ABSTRACT
Purpose: To study the impact of the COVID?19 lockdown on the regular follow?up of keratoplasty patients. Methods: This retrospective interventional case series included 30 patients who had immunological corneal endothelial rejection out of 190 patients who came for post?PKP follow?up between September 15, 2019, and September 30, 2020. The demographics, primary diagnosis, surgical technique, time of presentation, recovery of graft, associated ocular problems, and visual acuity at 1 month were analyzed. Forward stepwise (likelihood ratio) binary logistic regression was used to find significant variables. Results: The study population had 19 males (63.33%) and 11 females (36.67%). The mean age of the study group was 42.83 ± 18.89 (8–80) years. Of 30 patients, 19 (63.3%) presented before and 11 (36.7%) after the COVID?19 lockdown. Overall, 23 (77%) showed a reversal of graft rejection. Logistic regression showed that preoperative indications, large?sized grafts, and deep corneal vascularization were significant risk factors for non?resolution of graft rejection. It was noted that patients who presented to the hospital late had poor recovery (P = 0.002). The delay in the presentation was a significant risk factor for non?resolution of graft rejection (P < 0.01). Z?test for proportions revealed that the difference in the non?resolution of rejection on immediate or delayed treatment in patients presenting during lockdown (P = 0.002) was significant. Conclusion: This article is to highlight the impact of the COVID?19 lockdown on graft rejection recovery of PKP patients due to delays in follow?up. Early treatment helps in the recovery of graft transparency and the reversal of immunological graft rejection. Also, primary diagnosis, deep vascularization, and large?sized grafts were significant risk factors for non?resolution of graft rejection.
ABSTRACT
The oral mucosa represents the first part of the digestive tract and is exposed to various exogenous toxins. Exposure for longer duration can lead to changes that lead to potentially malignant diseases or cancers / Tumors. Eventually these can be diagnosed by routine histopathology, but few of them are difficult to diagnose by this method alone. There arises the role of tumor markers in distinguishing different pathologies is well established. A marker can be described as some inconspicuous object used to distinguish or mark certain things. Mostly tumor markers are proteins and these markers may be detected within exfoliated or distributed cells, or as circulating agents within the peripheral blood or plasma. In the recent years, there is a renewed interest about tumor markers, providing window of opportunity for management of cancer patients by enhancing the efficiency in detection and treatment plan. Recent technological advancement has enabled the examination of many potential markers. This paper focuses on the tumor markers in the head and neck neoplasm.
ABSTRACT
Paragangliomas are exceptionally rare tumors in children of neural crest origin. Our case report represents an extremely rare location for paraganglioma including its imaging features, perioperative challenges and histopathological characteristics. In the present case, a 10-year-old boy had headache and blurring of vision for four years but was not diagnosed until he came with malignant hypertension and hypertensive encephalopathy. The symptoms raised urinary catecholamines and CT findings confirmed the diagnosis of a functioning paraganglioma in presacral region. Challenges during surgery are to control the fluctuating blood pressure which may suddenly rise during tumor handling and suddenly fall following its removal. The unusual location of the tumor in pararectal region also made surgical resection difficult. Paragangliomas are rare and should be kept in mind while evaluating a child with hypertension and complete excision is the treatment of choice.
Subject(s)
ParagangliomaABSTRACT
Alcoholic extract of black tea (Camelia sinensis) was assayed for its antibacterial activity against Salmonella serotypes causing enteric fever viz., Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi A. While all strains of S. paratyphi A tested were found sensitive, only 42.19% of S. typhi strains were inhibited by this extract. Further minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of black tea extract against S. paratyphi A was less compared with that against S. typhi.