Our experience of coronary angiography with and without heparin

AimCoronary angiography is usually done with heparin. Our aim is to see whether it can be done without heparin through femoral route and its effect on local complications.MethodWe have studied 3780 patients from 2006 to 2010 using standard dose Heparin (5000 units), low dose heparin (2000 units) and no heparin. We have compared safety and complications in these three groups.ResultsLocal complications were lowest in no heparin group. Blood transfusion requirements and surgical interventions were lowest in no heparin group. Thrombosis rate did not increase in no heparin group.ConclusionCoronary angiography can be done safely without heparin through femoral route.     

A comparative study of clinical features between monotypic and dual infection cases with Chikungunya virus and dengue virus in West Bengal, India

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) are circulating individually in the state of West Bengal, India. However, after 1965 the dual-infection caused by both viruses had not been recorded until 2010. In 2010, an investigation of the febrile cases was carried out to confirm the involvement of both viruses simultaneously. A total of 550 blood samples were tested for the detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody against both CHIKV and DENV. Serology by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method confirmed that 131 (23.8%) and 104 (18.9%) patients had IgM antibody against CHIKV and DENV, respectively, whereas 68 (12.4%) had IgM antibodies against both CHIKV and DENV. Fever, joint pain, rashes, headache, myalgia, and nausea/vomiting are the common features in the case of both monotypic and dual-infection. Severe arthralgia and swelling of joints were common only in CHIKV-positive cases and abdominal pain was mainly associated with DENV infection. Diarrhea was reported only by the dual-infected patients (16.2%).     

Rare association of eventration of left hemidiaphragm with ipsilateral thyroid agenesis

Eventration is a well-known congenital malformation of the diaphragm, usually asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally on chest radiography. It is sometimes associated with a number of other congenital syndromes and anomalies. We report a rare case of eventration of left hemidiaphragm associated with gastric volvulus, ipsilateral thyroid agenesis and microphthalmia.     

Morphometric and Histological Study of Breast Lesions with Special Reference to Proliferative Activity and Invasiveness

Breast carcinoma is the most common cause of carcinoma death in women. Sometimes, difficulty arises to differentiate between premalignant lesions and carcinoma by routine histopathology. Our study was done to establish the role of morphometry and immunohistochemistry to solve this problem. In this study, total 60 cases of different breast lesions were included and 10 controls were also included to compare the results with the normal findings. They were studied by hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections for morphometry and routine histological study; as well as by proliferative markers such as proliferating cell nuclear antigen and p53. Invasiveness was studied using immunohistochemical staining with 34 βE12 monoclonal antibody. Statistically significant differences were found in morphometric parameters and in expression of proliferative markers between most of them. Morphometry and immunohistochemistry help in the proper diagnosis of different breast lesions that lie in the gray zone on routine histopathology.     

Barriers and Facilitators of Addiction Treatment: a Qualitative Study

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction - Addictive disorders affect a considerable proportion of the population worldwide and in India. Treatment-related barriers and facilitators...     

Received social support, self-efficacy, and finding benefits in disease as predictors of physical functioning and adherence to antiretroviral therapy

OBJECTIVE: The study investigated whether received social support, self-efficacy, and finding benefits in disease are related to physical functioning and adherence to antiretroviral medication among men and women infected with HIV. METHODS: Data were collected among 104 patients of three HIV clinics in India. The measures included general self-efficacy scale, Berlin social support scales, questionnaire on taking antiretroviral medication, and SF-20 (physical functioning). RESULTS: The results of path analysis and mediation analysis revealed that finding benefits and self-efficacy were directly related to both adherence and physical functioning. Additionally, finding benefits mediated the relation between patients' self-efficacy and adherence as well as physical functioning. Although received support was unrelated to adherence directly, effects of received support on adherence were mediated by self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: Besides personal and social resources, benefit finding was related to better adherence to antiretroviral medication. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Identifying patients receiving low social support, with weak general self-efficacy and finding no benefits in being diagnosed with HIV may help to elicit those people who are at risk for poorer adherence and physical functioning.