ABSTRACT
Introduction: Wilson's disease (WD) is a disorder of coppermetabolism leading to the accumulation of this metal indifferent organs. Hepatic manifestations tend to occur in thefirst decade and neurological symptoms in the third decade.Neurological manifestations are said to worsen with chelationtherapy.Case report: In our patient however the initial manifestationwas head tremor at the age of 43 years which improved withtreatment. The patient for some reason stopped the therapy for8 years after which he decided to resume it only to precipitatethe liver cirrhosis clinically –something that has not beenreported earlier. The diagnosis was missed initially. Howevertreatment produced good results.Conclusion: The case also serves as a reminder not to dismissthis disease as a rare theoretical possibility but to suspect itin a case of liver cirrhosis of unknown etiology or when thepatient presents with an obscure isolated neurological signsuch as tremor. Delayed recognition of the disease or stoppingtherapy can lead to a progression of the disease. The patienthad many unusual features which are being reported for futurereference by researchers and practioners
ABSTRACT
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic progressive deforming polyarthritic disease involving multisystems and associated with considerable morbidity. Immunosuppressive drugs have been used to reduce/arrest the progression of the disease. The present study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of Azathioprine and cyclosporin in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients. Study consisted of 100 patients of Rheumatoid Arthritis (as per criteria of American Rheumatism Association, 1987) divided into two groups : group I received Azathioprine 1 mg/kg/d and group II received cyclosporin 2.5-3.0 mg/kg/d for 16 weeks. Assessment of efficacy was based on clinical, biochemical and radiological parameters. All patients showed marked improvemen (p value < 0.001) in all clinical parameters i.e. relief in pain, reduction in morning stiffness, painful/swollen joint along with walking time for 50 feet and increase in grip strength. All patients showed reduction (p < 0.001) in ESR without any change in rheumatoid factor titres. Both drugs showed equal efficacy (p value = NS) in improvement of clinical and biochemical parameters. But cyclosporin showed more reduction in bony erosions and juxtaarticular osteoporosis. Ten patients showed nephrotoxicity with cyclosporin. Cyclosporin has an edge over azathioprine in reducing the rate of progression of joint change in Rheumatoid Arthritis but is associated with increased incidence of side effects that are generally manageable.