Neonatal small left colon syndrome - Radiological diagnosis by gastrografin contrast study

Neonatal small left colon syndrome (NSLCS) is one of the suspected diagnoses if the neonate does not pass meconium within 24 h ofbirth. Radiological contrast studies play a vital role in diagnosing and treating the entity. We report a case where the newborn did notpass meconium till 4 days of birth and which on gastrografin studies was diagnosed as a case of NSLCS

Surgical excision and contoured custom made splint to treat helical keloid

Helical keloids are difficult to treat as surgical excision requires effective compression of the operative scar to prevent recurrence while retaining the contour and elasticity of the helix. The authors fabricated a conforming custom made post-operative splint from a commonly used dental material. Splints could be fabricated in both pre-operative and post-operative stage

Digoxin Use to Control Ventricular Rate in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure Is Not Associated with Increased Mortality

Introduction. Digoxin is used to control ventricular rate in atrial fibrillation (AF). There is conflicting evidence regarding safety of digoxin. We aimed to evaluate the risk of mortality with digoxin use in patients with AF using meta-analyses. Methods. PubMed was searched for studies comparing outcomes of patients with AF taking digoxin versus no digoxin, with or without heart failure (HF). Studies were excluded if they reported only a point estimate of mortality, duplicated patient populations, and/or did not report adjusted hazard ratios (HR). The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. Adjusted HRs were combined using generic inverse variance and log hazard ratios. A multivariate metaregression model was used to explore heterogeneity in studies. Results. Twelve studies with 321,944 patients were included in the meta-analysis. In all AF patients, irrespective of heart failure status, digoxin is associated with increased all-cause mortality (HR [1.23], 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16–1.31). However, digoxin is not associated with increased mortality in patients with AF and HF (HR [1.08], 95% CI 0.99–1.18). In AF patients without HF digoxin is associated with increased all-cause mortality (HR [1.38], 95% CI 1.12–1.71). Conclusion. In patients with AF and HF, digoxin use is not associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality when used for rate control

The Inverse Correlation Between the Duration of Lifetime Occupational Radiation Exposure and the Prevalence of Atrial Arrhythmia

OBJECTIVE: Advancements in fluoroscopy-assisted procedures have increased radiation exposure among cardiologists. Radiation has been linked to cardiovascular complications but its effect on cardiac rhythm, specifically, is underexplored. METHODS: Demographic, social, occupational, and medical history information was collected from board-certified cardiologists via an electronic survey. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the risk of atrial arrhythmias (AA). RESULTS: We received 1,478 responses (8.8% response rate) from cardiologists, of whom 85.4% were male, and 66.1% were ≤65 years of age. Approximately 36% were interventional cardiologists and 16% were electrophysiologists. Cardiologists \u3e 50 years of age, with \u3e 10,000 hours (h) of radiation exposure, had a significantly lower prevalence of AA vs. those with ≤10,000 h (11.1% vs. 16.7%, = 0.019). A multivariable logistic regression was performed and among cardiologists \u3e 50 years of age, exposure to \u3e 10,000 radiation hours was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of AA, after adjusting for age, sex, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obstructive sleep apnea (adjusted OR 0.57; 95% CI 0.38-0.85, = 0.007). The traditional risk factors for AA (age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obstructive sleep apnea) correlated positively with AA in our data set. Cataracts, a well-established complication of radiation exposure, were more prevalent in those exposed to \u3e 10,000 h of radiation vs. those exposed to ≤10,000 h of radiation, validating the dependent (AA) and independent variables (radiation exposure), respectively. CONCLUSION: AA prevalence may be inversely associated with radiation exposure in Cardiologists based on self-reported data on diagnosis and radiation hours. Large-scale prospective studies are needed to validate these findings