Community health volunteer for blood pressure control in rural people with stroke in India: Pilot randomised trial.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that an Accredited social health activist (ASHA), a community health volunteer in a task-sharing model can help in sustained control of systolic blood pressure (BP) in rural people with Stroke and hypertension at 6 months follow up.

Methods: In this randomized trial two rural areas (Pakhowal and Sidhwan bet) with 70 and 94 villages respectively were screened for people with stroke and hypertension. They were assigned to either ASHA-assisted BP control in addition to standard-of-care (Pakhowal-intervention Group) or standard-of-care alone (Sidhwan bet- Control Group).

Management of simultaneous bilateral immune-mediated peripheral ulcerative keratitis.

Purpose: Peripheral ulcerative keratitis (PUK) is a sight threatening disease, often immune mediated and can rapidly progress to corneal perforation. Here we report the successful management of simultaneous bilateral peripheral ulcerative keratitis presenting with corneal perforation with surgical intervention and systemic immunosuppression.

Case Description: A 41-year-old female presented with similarly located super-nasal peripheral ulcerative keratitis (PUK) in both eyes and focal area of adjoining scleritis in the left eye.

A Century With Craniopagus Twin Separation Surgeries: Nihilism to Optimism.

Craniopagus conjoined twins are extremely rare, reported 1 in 2.5 million live births. To date, 62 separation attempts in 69 well-documented cases of craniopagus twins have been made.

Intermediate outcomes of therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty for severe microbial keratitis using glycerol-preserved donor corneas during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: To report the intermediate outcomes of therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty (TPK) performed for severe microbial keratitis using glycerol-preserved corneas during the Corona virus diseases of 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: Retrospective non-comparative case series from April to August 2020 in a network of tertiary eye care centers. Glycerol-preserved tissues were used for therapeutic keratoplasty (TPK).

Rural Stroke Surveillance and Establishment of Acute Stroke Care Pathway Using Frontline Health Workers in Rural Northwest India: The Ludhiana Experience.

Background And Purpose: The role of community health workers (CHWs) in stroke surveillance and in establishing the stroke care pathway has not been studied. The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of using CHWs in the public health system to identify stroke patients for population-based stroke registration and to study the establishment of acute stroke care pathway in rural areas of Ludhiana, Punjab, Northwest India.

Methods: Two rural blocks in Ludhiana district, comprising 164 villages and a population of 259,778, were selected.