Spontaneous Per Oral Explantation of Intragastric Balloon—A Case Report

AbstractObesity is a modern-day pandemic that was once a disease of only the affluent Western world. However, over the years it has achieved a global footprint. The need to treat obesity with nonsurgical means in patients who do not qualify or refuse bariatric surgery or in some patients as a bridge to surgery is all the more relevant now. It is for this subset of patients that a modality like the intragastric balloon holds promise. Previously reported complications of the balloon include esophagitis, severe nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps, hiccoughs, belching, intestinal obstruction, gastric perforation, pancreatitis, and aspiration.1 Balloon rupture/leak leading to intestinal migration and obstruction has been managed by surgical intervention. Review of literature did not reveal any report of spontaneous per oral explantation of the deflated balloon. We are reporting a case of the same

On the stranding of sperm whales at Nagapattinam,Tamil nadu coast

A whale baby female sperm whale, Physeter macrocephakis Linnaeus measuring 3.71 m and weighing about 700 kg was stranded on18th December, 1988 at Samnathanpettai near Nagapattinam . Another sperm whale was found dead and washed ashore at Vizhunthamavadi near Nagapattinam on 18th January, 1991. The stranded sperm whale was an young female of 9.70 m weighing about 5 tonnes and estimated to be around five years old

T-Lymphocyte subpopulation in tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is associated with both qualitative and quantitative defects in the cell mediated immune response. The changes that occur in the lymphocyte profile in blood in children with tuberculosis are not well understood. Design: Prospective study. Setting: Referral hospitals. Methods: Lymphocyte subpopulations were determined by flow cytometry in 17 healthy tuberculin positive children, in 22 children with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis and in 8 of these children after antituberculosis therapy, Results: Absolute numbers and percentages of CD3+ and CD4+ T cells were reduced in children with tuberculosis, compared to controls. CD4+ counts increased significantly following antituberculosis treatment, compared to baseline values. In contrast, the proportion of T cells expressing the gd T cell receptor was similar in tuberculosis patients and controts. Conclusion: Children with tuberculosis have a systemic decrease in the proportion and number of CD3+ and CD4+ T cells which reverses during therapy

Laparoscopic excision of large lower rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST): A case report

Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) involving rectum is rare. No definite method of treatment has been established because of a small number of cases being reported. It is usually managed with invasive or ablative surgery, such as abdominoperineal resection (APR). The acceptance of minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery in colorectal disease plays a pivotal role in improving the postoperative quality of life. We report a case of a large lower rectal GIST who underwent laparoscopic excision of tumour through a subserosal approach whilst preserving the anal sphincter and without any rectal resection

Value of bronchoalveolar lavage and gastric lavage in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in children

Setting: The diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in children is based mainly on clinical and radiographic features because of the difficulty in bacteriologic confirmation. Objective: The aim of our study was to find out if bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) would be better than gastric lavage for the isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from paediatric patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis. Design: 50 children with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis at a mean age of 5.1 years (range 7 months to 12 years) were studied. Early morning gastric lavage was collected. Flexible bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage was performed under local anaesthesia after obtaining informed consent from the parents. The BAL fluid and gastric lavage specimens were subjected to smear examination for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) and culture for mycobacteria using established methods. Results: Of the 50 cases, M. tuberculosis was grown in 6 BAL samples (12%) and 16 gastric lavage samples (32%) making a total of 17 culture proven cases (34%). Out of the 6 BAL positive cases, gastric lavage was also positive in 5 cases. Conclusion: We conclude that gastric lavage is better than BAL for bacteriologic confirmation of pulmonary tuberculosis in children. The overall bacteriol