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Background: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a significant cause of acute abdominal pain, morbidity and hospitalization. Knowing the details of the clinico-pathological presentation and outcome of the disease may aid the better understanding of the disease. Objective: The study was designed to assess the clinico-pathological profile and to estimate immediate hospital outcome of acute pancreatitis patients admitted into a tertiary care hospital. Materials and methods: This hospital based cross-sectional type of observational study was conducted at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), for one-year period (June 2018-May 2019). Total 106 established cases of acute pancreatitis were included in this study. Data was analyzed by the SPSS 22 Windows version and graph & chart were expressed by using SPSS 22 and MS Excel. The result was presented with tables and charts. Results: Among 106 patients, mean age of the patients was 42.5 ±11.3 SD (years), with male predominance (male: female-1.2:1). All of the patients complained abdominal pain (100%) while anorexia (48.1%), 43.4% had vomiting and 31.1% had fever. Regarding clinical signs, abdominal distension (45.3%), paralytic ileus (34.9%) and dehydration (43.4%) were found to be the major clinical signs. The common location of pain was in epigastric region (73.6%) with radiation to back in 20.8% patients. Pain was severe agonizing in nature in 76.4% cases. Of all, gall stone disease (17.0%) was the most prevalent cause. According to APACHE-II score, 74.5% patients had mild pancreatitis (APACHE-II <8) while according to Glasgow criteria, 66.0% had mild disease (Glasgow score <3). Mean APACHE-II score was 7.07±2.50 and Glasgow score was 2.90±2.33. Mean hospital stays were 8.9±3.6 days and NPO (nothing per oral) 4.9±1.9 days. Among the patients, 77.4% patients were alive and mortality rate was 22.6%. Conclusion: Although, a larger portion of the patients had no identifiable cause but gall stone was the most common etiology. Pain commonly located in epigastric region with radiation to back. Of all the cases, more than sixty percent of the patients had mild pancreatitis estimated by APACHE II score and Glasgow score. Mean hospital stays were about 9 days and nothing per oral was about 5 days. Overall mortality rate was 22.6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) is well known for its varying presentations and poor outcomes, but little is evident about its distribution and characteristics among the Bangladeshi population. This study aimed to assess the pattern and prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in female systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients of Bangladesh. A retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between January and December 2018. One hundred female SLE patients were included in the study purposively. Data were collected on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of diagnosed SLE cases visiting the SLE clinic and indoor medicine department. Neuropsychiatric (NP) syndromes were defined according to the widely accepted American College of Rheumatology (ACR) nomenclature and case definitions. Results: A total of 244 NP events were identified in fifty-five patients. Headache was the most frequent symptom (55%), followed by cognitive dysfunction (50%), anxiety (49%), psychosis (43%), seizure (23%), depression (17%), and cerebrovascular disease (ischemic type, 7%). The NP manifestations were more prevalent among urban residents (58.2%), younger patients (41.8%), and patients with graduate-level education (34.5%). Besides, young age at diagnosis (p = 0.038), Raynaud's phenomenon (p = 0.015), other organ involvement (p < 0.001), and time of NPSLE development (p < 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with the development of these manifestations. Conclusion: NP damage is prevalent among Bangladeshi female SLE patients (55%) with headache and cognitive dysfunction being the most common symptoms. Routine screening for neuropsychiatric symptoms among suspected SLE cases and further evaluation with a larger population are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Globally, studies have shown conflicting results regarding the association of blood groups with SARS CoV-2 infection. Objective: To observe the association between ABO blood groups and the presentation and outcomes of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Design, setting, and participants: This was a prospective cohort study of patients with mild-to-moderately severe COVID-19 infections who presented in the COVID-19 unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and were enrolled between 01 June and 25 August, 2020. Patients were followed up for at least 30 days after disease onset. We grouped participants with A-positive and A-negative blood groups into group I and participants with other blood groups into group II. Results: The cohort included 438 patients; 52 patients were lost to follow-up, five died, and 381 completed the study. The prevalence of blood group A [144 (32.9%)] was significantly higher among COVID-19 patients than in the general population (p < 0.001). The presenting age [mean (SD)] of group I [42.1 (14.5)] was higher than that of group II [38.8 (12.4), p = 0.014]. Sex (p = 0.23) and co-morbidity (hypertension, p = 0.34; diabetes, p = 0.13) did not differ between the patients in groups I and II. No differences were observed regarding important presenting symptoms, including fever (p = 0.72), cough (p = 0.69), and respiratory distress (p = 0.09). There was no significant difference in the median duration of symptoms in the two group (12 days), and conversion to the next level of severity was observed in 26 (20.6%) and 36 patients (13.8%) in group I and II, respectively. However, persistent positivity of RT-PCR at 14 days of initial positivity was more frequent among the patients in group I [24 (19%)] than among those in group II [29 (11.1%)]. Conclusions: The prevalence of blood group A was higher among COVID-19 patients. Although ABO blood groups were not associated with the presentation or recovery period of COVID-19, patients with blood group A had delayed seroconversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) is a complex seronegative inflammatory arthritis associated with psoriasis, characterized by a wide range of clinical manifestations. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of PsA in arthritic patients along with associated demographic and clinical characteristics in a tertiary care setting in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Rheumatology Clinic of Dhaka Medical College Hospital over a period of 6 months from March 2018 to August 2018. A total of 600 arthritis patients underwent screening for PsA, with subsequent evaluations of confirmed cases based on the CASPAR criteria. Demographic and clinical characteristics were documented through face-to-face interviews and physical examination. For data collection, a pre-structured questionnaire was used. Disease activity was assessed using the DAPSA score. The study was conducted according to the 'Declaration of Helsinki'. The statistical analysis was done with SPSS v-21. Results: The prevalence of PsA in arthritis patients was 5%. Age distribution of PsA showed a majority in between 30-39 years age group with a mean of 36.33±11.86 (SD). Slight female predominance was reported with a percentage of 53.3%.Almost three-fourths of study patients presented with a current diagnosis of psoriasis while the rest had a personal history or family history. A higher incidence (67.7%) of plaque psoriasis was observed followed by sebopsoriasis (20%) and for the rest of the patients, the type of psoriasis was unknown. The disease mostly involved multiple joints (90%), with ankle and metacarpal joints being the most commonly affected at 43.3% and 33.3%, respectively. Disease activity was high in the majority of the patients according to the DAPSA score, representing 53.34% of the patients, with the remainder exhibiting moderate to low disease activity. Conclusion: The study revealed a significant incidence of PsA among the arthritic population which indicates a pressing need for further extensive research on PsA across diverse populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a number of gastrointestinal symptoms and complications of COVID-19. Asymptomatic increase in pancreatic enzymes and rarely symptomatic pancreatitis are observed in this disease. This article describes a 37-year-old male suffering from mildly symptomatic COVID-19 infection, who received tablet favipiravir for his management. His condition was improving, when he developed acute pancreatitis, diagnosed clinically, biochemically and also with help of abdominal ultrasound. When he developed this, all typical symptoms of COVID-19 were improved. As a result, role of favipiravir in the development of this pancreatitis was suspected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]