Rare presentation of spontaneous acquired diaphragmatic hernia.

Spontaneous acquired diaphragmatic hernia without any apparent history of trauma is a very rare condition and is very difficult to diagnose. We present a case of a 21-year-old male who presented with abdominal pain for one month and four episodes of vomiting for one day. Clinical suspicion, chest radiography with nasogastric tube in situ and computed tomography (CT) confirmed the diagnosis. The diaphragmatic defect was repaired surgically. The patient had an uneventful post-operative recovery.

Post treatment sequelae of multidrug resistant tuberculosis patients.

Background: Sequelae of patients treated for multi-drug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB) remain unknown. Objective: To assess the clinical, bacteriological, radiological and functional status of MDR-TB patients after completion of treatment. Methodology: In a cross-sectional study, MDR-TB patients who had initiated standardized, community based therapy from January 2002 to December 2006 at Lala Ram Sarup Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases were investigated for their current clinical, bacteriological, radiological and functional status. Results: Between January 2002 to December 2006, 130 patients initiated treatment, of whom 24 died. Among rest 106 patients, 63 (59%) patients could be traced: 51 were currently alive while 12 had died. The 51 alive patients had completed a mean (+S.D.) post treatment period of 24+14.7 months ranging from 6 to 63 months before being enrolled in the study. Among currently alive patients who could be investigated, 78% had persistent respiratory symptoms; 98% had residual radiological sequelae with 40% having far advanced involvement. Abnormal Pulmonary Function Tests were observed in 45 (96%) patients with predominantly mixed type of ventilatory abnormality in 31 (66%) patients, while 9 (19%) had pure restriction and 5 (11%) had pure obstruction. None of the patients was found to be bacteriologically positive. Conclusion: Current study confirms the efficacy of the standardized regimen as none of the patients was bacteriologically positive on follow up. However, after completion of treatment significant number of cured MDR-TB patients are left with residual symptoms, abnormal X-ray chest and impairment of lung functions. These issues need to be addressed as a part of comprehensive management of MDR-TB patients under national programme.

Comparing outcomes in new pulmonary sputum positive and sputum negative cases under RNTCP in rural India.

Setting: The study was carried out at the Bagula TU, Nadia, West Bengal, India. Objective: To find out the treatment outcomes of new smear negative cases, in low HIV prevalence population, and to compare the results with new smear positive cases in the same population. Design: It was a retrospective record based study. All patients registered between January 1999 and June 2005 were divided into new smear positive and new smear negative groups and the difference in the outcomes analysed. Results: Favourable outcome was less in new smear negative cases, compared to new smear positive (84% vs. 86%, p= 0.002).Death and default were more in new smear negative cases, compared to new smear positive (death: 6.8% vs. 3.7%; default: 6.02% vs. 4.18%), (p < 0.05). Failure and transferred out were non- significantly higher in new smear positive group. Conclusions: Smear negative patients had a worse treatment outcome compared to smear positive patients including lower favourable outcomes and higher deaths and defaults. The possible reasons need to be explored and corrective actions need to be taken accordingly.

Endobronchial tuberculosis presenting as tumorous mass.

We report a case of an 18-year-old boy presenting with features of right middle lobe collapse. On bronchoscopy, a tumorous type of endobronchial tuberculosis was found to be obstructing the lumen of the right middle lobe bronchus. On treatment with anti-tuberculous drugs the growth resolved significantly within three months. The patient, however, developed mild stenosis of the airway.

Influence of pre-treatment bacillary load on treatment outcome of pulmonary tuberculosis patients receiving DOTS under revised national tuberculosis control programme.

OBJECTIVE: To study the influence of initial bacillary load on sputum conversion rates and treatment outcome of new smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients. METHODS: A retrospective study was done among 2938 new smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients, registered at the peripheral centres, covering a population of 1.6 million in Delhi, India. The patients pre-treatment sputum smears were graded as 1+, 2+ or 3+ based on three samples. Patients were given intermittent short-course chemotherapy under supervision and the treatment outcome was analysed. RESULTS: Sputum conversion rates among patients graded as sputum 3+ and rest of the patients (combined graded sputum 1+ and 2+) at the end of two months were 62.2% and 76.8% respectively (p<0.001), and at the end of three months were 81.3% and 89.5% respectively (p<0.001). Cure rates among same group of patients were 76.6% and 85.1% respectively (p<0.001), and failure rates were 7.7% and 4.5% respectively (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Under field conditions even with directly observed treatment (DOT) new smear positive patients with heavy bacillary load showed statistically significant poor sputum conversion rates at two and three months and higher failure rates as compared to patients with lesser bacillary load. To investigate possible reasons for this poor response and possible solutions further studies are needed.