Effect of cardiac surgery on maternal and perinatal outcome in rheumatic heart disease with pregnancy: a comparative study

Background: Rheumatic heart disease remains the commonest heart disease in India with mitral stenosis being the most common lesion and is associated with significant maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. The objective of this study was to compare maternal and perinatal outcome in women with rheumatic heart valvular disease who had no surgery or had percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV) or had valvular replacement surgery.Methods: It was a retrospective study in 113 women with rheumatic heart disease with various valvular lesion admitted in the hospital in previous 10 years. There were 58 (51.35%) patients without cardiac surgery (Group 1), 24 (21.23%) with PTMC (Group 2) and 31 (27.43%) with valve replacement surgery (Group 3). Maternal and perinatal outcome were compared in three groups.Results: The baseline characteristics were similar in the three group. In cardiac complications New York Heart Association (NYHA) deterioration was significantly higher (24.1%) in non-operated group (Group 1) as compared to Group 2 (12.3%) and Group 3 (16.1%). There was no difference in Group 2 and Group 3. Need of cardiac medication (digoxin) was also highest (67.2%) in Group 1 as compared to Group 2 (24.6%) (p = 0.002) and Group 3 (38.7%) (p = 0.001) but no difference in Group 2 and Group 3. Anticoagulant were given to significantly higher number (54.8% of cases in Group 3 (valve replacement) as compared to Group 1 (3.4%) and Group 2 (12.5%). There was no significant difference in obstetric events and mode of delivery in the three groups. Similarly, there was no difference in fetal outcome in the three groups as regard to mean birth weight, APGAR score, fetal growth restriction, fetal or neonatal death or congenital anomalies in the three groups.Conclusions: Cardiac surgery before or during pregnancy did not significantly improve maternal or perinatal outcome. Only cardiac events and need of medication was reduced with surgery. Hence surgery should be performed judiciously in selected cases

Severe hydrops in the infant of a Rhesus D-positive mother due to anti-c antibodies diagnosed antenatally: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Rhesus haemolytic disease of the newborn is a prototype of maternal isoimmunisation and fetal haemolytic disease. There are other rare blood group antigens capable of causing alloimmunisation and haemolytic disease such as c, C, E, Kell and Duffy. In India, after the confirmation of a newborn's blood group, antibodies are screened only if the mother is Rehsus D-negative negative and the father is Rhesus D-positive. Hydrops in Rhesus positive women are investigated along the lines of non-immune hydrops.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a patient from India where irregular antibodies were requested for an O-positive 26-year-old mother in order to investigate fetal hydrops. Anti-c antibody was revealed and the fetus was treated successfully with compatible O negative and c negative intrauterine blood transfusions. The baby was treated postnatally with double volume exchange transfusion with the same compatible blood, and was discharged 30 days after birth.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We highlight the importance of conducting irregular antibody screening for women with significant obstetric history and fetal hydrops. This could assist in diagnosing and successfully treating the fetus with appropriate antigen negative cross-matched compatible blood. We note, however, that anti-c immunoglobulin is not yet readily available.</p

Evaluation and identification of promising pearl millet germplasm for grain and fodder traits

Results are presented of experiments aiming to evaluate and characterize available germplasm lines, landraces and core collection lines of pearl millet and to exploit genetic variability so as to identify promising germplasm lines for metric traits for utilization in different breeding programmes and develop early and high-yielding potential hybrids/open-pollinated cultivars for grain and fodder in drier areas of India. The materials consisted of 2375 germplasm accessions, 180 landraces and 504 core collection lines. The germplasm lines and landraces were evaluated during the 2006 rainy season in Mandor, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The accessions were sown in 22 blocks. Each block consisted of 120 accessions and 4 controls (J 2405, J 2340, NMP 24 and PP 29). The pearl millet core collection was also evaluated during the 2006 rainy season at 3 locations, i.e. AICPMIP, Mandor, Jodhpur; Agricultural Research Station, Rajasthan Agricultural University, Durgapura, Jaipur, Rajasthan; and Millet Research Station, Junagadh Agricultural University, Jamnagar, Gujarat. The core collection accessions were accommodated in 19 blocks. Each block consisted of 27 test accessions and 3 controls, namely IP 17862 (ICTP 8203), IP 22281 (Raj 171) (grain type) and IP 3616 (fodder type). After every 9 test accessions, one of the 3 controls was sown. Observations were recorded on morphological/metric traits, i.e. vigour, days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height, productive tillers per plant, total tillers per plant, nodes per plant, sheath length, blade length and width, panicle exsertion, length, thickness and density, bristle length, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, grain yield potential, green fodder yield, green fodder yield potential, and overall plant aspect

A progressive urological disease in aging man : Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

59-65Aging is a process in human beings (with time) which is responsible for many changes including diseases, which is a normal thing but the effects of all these make the life abnormal. A disease Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is associated with aging process in males, affects urino-genital system and also the normal daily life. In the present paper we are supplying a questioner developed by American Urological Association (AUA) for self-assessment of the level of disease itself and also discussed about the causes, diagnosis and treatment of this disease, which is very beneficial to local or general people to aware them including physicians and scientific community who are also familiar with BPH

Studies on alterations of clinical and hemato-biochemical parameters before and after treatment in calves naturally infected with theileriosis

Aim: The aim was to determine hemato-biochemical alterations and to determine the better treatment of theileriosis in naturally infected calves. Materials and Methods: A total of 74 Holstein crossbred calves below 6 months of age, of either sex were included for present investigation in Bikaner. Based on the clinical examinations and laboratory results, 20 calves included for hemato-biochemical studies (before and after treatment) and divided into two groups (having 10 calves each). Results: The clinical examination of these calves revealed weakness, ticks infestations, high fever above 104°F, pronounced swelling of prescapular, prefemoral, parotid lymph nodes, loss of elasticity of skin, anemia, lacrimal discharges, pulpy cornea, tachycardia, and dyspnea. There was highly significant decrease (p<0.01) in hemoglobin, total erythrocyte count, packed cell volume and total leukocyte count, serum glucose, total protein, globulin and albumin level and highly significant increase in aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase level as compared to healthy control animals in Group I and II. The animals of Group II treated with buparvaquone along with single blood transfusion shows better recovery then animals of Group I treated with bupavaqone and hematinic. Conclusions: Significant changes were found in hemato-biochemical parameters in theileria affected calves before treatment as compare to healthy control calves. Significant improvement was observed in hemato-biochemical parameters in buparvaquone and single blood transfusion treated calves as compare to another group, so it is concluded that buparvaquone and single blood transfusion is better combination for treatment of theileriosis

Stress Induced Acral Lick Dermatitis in a Domestic Rabbit: A Case Report

This case report describes acral lick dermatitis in a six-month-old domestic rabbit, which presented with the complaint of excessive licking of the carpus of left forelimb. Clinical examination showed a single well demarcated, oval, alopecic, ulcerated lesion with peripheral hyperpigmentation and thickening at the carpus of left forelimb. Rabbit was successfully managed with oral fluoxetine and topical application of ointment containing fluocinolone acetonide in 0.025% concentration along with intralesional injection of hydrocortisone of 0.15 mL diluted in normal saline at two sites of a lesion at interval of one week. In addition to medical therapy, hard plastic cat ball, some baby toys, and gnawing sticks were kept with rabbit as a method of environmental enrichment with the purpose of mental stimulation

Effect of cardiac surgery on maternal and perinatal outcome in rheumatic heart disease with pregnancy: a comparative study

Background: Rheumatic heart disease remains the commonest heart disease in India with mitral stenosis being the most common lesion and is associated with significant maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. The objective of this study was to compare maternal and perinatal outcome in women with rheumatic heart valvular disease who had no surgery or had percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV) or had valvular replacement surgery.Methods: It was a retrospective study in 113 women with rheumatic heart disease with various valvular lesion admitted in the hospital in previous 10 years. There were 58 (51.35%) patients without cardiac surgery (Group 1), 24 (21.23%) with PTMC (Group 2) and 31 (27.43%) with valve replacement surgery (Group 3). Maternal and perinatal outcome were compared in three groups.Results: The baseline characteristics were similar in the three group. In cardiac complications New York Heart Association (NYHA) deterioration was significantly higher (24.1%) in non-operated group (Group 1) as compared to Group 2 (12.3%) and Group 3 (16.1%). There was no difference in Group 2 and Group 3. Need of cardiac medication (digoxin) was also highest (67.2%) in Group 1 as compared to Group 2 (24.6%) (p = 0.002) and Group 3 (38.7%) (p = 0.001) but no difference in Group 2 and Group 3. Anticoagulant were given to significantly higher number (54.8% of cases in Group 3 (valve replacement) as compared to Group 1 (3.4%) and Group 2 (12.5%). There was no significant difference in obstetric events and mode of delivery in the three groups. Similarly, there was no difference in fetal outcome in the three groups as regard to mean birth weight, APGAR score, fetal growth restriction, fetal or neonatal death or congenital anomalies in the three groups.Conclusions: Cardiac surgery before or during pregnancy did not significantly improve maternal or perinatal outcome. Only cardiac events and need of medication was reduced with surgery. Hence surgery should be performed judiciously in selected cases

ExcellmiRDB for Translational Genomics: A Curated Online Resource for Extracellular MicroRNAs

A large number of studies have suggested extracellular microRNAs (microRNAs in biofluids) as potential noninvasive biomarkers for pathophysiological conditions such as cancer. However, reported differentially expressed signatures of extracellular miRNAs in diseases are not uniformly consistent among studies. Here, we present “ExcellmiRDB”, a curated online database that provides integrated information about miRNAs levels in biofluids in a user-friendly way. Although many miRNA databases, including disease-oriented databases, have been launched before, the ExcellmiRDB is so far the only one specialized for storing curated data on miRNA levels in biofluid samples. At present, ExcellmiRDB has 2773 disease-extracellular miRNAs and 1108 biofluid-extracellular miRNAs relationships curated from 108 articles selected from more than 600 surveyed PubMed abstracts. Information about 992 miRNAs, 82 diseases, 21 biofluids, 8 species, 63 normalization reference genes, 5 techniques, 14 GEO profiles accession numbers, 7 human ethnic groups, and 18 compared clinical biomarkers have been provided in the database. A user can query ExcellmiRDB by selecting a disease or a miRNA or a biofluid. Additionally, the database provides two online network graphs to visualize and interact with the content of the database. The first network shows disease-extracellular miRNAs relationships, along with expression patterns and number of articles for a relationship. The second network visualizes biofluid-extracellular miRNAs relationships showing miRNAs spectrum across different types of biofluids. In conclusion, ExcellmiRDB is a new innovative resource for both academic and industrial researchers in translational omics who are developing miRNA biomarkers for noninvasive diagnostic or prognostic technologies. ExcellmiRDB is publicly available on www.excellmirdb.brfjaisalmer.com/

Maternal and perinatal outcome in gestational diabetes mellitus in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Delhi

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as a carbohydrate intolerance first diagnosed in pregnancy and may be associated with adverse maternal and perinatal outcome. Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the maternal and perinatal outcome in GDM during pregnancy. Materials and Methods: It is a retrospective analysis of women diagnosed with GDM who got antenatal care and delivered in our hospital in previous 5 years. Another 191 women with normal pregnancy without GDM and other medical conditions were taken as control. The baseline characteristics (age, body mass index, religion, and socioeconomic status) were noted in all cases. Diagnosis of GDM was made using oral glucose tolerance test with 75 g glucose. GDM patients were started on diet following which insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents were given if required. Maternal and perinatal outcome was noted in all women.Results: The prevalence of GDM was 5.72% (170/2970). Most patients (79.41%) could be controlled on diet alone. However, 21 (12.35%) needed insulin and 14 (8.23%) needed oral hypoglycemic agents. Middle socioeconomic status was more common in GDM than control and pregnancy-induced hypertension was more common in GDM (13.5%) than in control (6.3%) (P = 0.019). Mode of delivery was not different in two groups. Instrumental deliveries and postpartum hemorrhage were also similar. However, mean birth weight was significantly higher in GDM (2848 ± 539 g) than in control (2707 ± 641 g) (P = 0.004). Incidence of large-for-date babies was also higher (28.2%) in GDM than control (19.4%) (P = 0.005). In neonatal complication, hypoglycemia was significantly higher in GDM (20.6%) than in control (5.2%) (P = 0.001). However, the incidence of hyperbilirubinemia and congenital malformations was not significantly different in two groups. Conclusion: The prevalence of GDM was 5.72% in this study. Adequate treatment of GDM on diet, oral hypoglycemic agents, or insulin to achieve euglycemia can achieve near-normal maternal and neonatal outcome