Arsenic distribution in waters and its geochemical behavior in sediment of Mahanadi estuary in India.

Distribution of arsenic in the marine environment is associated with its biogeochemical behavior. Indeed, very few studies have been conducted along the seasonal cycle to show its non-conservative behavior in the tropical estuary. The Mahanadi River, one of the major tropical rivers in the peninsular India, drains densely populated and industrialized region of Paradeep port. Over this 1-year study, the variations of inorganic arsenic were examined along the salinity gradient of the Mahanadi estuary, with the aim to provide some insights into the mechanisms that control arsenic concentrations and behavior under estuarine mixing. Arsenic in the estuary was derived from both natural and anthropogenic sources, and it displayed partial removal from the water in the mixing zone. Results of geo-accumulation index indicated that sediments were uncontaminated and they acted as a sink for arsenic. The diffusive fluxes from water to sediment were estimated to be 9.05 µg m(-2) day(-1) at Chaumohona, 9.83 µg m(-2) day(-1) at Kaudia, and 11.85 µg m(-2) day(-1) at Neherubunglow. The findings of the study suggest that both the removal of arsenic by biogeochemical processes and its diffusive transport from water to sediment are of major importance for both the non-conservative behavior of arsenic in the estuary and its export to the coastal water.

Renal cell carcinoma with paraneoplastic leucocytosis.

Paraneoplstic leukocytosis, seen in some solid tumors, is due to increased production of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin 6 and other cytokines by tumor cells. Though its association with malignancy of lung, ovary and bladder is not uncommon, but it is rarely seen with renal cell carcinoma. We are presenting such an association with papillary cell carcinoma of the kidney.

Poncet's disease: An unusual presentation of tuberculosis in a diabetic lady.

Authors describe a 53-year-old woman who presented to their diabetes clinic with a three week history of multiple painful and swollen joints. She had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 5 years back. On examination, both knee joints and left ankle were swollen. A soft tissue swelling appeared over the medial end of the left clavicle few days later. Rheumatoid arthritis, collagen vascular diseases and other common causes of polyarthritis were ruled out by appropriate investigations. Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs failed to give satisfactory pain relief and the arthritis persisted. Conventional cultures of synovial fluid samples including cultures for tuberculosis were negative. Computed tomography showed a space occupying lesion involving the left sternoclavicular joint. Fine needle aspiration from the lesion was performed and acid-fast bacilli were demonstrated in the smear using Ziehl-Neelsen stain. The explanation of her arthritis was therefore tuberculous arthritis in left sternoclavicular joint and reactive arthritis in the rest of the joints. A diagnosis of Poncet's disease was considered in her case. We treated her with standard anti-tuberculosis drugs and the arthritis resolved within a few days. She remained symptom-free at her 2 years' follow-up.

Coexistence of pulmonary tuberculosis and sarcoidosis: a diagnostic dilemma.

Tuberculosis and sarcoidosis are multisystem diseases having different aetiology and management; however, they have similar clinical and histological characteristics. Very rarely they may coexist. We report a rare case of a 38-year-old woman who presented with chronic cough, low-grade fever and respiratory distress that was initially diagnosed as miliary tuberculosis. Diagnosis was supported by positive mycobacterial culture and initially responded to antitubercular treatment, but later recurrences led to further investigations and the diagnosis of coexisting sarcoidosis.

Tripe palm: a cutaneous manifestation of gastric carcinoma.

Case 1: A 43-year-old farmer attended our clinic with increasing fatigability, nausea, loss of appetite, loss of weight, postprandial fullness along with thyroid-stimulating hormone value of 0.4 mIU/L and anaemia without any history of cough, chest pain, haemoptysis, osmotic symptoms, haematemesis or malena. The patient received albendazole and iron preparations before attending our clinic. Case 2: A 51-year-old woman, a known patient with type 2 diabetes for the past 8 years, on gliclazide and metformin (2 g), with unaltered liver function test and renal function test, presented with symptoms similar to case 1 of upper gastrointestinal features along with a history of weight loss (about 6 kg) over the past 3 months. Metformin was withdrawn by her primary care physician but her symptoms persisted. A velvety appearance with pigmentation on the palms of the hands was found in both cases. Endoscopy revealed an irregular mass in the stomach. Subsequently, both patients were diagnosed to have gastric adenocarcinoma.

Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda with progressive arthropathy associated with subcapsular cataract.

Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda with progressive arthropathy is a form of inherited skeletal dysplasia involving the axial skeleton along with swelling and deformities of the peripheral joints that mimics juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. We report a case of a 14-year-old school boy who presented with dwarfism, spine deformity, ocular anomaly and peripheral arthropathy with characteristic radiological changes in the vertebrae and multiple other joints.

Diagnostic dilemma in a case of osteolytic lesions.

A middle-aged male patient presented with fever, polyarthralgia, polyuria, easy fatigability and weight loss for 1 month. Clinically, there was only significant pallor and a swelling over the right sternoclavicular joint. On investigation, there was anaemia, raised urea, creatinine and pus cells in urine with growth of Escherichia coli. There were also hypercalcaemia and osteolytic lesions over the ribs, scapula, clavicle and skull along with distorted renal corticomedullary differentiation. Although the initial diagnosis was likely to be a case of multiple myeloma, serum protein electrophoresis was negative for the monoclonal band and no Bence-Jones protein was detected in urine. Bone marrow plasma cells were less than 10%, but the serum-free light chain assay revealed altered κ:λ ratio. Later in the course of the disease, a cervical lymph node appeared. The biopsy and immunohistochemistry of this lymph node revealed a CD5 positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, but unfortunately the patient succumbed to his illness after receiving the first cycle of Rituximab-Cyclophosphamide-Hydroxydoxorubicin-Oncovin-Prednisolone.

Isolated splenic tuberculosis in an immunocompetent patient.

A 20-year-old woman presented with fever and was eventually diagnosed with splenic tuberculosis as the sole site of the disease. Laboratory data gave no specific information for diagnosis except for a raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate and mild anaemia. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed splenomegaly with multiple hypoechoic lesions within it. A diagnosis of isolated splenic tuberculosis was confirmed after CT-guided aspiration from splenic lesions showed the presence of acid-fast bacilli.

An unusual association of autosomal polycystic kidney disease and multiple myeloma.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is well known for its different renal and extrarenal complications. Chronic renal failure (CRF) from ADPKD is also reported in older patients. On the other hand, multiple myeloma (MM) can also cause renal damage by different mechanisms. A 38-year-old man presented with dull aching abdominal pain, recent onset respiratory distress along with bilateral pedal swelling. Initial investigations revealed polycystic kidney disease but subsequently it was found that the patient was also suffering from MM. This rare association of ADPKD and MM was responsible for aggravating the renal damage and perhaps resulted in early age of presentation with CRF. The patient was managed symptomatically but unfortunately succumbed before starting specific treatment for MM.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis : an atypical presentation.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic inflammatory disease of bile ducts..Patients with PSC usually presents with fatigue, jaundice and pruritus. Ultimately it leads to cirrhosis of liver and portal hypertension. But it rarely presents with decompensated liver disease without any previous symptoms. Here we report a case of PSC which presented with features of decompensated liver disease with K-F rings in the eyes.

Rheumatological manifestations of leprosy.

Rheumatological manifestations are common in leprosy. A study was conducted among 30 patients to observe the prevalence and spectrum of rheumatological manifestations in leprosy. Seventeen patients were referred from leprosy clinic from 287 consecutive leprosy cases and 13 patients presented de novo at the rheumatology clinic and later diagnosed to have leprosy. In the first group, the most common manifestation was small and large joints polyarthritis resembling rheumatoid arthritis found in 64.7% cases and in the second group tenosynovitis (38.5%) was the commonest. Rheumatoid factor was positive in 60% cases.

Headache in a case of Rhupus syndrome.

We report a case of Rhupus with secondary anti-phospholipid syndrome who presented with headache and papilloedema due to cerebral venous thrombosis. We propose that an increased awareness about the condition and meticulous investigation of headaches in lupus can avert catastrophic outcomes.

Recurrent limb weakness as initial presentation of Wilson's disease.

A 28-year-old normotensive euthyroid man presented with recurrent lower motor neuron type of weakness without sensory or autonomic involvement, with preserved reflexes. Systemic examination was significant for mild hepatosplenomegaly. Investigations revealed persistent hypokalemic, hyperchloremic, normal-anion-gap metabolic acidosis with deranged liver functions. Urine pH was 6.0 even after oral ammonium-chloride loading test. Type I renal tubular acidosis was diagnosed. A search for the etiology revealed bilateral Kayser-Fleischer ring, with low serum ceruloplasmin levels and high urinary copper, confirming it to be Wilson's disease.

A study on nephropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus: histology and its correlation with clinical and biochemical parameters.

To document clinical, serum and urinary parameters in patients with features of diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus and to correlate light microscopical findings of the renal biopsy specimen with the clinical, serum and urinary parameters, a study was conducted among 30 patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with features of nephropathy attended Medical College, Kolkata with special emphasis given on neurological and fundoscopic examination. The patients were investigated with fasting and postprandial venous plasma glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), serum urea, creatinine, sodium, potassium, 24-hour urinary protein/micro-albumin and lipid profile. Percutaneous renal biopsy was performed after taking informed consent from the patients and sent for histopathological examination. Obtained data were tabulated and analysed. Among 30 patients (male-16; female-14; proteinuric-23, micro-albuminuric-6) diabetic nephropathy was detected in 28 patients (diffuse-15, nodular-9, 4 had focal segmental glomerulosclerosis) and 2 had normal renal biopsy. Retinopathy was detected in 16 patients; 12 had autonomic neuropathy and 3 had peripheral neuropathy.

An unusual cause of dyspnoea complicating right upper abdominal swelling.

A middle aged, non-addict male presented with right upper abdominal pain and swelling with respiratory distress. Examination revealed central cyanosis, bipedal pitting edema with prominent epigastric and back veins. Liver was enlarged, tender, spanned 20 cm without any splenomegaly or ascites. Other systems were clinically normal. Laboratory investigations showed polymorphonuclear leucocytosis with slightly deranged liver function. Abdominal ultrasonography showed an abscess in the right lobe of the liver with compressed inferior vena cava (IVC), middle and left hepatic veins. Arterial blood gas (ABG) documented hypoxia with orthodeoxia and air-contrast echocardiography was suggestive of an intrapulmonary shunt. A diagnosis of hepato-pulmonary syndrome (HPS) was made with near normal liver function secondary to amebic liver abscess. It reversed completely following successful treatment of the liver abscess.