Trend of human brucellosis over a decade at tertiary care centre in North Karnataka.

BACKGROUND: Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease. India having a major agrarian population is expected to have a higher prevalence. However, due to lack of laboratory facility or awareness among clinicians, the disease is largely underreported. The aim of this study was to know the prevalence and trend of human brucellosis over a decade, in patients attending a teaching hospital in North Karnataka, and to understand their geographical distribution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted from January 2006 to December 2015 at a tertiary care teaching hospital in North Karnataka. A total of 3610 serum samples were evaluated from suspected cases of brucellosis. All serum samples were initially screened by Rose Bengal plate test, and positive samples were further analysed by Serum agglutination test (SAT) using standard Brucella abortus antigen from Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. A titre above or equal to 1:80 IU/ml was considered as positive. Demographic data such as age, sex and native place of these patients were also analysed. RESULTS: We observed that human brucellosis is present in North Karnataka. The overall seropositivity of brucellosis in suspected cases was 5.1%. The positive titres ranged from 1:80 to 163,840 IU/ml. The majority of the patients were from Gadag, Koppal and Haveri districts of North Karnataka. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the presence of human brucellosis in the northern part of Karnataka. Further studies to understand the prevalence of animal brucellosis in these areas will help in implementing prevention measures.

Catheter-less suprapubic cystolithotomy in children.

Bladder stones in children are common in developing countries and the procedure of choice for their removal is suprapubic cystolithotomy. It is standard practice to drain the bladder for a few days post-operatively to prevent urinary leakage. We have observed that, if the bladder is closed meticulously in 2 layers, bladder drainage by means of a catheter is not required. We have analysed 86 children treated by suprapubic cystolithotomy without a catheter. Size of the stones and intra-operative findings were noted and it was found that 85% of the patients had an excellent result; 10% had a satisfactory result and 4.7% were unsatisfactory. The advantages of the procedure and selection of the patients are discussed.

Duplication of the pinna (polyotia) in a case of Brachmann-de Lange syndrome.

A rare case of polyotia in Brachmann-de Lange syndrome (Goodman and Gorlin, 1977) is presented and a method for the surgical correction of the duplicated auricle briefly outlined. A review of relevant literature is included in the discussion.