Prevalence of malocclusion and orthodontic treatment needs among 16 and 17 year-old school-going children in Shimla city, Himachal Pradesh.

Background: Many studies have been conducted in India to know the prevalence of malocclusion and the orthodontic treatment needs using dental aesthetic index (DAI), but no study so far has been conducted in Shimla city, Himachal Pradesh. Objective: To know the prevalence of malocclusion and orthodontic treatment needs among 16- and 17 year-old school-going children in Shimla city, Himachal Pradesh. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out on 622 (365 boys and 257 girls) school children, aged 16 and 17 years, from February 2009 to May 2009. Type III examination was conducted and the assessment of malocclusion was done according to the DAI. Results: 20.28% of the male and 24.52% of the female students in the sample were affected with malocclusion. The mean DAI scores of the male and female children were 22.26 and 21.79, respectively. Distribution of the four DAI grades was as follows: DAI-I (no abnormality or minor malocclusion) 79.58%, DAI-II (definite malocclusion) 16.39%, DAI-III (severe malocclusion) 3.69%, DAI-IV (very severe/handicapping malocclusion) 0.34%. Conclusion: The present study shows that 20.42% of the children examined had malocclusion which required treatment.

Brain stem auditory evoked responses and visual evoked responses in children with tubercular meningitis.

Thirty two patients between 6 months and 14 years of age with tubercular meningitis were evaluated for brain stem auditory evoked response (BAER) and Visual evoked responses (VER), within 7 days of admission. Absolute latencies and interpeak latencies were compared with values obtained from normal children. BAER abnormality was found in 56.25% and VER in 28%children, respectively. BAER abnormality correlated with Glasgow Coma Scale at admission and discharge, stage of meningitis, raised intracranial pressure, seizure activity, and poor outcome. VER abnormality correlated with abnormal fundus findings only.

Prostate specific antigen ratio: for diagnosis and assessment of aggressiveness of malignancy of prostate.

The search for a perfect tumour marker, which would be able to distinguish benign from malignant enlargement of prostate accurately, is still not complete. Total Prostate Specific Antigen (TPSA), a good test, has it's own inadequacies but Free Prostate Specific Antigen (FPSA) to TPSA ratio is emerging as a better adjuvant to it. This prospective study was done to verify the utility of FPSA to TPSA ratio in diagnosis of malignancy of prostate and its relationship to Gleason grading (indicating the aggressiveness) of adenocarcinoma of prostate. 100 patients with urinary symptoms, who were above fifty years of age and had prostatic enlargement, formed the study group. TPSA and FPSA were assayed by ELISA method and FPSA to TPSA ratio was calculated. Prostatic biopsy of all the cases was obtained and diagnostic histopathology and Gleason grading (in cases where adenocarcinoma was diagnosed) was done. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive value of positive test and predictive value of negative test for TPSA and FPSA to TPSA ratio were calculated. They were found to be 100%, 76.7%, 74.1% and 100% for TPSA and 82%, 100%, 100%, 89% for FPSA/TPSA ratio. Thus making it very obvious that FPSA to TPSA ratio is an excellent adjuvant to TPSA for diagnosis of malignancy of prostate increasing the specificity and predictive value for positive test. An inverse correlation (correlation coefficient = -0.95) was also found between PSA ratio and aggressiveness of prostate cancer, pointing towards its capability to predict the histological (Gleason) grade of the tumour.

Caroli's disease.

Caroli's disease is a rare congenital disorder and occasional cases have been reported from Japan and other parts of Asia. It comprises of congenital dilation of the lower (segmental) intrahepatic bile duct. Cholangitis liver, cirrhosis and cholangiocarcinoma are its potential complication. A case of caroli's disease in an 8-years-old boy with bilobar involvement of liver, (specially affecting right superior lobe) presenting with intermittent abdominal pain, fever and hepatosplenomegaly is reported here.

Anthropometric profile and perinatal outcome of babies born to young women (< 18 years).

This study was conducted to ascertain the sociodemographic profile, maternal characteristics, neonatal anthropometry and perinatal outcome in adolescent pregnancy (18 years or less). 128 consecutive primiparous women more than 18 years of age served as the control group. There were 4556 deliveries during the study period. Young adolescents accounted for 1.25% of total pregnancies. The proportion of shorter (<145 cm), lighter (<45 Kg), and anemic (Hb. <9 g/dL) women was significantly higher in the study group. Incidence of premature delivery in the young adolescents was significantly higher. Mean birth weight, length, head circumference and chest circumference of full-term babies of adolescent mothers were significantly lower.

Prevalence of goitre in school-going children in Jabalpur.

To determine the prevalence of goitre in school going children in Jabalpur city and critically evaluate clinical, biochemical and hormonal profile of goitrous children, 1205 children (800 boys and 405 girls) between 6 to 15 years of age were enrolled from 6 different schools located within the Jabalpur city limits. Conducting a Cross-sectional survey relevant family variables, eating habits (including type of salt used), anthropometry and general physical details were recorded in a pre-designed proforma. Thyroid gland was examined and graded as per standard technique. Spot urinary iodine excretion (UIE) of all goitrous children (n = 26) and randomly selected age and sex matched normal non-goitrous children (n = 63) was determined by dry-ashing method. Thyroid hormone profile of goitrous children was assessed by radio-immuno-assay. Student's t-test, z-test and proportionate test were employed to evaluate the statistical significance of the observations. It has been drawn a result that there was low prevalence of goitre in school going children of Jabalpur city. (2.4%, 26/1205). Girls had a higher prevalence (3.2%) than boys (1.6%), however the difference was statistically not insignificant. All goitrous children had small goitre (Grade I) 88.76% children had spot UIE > 100 mcg/l with as many as 13.4% having spot UIE > 150 mcg/l. No child had spot UIE < mcg/l. 11.23% of children had spot UIE of < 100 mcg/l with higher proportion of goitrous children (7/26, 26.92%) than the age matched, non-goitrous controls (3/63, 4.76%). The mean UIE of goitrous children was 109.6 +/- 22.1 mcg/l (range 80-150 mcg/l) and that of control children was 122.9 +/- 17.0 mcg/l (range 90-150 mcg/l). Thyroid hormone profile of goitrous children was in euthyroid range. Salt iodine content could not be done due to non-availability of kit. Jabalpur city is not endemic for iodine deficiency both by clinical as well biochemical criteria. The observed goitre cases are of sporadic variety.