Comparative efficacy of Hanifin and Rajka''s criteria and the UK working party''s diagnostic criteria in diagnosis of atopic dermatitis in a hospital setting in North India

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of atopic dermatitis (AD) depends on clinical features because no definitive diagnostic test exists. Criteria proposed by Hanifin and Rajka (Acta Derm Venereol (Stockh) 1980; Suppl 92: 44-47) were acceptable for hospital-based studies but were found not to be suitable for field studies. A UK working party formulated clinical diagnostic criteria that could be used in both hospital and epidemiological settings. Validation studies of the criteria showed widely variable results, probably due to different clinical settings and ethnicity. AIM AND OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to validate Hanifin and Rajka's criteria and to assess the comparative efficacy of their criteria and the UK working party's diagnostic criteria in the diagnosis of AD in a hospital setting in North India. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study serially included 101 patients with AD and 48 controls of paediatric age group. The study period was from July 2003 to December 2004. RESULTS: Hanifin and Rajka's criteria (sensitivity 96%, specificity 93.75%, positive predictive value 97% (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) 91.84%) had a statistical advantage over the UK working party's diagnostic criteria (sensitivity 86%, specificity 95.83%, PPV 97.75% and NPV 76.67%), with a P-value < 0.005.     

IMPOTENCE AND ITS NON-SURGICAL MANAGEMENT

SUMMARY Impotence is a common symptom which can cause considerable distress to both the sufferer and his partner. The use of pharmacotherapy to improve erectile function will continue to increase as safe and effective drugs are developed. However, restoring erectile function should not be the only treatment objective. It is also essential to address personal and emotional factors in the sufferer, conflicts in his relationship with his partner, and sexual problems in his partner, all of which may be instrumental in causing or maintaining the presenting impotence. We advocate a combined approach with appropriate medical treatment and sex and couple therapy     

Incisional healing in rats treated with diethyl maleate

Diethyl maleate (DEM) which binds and thus depletes tissue glutathione levels was used to aggravate the injury and to determine its effect on incisional healing. A 5 cm dorsal midline skin incision was performed on 40 albino Wistar rats in two groups and then closed by interrupted sutures. Groups received 0.9% NaCl and DEM at a dosage of 1 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally for seven days, respectively. On postoperative days 7 and 14, histopathological assessment and tensile strengths were measured. The DEM treated group had a marked inflammation with poorly defined collagen formation and the tensile strength measurements revealed a significant decrease (p <0.001) on the 7t day. On the other hand, the first group showed better collagenization and a lesser degree of inflammation. However, on the 14th day, there was no noticeable histopathological difference between the two groups; but, tensile strength values of the second group were still lower (p <0.05). In this animal model, DEM postponed the healing process and reduced the tensile strength.