Use of liquid nitrogen and albendazole in successfully treating cutaneous larva migrans

To determine the efficacy of combination treatment of Albendazole along with liquid nitrogen in cutaneous larva migrans. Quasi-experimental study. Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and The Aga Khan Hospital, Karachi, from December 2008 to December 2010. Eighteen cases of cutaneous larva migrans were collected and divided into two groups. Group-A was administered oral Albendazole 400 mg once per day along with topical steroid and oral cetrizine 10 mg once at night for 7 days. Group-B also received oral Albendazole 400 mg once per day along with cetrizine 10 mg once at night but they also received single application of liquid nitrogen to freeze the larva. It was found that in Group-A only 2 out of 9 [22%] showed improvement whereas 78% had to be given liquid nitrogen cryotherapy 3-7 days after Albendazole to prevent migration of larva. In Group-B, the improvement was 100% and all 9 patients were successfully treated. Use of liquid nitrogen along with oral anti-helminths is very effective in treating cutaneous larva migrans than Albendazole alone

Frequency of abnormal pap smear and assessment of risk factors for cervical cancer in an out-patient clinic

To estimate the frequency of abnormal Pap smear and assessment of risk factors for cervical cancer in an out-patient clinic of a tertiary care hospital. All married female patients attending the preventive health check up [family medicine] clinics, The Aga Khan University Hospital. Karachi from December 2004 to April 2005 for general checkups and had Pap smear after informed consent, were included. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to all participants and double entered in EPIDATA and analyzed in SPSS. Frequencies of all variables were generated. Means with standard deviations and ranges were also calculated for quantitative variables. A total of 103 patients were enrolled. The mean age was 45.8 +/- 10.7 years. Half of the study population were menstruating at the time of interview, Mean age at marriage was 21.4 +/- 4.57 years. Mean age at first pregnancy was 22.6 +/- 4.4 years. A minority of husbands [2.9%] were uncircumcised. About one third [30.8%] of patients had at least four full term deliveries while the mean number of deliveries were 3.3 +/- 2.0 years. More than one third [36.9%] were practicing contraception, with 5% using oral contraceptive pills and the rest using barrier methods. About one third of the women complained about vaginal discharge with foul smell, dysuria and dyspareunia in most patients. About two-third [63.1%] had at least one Pap smear in the past. None had any dysplasia or cancer. Reports of Pap smear findings showed that 16.5% patients had atrophic vaginitis, 37.9% had infective bacillary background diagnosed on histopathology and the rest were reported normal. Time most frequent abnormality found in Pap smear study was infective bacillary back ground. None of the patients had any pre-cancerous or active cervical cancer. The study was limited by small sample size and choice of Pap smear by the elite class population with self referral for general health checkup

Male androgenetic alopecia treated with finasteride

Dihydrotestosterone causes micronization of scalp hair follicles, resulting in androgenetic alopecia. Finasteride inhibits type II 5alpha-reductase, thereby, decreasing the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. To determine the efficacy of finasteride in male androgenetic alopecia. 16 men from 18-42yrs of age with moderate vertex pattern hair loss received 1mg finasteride daily for 2 yrs. Efficacy was determined by patients self assessments, investigator assessment and assessment of clinical photographs, safety was assessed by clinical analysis of adverse experience if any. After 6 months-1yr treatment, there was a significant improvement in patient, investigator and photographic assessment. Efficacy was improved and maintained throughout the second year of the study. Finasteride was generally well tolerated. In men with male pattern hair loss finasteride 1mg for 2 yrs slowed the progression of hair fall and increased hair growth

Metabolic syndrome: frequency and gender differences at an out - patient clinic

To determine the frequency of metabolic syndrome among patients attending an out-patient clinic of a teaching hospital and to compare the clinical features regarding metabolic syndrome among males and females. Cross-sectional study. Aga Khan University Hospital [AKUH], Executive and Family Medicine Clinics, from December 2004 to April 2005. All adults, above 25 years, attending the clinics for an executive check-up and giving informed consent were included in the study. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire administered to those eligible to participate. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to ATP-III guidelines. There were 250 participants in this study. Mean age of study participants was 48.94 [SD10.62] years, while approximately two-thirds, 157 [62.8%], were male. Metabolic syndrome [those who had 3 or more risk factors] was present in 35.2% of adults. Fasting blood sugar level was raised in 36.4% of study participants while significant number of participants [78.8%] had a Body Mass Index [BMI] 25 [p = 0.02]. Frequency of metabolic syndrome was significantly high in this study with preponderance of males and prevalence similar to that observed in developed countries. Majority of patients had obesity and high fasting blood sugar levels. Males demonstrated higher levels of triglycerides and low levels of High-density lipoprotein [HDL] compared to females while blood pressure reading was observed to be the same in both males and females