Alopecia Areata - A literature Review

Alopecia areata (AA) is a disease marked by extreme variability in hair loss, not only at the time of initial onset of hair loss but in the duration, extent and pattern of hair loss during any given episode. This variable and unpredictable nature of spontaneous re-growth and lack of a uniform response to various therapies has made clinical trials in alopecia areata difficult to plan and implement. It is a type of alopecia that affects males and females equally. It occurs in both children and adults. The peak age of occurrence is 20 to 50 years .The most common clinical presentation is asymptomatic shedding of telogen hairs followed by patchy non scarring hair loss in association with nail pitting, Beau’s line and nail dystrophy. The disease may progress from this limited presentation to total loss of all scalp hairs (Alopecia totalis) or all body hair (alopecia universalis) with significant onychodystrophy. Mostly it is characterised by reversible hair loss involving the scalp although others areas of head including eyelashes, eyebrows and beard may also be affected. Although, it is a mostly cosmetic problem but it often has devastating effects on quality of life and self-esteem. The paper aims at providing an overview of Alopecia areata.

Frequency of mandibular fractures at the angle as a result of maxillofacial trauma

The aim of this study was to determine the vulnerability of the angle of mandible to fracture in maxillofacial injuries. The etiological factors, distribution of age and gender of the patients with mandibular fracture were investigated. 750 patients were seen for maxillofacial trauma during the period 1991-97 at Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar. Out off 750, 546 suffered from mandibular fracture. 412 were males and 134 females. Regarding etiology of the fracture of the mandible road traffic accident [RTA] was the most common cause accounting 356 followed by fall 78, interpersonal violence [IPV] 47, firearm injuries [FAI]29, sports 23 and industrial injuries 13. Fracture of the body of mandible came out to be the frequent site [185 patients] suffered. Angle of the mandible was second most common site and accounted for 125 injuries. Other sites were symphysis [97], condyle [82], dentoalveolar process [38], ramus 16 while coronoid was the rare site [3] patients. Out of the 125 fractures cases at the angle 3[rd] molar were present in 108 cases. Among the total fractures at the angle 102 were favorable while 23 were unfavorable

Steatosis and chronic hepatitis C virus infection

To asses the presence of steatosis and other histological changes in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Liver biopsy samples were reviewed for presence of steatosis, its degree and other histological changes of hepatitis C including necro-inflammatory score, fibrosis grade and these changes were correlated with liver function tests. A total of 109 liver biopsy samples were reviewed. Mean age of the patients was 44.46 +/- 13.93 years and 62 [56.8%] were male. Mean necro-inflammatory score was 2.32 +/- 0.95. Mean fibrosis grade was 1.69 +/- 1.12. No Steatosis was found in 42 [38.5%] samples and mild to severe degree of steatosis was found in 67 [61.5%] samples. In this study, nearly 62% of liver biopsy samples had some degree of steatosis. Whether this steatosis increases occurrence of severe form of fibrosis or is an associated phenomena with chronic inflammation needs to be further clarified

Tuberculosis of the breast

A study was conducted to find out the frequency of breast tuberculosis and its treatment outcome, at the breast clinic of surgical unit 1 ward 3 JPMC Karachi. The study comprised of 152 patients of breast lumps between March 2000 and September 2001, out of which 35 showed positive FNAC for tuberculosis [23%]. They responded very well to antituberculosis chemotherapy and the lump totally disappeared within 12 months of therapy. Hence early diagnosis, before sinuses develop is important in preventing disfigurenment