A rare case of microfilaria in thyroid aspirate.

Filariasis is a major health problem in the Indian Subcontinent. Due to its nocturnal periodicity it may be difficult even to demonstrate in the blood. In heavy parasitic load they may appear in the blood, urine with chyle and at times in scrotal aspirates. It is very rare and unusual to find microfilaria in thyroid aspirate. This case report of presence of microfilaria in thyroid aspirate suggest that careful screening is important for thyroid lesions as patients may present with thyroid enlargement other than usual thyroid lesions

Disseminated lipogranulomatosis.

Farber disease or disseminated lipogranulomatosis is a rare inherited disorder of lipid metabolism resulting from a defect in ceramide degradation. Because of the feature of nodular swellings around various joints, this may sometimes be confused with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We report a 4-year-old boy with Farber disease who presented with nodular swellings around the joint, angle of the mouth and conjunctiva, and was subsequently diagnosed to be a case of Farber Disease.

Ghosal type hemato-diaphyseal dysplasia: a rare variety of Engelmann's disease.

Ghosal type hemato-diaphyseal dysplasia is a recently described clinical entity. The authors describe such a case with severe anemia requiring transfusions and with clinical and radiological evidence of diaphyseal dysplasia. Very few such cases are reported in world literature.

Uncomplicated falciparum malaria complicated by salmonella septicaemia: cause not coincidence.

A male patient of 10-year-old presented with fever, headache and vomiting for last few days. He was being treated with antimalarial drugs. On 14th day of illness he again showed rise of temperature. His blood culture showed growth of Salmonella typhi. He was treated with ceftriaxone and responded favourably. Here uncomplicated falciparum malaria developed a secondary infection with salmonella during hospital stay. This uncommon association was noted rather than a mere coincidence, which rarely reported in literature.

Jervell-Lange Nielsen syndrome in a family with the long QT Syndrome (LQTS).

A child with Jervell-Lange Nielsen syndrome is presented from Kolkata. Family study showed that the other family members are suffering from long QT syndrome. The child had frequent syncopal attack and very prolonged QT interval requiring left cardiac sympathetic denervation and beta-blocker therapy as patient could not afford implantable defibrillator and cardiac pacing.

Hemiconvulsion, hemiplegia, epilepsy syndrome and inherited protein S deficiency.

A nine-year-old Nepalese girl developed hemiconvulsion, hemiplegia, epilepsy syndrome (HHE syndrome) after an episode of right-sided focal status epilepticus following acute gastroenteritis. She had left middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory infracts due to inherited protein S deficiency.

Virchows node: rare presentation of childhood hepatocellular carcinoma.

Cervical (supra-clavicular) lymphadenopathy may not always be due to tuberculosis in children. Hepatocellular carcinoma in children even may present as supra clavicular lymphadenopathy (Virchow's node).

Epidemiological aspects of acute childhood poisoning among patients attending a hospital at Kolkata.

A retrospective study from a tertiary care teaching hospital in Kolkata revealed 3.6% of total paediatric admissions were due to poisoning. Majority of the cases included oral/chemical poisoning followed by biological/envennomation. Kerosene was the commonest among all poisoning. Most of the cases were accidental.

Prominence of symptoms and level of stigma among depressed patients in Calcutta.

A pilot study of 29 patients for research on clinical depression employed the framework of cultural epidemiology to examine illness-related experience, meaning, behaviour with a Bengali version of the explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC). This report examined patterns of distress and stigma with reference to the most troubling patient-specified symptom. All subjects were psychiatric outpatients in the Institute of Psychiatry, Calcutta, and met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-IV criteria for a major depressive episode. Only 5 patients (17.2%) identified sadness as the most troubling problem, and 48.3% specified pains and other somatic symptoms instead. An internally consistent stigma scale with Cronbach's alpha of .67, comprised 13 items, was used to assess stigma. In addition to the scale score for each subject, the contribution of each item was reported and compared. A suggestive, though not significantly lower value of the stigma score for patients reporting somatic symptoms as most troubling, compared with sadness, was consistent with findings from prior studies showing a positive relationship between the magnitude of depression and stigma. These findings are discussed with reference to their impact on recognition and help seeking among patients, and recognition and management of depression by general practitioner. Culturally distinctive presentations and social contexts of depression and other mental illnesses should be addressed in professional training and public health communications.