A Five Year Retrospective Study of Profile of Leprosy Patients in a Teaching Tertiary Care Centre in Uttarakhand

Despite India reaching elimination levelsas a public health problem, leprosy still remains a major health care problem. The aim of our study is to determine the morphological pattern and the trend of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) positivity of the disease in the post eradication phase. A retrospective study was conducted of skin biopsies clinically diagnosed as leprosy from January 2015 to December 2019. Relevant clinical history was obtained from records. Majority were in the age group of 31-40 years (20%), with male predominance (61.25%). 10.62% cases were of children below the age of 15 years. Histologically, 38.75% of cases were diagnosed as indeterminate leprosy followed by 20% cases of lepromatous leprosy. Hypopigmentation (35.62) was the most common clinical feature. Clinical-histological concordance was highest for histioid leprosy cases (100%) followed by lepromatous leprosy (90.62%). Majority of our cases were multibacillary (71.25%). BI 1+ was seen in 51.75%, whereas BI 6+ was 11.4%. Predominance of multibacillary forms specially with high bacterial load indicates late reporting and need to diagnose and treat early for stopping its transmission. Histopathological examination of skin biopsy is important for early and proper treatment of the patients with early inderminate/atypical clinical manifestations. The health care policies need to be reconsidered and revised both at the national and global levels

Acute appendicitis mistaken as acute rejection in renal transplant recipients.

Case histories of 2 renal transplant recipients are reported who had presenting features of fever, leukocytosis and pain/tenderness over right iliac fossa and were diagnosed to be due to acute appendicitis rather than more commonly suspected acute rejection episode which has very similar features. Diagnosis of acute appendicitis was suspected on the basis of rectal examination and later confirmed by laparotomy. The purpose of this communication is to emphasize the need for proper diagnosis in patient with such presentation; otherwise wrong treatment may be received.

A simple ELISA for detection of ovulation.

A rapid, simple, two-step test for the detection of ovulation has been developed. The test is based on ELISA of pregnanediol glucuronide, a metabolite of progesterone, in urine collected specifically over a period of 3 h. The test is completed in 20 min and the results are assessed visually by naked eye.