasion when it was estimated at 9 - 24 hour. Serum cTnI is better and more characteristic biomarker than CK-MB for risk prediction and prognosis evaluation in AMI patients.
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The average length of hospital stay is regarded as a key determinant of greater hospital costs. The objectives of this quantitative; retrospective; descriptive study were to determine the health status and medical conditions of patients with increased length of stay at a district hospital in Limpopo Province. A total of 609 patients' records with longer than average length of stay; from January to December 2007; were selected by stratified random sampling. The most prevalent diseases for staying longer were infectious and parasitic diseases; symptoms; signs etc; and injury; poisoning and consequences of causes yielding more than a third (36and 12; respectively; for each classification). Neoplasm-related admissions; in which cancer was identified as the most prevalent; stayed in hospital for an average of 14.6 days. The average length of stay for all disease classifications ranged from 7.1 days to 14.6 days. The length of stay at Elim Hospital is mostly influenced by the type of health conditions which are diagnosed. Further research is needed to find influential factors that might contribute to patients staying longer than normal
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Health Status , Hospitals , Inpatients , Length of StayABSTRACT
The aims of this study were to identify the demographic characteristics of injury victims and the types of injury cases seen and admitted for treatment in Khorixas District Hospital; Namibia. A descriptive retrospective survey of all injuries attended to and admitted in the hospital from January 2001 to December 2004 was done using document review of patients' medical records. A total of 331 injury cases (6.8of all admissions) were admitted. The age group 20-29 years was the most commonly affected; with 18injured. Injury was common among the males (76). The unemployed constituted 36of all the injuries; followed by children/infants (19). Over two-thirds (68) of the injuries were unintentional. Cuts and stabs were the most common (24) type of injury among the injury cases admitted. Motor vehicle accidents accounted for 21of all injuries admitted. Over a third (36) of all the injuries were alcohol related. Farmers (11) constitute the most affected group among the employed. Type of injury and occupation were significantly associated (?2=107.879; p 0.001). Mass propagation of anti-violence education is needed to reduce the high rate of intentional injuries among the injuries such as cuts/stabs; assaults; human bite and gunshot injuries