Increased shedding of PECAM-1 associated with elevated serum MMP-14 levels as new blood indicators of dengue disease manifestation.

Objectives: Host factors that regulate plasma leakage during severe dengue (SD) are under investigation. While PECAM-1 and MMP-14 have been reported to regulate vascular integrity, their role in dengue pathogenesis remains unexplored. This study aims to assess the association of soluble PECAM-1 and MMP-14 with dengue severity symptoms.

Comparison of preoperative prophylaxis with povidone-iodine (5%) and moxifloxacin (0.5%) versus povidone-iodine (5%) alone: a prospective study from India.

Purpose: To compare the effect of povidone-iodine (PI) 5% and moxifloxacin 0.5% solutions versus PI 5% solution alone on the conjunctival bacterial flora.

Methodology: This is a comparative study in which the study population comprised adult patients scheduled for elective small incision cataract surgery.

Diving deep for the needle in the haystack: An outbreak investigation of bacteremia.

In an Indian oncology setting, between August and December 2021, 56 patients, developed bacteremia. An investigation revealed a contaminated batch of the antiemetic drug palonosetron. The outbreak was terminated by withdrawing the culprit batch and the findings were reported promptly to regulatory authorities.

Ochrobactrum intermedium septicemia.

Ochrobactrum species are emerging Gram-negative, non-fermenting bacteria with low virulence. Infection with the Ochrobactrum species is commonly nosocomial and has been reported in patients with indwelling medical devices and implants. Among the species of Ochrobactrum infecting humans, Ochrobactrum anthropic and Ochrobactrum intermedium are the commonest ones.

Biclonal Low-Grade B Cell Lymphoma as Detected by Multiparametric Flow Cytometry in Blood and Marrow.

Unlabelled: Biclonal B cell lymphomas (BCL) of two different low-grade components are rare. Multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC) is an integral tool in lymphoma diagnosis and very efficient in picking up BCL cases, especially when the associated second component is small. We studied the incidence of BCL in the routine blood and marrow samples sent for immunophenotyping by MFC.

Diurnal variation in variables related to cognitive performance: a systematic review.

Purpose: The aim of this review was to assess current evidence regarding changes in cognitive function according to time-of-day (TOD) and assess the key components of research design related to manuscripts of chronobiological nature.

Methods: An English-language literature search revealed 523 articles through primary database searches, and 1868 via organization searches/citation searching. The inclusion criteria were met by eleven articles which were included in the review.

Invasive Fungal Infection in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipient from an Indian Oncology Setting.

Abdul Ghafur  Invasive fungal infections (IFI) are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in post-hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. Data from India is limited. The objective of this study was to analyze the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes associated with IFI in our center.

Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern of Aerobic Bacterial Pathogen Isolated from Endotracheal Aspirate.

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the major hospital-acquired infections and the emergence of bacterial resistance is common among patients in the intensive care units (ICUs). The aim of the study is to identify the common bacterial pathogen isolated from an endotracheal (ET) aspirate and its antibiotic susceptibility pattern.

Materials And Methods: A prospective analytical study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital for a period of 1 year.

An interesting case of chronic myeloid leukemia with twists and turns.

Additional cytogenetic abnormalities (ACA) are known to crop up in Ph cells of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients due to cytogenetic evolution. But the frequency of molecular evolution and ACA is much less in Ph cells of CML patients and is poorly understood. We report an interesting and rare case of Ph CML, who progressed to B lymphoblastic crisis, achieved remission, and later developed Ph acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with KMT2A gene rearrangement and no detectable BCR- ABL transcripts.

A Case of Severe Bacteremia with Necrotizing Fasciitis of Lower Limb and Fournier s Gangrene in a Post-Allogenic Unrelated Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipient.

Bikram Das  Aeromonas is a water-dwelling Gram-negative bacillus primarily associated with gastrointestinal tract diseases. Aeromonas sobria causing gastroenteritis has been reported in India. In immunocompromised host, Aeromonas sobria can also present with severe necrotizing skin and soft tissue infection with a high mortality rate.

Differential expression of interferon inducible protein: Guanylate binding protein (GBP1 & GBP2) in severe dengue.

Dengue virus is reported to activate endothelial cells (EC), but the precise cause for severe dengue (SD) is not known. Guanylate binding proteins (GBPs) are IFN-inducible proteins secreted by ECs and are involved in the anti-oxidant and anti-viral response. The involvement of GBPs in the pathogenesis of dengue remains under explored.

Role of high acquisition flow cytometry in the detection of marrow involvement in patients with extramedullary B cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma: a comparison with marrow aspirate cytology, trephine biopsy, and PET.

Detection of marrow infiltration is crucial in extramedullary B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). We studied the efficiency of high acquisition flow cytometry (FCM) in detecting marrow involvement in B-NHL patients and compared its performance with marrow aspiration (BMA) cytology, marrow biopsy (BMB), and positron emission tomography (PET). No case with marrow infiltration was found to be BMB positive and FCM negative.

In-vitro anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis effect of essential oil of Ocimum sanctum L. (Tulsi/Basil) leaves.

Background/objectives: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis has developed resistance to most of the available antimicrobials. Consequently, it is difficult to cure all the patients with tuberculosis and in future, the incidence of tuberculosis by drug resistant M. tuberculosis is likely to increase, worldwide.

Independent diagnostic utility of CD20, CD200, CD43 and CD45 in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Immunophenotyping plays a major role and is essential for establishing the diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Though CLL has a characteristic phenotype, diagnosis may be challenging due to immunophenotypic overlap with other B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (B-NHL). Markers like CD200, CD43, CD20 and CD45 were found valuable in CLL and we investigated their diagnostic efficiency and accuracy in 174 patients with leukemic B-NHL.

Candiduria-Study of Virulence Factors and Its Antifungal Susceptibility Pattern in Tertiary Care Hospital.

The increased incidence of candiduria in hospitalized patients is due to the use of indwelling devices, long-term antibiotics, parenteral nutrition, and immunocompromised status of the patient. In this study, an attempt was made to speciate, characterize, and determine the antifungal susceptibility pattern of isolated from urinary tract infections (UTIs). A total of 70 isolates were obtained from urine samples.

Proton beam therapy in rectal cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Locally advanced rectal cancer is often treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery. Radiotherapy carries significant risk of toxicity to organs at risk (OAR). Proton beam therapy (PBT) has demonstrated to be effective in other cancers, delivering equivalent dosimetric radiation but with the benefit of improved sparing of OAR.

COVID-19 Pandemic-Frontline Experiences and Lessons Learned From a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital at a Suburban Location of Southeastern India.

The key challenges to any health care setup during emergency situations, such as that of the COVID-19 pandemic would be to rapidly address hospital preparedness and response tailored to the local population, societal influences, political factors within the existing infrastructure, and workforce. Second, to adopt and moderate policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines issued by national and international agencies, such as WHO, CDC, and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) were tailor-made to the local conditions of the hospital and community. In this publication, we have discussed the challenges and experiences in preparation and responses to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary teaching hospital situated at a suburban locale in a small union territory.

Expression dynamics of vascular endothelial markers: endoglin and syndecan-1 in predicting dengue disease outcome.

Plasma leakage is a hallmark process in dengue viral (DENV) infection that occurs due to the loss of vascular integrity in endothelial cells. Endoglin (ENG) and Syndecan-1 (SDC-1) are released by activated endothelial cells; however, the complete dynamics of its expression at the gene and protein levels during the course of DENV infection remains unknown. In the present study, we quantified the mRNA and soluble protein levels of ENG and SDC-1 in dengue cases during febrile, defervescence, and convalescence stages in Dengue without Warning Sign (DWOW-15), Dengue with Warning Sign (DWW-22), and Severe Dengue cases (SD-10) compared to nondengue Other Febrile Illness (OFI-10) and healthy control (HC-8).

Leaf open time sinogram (LOTS): a novel approach for patient specific quality assurance of total marrow irradiation.

There is no ideal detector-phantom combination to perform patient specific quality assurance (PSQA) for Total Marrow (TMI) and Lymphoid (TMLI) Irradiation plan. In this study, 3D dose reconstruction using mega voltage computed tomography detectors measured Leaf Open Time Sinogram (LOTS) was investigated for PSQA of TMI/TMLI patients in helical tomotherapy. The feasibility of this method was first validated for ten non-TMI/TMLI patients, by comparing reconstructed dose with (a) ion-chamber (IC) and helical detector array (ArcCheck) measurement and (b) planned dose distribution using 3Dγ analysis for 3%@3mm and dose to 98% (D) and 2% (D) of PTVs.

Total marrow and lymphoid irradiation with helical tomotherapy: a practical implementation report.

Purpose: To standardize the technique; evaluate resources requirements and analyze our early experience of total marrow and lymphoid irradiation (TMLI) as part of the conditioning regimen before allogenic bone marrow transplantation using helical tomotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Computed tomography (CT) scanning and treatment were performed in head first supine (HFS) and feet first supine (FFS) orientations with an overlap at mid-thigh. Patients along with the immobilization device were manually rotated by 180° to change the orientation after the delivery of HFS plan.

HSCT Guidelines for Transplant Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic in India ISBMT DOCUMENT Version1.0.

[Image: see text]

A Prospective Observational Multi-institutional Study on Invasive Fungal Infections Following Chemotherapy for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (MISFIC Study): A Real World Scenario from India.

We performed a prospective multi-centre observational study to understand the incidence of IFI in patients with AML in India with use of anti-fungal prophylaxis. All patients with AML receiving either induction chemotherapy or salvage chemotherapy between November 2014 and February 2016 were included in this prospective observational study from 10 Indian centres. IFI was defined as per the revised EORTC-MSG criteria.

Retrospective Study of Nephrotoxicity Rate among Adult Patients Receiving Colistin Compared to β-lactam Antibiotics.

Purpose: Patients receiving colistin for carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria (CR-GNB) infections generally have multiple risk factors for nephrotoxicity, so it might be possible that colistin may be erroneously blamed for the nephrotoxicity.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed case records of patients who received colistin and those who received antibiotics other than colistin [carbapenem or β-lactam-β-lactamases inhibitors (βL-βLI)] for gram-negative bacteremia. Those patients with preexisting renal failure and those who received antibiotics for <72 hours were excluded from the study.

Summary of the Highlights of 2019 ASTCT Meeting by iNDUS BMT Group at Chennai, India.

This article summarises the main highlights of the abstracts presented at the annual meeting of American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT). The highlights of ASTCT meeting were organised by iNDUS BMT group in Chennai, India. The purpose of the highlight meeting was to educate the students about the latest research in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and its applicability for the developing country perspective.