Age-Specific Nomograms for Antral Follicle Count in Fertile and Infertile Indian Women: A Comparative Study.

 The aim of this study was to develop age-specific nomograms for antral follicle count (AFC) in fertile and infertile Indian women and (2) to compare the influence of age on AFC in both groups.  It is a prospective cross-sectional study in a tertiary-care hospital in north-central India.  One-thousand four-hundred seventy-eight fertile and 1,447 infertile women (primary infertility) of reproductive age (18-49 years) were recruited.

Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 Level and Cardiovascular Parameters in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Objective: To find out the serum fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) levels in different grades of CKD, and the prevalence of abnormal left ventricular mass index (LVMI), carotid intima-medial thickness (cIMT), and central pulse wave velocity (cPWV) and the risk factors including FGF-23 for these abnormalities.

Methods: Fifty-nine patients of CKD with G2 to G5, aged 2-18 y were included. The LVMI, cIMT, and cPWV were measured using standard techniques, and serum intact FGF-23 levels were estimated at enrollment.

Clinico-mycological study of dermatophytic infections and their sensitivity to antifungal drugs in a tertiary care center.

Background: Worldwide, dermatophytic infections are running a chronic course either due to ineffective treatment or emerging drug resistance. In the past three decades, there has been an increase in incidence and non-responsiveness to conventional antifungals, which suggests that there is a need of antifungal sensitivity testing.

Aims: This study was aimed at identifying clinico-mycological pattern of dermatophytic infections in patients attending thedermatology outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital, and to obtain the sensitivity pattern of isolates against six commonly used oral antifungals (fluconazole, terbinafine, itraconazole, ketoconazole, griseofulvin and voriconazole).

Predictive ability of urinary biomarkers for outcome in children with acute kidney injury.

Background: Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), and interleukin 18 (IL-18) were found to be useful for early detection of acute kidney injury (AKI). The objective of this study was to determine the predictive ability of biomarkers for mortality and variation in levels in relation to different stages of AKI, need for dialysis, etiologies, and with duration of hospital stay.

Methods: Urinary NGAL, NAG, and IL-18 levels were measured in 50 children with AKI and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy controls.

Outcome of patients on second line antiretroviral therapy under programmatic condition in India.

Background: The National AIDS Control Organization of India has been providing free second line antiretroviral therapy (ART) since 2008. This observational study reports the survival and virologic suppression of patients on second-line ART under programmatic condition and type of mutations acquired by those failing therapy.

Methods: 170 patients initiated on second-line therapy between 2008 and 2012 were followed up till 2013.

Determinants of survival in adult HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy in Eastern Uttar Pradesh: a prospective study.

Background & Objectives: The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) of India has been providing free ARV (antiretroviral) drugs since 2004. b0 y 2012, 486,173 patients had received treatment through the antiretroviral therapy (ART) centres. The objective of this observational study was to assess the factors determining survival of patients on ART under routine programme conditions in an ART centre in north India five years after its inception.

Can we predict relapses in children with idiopathic steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome?

The objective of the present study was to find out the predictors of relapse. One hundred fifty children with a first episode of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome were followed for 12 months after initial treatment. Sixty-one (40.

Changing epidemiology of community-acquired acute kidney injury in developing countries: analysis of 2405 cases in 26 years from eastern India.

Background: The epidemiology of acute kidney injury (AKI) differs from country to country and varies from center to center within a country. Owing to the absence of a central registry, data on overall epidemiology of AKI are scanty from India.

Methods: This study aimed at describing changes in epidemiology of community-acquired AKI (CAAKI) over a time span of 26 years in two study periods, namely, 1983-95 and 1996-2008.

Prolonged versus standard prednisolone therapy for initial episode of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.

Background: The prolongation of steroid therapy for an initial episode of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome may decrease any relapses. Two treatment protocols were compared with the objective of finding the frequency of relapses and side effects of steroid in the following 12-month period.

Methods: A hospital-based prospective study was conducted of 80 children allocated randomly to receive prolonged (5-month) or standard (3-month) prednisolone therapy.

Lay perceptions of kala-azar, mosquitoes and bed nets in Bihar, India.

Objective: To describe the lay perception of kala-azar (KA) in an endemic area of Muzaffarpur District, Bihar, India: local names, symptoms, affected persons, perceived severity and modes of transmission, as well as perceived mosquito nuisance, modes of protection and use of bed nets.

Methods: We held 16 focus group discussions (FGD) in eight remote villages with altogether 157 participants in March 2008. Separate FGDs were held according to gender, socio-economic status (SES) and with key informants.

Knowledge, attitude, and practices related to Kala-azar in a rural area of Bihar state, India.

The Indian Government aspires to eliminate Kala-azar by 2010. Success of any disease control program depends on community participation, and there is no published data about the knowledge, attitude, and practices of the community about Kala-azar in endemic regions of India. For this knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) study, the heads of 3,968 households in a rural area, consisting of 26,444 populations, were interviewed using a pre-tested, semi-structured schedule.