Burning feet syndrome. A clinical review.

Background: Burning pain in the feet has been known to occur as a distinct clinical symptom for almost two centuries. Despite being a common and fascinating clinical entity, this syndrome has received scant attention in the medical literature and has been described only in anecdotal reports.

Objective: This article describes and discusses the various aspects of this intriguing syndrome.

Self-referral to specialists--a dodgy proposition.

Patients are often ill-equipped to know which speciality to choose for their health problem. Especially in the presence of non-specific symptoms, choosing the right specialist might not be so obvious. In such cases, misdirected self-referrals by patients to self-chosen specialists can sometimes lead to misdiagnosis resulting in unwarranted delays in getting the right treatment.

Plasmodium vivax malaria presenting with severe thrombocytopenia.

Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria are endemic infections in India and are commonly associated with mild hematological abnormalities. Severe thrombocytopenia is common in isolated falciparum and mixed falciparum/vivax malaria, but is very rare in isolated P.vivax infection.