Penile Color Doppler Ultrasonography in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Presenting with Erectile Dysfunction: A Single-Center Experience from Bangladesh.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is common in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). ED is considered the earliest marker of widespread endothelial dysfunction. Color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) of the penis is a valuable tool in identifying vasculogenic ED and may predict coronary vascular disease. In Bangladesh, no study has evaluated CDUS of the penis in such patients. This study assessed the penile CDUS characteristics of adult patients with T2DM having ED. This cross-sectional study was conducted from January to December 2021 at a specialized diabetes hospital in Cumilla, Bangladesh. The baseline velocities of the right and the left cavernosal arteries were measured at the penile base. Arterial insufficiency was defined as a peak systolic velocity (PSV) value <25 cm/s and venous insufficiency was described as an end-diastolic velocity (EDV) >5 cm/s at the end of the examination. Eighty-seven subjects were evaluated; the mean age was 44.2±9.2 years, mean duration of DM was 7.9±2.8 years; of them, 31.0% were smokers, 75.9% obese, 92.0% central obese, 69.0% hypertensive, 96.6% dyslipidemic and 51.7% with low testosterone. The mean HbA1c was 9.3±1.9%; DM was uncontrolled in 89.7% of the study subjects. Penile vasculopathy was found in 21.8% (17.2% had arterial insufficiency, 2.3% had a venous leak, and 2.3% had arterial insufficiency with a venous leak). There were no statistical differences between the two groups, with and without penile vasculopathy, except for diastolic blood pressure, which was higher in the vasculopathy group. CDUS may be incorporated into the tools for evaluating diabetic ED to direct specific management.

Gastrointestinal Manifestations among COVID-19 Patients in Bangladesh: A Cross Sectional Study.

This study was done to find out the frequency of gastrointestinal manifestations among adult COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh. This descriptive cross sectional retrospective study was conducted from 27 May till 20 June 2020. Data were collected retrospectively from three different hospitals of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Patients were interviewed over telephone and verbal consents were taken. Their demographic and clinical profiles were put in the questionnaires by the investigators themselves. Statistical analysis was done thereafter. Out of 226 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, 145(61.4%) patients had gastrointestinal symptoms. Five of them had none other than gastrointestinal symptoms. Twenty six patients were asymptomatic. Mean age of the patients with were 41.6±14.8 years. Males were affected almost equally as the females (51.72% vs. 48.27%) (Ratio 1.1:1). Anorexia (44.7%) followed by diarrhoea (35%) and nausea (22.6%) were the predominant symptoms. Patients with co-morbidities (74.7%) were more prone to develop GI symptoms. Family members (71.6%) of COVID-19 patients with GI symptomatic patients were more affected than the others. Hospitalizations (77.6%) were more among GI symptomatic patients than the others. Thirty Five percent (35%) patients had diarrhoea. Mean duration of diarrhoea was 2.7±1.7 days with a frequency of were 4±1.8 days per day. Gastrointestinal manifestations are common among patients with COVID-19. Clinicians need to be aware of the GI features amongst COVID-19 patients so that they can be addressed and treated effectively and immediately. Further large scale study is needed to predict the disease outcome among COVID 19 patients with GI symptoms.

Miltefosine Induced Reduced Male Fertility Capacity after Treatment of Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis, Bangladesh.

Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL) is the sequel of visceral leishmaniasis in Indian subcontinent and may appear among patients with or without previous history of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The aim of the study is to understand the male reproductive safety profile of miltefosine used for the treatment of Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL) in Bangladesh. From January 2017 to March 2017, an exploratory study was carried out on male fertility capacity in Bangladesh among male patients above 14 years old with PKDL treated with miltefosine. Twenty nine male patients were included to observe the effect of miltefosine on reproductive health. All PKDL patients had history of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in different time periods. Among them three (10.3%) patients were unable to ejaculate semen. In semen analysis, 3 patients (10.3%) were found azoospermia (sperm count & motility- 0, viscosity- good, pH- 7 to 8), microscopically there was presence of RBC (5-15/HPF), WBC (8-15/HPF). Another 3 patients (10.3%) were found oligospermia (sperm count- 4.2 to 15.3 million/ml, motility- 20 to 50%, viscosity- good, pH- 6 to 9, RBC- 4 to 15/HPF, WBC- 4 to 15/HPF). The study documented some important findings in evaluating male infertility and selection of drug regimens in treating PKDL patients with miltefosine for 12 weeks.

To evaluate the extent of awareness about hazards of blood transfusion among the blood recipients.

This cross-sectional, observational study was carried out among the blood receiving patients conducted in the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University from April 2008 to August 2009, over 126 purposively selected, to evaluate the extent of awareness about hazards of blood transfusion among the blood recipient. In this study 74.1% of male and 73.3% of female respondents had correct knowledge of blood transfusion (p>0.05). In literate group 85(91.4%) had knowledge about blood donation and transfusion compared to 8(8.6%) in illiterate group with significant statistical difference (p=0.001). Different misconception and lack of awareness about safe blood transfusion is present among people receiving blood and blood products. Illiterate persons have significant less level of knowledge about safe blood transfusion. So the number of educational programs on blood-donation should be expanded and transmitted to encourage possible receivers to take blood from nonprofessional volunteer donor and to carry out relevant screening tests before receiving blood products. Furthermore, they should know that all measures besides screening tests are implemented by blood banks to ensure that blood donation is safe for donors and that transfusion of the donated blood is safe for recipients.