Hair dye poisoning and rhabdomyolysis.

Hair dye ingestion is a rare cause of toxicity in Pakistan. We are presenting the case report of a 55 year old male who presented with accidental hair dye ingestion and developed laryngeal oedema requiring emergent tracheostomy. He had also developed aspiration pneumonitis and chemical oesophagitis.

Pakistani urban population demonstrates a poor knowledge about cancers: a pilot survey.

Background: This cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the perceptions and level of knowledge of a Pakistani urban population regarding presentations, risk factors, and screening of cancers.

Methods: From 4 tertiary care hospitals, 439 subjects were recruited through convenient sampling method and interviewed using a standard questionnaire.

Results: More than 90% of subjects demonstrated poor knowledge.

Awareness and perceptions of electroconvulsive therapy among psychiatric patients: a cross-sectional survey from teaching hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is shown to be effective in many psychiatric illnesses, but its distorted projection by the Pakistani media and its unregulated use by many physicians across the country have adversely affected its acceptability. Given this situation we aimed to assess the awareness and perceptions regarding ECT as a treatment modality among the psychiatric patients.

Methods: This was a questionnaire based cross-sectional study carried out at 2 tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.