Screening for thalassemia and other hemoglobinopathies in a tertiary care hospital of West Bengal: Implications for population screening.

Hemoglobinopathies are common genetic disorders of hemoglobin, which can be prevented by population screening and offering genetic counseling. In absence of population-based screening for hemoglobinopathies, the hospital-based diagnosis register provide idea about the extent of problem in the community. The present study was undertaken to find out the burden of hemoglobinopathies and spectrum of this disorders among the population who were screened in the hospital-based screening program. A record-basedanalysis of subjects who underwent screening for hemoglobinopathies in Burdwan Medical College and Hospital over a period of 3 years and 4 months revealed that overall 29.3% of subjects were positive for hemoglobinopathies. Beta thalassemia heterozygous was the most commonhemoglobinopathy in this region closely followed by hemoglobin E heterozygous. In view of high prevalence of hemoglobinopathies in this region, a routine premarital screening program is needed for identification and prevention of high-risk marriages.

Extragonadal teratomas presenting at birth and originating from 3 different sites--a report of 3 cases.

Three cases of extragonadal teratomas presented at birth and all the cases arisen from three separate sites are reported in the present study. A huge sacrococcygeal teratoma is being reported and the other two retroperitoneal and nasopharyngeal teratomas, are reported for the rarity of their location in neonatal period. Teratomas of all three babies were mature benign on histopathology and surgical removal sufficed as mode of treatment. No recurrence was noted on follow-up.

Neurocognitive impairment in early HIV-positive individuals.

The study was carried out to find out the cognitive impairment if any, in early stages of human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients and if there is any cognitive impairment, then its association with duration of illness detection. Fifty patients with early stages of HIV and 50 matched controls were compared in various neuropsychological tests along with demographic profiles. Seropositive patients had poorly performed in digit symbol substitution test, trail making test and controlled word association test. This impairment had no association with duration of detection of illness. It is not known whether mild neurocognitive disorder predisposes patients to the development of frank dementia. Cognitive impairment should be identified early in order to maximise functional status, enhance quality of life and survival time.

Primary adenocarcinoma of bladder--A case report.

A 24 years old male presented with haematuria. Ultrasonography depicted an echogenic mass on bladder wall, where prostate showed normal echo characters. Cystoscopy revealed a large papillary growth involving lateral wall, neck of the urinary bladder and prostatic urethra. Punched biopsy showed features of adenocarcinoma. Radical cystectomy was performed and it was reported as a case of primary adenocarcinoma of the urinary bladder.

Endometrioid carcinoma of uterus and ovary.

A thirty-two-year-old married woman presented with pain abdomen and polymenorrhoea. Her uterus was bulky and one of the fornices was full. USG of abdomen revealed unilateral ovarian tumour associated with a mass in the uterus. Histopathological report revealed synchronous endometrioid carcinoma of the uterus and the ovary with morphological evidences in favour of independent primary carcinomas. With these perspectives the present case is reported where endometrioid carcinomas of uterus and ovary are two separate primary tumours.