Aqueous deficiency dry eye in post conjunctivitis cicatrization - Effect of deep thermal punctal cautery

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of deep thermal punctal cautery in eyes with post?conjunctivitis cicatrization. Methods: This retrospective study consisted of patients who underwent deep thermal punctal cautery for post?conjunctivitis dry eye (PCDE). The diagnosis was based on a history suggestive of viral conjunctivitis in past followed by the onset of present clinical features of aqueous deficiency dry eye (ATD). All patients underwent a rheumatological evaluation to rule out underlying systemic collagen vascular disease as a cause for dry eye. The extent of cicatricial changes was noted. Best?corrected visual acuity (BCVA), Schirmer’s test, and fluorescein staining score (FSS; total score of 9) were analyzed pre? and post?cautery. Results: Out of 65 patients (117 eyes), 42 were males. The mean age at presentation was 25.769 ± 12.03 years. Thirteen patients presented with unilateral dry eye. Pre?cautery BCVA (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution [logMAR]) and Schirmer’s test (mm) improved from 0.5251 ± 0.662 to 0.372 ± 0.595 (P value = 0.000, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.09–0.22), and 1.952 ± 2.763 to 4.929 ± 4.338 (P value = 0.000, 95% CI: ?3.79–?2.17); post?cautery, respectively. The pre?cautery FSS of 5.9 ± 2.82 reduced to 1.58 ± 2.38 (P value = 0.000, 95% CI: 3.46–5.17) post?cautery. The mean follow?up was 11.22 ± 13.32 months. No progression in cicatricial changes was noted in any eye during the follow?up. Re?canalization rate was 10.64%, and repeat cautery was performed with successful closure of puncta. Conclusion: Symptoms and clinical signs of ATD in PCDE patients improve with punctal cautery

Comparative study ofmaternal socio-demographic factors andlow birth weight of new-borns at a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India

Introduction: Birth weight is an important indicator of a child's vulnerability to the risk of childhood illness and chances of survival. LBW results in a corresponding perinatal mortality. The identification of factors contributing to LBW is therefore of paramount importance. Low birth weight is a term used to describe babies who are born weighing less than 2,500 grams (5 pounds, 8 ounces). In contrast, the average newborn weighs about 8 pounds. Over 8 percent of all new-born babies in the United States have low birth weight. The primary cause is premature birth, being born before 37 weeks gestation; a baby born early has less time in the mother's uterus to grow and gain weight, and much of a fetus's weight is gained during the latter part of the mother's pregnancy. Another cause of low birth weight is intrauterine growth restriction. This occurs when a baby does not grow well in utero because of problems with the placenta, the mother's health or birth defects. The aim of the study: To study the prevalence of low birth weight babies and to study the various socio-demographic factors associated with low birth weight. Materials and methods: The present cross-sectional study was undertaken at Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital in the year of 2015- 2016. Totally 100 babies were selected. In this study, all singleton new-born having a weight of <2.5kg was included as a case (n=50) and a weight of ≥2.5kg was included as a control (n=50). The relation of birth-weight to few maternal factors such as age, socio-economic status and occupation were studied. Saranya S, D. Aishwarya. Comparative study of maternal socio-demographic factors and low birth weight of new-borns at a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India. IAIM, 2017; 4(11): 207-213. Page 208 Results: Our Study showed that the greatest number of mothers having LBW newborns was in the age group of 23 to 27years belonged to the low socio-economic group. The study finding showed maternal age, fetal sex, parity, number of antenatal care, gestational age, birth order, and history of abortion had an insignificant association with low birth weight (P-value <0.05). It was found that 70% of LBW babies were born to mothers who belonged to the labour class by occupation. Conclusion: This study depicted that low birth weight is a public health problem in the study area. Hence, attention should be given to increase community awareness of antenatal care service, access to family planning, prevention of abortion and community mobilization to prevent early pregnancy. This study concluded with the findings that maternal factors like age, socio-economic status, religion and occupation of the mothers were related to LBW of the new-born improving the socio-economic status (SES) of people and providing better working.

Exploration of potential antimicrobial activity of sea star astropecten indicus.

The antimicrobial activity of crude tissue sample of sea star Astropecten indicus collected from Mudasal Odai, southeast coast of India was evaluated with the testing human microbial pathogens viz., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, K. oxytoca, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella paratyphi and S. typhi using solvent system methanol and ethyl acetate at the concentrations of 250, 500 and 1000μl by well diffusion method. The crude methanol extracts showed more active exhibiting broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity than the crude ethyl acetate extracts. The maximum inhibiting zone of 13.44±0.20 was observed for bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the crude obtained from methanol followed by ethyl acetate 11.26±0.09 against Klebsiella pneumonia at the concentration of 1000μl. Moderate activity was found for all the tested strains at 500μl concentration of both the solvents. Bacterial strains K. oxytoca, Staphylococcus aureus has showed no activity at 250μl for methanol and the zone of inhibition for the tested clinical isolates was lesser than the zone of antibiotics used and no zone was found for the negative control. The present work reveals that, sea star A. indicus has potential antimicrobial activity.