Gallbladder cancer incidence in Gwalior district of India: Five-year trend based on the registry of a regional cancer center.

BACKGROUND: We have reported here the 5-year incidence (2004–2008) of gallbladder cancer (GBC) in North Central India along with its descriptive epidemiology. This provides potential clues for better prevention. The present study has also evaluated the association of ABO blood groups with GBC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study comprised 742 GBC cases referred to the regional cancer hospital, Gwalior, during 2004–2008. The demographic statistics of Gwalior district was considered to calculate the relative risk and incidence rates. ABO blood group distribution amongst 90,000 healthy subjects registered in the local blood bank during 2002–2007 was taken as controls to study the association of blood groups with GBC. RESULTS: The age-standardized total incidence rate of GBC was calculated to be 7.16/1,00,000. The relative risk of females getting GBC was 2.693 at 95% confidence interval of 2.304–3.151 (P < 0.0001). The females formed 69.5% of total cancer cases, with age-standardized incidence rate of 10/1,00,000. The mean age of male and female GBC cases was found to be 55.4 years (SD = 13, SE = 0.77) and 51.5 years (SD = 12.3, SE = 0.50), respectively. The blood groups A (P = 0.0022) and AB (P < 0.0001) had a positive association with GBC with significant level of differences in comparison to controls. CONCLUSION: Our study provided an estimate of a 5-year incidence of GBC in North Central India for the first time. With regard to the association of risk factors like obesity, age, and urban living with GBC, the findings of the present study are contradictory to the general opinion. Blood groups A and AB were found to be associated with GBC, which would be provisional for further investigations.

An Unusual Association of Aplasia Cutis Congenita with Twin Pregnancy and Maternal Varicella.

We report an unusual case of aplasia cutis congenita associated with twin pregnancy and history of maternal varicella in first trimester, occurring over the extremity of one of the twins while other twin was perfectly normal.

Antenatal and Perinatal Care in an ICDS Area: Progress Made in 19 Years.

ICDS program has made significant improvement in availability and utilization of antenatal and natal care including IFA supplementation, TT administration and delivery by trained personnel. However, postnatal care and promotion and initiation of breastfeeding within 2 hours of birth still remain deficit areas.

Screening for TORCH infections in pregnant women: a report from Delhi.

Primary TORCH infections (toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2) in the mother can lead to severe fetal anomalies or even fetal loss. A prospective study was designed to detect the seroprevalence of IgM antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii, rubella virus and cytomegalovirus and IgG antibodies to herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2. One hundred and twenty pregnant women presenting to the antenatal clinic of a tertiary health center were included in this study. Out of these 120 women 112 (93.4%) had evidence of one or more infections. Prevalence of IgG antibodies to HSV was 70%. Seropositivities for toxoplasmosis, rubella and CMV respectively were 11.6, 8.3 and 20.8%. Our data demonstrating high frequency of primary infections during pregnancy support the conclusion that routine prenatal TORCH screening is justified.