Evaluation of cervical smear in high risk women.

Background: Objectives of current study were (i) To find out the pattern of cervical smear in females having risk factors. (ii) To observe the relationship between abnormal cervical smear with high risk factors. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, Guwahati medical college & hospital from July 2009 to August 2010 with the help of Pathology department. 200 women attending gynecological OPD with associated risk factors were selected at random. Detailed history, demographic information, contraceptive history and coital history were taken. Smear was taken from endocervix with the help of Ayer’s spatula or cytobrush. Results: Out of 200 cases, in 110 (55%) the smear was reported negative for malignancy. 73(36.5%) had an inflammatory smear, 11 (5.5%) had CIN, 1(0.5%) had malignancy and 5(2.5%) the smear was inadequate for cytological examination. In the study mean age of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN) was 42.64 ± 6.34 years. Low socio-economic status, high parity & the use of oral contraceptive pills were major risk factors. Conclusion: Cervical smear should be routinely used as a reliable diagnostic aid for early detection carcinoma cervix especially in high risk cases. The need of the hour is to create awareness and easy accessibility to proper screening.

Formulation and Characterization of Dental Film Containing Ofloxacin.

The aim of the study was to formulate intrapocket dental films, which could be easily placed into the periodontal pocket, and be capable of delivering therapeutic concentrations of ofloxacin for prolonged period of time at a much lower dose, hence obviating untoward side effects. Intrapocket device containing ofloxacin was prepared using 255.20 mg of ofloxacin, 2.0% plasticizer diethyl phthalate and 1.4g ethyl cellulose. The device was optimized on the basis of evaluation parameters such as weight variation, content uniformity, surface pH, in vitro and in vivo release studies. Films showed sustained in vitro release for a period of 11 days. In vivo release studies showed that drug concentrations were maintained above MIC value for entire period of release studies. The samples from this study were capable of inhibiting the growth of most test strains. Ofloxacin in carrier polymer ethyl cellulose showed extended spectrum of antimicrobial activity. Stability studies were conducted on optimized formulation and degradation rate constant was found to be 1.2056  10-4/day. The drug released locally and had high benefit to low risk ratio as compared to systemic administration, which is unacceptable due to, low benefit to high-risk ratio. Hence low dose site-specific films is a better alternative.