Epidemiology clinical features and Comorbidities in Gout.

INTRODUCTION : Gout is an inflammatory arthritis mediated by crystallization of uric acid within the joints. Gout has been called the king of kings and the disease of kings. The term gout introduced in the thirteenth century is derived from the Latin word “Gutta” a drop and reflects the early belief that a poison falling drop by drop into the joint was responsible for the disease. Hippocrates described gout as podagra, chiegra, gonagra depending on the site of involvement, the foot the wrist or the knee. Tophi were first described by Galen. Thomas Sydenham’s unsurpassed description marked the modern clinical history of gout. Wollartanin (1797) and Pearson (1798) demonstrated urate in the tophi of patients with gout. Leeuwenhock the inventor of the microscope first described these crystals in 1679. In 1848 Garrod demonstrated an increased amount of uric acid in the blood of gouty patients. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES : 1. To study the epidemiological characteristics of various patients of gout. 2. To study the musculoskeletal features and biochemical characteristics in them. 3. To analyze the comorbidities in these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS : Seventy consecutive patients of gout who attended the department of rheumatology, Madras Medical College were included in the study. This is a Prospective Study conducted between January 2006 and March 2008. Inclusion Criteria: A definitive diagnosis of gout was established by demonstration of intracellular uric acid crystals in the synovial fluid or tophi. When crystals could not be demonstrated diagnosis was established if six of the twelve American rheumatism association (ACR) criteria were fulfilled. Exclusion Criteria: Patients of psoriasis, Systemic lupus erythematosus and hematological malignancies with elevated uric acid levels were excluded from the study. Methods: All patients were asked for a detailed history which includes the duration of the disease, disease onset, the first joint affected, the duration of the attack, the time interval between subsequent episodes, whether it was a persistent arthritis, and time of onset of first MTP joint involvement .A history of other illnesses such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, hypothyroidism and consumption of alcohol was asked for. A detailed general examination, height, weight and body mass index was calculated. A musculoskeletal system examination and other systems were done. RESULTS : Seventy patients of gout were analyzed of which 57 were males and 13 were females. Five patients belonged to the group of young onset gout (< 30 Yrs) and all of them were males. The mean age of patients of young onset was 25.3 ± 5.08 yrs. with a 't' value of 4.966 which was of high statistical significance. The mean age of males in late onset group was 45.32 ± 11.65 yrs. and females was 48 ± 7.93 yrs. There was no statistically significant difference in age distribution among sexes (t value of 0.788). 38 patients (55.5%) gave history of alcohol consumption, of which 37 are males. CONCLUSION : Majority of the patients (79%) of gout in our study belonged to the age group of 31-60 years. * Predominant pattern of arthritis was polyarticular. * Five patients in our study belong to the Young onset group. * Dyslipidemia and Hypertension were the common co morbidities in the male population. * Hypertension, Dyslipidemia and Hypothyroidism were the common co-morbidities in our female patients. * A strong association between polyarticular gout and renal failure was noticed. * Serum uric acid levels were higher in males than females. * There was a significant correlation between uric acid levels and serum creatinine. * The 24 hours uric acid excretion was higher in tophaceous gout than the non tophaceous gout

Multifocal versus monofocal intraocular lenses after cataract extraction.

BACKGROUND: Good unaided distance visual acuity (VA) is now a realistic expectation following cataract surgery and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Near vision, however, still requires additional refractive power, usually in the form of reading glasses. Multiple optic (multifocal) IOLs are available which claim to allow good vision at a range of distances. It is unclear whether this benefit outweighs the optical compromises inherent in multifocal IOLs. OBJECTIVES: To assess the visual effects of multifocal IOLs in comparison with the current standard treatment of monofocal lens implantation. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register) (2016, Issue 5), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily, Ovid OLDMEDLINE (January 1946 to June 2016), Embase (January 1980 to June 2016), the ISRCTN registry (www.isrctn.com/editAdvancedSearch), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov), and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We last searched the electronic databases on 13 June 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised controlled trials comparing a multifocal IOL of any type with a monofocal IOL as control were included. Both unilateral and bilateral implantation trials were included. We also considered trials comparing multifocal IOLs with "monovision" whereby one eye is corrected for distance vision and one eye corrected for near vision. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. We assessed the 'certainty' of the evidence using GRADE. MAIN RESULTS: We found 20 eligible trials that enrolled 2230 people with data available on 2061 people (3194 eyes). These trials were conducted in Europe (13), China (three), USA (one), Middle East (one), India (one) and one multicentre study in Europe and the USA. Most of these trials compared multifocal with monofocal lenses; two trials compared multifocal lenses with monovision. There was considerable variety in the make and model of lenses implanted. Overall we considered the trials at risk of performance and detection bias because it was difficult to mask participants and outcome assessors. It was also difficult to assess the role of reporting bias.There was moderate-certainty evidence that the distance acuity achieved with multifocal lenses was not different to that achieved with monofocal lenses (unaided VA worse than 6/6: pooled RR 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.89 to 1.03; eyes = 682; studies = 8). People receiving multifocal lenses may achieve better near vision (RR for unaided near VA worse than J3/J4 was 0.20, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.58; eyes = 782; studies = 8). We judged this to be low-certainty evidence because of risk of bias in the included studies and high heterogeneity (I2 = 93%) although all included studies favoured multifocal lenses with respect to this outcome.People receiving multifocal lenses may be less spectacle dependent (RR 0.63, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.73; eyes = 1000; studies = 10). We judged this to be low-certainty evidence because of risk of bias and evidence of publication bias (skewed funnel plot). There was also high heterogeneity (I2 = 67%) but all studies favoured multifocal lenses. We did not additionally downgrade for this.Adverse subjective visual phenomena were more prevalent and more troublesome in participants with a multifocal IOL compared with monofocals (RR for glare 1.41, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.93; eyes = 544; studies = 7, low-certainty evidence and RR for haloes 3.58, 95% CI 1.99 to 6.46; eyes = 662; studies = 7; moderate-certainty evidence).Two studies compared multifocal lenses with monovision. There was no evidence for any important differences in distance VA between the groups (mean difference (MD) 0.02 logMAR, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.06; eyes = 186; studies = 1), unaided intermediate VA (MD 0.07 logMAR, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.10; eyes = 181; studies = 1) and unaided near VA (MD -0.04, 95% CI -0.08 to 0.00; eyes = 186; studies = 1) compared with people receiving monovision. People receiving multifocal lenses were less likely to be spectacle dependent (RR 0.40, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.53; eyes = 262; studies = 2) but more likely to report problems with glare (RR 1.41, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.73; eyes = 187; studies = 1) compared with people receiving monovision. In one study, the investigators noted that more people in the multifocal group underwent IOL exchange in the first year after surgery (6 participants with multifocal vs 0 participants with monovision). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Multifocal IOLs are effective at improving near vision relative to monofocal IOLs although there is uncertainty as to the size of the effect. Whether that improvement outweighs the adverse effects of multifocal IOLs, such as glare and haloes, will vary between people. Motivation to achieve spectacle independence is likely to be the deciding factor

Site-Specific Analysis of Inflammatory Markers in Discoid Lupus Erythematosus Skin

Prior studies identified T cells, B cells, and macrophages in the inflammatory infiltrate and up-regulation of their protein products in discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) skin; however, they lacked rigorous analyses to define their specific locations in skin. Thus, we compared expressions of selected T cell, B cell, and macrophage markers in five areas of DLE, psoriasis, and normal skin. Immunostainings for CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD68, CXCR3, CXCL10, and TIA-1 were performed in biopsies of 23 DLE lesional skin, 11 psoriasis lesional skin, and 5 normal skin. Three independent observers used a graded scale to rate each marker’s presence in the epidermis, dermatoepidermal junction (DEJ), perivascular area, periadnexal area, and deep dermis. DLE lesional skin contained an increased abundance of CD3+, CD8+, and CD68+ cells at the DEJ, and CD20+ and CD68+ cells in the periadnexal area versus psoriasis and normal skin. CXCR3, CXCL10, and TIA-1 were elevated in periadnexal sites of DLE lesional skin versus psoriasis lesional skin. The aggregation of T cells, B cells, macrophages, and their protein products (CXCR3, CXCL10, and TIA-1) in the DEJ and periadnexal area of DLE lesional skin may contribute to the pathology of DLE through a coordinated, sophisticated process

The prevalence of retinopathy in prediabetes: A systematic review.

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of vision loss globally. The current diagnostic thresholds for diabetes are still based on historic data correlating glycemic parameters with retinopathy; however, an excess prevalence of retinopathy has also been reported in prediabetes. We aimed to determine the reported prevalence of retinopathy in adults with prediabetes. We performed searches using MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Google Scholar and the Cochrane databases from inception to August 1, 2020. We evaluated methodological quality and certainty of the evidence using a validated risk of bias tool and GRADE, respectively. Twenty-four studies (8,759 participants with prediabetes) were included after screening 5,155 abstracts and reviewing 98 full-text records. Nineteen studies (79%) reported population-based data. Retinopathy prevalence estimates ranged between 0.3-14.1% (median 7.1%, interquartile range 2.4-9.7%), with high variance in estimates due to differing screening methods, retinopathy grading protocols and study populations. We judged this as low-certainty evidence using GRADE, downgrading for risk of bias and inconsistency. From studies that compared both populations, post hoc analysis revealed a lower median retinopathy prevalence in normal glucose tolerance (3.2%, interquartile range 0.3-7.3%) than prediabetes (6.6%, interquartile range 1.9-9.8%). These data suggest an excess prevalence of retinopathy in prediabetes

A case of endometrial carcinoma with age related hyperkyphosis treated with definitive radiotherapy

This report describes a simple brachytherapy procedure in a patient with endometrial cancer with age related hyperkyphosis.  Sixty-eight year-old postmenopausal woman with age related hyperkyphosis presented with endometrial carcinoma, and the patient was not operated on due to associated pelvic deformity. The patient received whole pelvic radiation followed by uterovaginal brachytherapy. Patient was supported with soft pillows to support her exaggerated anterior concavity during brachytherapy procedure and execution. The brachytherapy dose was 6 Gy per fraction per week for 3 weeks using image guidance. This is probably the first reported case of endometrial cancer with age related hyperkyphosis. In spite of the associated skeletal problems, a simple brachytherapy procedure is possible and provides good result.

Italian guidelines for primary headaches: 2012 revised version

The first edition of the Italian diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for primary headaches in adults was published in J Headache Pain 2(Suppl. 1):105–190 (2001). Ten years later, the guideline committee of the Italian Society for the Study of Headaches (SISC) decided it was time to update therapeutic guidelines. A literature search was carried out on Medline database, and all articles on primary headache treatments in English, German, French and Italian published from February 2001 to December 2011 were taken into account. Only randomized controlled trials (RCT) and meta-analyses were analysed for each drug. If RCT were lacking, open studies and case series were also examined. According to the previous edition, four levels of recommendation were defined on the basis of levels of evidence, scientific strength of evidence and clinical effectiveness. Recommendations for symptomatic and prophylactic treatment of migraine and cluster headache were therefore revised with respect to previous 2001 guidelines and a section was dedicated to non-pharmacological treatment. This article reports a summary of the revised version published in extenso in an Italian version

Association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from 28 823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income. Results Overall, working in settings with potentially high exposure to dusts or fumes was associated with respiratory symptoms but not lung function differences. The most common occupation was farming. Compared to people not working in any of the 11 considered occupations, those who were farmers for ≥20 years were more likely to have chronic cough (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.19–1.94), wheeze (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16–1.63) and dyspnoea (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.53–2.20), but not lower FVC (β=0.02 L, 95% CI −0.02–0.06 L) or lower FEV1/FVC (β=0.04%, 95% CI −0.49–0.58%). Some findings differed by sex and gross national income. Conclusion At a population level, the occupational exposures considered in this study do not appear to be major determinants of differences in lung function, although they are associated with more respiratory symptoms. Because not all work settings were included in this study, respiratory surveillance should still be encouraged among high-risk dusty and fume job workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.publishedVersio