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The authors describe a case of 52-year-old male who presented with sudden onset deterioration of weakness of both lower limbs and retention of urine. He had 1 month history of gradually progressive weakness of legs. On examination, there were lower motor neuron signs in lower extremity, digital clubbing and a lump over left iliac fossa. Routine blood tests showed impaired glucose tolerance, confirmed by oral glucose tolerance test while renal parameters were normal. Magnetic resonance imaging of spine documented osteolytic lesions, long segment epidural mass in thoracic spine and a mass overlying the left iliac bone, both were revealed to be plasmacytoma following cytology. Ultrasonography of abdomen showed splenomegaly. Nerve conduction studies showed gross axonal, motor, asymmetric polyneuropathy with conduction block involving all the four extremities, mainly lower limbs with sensory sparing. Serum protein electrophoresis showed M spike, and bone marrow showed diffuse neoplastic plasma cell proliferation. Osteolytic lesion was present in skull radiograph. Then in the course of illness the patient developed acute renal failure due to acute interstitial nephritis as evidenced from proteinuria and kidney biopsy, which improved with steroids and chemotherapy but unfortunately we lost the patient after 2 weeks of initiation of chemotherapy.

Background: The poor glycaemic control among the patients with type 2 diabetes constitutes a major public health problem and a major risk factor for the development of diabetes complications. Aim of the Study: To study the compliance rate of the patients with type 2 diabetes to the prescribed medications, to find out its correlation with different socio-demographic factors and other patient characteristics and to find out the reasons behind the non-compliance, if any. Settings and Design: This cross sectional study was conducted on the patients with type 2 diabetes, who Attended the Diabetic Clinic of a Medical College in Kolkata, India. Methods and Material: The patients of type 2 diabetes who attended the diabetes clinic between April to August 2012 were recruited in the study by systematic random sampling and they were interviewed by using the help of a structured interview schedule. The patients who reported taking less than 80% of their prescribed anti-diabetes medicines in the preceding week and had HbA1C of < 7% were considered to be non-compliant. Statistical Analysis Used: The data was analyzed by using the SPSS software. The Chi-square test was used to assess the association of the compliance with the different study variables. A binary logistic regression analysis helped in identifying the factors which contributed to the non-compliance. Results: The compliance rate to the anti-diabetic drugs was found to be 57.7%. A univariate analysis showed that it decreased significantly with increasing age and that it was also significantly lower among males, illiterates, those with a poor per capita monthly income and those who had a longer duration of diabetes. It varied significantly with the type of drugs, being lowest with an oral drug and insulin combination (43.4%). No knowledge on the complications of diabetes was significantly associated with a lower compliance. The binary logistic regression also helped in identifying these as the significant contributory factors. The common reasons behind the non-compliance were forgetfulness (44.7%) and financial constraints (32.7%). Conclusion: It can be concluded that the compliance to anti-diabetic drugs was quite poor among the participants. Increasing age, the male sex, illiteracy, a low monthly income and a longer duration of diabetes were significantly associated with the non compliance. A more concerning fact was the significant association of the non-compliance with the types of drug regimens and a lack of knowledge on the complications of diabetes, which emphasized the role of a repeated patient education regarding the basic aspects of diabetes.

Objectives: To study the magnitude of the problem of type 2 diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose intolerance among the patients with various types of chronic liver diseases and to find out the association of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance with the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. Materials and Methods: This observational study, which was cross-sectional in design, was undertaken in the Department of General Medicine at a medical College in Kolkata during October 2010 to July 2011. Altogether 161 patients diagnosed with chronic liver disease (CLD) were admitted in the General Medicine ward during the study period, out of which 9 patients got themselves discharged against medical advice. From the remaining 152 patients, a total of 136 patients aged 20 years and above were selected for the study according to the inclusion criteria. A detailed history was taken, and a thorough clinical examination was done followed by further investigations, all of which were recorded in a pre-designed, structured proforma. Results : Among the study subjects, 58.1% had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), while 14.0% had overt diabetes mellitus. IGT and diabetes were significantly higher among the CLD patients aged 45 years or more (P Conclusion: It can be concluded that the occurrence of diabetes and IGT could be a matter of great concern in CLD patients, indicating towards the need for regular monitoring of the glycemic status in these patients, which would have a definite bearing upon the treatment strategy.