Frequency and type of toenail tumors in the dromedary camel

A total of 275 dromedary camels (16 males and 259 females) of local “Arabiyat” breed suffering from different types and degrees of severity of toenail tumors were surgically treated. Histopathological examination of the tissue samples removed from 50 tumor-like growths (2 males and 48 females) revealed three types of tumors; squamous cell carcinoma (70%), spiny keratoderma (22%) and fibroma (8%). An increased incidence of tumors was recorded in the medial when compared to the lateral toenails in both sexes. In females, the incidence in the medial toenails was 90/259 (34.75%) and 71/259 (27.41%) in the right and left forelimbs respectively when compared to the lateral toenails which was 25/259 (9.65%) and 5/259 (1.93%) for the respective right and left forelimbs. In the hind limbs, this ratio was 29/259 (11.20%) and 20/259 (7.72%) for right and left medial toenails respectively, whereas it was 17/259 (6.56%) and 2/259 (0.77%) for the right and left lateral toenails respectively. Similar to the observations in female camels, male camels also showed a higher incidence of these tumors in the medial when compared to the lateral toenails in both fore and hind limbs. Based on these findings, we conclude that in the dromedary camels, the medial toenails of the fore limbs are most commonly affected with tumors; with the most common tumor being the squamous cell carcinoma

Fixation of metatarsal fracture with bone plate in a dromedary heifer

An oblique fracture of the distal third of the right metatarsus in a three-year-old dromedary heifer weighing about 300 kilograms was immobilized with a 4.5 mm broad-webbed 12-hole dynamic compression bone plate and two interfragmental compression screws. The animal showed slight lameness after 16 weeks of surgery that disappeared after removal of the plate. The result was quite encouraging and the fracture healed in 16 weeks without major complications. It is concluded that the fracture of this bone can be successfully handled with bone plating at least in young, light weight animals

Impact of radical nephrectomy on renal functional outcome in patients with no other co-morbidity as determined by 24-h urinary creatinine clearance

Introduction: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 3% of all adult tumors. The mainstay of treatment of RCCs in the past has remained radical nephrectomy (RN). Studies have found a higher cumulative incidence of development of chronic renal insufficiency in patients undergoing RN for RCC. Objectives: To determine the frequency of decrease in 24-h urinary creatinine clearance (CrCl) as an indicator of functional decline after nephrectomy for RCC. Subjects and methods: A total of 103 patients of RCC undergoing RN were included in the study. Patients’ 24-h urinary CrCls were measured pre-nephrectomy and 3 months post-nephrectomy. The patients’ demographic and tumor characteristics were noted from case files. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 15.0. Results: There were 61 (59.2%) males and 42 (40.8%) females with a mean age of 60.12 ± 8.88 years. The mean maximum tumor diameter was 8.5 ± 2.6 cm. The mean preoperative serum creatinine in the study group was 1.01 ± 0.24 mg/dl, while the mean 3-month postoperative serum creatinine was 1.29 ± 0.46 mg/dl. The mean preoperative CrCl measured in this study was 112.02 ± 6.04 ml/min/1.73 m2, while the 3-month postoperative value was 102.94 ± 14.10 ml/min/1.73 m2, a mean decrease of 9.08 ml/min/1.73 m2. The decrease in CrCl was identified in 34 (33%) patients. No association was found between the measured functional decline and the patients’ age and gender and stage of the disease. Conclusion: The results from this study show that RN is associated with a decrease in CrCl in one third of the study population. Therefore it is recommended that patients undergoing RN should be strictly monitored for occult renal failure and managed promptly to prevent serious morbidity of frank renal failure

Multimorbidity and health-related quality of life amongst Indigenous Australians: A longitudinal analysis

OnlinePublBackground: The burden of multimorbidity has been observed worldwide and it has signifcant consequences on health outcomes. In Australia, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is comparatively low amongst Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders, yet no studies have examined the efect of multimorbidity on HRQoL within this at-risk population. This study seeks to fll that gap by employing a longitudinal research design. Methods: Longitudinal data were derived from three waves (9, 13, and 17) of the household, income and labour dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. A total of 1007 person-year observations from 592 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander individuals aged 15 years and above were included. HRQoL was captured using the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF36), and multimorbidity was defned using self-reports of having been diagnosed with two or more chronic health conditions. Symmetric fxed-efects linear regression models were used to assess how intraindividual changes in multimorbidity were associated with intraindividual changes in HRQoL. Results: Approximately 21% of Indigenous Australians were classifed as experiencing multimorbidity. Respondents had statistically signifcantly lower HRQoL on the SF-36 sub-scales, summary measures, and health-utility index in those observations in which they experienced multimorbidity. Among others, multimorbidity was associated with lower scores on the SF-36 physical-component scale (β= −6.527; Standard Error [SE]=1.579), mental-component scale (β= −3.765; SE=1.590) and short-form six-dimension utility index (β= −0.075; SE=0.017). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that having multiple chronic conditions is statistically signifcantly associated with lower HRQoL amongst Indigenous Australians. These fndings suggest that comprehensive and culturally sensitive health strategies addressing the complex needs of individuals with multimorbidity should be implemented to improve the HRQoL of Indigenous Australians.Syed Afroz Keramat, Francisco Perales, Khorshed Alam, Rumana Rashid, Rezwanul Haque, Nahid Monasi, Rubayyat Hashmi, Farzana Siddika, Zubayer Hassan Siddiqui, Mohammad Afshar Ali, Natnael Demeke Gebremariam, Srinivas Kondalsamy-Chennakesava