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Objectives: Cardiac computed tomography (CCT) plays a key role in diagnosing congenital heart disease (CHD), emphasizing the need for specialized protocols in newborns due to CHD's complexity. The aim is to explore the relationship between peak enhancement time (PET) and various parameters during CHD assessment with CCT., Material and Methods: The study involved 38 CHD patients undergoing CCT, with observations made on their heart rate, respiratory rate, saturation, cardiac output, weight, height, and age. The PET for each case was determined, and Spearman's rank correlation was employed to evaluate the association between these parameters and the PET., Results: The median PET was 20.63 s, with a mean aortic Hounsfield unit of 512.16 ± 160.56. A moderate negative correlation was found between PET and both heart rates (r = -0.42, P = 0.009) and respiratory rates (r = -0.41, P = 0.01), whereas a negligible positive correlation (r = 0.19, P = 0.25) was observed with SpO2. A moderate positive correlation was noted between PET and both weight (r = 0.44, P = 0.005) and height (r = 0.40, P = 0.01). In addition, there were significant differences in median PET across different age categories., Conclusion: The findings conclude that PET during CCT is significantly associated with heart rate and respiratory rate. An increase in these rates corresponds to a notable decrease in PET. Consequently, the study recommends minimizing scan delays in CCT for patients exhibiting higher heart rates., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (© 2024 Published by Scientific Scholar on behalf of Journal of Clinical Imaging Science.)

Objective: We studied the clinical presentation and management of acute pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in healthy young infants, and the effect of thiamine therapy., Methods: Review of hospital records was conducted for 56 healthy infants (aged below 6 month) who developed sudden onset of pulmonary arterial hypertension as diagnosed on 2D echocardiography, and were admitted at our institution., Results: All patients received supportive care and pulmonary vasodilator therapy, whereas those admitted after Sep-tember, 2019 (n=28) received thiamine in addition, as per the institute's protocol. Overall, complete recovery was seen in 80% (n=45). Infants who died had significantly lower mean pH (7.05 vs 7.27; P=0.001) and serum bicarbonate (9.1 vs 14.9; P=0.007), higher arterial lactate (72.7 vs 61.5; P=0.92), ventricular dysfunction (16 vs 10; P=0.01) and shock (7 vs 9; P=0.008) when compared to those who survived. Baseline characteristics, severity of acidosis and pulmonary hypertension, time taken to recover from PAH, presence of ventricular dysfunction were comparable among those who received thiamine and those who did not receive it. Similarly, recovery (89% vs 71%; P=0.17) and mortality (11% vs 29%) were also comparable between the two groups., Conclusions: A significant proportion of infants with PAH improve with supportive treatment and pulmonary vasodilator therapy. Thiamine supplementation may not give any additional benefit in these patients.

Aims: To study the ultra structural changes in bladder musculature in cases of BPE and their clinical relevance., Material and Methods: In this descriptive longitudinal, controlled, observational study patients were enrolled into three groups, group 1, group 2A and group 2B. Control group (group-1) consisted of age matched normal male patients, who underwent surveillance or diagnostic cystoscopy for microscopic hematuria or irritative symptoms. Case group (group-2) comprised of patients with BPE, undergoing TURP. Case group (group-2) was further classified into: Category 2A (patients not on catheter) and cat-egory 2B (patients on catheter). All relevant clinical parameters like IPSS, prostate size, Qmax, PVR were recorded. Cystoscopy and bladder biopsy were performed in all patients. Various ultrastructural parameters like myocytes, fascicular pattern, interstitial tissue, nerve hypertrophy and cell junction pattern were analyzed under electron microscope and they were clinically correlated using appropriate statistical tests., Results: Control group had significant difference as compared to case group in terms of baseline parameters like IPSS, flow rate and prostate size, both preoperatively and postoperatively, except for PVR, which was seen only preoperatively. There was statistically significant difference in ultrastructural patterns between case and control group in all five electron microscopic patterns. However, no significant difference was found between the subcategories of case groups., Conclusions: BPE is responsible for ultra structural changes in detrusor muscle and these changes remain persistent even after TURP. Nerve hypertrophy, which was not thoroughly discussed in previous studies, is also one of the salient feature of this study., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: None declared., (Copyright® by the International Brazilian Journal of Urology.)

Background: Knowledge of the impact of affiliate stigma on the wellbeing of caregivers to children with specific learning disability (SLD) in India is limited. To fill in this gap in knowledge a cross-sectional quantitative study was undertaken to assess the impact of affiliate stigma on the psychological well-being of mothers with children with SLD in India, and test the mediating role of subjective burden, using an adapted version of Pearlin's stress and adaptation model., Methods: Sample included 100 mothers of children with SLD. Data was collected using a structured interview schedule. Descriptive statistics, correlation and stepwise regression were used as the primary analytic tools., Results: Affiliate stigma experienced by mothers significantly predicted low levels of psychological well-being and subjective burden mediated the relationship between affiliate stigma and psychological wellbeing., Conclusions: The findings call for developing targeted interventions to address affiliate stigma and positive appraisal of the caregiving situation, with the goal of improving the psychological well-being of mothers of children with SLD., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: With the increasing use of nail paints, nail art, acetone, repeated manicures, cosmetic nail procedures and detergents, the nail plate undergoes regular damage resulting in rough, lusterless and pigmented nails. Besides that onychomycosis, nail lichen planus, nail pitting and ridging due to various diseases also cause cosmetically disfiguring nails., Objective: The study is directed toward use of 70% glycolic acid for controlled keratolysis of the nail-plate, resulting that could result in shinier, smoother and brighter nails., Materials and Methods: A prospective single-center open-label uncontrolled study of 31 patients, 22 with dry, rough, discolored nails and 9 with hyperkeratotic nails were included in the study group. After examination and ruling out any infection, petroleum jelly was applied on the cuticle margins of the nails for protection and 70% glycolic acid was applied over the nail plate for 45 minutes. In dry rough discolored nails, only a single sitting was done while in hyper-keratotic nail conditions multiple weekly sittings were done., Results: In 22 patients with dry rough nails, 80% showed good improvement, 10% showed average improvement, whereas 10% were non-responsive. Nine patients with thickened nail plate showed good improvement in 60% average improvement in 25% improvement and 15% were non-responsive, after multiple sessions., Conclusion: Controlled keratolysis of the nail plate with application of 70% glycolic acid can be a promising treatment for modality for thick, uneven, rough and pigmented nail-plate conditions with cosmetically pleasing results.

Background: World Health Organization's essential drugs list can control the highly prevalent HIV-related pain and symptoms. Availability of essential medicines directly influences clinicians' ability to effectively manage distressing manifestations of HIV., Aim: To determine the availability of pain and symptom controlling drugs in East Africa within President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief-funded HIV health care facilities., Design: Directly observed quantitative health facilities' pharmacy stock review. We measured availability, expiration and stock-outs of specified drugs required for routine HIV management, including the World Health Organization pain ladder., Setting: A stratified random sample in 120 President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief-funded HIV care facilities (referral and district hospitals, health posts/centres and home-based care providers) in Kenya and Uganda., Results: Non-opioid analgesics (73%) and co-trimoxazole (64%) were the most commonly available drugs and morphine (7%) the least. Drug availability was higher in hospitals and lower in health centres, health posts and home-based care facilities. Facilities generally did not use minimum stock levels, and stock-outs were frequently reported. The most common drugs had each been out of stock in the past 6 months in 47% of facilities stocking them. When a minimum stock level was defined, probability of a stock-out in the previous 6 months was 32.6%, compared to 45.5% when there was no defined minimum stock level (χ (2) = 5.07, p = 0.024)., Conclusion: The data demonstrate poor essential drug availability, particularly analgesia, limited by facility type. The lack of strong opioids, isoniazid and paediatric formulations is concerning. Inadequate drug availability prevents implementation of simple clinical pain and symptom control protocols, causing unnecessary distress. Research is needed to identify supply chain mechanisms that lead to these problems.

New WHO guidance stipulates six-monthly CD4 testing and treatment initiation at CD4 less than 350. This study aimed to determine the presence of CD4 results in patient records across five care facilities in Kenya, and to identify factors associated with the presence of CD4 count. This is a cross-sectional study of consecutive outpatients. Participants completed self-reported outcomes of demographics, and both physical and mental health dimensions of quality of life and function; charts were reviewed for a CD4 count in the previous 13 months; 548 patients participated. For those diagnosed during the 13-month study period, 7.1% of the sample had no CD4 result on record. For those diagnosed prior to the study, 8.7% had no result. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that 30 days post-HIV diagnosis, facility and antiretroviral therapy use were associated with the odds of having a CD4 result on file. At six months, poverty and prevalence of multidimensional problems were associated with lack of CD4 result. For those diagnosed prior to the observation period, education level was associated with more infrequent CD4 counts, and facility and number of dependants were associated with odds of a CD4 result within six months. Our data suggest inconsistencies in CD4 results availability within and between facilities. Implementation of new guidance will require a shift in practice.

An evidence-based basic care package (BCP) of seven interventions (Family testing, Cotrimoxazole, Condoms, Multivitamins, Access to safe water treatment, Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT), and Insecticide-treated bednet) has been advocated to prevent infections among people with HIV in low-income settings. We examined the availability and receipt of the BCP in HIV outpatient clinics in Kenya and Uganda. A survey of 120 PEPFAR-funded facilities determined the services offered. At each of the 12 largest facilities, a longitudinal cohort of 100 patients was recruited to examine care received and health status over three months. The full BCP was offered in 14% (n = 17/120) of facilities; interventions most commonly offered were Support for family testing (87%) and Condoms (87%), and least commonly IPT (38%). Patients (n = 1335) most commonly reported receiving Cotrimoxazole (57%) and Multivitamins (36%), and least commonly IPT (4%), directly from the facility attended. The BCP (excluding Isoniazid) was received by 3% of patients directly from the facility and 24% from any location. BCP receipt was associated with using antiretroviral therapy (ART; OR 1.1 (95% CI 1.0-1.1), receipt from any location) but not with patient gender, wealth, education level or health. The BCP should be offered at more HIV care facilities, especially Isoniazid, and to more people irrespective of ART use. Coordinating local BCP suppliers could help improve availability through addressing logistical challenges or reducing costs.

Rationale: Diverse autoantibodies are present in most patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We hypothesized that specific autoantibodies may associate with IPF manifestations., Objectives: To identify clinically relevant, antigen-specific immune responses in patients with IPF., Methods: Autoantibodies were detected by immunoblots and ELISA. Intrapulmonary immune processes were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Anti-heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) IgG was isolated from plasma by immunoaffinity. Flow cytometry was used for leukocyte functional studies., Measurements and Main Results: HSP70 was identified as a potential IPF autoantigen in discovery assays. Anti-HSP70 IgG autoantibodies were detected by immunoblots in 3% of 60 control subjects versus 25% of a cross-sectional IPF cohort (n = 122) (P = 0.0004), one-half the patients with IPF who died (P = 0.008), and 70% of those with acute exacerbations (P = 0.0005). Anti-HSP70 autoantibodies in patients with IPF were significantly associated with HLA allele biases, greater subsequent FVC reductions (P = 0.0004), and lesser 1-year survival (40 ± 10% vs. 80 ± 5%; hazard ratio = 4.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-8.6; P < 0.0001). HSP70 protein, antigen-antibody complexes, and complement were prevalent in IPF lungs. HSP70 protein was an autoantigen for IPF CD4 T cells, inducing lymphocyte proliferation (P = 0.004) and IL-4 production (P = 0.01). IPF anti-HSP70 autoantibodies activated monocytes (P = 0.009) and increased monocyte IL-8 production (P = 0.049). ELISA confirmed the association between anti-HSP70 autoreactivity and IPF outcome. Anti-HSP70 autoantibodies were also found in patients with other interstitial lung diseases but were not associated with their clinical progression., Conclusions: Patients with IPF with anti-HSP70 autoantibodies have more near-term lung function deterioration and mortality. These findings suggest antigen-specific immunoassays could provide useful clinical information in individual patients with IPF and may have implications for understanding IPF progression.

Objectives: We aimed to determine for the first time the prevalence and severity of multidimensional problems in a population newly diagnosed with HIV at outpatient clinics in Africa., Methods: Recently diagnosed patients (within previous 14 days) were consecutively recruited at 11 HIV clinics in Kenya and Uganda. Participants completed a validated questionnaire, the African Palliative Outcome Scale (POS), with three underpinning factors. Ordinal logistic regression was used to evaluate risk factors for prevalence and severity of physical, psychological, interpersonal and existential problems., Results: There were 438 participants (62% female, 30% with restricted physical function). The most prevalent problems were lack of help and advice (47% reported none in the previous 3 days) and difficulty sharing feelings. Patients with limited physical function reported more physical/psychological (OR = 3.22) and existential problems (OR = 1.54) but fewer interpersonal problems (OR = 0.50). All outcomes were independent of CD4 count or ART eligibility., Conclusions: Patients at all disease stages report widespread and burdensome multidimensional problems at HIV diagnosis. Newly diagnosed patients should receive assessment and care for these problems. Effective management of problems at diagnosis may help to remove barriers to retention in care.