Evaluation of root canal cleaning efficacy of selfadjusting files, protaper rotary, and manual K-Files in primary teeth - An In vitro Comparative study.

Background: The success of pulpectomy depends on complete eradication of microbial load by cleaning and shaping the primary root canals that is difficult to achieve because of anatomical intricacy of primary pulp dentin complex. Numerous instruments were tried, however, they proved to be inadequate. Selfadjusting file (SAF) is a newer file system that facilitates less dentin removal with maximal cleansing of root canals. Aim: To evaluate and compare the in vitro root canal cleaning efficacy with SAF, Protaper Universal, and Hand K-files in primary teeth. Materials and Methods: Sixty extracted primary anterior teeth were randomly divided into three groups by lottery method. Access cavity was prepared, the canals were enlarged up to 20 K file, and an Indian ink was injected into each canal. Then the Group I (n = 20) was treated with SAF, Group II (n = 20) with Rotary Protaper Universal and Group III (n = 20) with Hand K-files and the root canal cleaning efficacy was evaluated based on the amount of Indian ink remaining in the canal walls under stereomicroscopy. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis one way ANOVA test and post hoc Tuckey test for intragroup and intergroup comparison, respectively. Results: A statistically highly significant difference was observed with SAF (mean = 1.5), Protaper (mean = 2.5), and Hand K-files (mean = 2.9). However, there was no significant difference in root canal cleaning efficacy with Protaper Universal and Hand K-files. Conclusion: The SAFs had shown superior cleaning efficacy compared with rotary Protaper Universal and manual K files.

Frozen Section Evaluation in Head and Neck Oncosurgery: An Initial Experience in a Tertiary Cancer Center.

OBJECTIVE: Frozen section evaluation is routinely used by oncosurgeons across specialties for rapid assessment of the presence of tumor in any tissue and its most common use is in surgical margins. Today, the use of intraoperative frozen-section evaluation of surgical margins is an accepted and frequent practice in head and neck oncology. This study aims to determine the efficacy and accuracy of frozen sections in head and neck cancer patients and compare the results with the respective paraffin sections and also to analyze the reasons for any disparity between them. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate efficacy and accuracy of frozen section in head and neck cancer of 265 patients, treated at a tertiary cancer centre hospital between January 2013 to December 2014. RESULTS: Out of 265 cases, it was found that 12.6% of these sections showed true positivity, 6.3% false positivity, 2.9% false negativity and 78.2% true negativity. The study also shows a sensitivity of 82.05% and specificity of 96.46%. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that intraoperative frozen section reports are specific and highly sensitive. We recommend a minimum of 3-4 sections, optimum cryostat temperature, good section thickness and quality staining for a good concordance rate.

Infant and Young Child Feeding Index and its association with nutritional status: A cross-sectional study of urban slums of Ahmedabad.

BACKGROUND: Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices are multidimensional and change rapidly in short intervals in the 1st year of life, asking for simultaneous assessment of various feeding dimensions in children of 6 months and older. Infant and Child Feeding Index (ICFI) is a composite index which measures complete feeding practices for infants and young children. The present study was conducted to assess IYCF practices for children aged 6-36 months in terms of ICFI and some sociodemographic factors and find out the association of ICFI with nutritional status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2015 to October 2015 in Girdharnagar ward of Ahmedabad. Two hundred and ten mother-child pairs were selected by two-staged cluster sampling and were interviewed using a schedule adapted from Knowledge, Practices, and Coverage 2000+ model questionnaire. Appropriate anthropometric measurements were taken and nutritional indicators were calculated. Chi-square test, t- test, and regression analysis were applied wherever required. Epi info version 7.0 and MS Excel 2007 were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Nearly 65.2% of the children were stunted, 43.3% were underweight, and 11.9% were wasted. Only 38.3% of the children were initiated on breastfeeding within 1 h of birth. Only 19.1% of the children were breastfed for 2 years and beyond. Meal frequency was adequate in 64.3% and dietary diversity of >4 food groups was given to only 15.7% of the children. Significant higher proportions of children with low ICFI scores had illiterate mothers, were older, and belonged to lower socioeconomic strata. There was statistically significant association of ICFI with all the three nutritional status indicators. Higher proportion of children with lower ICFI scores had lower weight-for-height Z-scores, weight-for-age Z-scores, and height-for-age Z-scores. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed that ICFI can be used to measure IYCF practices in a single composite index, which in turn can reflect the nutritional status of the children.

Clinical Evaluation of Low Level Diode Laser Application For Primary Teeth Pulpotomy.

INTRODUCTION: Inspite of latest advances in the materials and techniques practiced for the treatment of pulpally infected teeth with better reported success rate, still the question arises for safety and effectiveness of these medicaments. AIM: The objective of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of the Low Level Laser Therapy to Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA) when used for pulpotomy in vital human primary molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 40 primary molars from 29 children aged four to seven years. The teeth were selected based on clinical, radiographic criteria and randomly allocated to two groups. All the 40 primary molars were subjected to standard pulpotomy procedure, where in 20 molars received MTA (Group I) and 20 molars received LLLT (Group II) pulpotomy. Children were recalled at 3, 6 and 12 months intervals and pulpotomised molars were examined clinically and radiographically. Data was analysed using chi-square test. RESULTS: MTA showed 94.7% success rate at all the three intervals, where as LLLT showed a success of 95% at three months, which decreased gradually to 85% at six months and 80% at 12 months. Intergroup comparisons were not significant. CONCLUSION: Low level laser therapy can be considered for primary teeth pulpotomy and its success is comparable to MTA pulpotomy technique.

Interleukin 6(-174G/C) variant and its circulating levels in coronary artery disease patients and their first degree relatives.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) a pleiotropic cytokine is a central mediator of inflammation in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Our aim is to evaluate the serum levels of IL-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP) and to analyze the IL-6 polymorphism in CAD patients and to identify the first-degree relatives (FDRs) at risk of the disease in comparison with healthy controls. Estimation of IL-6 levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and CRP by latex reagent kit method, and genotyping of IL6 gene variants -174 (G>C) was carried out by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 600 subjects. IL-6 and CRP levels were significantly high in patients followed by FDRs compared to controls. The frequency of the IL-6 genotype was significantly different between cases, FDRs and controls and association of serum IL-6 levels with genotype found to be significant in CC genotype compared to GC and GG at p < 0.01 in CAD patients and FDRs, while there is no significant difference observed in controls. The study shows the importance of inflammation in the pathogenesis of CAD and predicts the risk of future coronary events in healthy asymptomatic FDRs.

Use of thrombolytic therapy in cerebral venous sinus thrombosis with ulcerative colitis.

Cerebral venous thrombosis developing concurrently with active ulcerative colitis poses a therapeutic dilemma. We report the case of a 31-year-old woman who developed dural venous sinus thrombosis during the course of active ulcerative colitis in whom we accomplished clot lysis using intrasinus urokinase. The success of the procedure was assessed by improvement in the patient's neurological condition and resolution of imaging features without any bleeding complications. We also reviewed literature on various modalities of treatment of sinus venous thrombosis in patients with ulcerative colitis and outcome.

Survivors of natural disasters and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The consequences of survivors of natural disasters in relation to post-traumatic stress disorder are discussed in detail with brief mention about the treatment schedule.