Non Infantile Desmoplastic Astrocytoma: a case Report.

Desmoplastic infantile astrocytomas (DIA) are huge cerebral masses with cystic and solid components in infants with a benign course. Less than 50 cases of have been reported in the literature and most of the cases are children below 24 months. We are presenting a rare case of DIA which presented at the age of 4 years with vomiting and headache in neurosurgical OPD. He was diagnosed with a huge left temporal parietal tumor with midline shift which on histopathological examination was confirmed as DIA. Patient was operated and had good recovery and was followed up for two years.

Steatocystoma multiplex: a report of two sporadic cases.

Steatocystoma multiplex is an autosomal dominant condition, though sporadic cases are also known, as in our cases. It is characterized by the presence of multiple non tender cystic nodules over the body, exuding syrupy fluid when excised. The lesions are usually seen around puberty and we present here two cases in middle aged with no family history of similar presentation.

A comparative study of serum lipid profile and gallstone disease.

The diseased gallbladder is one of the commonest specimens submitted to the surgical pathology laboratory in North India. Obesity is associated with a linear increase in gallstone formation. It has been observed that the plasma lipoprotein profile of patients with gallstones differs markedly from that of healthy subjects. Serum lipid profile was done by enzyme kit method. All the gallstones received were categorized morphologically and examined biochemically. The age range of 200 cases was 13 to 77 years with a mean of43.75 +/- 13.39 years. There were 171 females (85.5%) and 29 males (14.5%) with male to female ratio of 1: 5.8. The stones containing both cholesterol and bile pigments were the most common (129 cases, 84.87%); while pure cholesterol stones were seen in 23 cases (11.50%) and pigment stones were infrequent (1 case, 0.65%). On lipidogram of patients in the study group, mean serum total cholesterol was 155.50 +/- 43.03 mg/dL, mean serum triglycerides was 100.49 +/- 45.23 mg/dL, mean HDL cholesterol was 46.71 +/- 15.20 mg/dL, mean LDL cholesterol was 87.94 +/- 36.85 mg/dL and mean VLDL cholesterol was 20.84 +/- 11.97 mg/dL. Serum total cholesterol values were significantly higher in patients older than 39 years as compared to patients < or =39 years (161.44 +/- 42.32 mg/dL vs. 145.79 +/- 32.96 mg/dL, p < 0.05). But the observed mean values in both of these subgroups were within the normal range i.e. <200 mg/dL. No significant difference was observed in the mean serum triglyceride values between male and female patients. The findings of this study did not indicate any role of serum lipid profile in the formation of gallstones. However the higher mean values of serum total cholesterol and serum triglycerides in patients older than 39 years of age may be explained by increasing age.

Trichinosis of psoas muscle.

There are isolated case reports of Trichinella spiralis infestation in animals from India. We report the first case in man from India. The nematode was discovered incidentally during drainage of psoas abscess.