Mental health and psychosocial aspects of disaster preparedness in Bhutan

Bhutan has taken the initiative in developing a comprehensive guideline on disaster risk preparedness and management in response to several minor disasters, namely earthquakes and flash floods in the country during the last couple of years. It is now widely accepted that the psychological symptoms of trauma resulting from devastation to lives and livelihood of affected people remain much longer and sometimes throughout their entire life span unless taken care of. Therefore, it is important to include psychosocial components of mental health protection and treatment of the affected persons in disaster risk preparedness and management to make it a comprehensive package. A four-tier system of mental health intervention and counselling has been proposed in line with the existing healthcare system and resources available in the country to make it sustainable. At the core of this programme is the mobilizing and training of volunteers from the community on psychosocial intervention, counselling and rehabilitation, backed up by three layers of trained health workers and mental health professionals.     

Extramedullary erythropoiesis in chronic subdural hematoma simulating metastatic small round cell tumor

We report two cases of extramedullary erythropoiesis within chronic subdural hematoma that caused diagnostic confusion. In both cases, the initial favored diagnosis by the submitting pathologists was that of a metastatic malignant tumor, including lymphoma, carcinoma, and malignant melanoma. In both cases, the subdural chronic hematoma contained cohesive clusters of small round blue cells with scant cytoplasm and round hyperchromatic nuclei. In both cases, some mitotic figures were identified. There was no gross or microscopic evidence of a meningeal mass lesion. The erythroblastic nature of the cells was confirmed using immunohistochemistry for CD43, glycophorin A, and erythropoietin A. It is important for surgical pathologists to be aware of this benign process and not to overinterpret it as either a primary or metastatic malignant tumor.     

Local or regional flaps in developing country: Experience from Eastern Bhutan

Soft tissue reconstruction plays an integral part in orthopaedic surgery. For developing country like Bhutan, where no micro-surgical or plastic surgeons are available, orthopaedic surgeons perform the local or regional flaps for the soft tissue defects. In this paper, we describe the use of different kinds of local and regional flaps and its outcome at Eastern Regional Referral Hospital, Bhutan.     

Providing a gateway to prevention and care for the most at-risk populations in Bhutan: is this being achieved?

Setting: Two free-standing urban human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and counselling (HCT) centres in Bhutan offering services to the general population and targeting the most at-risk populations (MARPs).Objectives: To assess the trend in testing for HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis in both the general population and MARPs, and to determine if sociodemographic and risk behaviour characteristics are associated with HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis seropositivity.Design: Cross-sectional study using client records, 2009 – 2012.Results: Of 7894 clients, 3009 (38%) were from the general population, while 4885 (62%) were from MARPs. Over the 4-year period, testing declined progressively among the general population, while it increased or remained static for MARPs. Of 4885 MARPs, seropositivity was respectively 0.7%, 1.3% and 1.2% for HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis. Female sex workers (FSWs) (relative risk [RR] 4.4, P = 0.03) and partners of person living with HIV (RR 25.9, P < 0.001) had a higher risk of being HIV-positive. FSWs had also a greater risk of being syphilis-positive (RR 9.1, P < 0.001).Conclusion: The increase in uptake of HCT services by MARPs is a welcome finding; however, the relatively static trends call for the introduction of community outreach approaches. The critical gateway being provided to MARPs is an ‘opportunity’ for the expansion of the current service package.     

The Association of Heart Rate Variability with Parkinsonian Motor Symptom Duration

Purpose

Impaired cardiovascular autonomic regulation is a non-motor symptom of Parkinson''s disease (PD) and may increase long-term morbidity. This study applied frequency-domain analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) to understand the progression of sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiac regulation in patients with PD.

Materials and Methods

In this cross-sectional study, 21 male and 11 female Taiwanese patients with advanced PD and 32 healthy gender- and age-matched subjects were enrolled. To minimize artifacts due to subject motion, daytime electrocardiograms for 5 minutes were recorded in awake patients during levodopa-on periods and controls. Using fast Fourier transformation, heart rate variables were quantified into a high-frequency power component [0.15-0.45 Hz, considered to reflect vagal (parasympathetic) regulation], low-frequency power component (0.04-0.15 Hz, reflecting mixed sympathetic and parasympathetic regulation), and low-frequency power in normalized units (reflecting sympathetic regulation). The significance of between-group differences was analyzed using the paired t-test. Pearson correlation analysis and stepwise regression analysis were applied to assess the correlation of patient age, PD duration, and disease severity (represented by the Unified Parkinson''s Disease Rating Scale) with each heart rate variables.

Results

Impaired HRV is significantly correlated with the duration of PD, but not with disease severity and patient age. Meanwhile, parasympathetic heart rate variable is more likely than sympathetic heart rate variable to be affected by PD.

Conclusion

PD is more likely to affect cardiac parasympathetic regulation than sympathetic regulation by time and the heart rate variables have the association with Parkinsonian motor symptom duration.     

Childhood tuberculosis in Bhutan: profile and treatment outcomes

Setting:

All hospitals and health centres under the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTCP) in Bhutan.

Objective:

To describe the number and proportion of childhood tuberculosis (TB) cases registered under the NTCP in 2010, their demographic and clinical characteristics and any associations with treatment outcomes.

Design:

Retrospective cohort study involving a review of TB treatment cards and registers.

Results:

Of 1332 TB cases registered, 187 (14%) were children aged <15 years, 75 (40%) were aged <5 years, and 180 (96%) were new cases; nearly half were extra-pulmonary TB, with lymphadenitis being the most common form. The overall treatment success rate was 93%, and none of the demographic and clinical characteristics were associated with treatment outcomes. A few recording deficiencies were identified.

Conclusion:

TB in children is well recognised in Bhutan, and their treatment outcomes were excellent.