Primary intestinal lymphangiectasia as a component of autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type I: a report of 2 cases.

Chronic diarrhea and steatorrhea occur frequently in patients with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome (APS) type I. Intestinal lymphangiectasia has been reported earlier as a cause of steatorrhea in a young girl with APS Type I. We describe 2 patients with APS Type I who were found to have intestinal lymphangiectasia, one of whom had symptomatic protein-losing enteropathy.

Aluminium phosphide-induced esophageal stricture.

We report a 24-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man who developed short-segment esophageal strictures in the upper and mid esophagus two weeks after ingestion of aluminium phosphide tablets. They responded well to endoscopic dilatation.

FNAC of gouty tophi--a case report.

A 52 yrs old male presented with multiple, painless, firm nodules over extremities, which were mimicking benign neoplastic lesion. Fine needle aspiration was performed from three such nodules which revealed chalky white aspirate. After staining the smears with H&E and Giemsa stains, smears show amorphous pink material, needle shaped crystalline structures, many macrophages and foreign body type giant cells. A diagnosis of gouty tophi was offered which was confirmed by histopathology and serum uric acid level.

Acute pancreatitis associated with acute hepatitis E infection.

A 45-year-old male presented with severe abdominal pain, hyperamylasaemia and a bulky pancreas. In addition, he had deep jaundice and markedly raised serum transaminases, and his serum was positive for IgM anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies. The common aetiologies of acute pancreatitis were excluded. The patient ran a benign course for both acute viral hepatitis and acute pancreatitis, and recovered completely. Acute pancreatitis caused by HEV infection has been reported only occasionally.

Stress ulcer prophylaxis in patients on ventilator.

The objective of the study was to assess the efficacy of the H2-receptor antagonists and sucralfate for the prophylaxis of stress ulcer in patients on a ventilator in an intensive care unit in the general intensive care unit of our institute. A randomized, clinical controlled trial was conducted. Fifty-two critically ill patients, who required mechanical ventilation for more than 24 hours, were randomly divided into 3 groups. Group I received ranitidine 50 mg (intravenous) 8 hourly, group II received tablet sucralfate 1 g 8 hourly through a Ryle's tube, whereas group III was not given any drug. The incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleed, change in gastric pH and growth of gram-negative organisms in the gastric juice and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) culture were noted and analysed. The treatment groups were similar with respect to the baseline characteristics. The incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding was similar in the ranitidine (12.5%) and sucralfate groups (14.35%) but was high in the control group (57.14%). The mean gastric pH was significantly low in the control group (mean pH 2.07) compared to the ranitidine (mean pH 5.25) and sucralfate groups(mean pH 3.54)(p < 0.05). The incidence of positive culture for gram-negative organisms was significantly high in the ranitidine group (75%) in comparison with the sucralfate group (33.33%) (p < 0.002). However, the incidence of positive growth in the BAL culture was similar in all three groups. We conclude that both ranitidine and sucralfate are equally effective in decreasing the incidence of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage and other stress- related lesions. Though ranitidine was more effective in increasing the gastric pH, the incidence of gastric colonization was higher in the ranitidine group compared to the sucralfate group.

Intussusception due to gastrointestinal stromal tumour of the colon: diagnosis by colonoscopy.

Intussusception of the intestine is rare in adults. We report a case of a 45-year-old male who presented with long-standing pyrexia of unknown origin, abdominal pain, gastrointestinal bleeding and constitutional symptoms. Colonoscopic examination revealed a large invaginated mass suggestive of colonic intussusception due to gastrointestinal stromal tumour of the colon. His symptoms disappeared after surgical removal of the tumour.

Association of Dubin-Johnson syndrome and portal vein thrombosis.

Dubin-Johnson syndrome is neither complicated by liver cell necrosis nor associated with portal hypertension. We report a 22-year-old man who had recurrent episodes of jaundice (conjugated hyperbilirubinemia) because of Dubin-Johnson syndrome and portal hypertension secondary to portal vein thrombosis. The relationship between Dubin-Johnson syndrome and portal vein thrombosis in this case is most likely a chance occurrence.

Plummer Vinson syndrome: unusual features.

Plummer Vinson syndrome is a constellation of postcricoid esophageal webs, iron deficiency anemia, dysphagia and koilonychia. We describe some unusual manifestations in three patients with this syndrome; these were clubbing instead of koilonychia, tortuous esophagus in addition to presence of esophageal webs, and celiac disease.