retrosternal abscess and multiple lung cavities; a complication of tunneled hemodialysis catheter

Tunneled, cuffed central vein catheters [TCC] are an important mean of performing hemodialysis [HD].Infection is the commonest complication of these catheters. We describe a patient of chronic renal failure who suffered from Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteremia [SAB] due to the tunneled hemodialysis cathter. The bacteremia resulted in an isolated retrosternal abscess and multiple lung abscesses in this patient. The catheter was removed and patient was treated with broad spectrum antibiotics but he died despite optimal medical care. Although S. Aureus is a common cause of catheter related bacteremia but its manifestation as an isolated retrosternal abscess and multiple lung cavities due to tunneled hemodialysis catheter is a rare complication

Comparison of short term mortality in ischemic stroke patients with or without stress hyperglycemia

Objective: To compare short term mortality in non-diabetic ischemic stroke patients with or without stress hyperglycemia

Study Design: Cohort study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at Neurology Department of Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from Jan 2010 to Jul 2012 for a total duration of six months

Material and Methods: Non-diabetic ischemic stroke patients were included in the study and they were divided in two groups. Each group had 75 patients. Group 'I' [Normoglycemic or control group] had normal blood glucose level while group 'II' [Hyperglycaemic or cohort] had hyperglycaemia on presentation or over next 72 hours. Prognosis in terms of patient either being dead or alive was determined within or at 4 weeks of admission in both groups. Data were entered and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 10. Descriptive statistics were calculated for both qualitative and quantitative variables. For comparison of short term mortality in hyperglycaemic and normoglycemic stroke patients, chi-square test was applied. p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant

Results: Short term mortality was higher in cohort [hyperglycemic] group as compared to control [normoglycemic] group [34.7% vs. 14.7%]. Relative risk was 2.36. The groups had a statistically significant difference in the short term mortality within four weeks with a Chi-Square 'p' value of 0.004 [p=0.004]

Conclusion: Short term mortality in non-diabetic ischemic stroke patients with stress hyperglycemia is higher than those patients who do not have stress hyperglycemia

Webliographical guide; for writing in a medical journal

To search for the websites available on the World-Wide-Web that contain resources for scientific medical writing iciuding medical writing advices, online biomedical journals, refrence and citation guidelines and biostatistics webpages. Yahoo, Google scholar and Scirus search engines were used by entering the search terms [medical writing resources], [biostatistics] and [citation guideslines] during the June 2008 to December 2008. Many websites were found containing instructions to authors in health sciences [http:/www.icmje.org/ .http:/mulford.meduohio.edu/ instr/, http:/amwadvc.org/, http:/www.councilscience-editors.org/, http:/www.medweb.emory.edu/, http:/www.writers write.com/medical/, http:/gateway.nlm.nih.gov/, http:/www.au thoraid.info/ http:/www.equator-network.org/.], resources for online biomedical journals[www.pakmedinet.com, FreeMedical Journals.com, PubMedECntal.com, findarticle.com] biostatistics information [http:/interstat.statjournals.net, www.bmj.com/statbk/ http:/statpages.org/, www.quantitativeskills.com/sisa] and reference guidelines [[www.apastyle.org, http:/library.duke.edu/research/citing/, http:/www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/citation/index.cfm, http:/www.osu.edu/,]. With the recent advancements in online availability of biomedical resources, internet may help a lot in putting up a research work into an article form and getting it published

Horner's syndrome following double lumen dialysis catheter insertion in right internal jugular vein

Horner syndrome is characterized by ptosis ,miosis and anhidrosis. We describe a case of Horner Syndrome as a possible but rare complication of internal jugular vein catheterization

Neurofibromatosis-1 with intraventricular haemorrhage and pectus excavatum

This case report describes the occurrence of intraventricular haemorrhage in a teenage boy, who was later found to have neurofibromatosis-1, cerebral vascular disease and pectus excavatum