Electroconvulsive therapy pre-treatment with low dose propofol: comparison with unmodified treatment.

Background: Whilst electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is routinely administered under anesthesia in developed nations, in many developing countries, ECT is still administered unmodified. This practice has attracted considerable scrutiny with calls to ban unmodified ECT. However, there are no affordable alternatives for many poor, acutely ill psychiatric patients.

Management of chronic paronychia.

Chronic paronychia is an inflammatory disorder of the nail folds of a toe or finger presenting as redness, tenderness, and swelling. It is recalcitrant dermatoses seen commonly in housewives and housemaids. It is a multifactorial inflammatory reaction of the proximal nail fold to irritants and allergens.

The concept of normal weight obesity.

Individuals with normal body weight by body mass index (BMI) and high body fat percentage show a high degree of metabolic dysregulation. This phenomenon, defined as normal weight obesity, is associated with a significantly higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome, cardiometabolic dysfunction and with higher mortality. Recently, we have also shown that coronary artery disease patients with normal BMI and central obesity have the highest mortality risk as compared to other adiposity patterns.

Lipoid Proteinosis: a case report in two siblings.

Lipoid proteinosis was first reported by Urbach and Wiethe in 1929. It is also known as hyalinosis cutis et mucosae or Urbach-Wiethe disease. It is a rare autosomal recessive disorder and characterized by the infiltration of hyaline material in the skin, oral cavity, larynx, and internal organs.

Obesity paradox in different populations: evidence and controversies.

An inverse association between BMI and mortality has been reported in patients with coronary heart disease and heart failure. This 'obesity paradox' has recently been reported in other disease states, including stroke, hypertension, incident diabetes, atrial fibrillation, hemodialysis and transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Cardiorespiratory fitness influences the obesity paradox and this inverse association may be present only in individuals with low fitness levels.

A simplified approach for the rehabilitation of an auricular defect: a case report.

Background And Aim: Replacement of missing ear is a challenging task in which extensive array of materials and techniques have been employed. Materials such as silicones and methacrylate acrylic resins have been widely used for auricular prosthesis. This article describes a simplified procedure for fabricating resilient heat-cured acrylic resin auricular prosthesis, retained with a custom-made acrylic bar with ball attachments.

A promising split-lesion technique for rapid tattoo removal using a novel sequential approach of a single sitting of pulsed CO(2) followed by Q-switched Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm).

Background: Laser tattoo removal conventionally uses Q-switched (QS) lasers, but they require multiple sittings, and the end results depend largely on the type of tattoo treated. In pigmented skin, due to the competing epidermal pigment results, laser results in tattoo are slow and inadequate.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a combined use of ultrapulse CO2 and QS Nd:YAG (1064 nm) laser in the treatment of tattoos in Indian skin.

Cardiac rehabilitation is associated with reduced long-term mortality in patients undergoing combined heart valve and CABG surgery.

Background: No reports have been published to date on the impact of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on mortality in patients undergoing combined heart valve and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery (V + CABG), a procedure that has increased significantly in frequency in recent years.

Methods: We identified consecutive patients who underwent V + CABG surgery in the Olmsted County from 1996 to 2007. Propensity scores were developed using more than 40 clinical, operative, and post-operative characteristics.

Cardiovascular mortality in Hispanics compared to non-Hispanic whites: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the Hispanic paradox.

Background: Hispanics, the largest minority in the U.S., have a higher prevalence of several cardiovascular (CV) risk factors than non-Hispanic whites (NHW).

Lepromatous leprosy with an uncommon presentation: a case report.

28 yr old male presented with asymptomatic nodules and few well to ill defined papules on ears, asymmetrical nerve enlargement and evanescent tender nodules on the extremities without any infiltration of the skin and madarosis. Slit skin smear done from normal skin was BI 6+. Skin biopsy showed features of lepromatous leprosy.

CXCR4+ and FLK-1+ identify circulating cells associated with improved cardiac function in patients following myocardial infarction.

The biomarkers CXCR4/FLK-1 select cardiac progenitors from a stem cell pool in experimental models. However, the translational value of these cells in human ischemic heart disease is unknown. Here, flow-cytometry identified CD45(-)/CXCR4(+)/FLK-1(+) cells in 30 individuals without ischemic heart disease and 33 first-time acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients.

Participation in cardiac rehabilitation and survival after coronary artery bypass graft surgery: a community-based study.

Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is recommended for all patients after coronary artery bypass surgery, yet little is known about the long-term mortality effects of CR in this population.

Methods And Results: We performed a community-based analysis on residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery between 1996 and 2007. We assessed the association between subsequent outpatient CR attendance and long-term survival.

Primary neuroendocrine mediastinal tumor presenting with carcinoid syndrome and left supraclavicular lymphadenopathy: clinico-radiological and pathological features.

Primary mediastinal neuro-endocrine tumor is very rare. The primary modality to evaluate the lesion is computed tomography, to know disease extent, involvement of various structures, vascular invasion and metastasis. Histo-pathological and immuno-histochemical confirmation is mandatory.

Short- and long-term impact of an inpatient quality improvement initiative: results of the CABG-GAP Practice Improvement Project.

Purpose: A significant percentage of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery leave the hospital without appropriate preventive medications. Little is known about this prevention gap and its solutions. We studied the short- and long-term impacts of a quality improvement (QI) project aimed at reducing this prevention gap.

Dietary intakes and familial correlates of overweight/obesity: a four-cities study in India.

Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children is increasing in India. However, knowledge of, attitude towards and practice of health and nutrition in mothers and children have not been researched.

Objective: To assess knowledge of, attitude towards and practice of nutrition, physical activity and other lifestyle practices in a nationally representative sample of urban children and mothers in India.

Association of time to reperfusion with left ventricular function and heart failure in patients with acute myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention: a systematic review.

Background: Shorter time to reperfusion is associated with a significant reduction in mortality; however, its association with heart failure (HF) is not clearly documented. We conducted a systematic review to examine the association between time to reperfusion and incident HF and/or left ventricular dysfunction.

Methods: MEDLINE/OVID, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched from January 1974 to May 2012 for studies that reported the association between time to reperfusion and incident HF or left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Combining body mass index with measures of central obesity in the assessment of mortality in subjects with coronary disease: role of "normal weight central obesity".

Objectives: This study sought to assess the mortality risk of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) based ona combination of body mass index (BMI) with measures of central obesity.

Background: In CAD patients, mortality has been reported to vary inversely with BMI (“obesity paradox”). In contrast,central obesity is directly associated with mortality.

Reticulate pigmentary disorders.

Reticulate pigmentary disorders is a term that is loosely defined to include a spectrum of acquired and congenital conditions with different morphologies. The presentations vary from the reticular or net like pattern to the" freckle like" hyper and hypopigmented macules that are usually restricted to the true genetic "reticulate" pigmentary disorders. There is little clarity on this topic and related terms, in major dermatology textbooks.

Evaluation of existing and candidate measures of obesity for detection of insulin resistance and cardiometabolic risk among Asian Indians: development of two clinically useful models.

Background: The optimal measure of obesity continues to be debated. The objective of this study was to evaluate existing and candidate measures of obesity for detecting the presence of cardiometabolic risk and insulin resistance among Asian Indians.

Methods: Anthropometry, detailed body composition analysis, blood pressure, lipids, fasting blood glucose and fasting serum insulin were measured in a cross-sectional study involving 507 subjects from North India.

Interrelationship between diabetes and periodontitis: a review.

Evidence for the link between periodontal disease and several systemic diseases is growing rapidly. Diabetes mellitus is a systemic disease with several major complications affecting both the quality and length of life causing morbidity and mortality. Periodontitis, one of these complications, is a chronic infection associated with substantial morbidity in the form of tooth loss and that affects the quality of life directly.

Childhood obesity in developing countries: epidemiology, determinants, and prevention.

Rapidly changing dietary practices and a sedentary lifestyle have led to increasing prevalence of childhood obesity (5-19 yr) in developing countries recently: 41.8% in Mexico, 22.1% in Brazil, 22.

High prevalence of abdominal, intra-abdominal and subcutaneous adiposity and clustering of risk factors among urban Asian Indians in North India.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of abdominal obesity including intra-abdominal and subcutaneous adiposity along with other cardiometabolic risk factors in urban Asian Indians living in New Delhi.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional epidemiological descriptive study with 459 subjects (217 males and 242 females), representing all socio-economic strata in New Delhi. The anthropometric profile [body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and skinfold thickness], fasting blood glucose (FBG) and lipid profile were recorded.

The high burden of obesity and abdominal obesity in urban Indian schoolchildren: a multicentric study of 38,296 children.

Aims: The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity and their associated factors in a large sample of urban Indian schoolchildren.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in 5 cities in India. Height and weight were measured in 38,296 children and waist circumference was measured in 29,244 children aged 8-18 years.