Knowledge regarding the transmission of hepatitis-B, hepatitis-C virus infection and HIV among patients attending medical outpatient department at Nishtar hospital, Multan

To assess the level of knowledge regarding the transmission of hepatitis-B, hepatitis-C and HIV among the patients of medical outpatient department, Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Patients attending Medical outpatient department, Nishtar Hospital, Multan were interviewed in this cross-sectional study for the assessment of knowledge regarding the spread of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and .HIV. A total of 350 patients attending medical outpatient department were interviewed. Of these participants, 208 [59.4%] were males and 142 [40.6%] were females. Mean age of the participants was 35.15 +/- 6.57 years. Three [0.85%] were familiar with only hepatitis B, Three [0.85%] with only hepatitis C and 3 [0.85%] with only HIV and 290 [82.8%] were familiar with all three diseases while 51[14.5%] were unfamiliar with these diseases. Two hundred and sixty eight [16.6%] participants were knowing that these diseases could be transmitted by syringes while 265 [75.7%] by needles. Two hundred sixty one [74.6%] were knowing that these could be spread by the transfusion of contaminated blood, 217 [62%] knew that these could be spread by dental procedure with contaminated instruments, 233 [66.6%] reported that by unsafe sex, 169 [48.3%] by tattooing, 196 [56%] by ear/nose piercing, 261 [74.6%] by infected razors and 198 [56.6%] knew that these could be transmitted by mother to newborns. Knowledge regarding the spread of hepatitis B, C and HIV was found to be low in our study population which emphasizes the need for strong awareness campaigns and programs to address this issue

Efficacy and Complication of misoprostal for second tremester pregnancy termination among primigravida versus multigravida

To compare the efficacy and complications of Misoprostol for Second Trimester Pregnancy termination among primigravida and multigravida. It was a prospective study conducted at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur. The study was done in the period from June 2008 to February 2009. One hundred and twenty pregnant women at 14-24 weeks of gestation divided into two groups viz. Group 1: Primigravida and group 2: Multigravida. Patients needing terminations of pregnancy were 10%. The data was collected on a specially designed proforma. It was analyze on SPSS version 13.0.0. Chi-square test was applied to determine the statistical significance. The mean age of primigravida was 22.57 years as compared to that [27.37 years] of multigravida. The mean gestational age was comparable in both groups. The mean induction expulsion interval found in primigravida was 15.59 hours and in multigravida 9.13 hours. The complications like dead fetus, pelvic infection, coagulopathy, rupture, incomplete abortion were less among multigravida as compared to primigravida. Our study concludes that use of Misoprostal for second trimester pregnancy termination is cost effective and easy to administer among primigravida and multigravida. The complications like pelvic infection are less common among the multigravida

Frequency of hyperuricemia in patients with ischemic heart disease

To determine the frequency of hyperuricemia, as a risk factor, in patients with ischemic heart disease in our setup. This prospective and observational study was carried out in the Departments of cardiology, medical unit III and pathology, Peoples Medical College and Hospital, Nawabshah from 15[th] January 2007 to 15[th] July 2007. Fifty patients, of any age and of either sex, diagnosed on ECG as ischemic heart disease [IHD] were selected and compared with serum uric acid [SUA] levels and age, sex, approximately body mass index [BMI] matched healthy controls. SUA was measured on 3[rd] day of admission by using enzyme uricase method on CLINIKON photometer 5010. Hyperuricemia was found in 27 out of 50 IHD patients and in 5 out of 50 controls; therefore a highly significant association was observed. Mean SUA level was 7.21 +/- 2.14 in patients with ischemic heart disease and 5.38 +/- 1.26 was found in healthy control subject. The difference between these two means was highly significant [P<0.0001]. Hyperuncemia significantly associates with IHD. It does not cause t IHD, neither is an independent risk factor but it only accelerates the process of atherosclerosis which can worsen the preexisting IHD