Exploring risk factors for all-cause hospital readmissions following chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation patients discharged on steroid tapers.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations often lead to hospitalizations and subsequent readmissions. Steroid therapy is a common approach in managing COPD exacerbations, yet a considerable proportion of patients experience readmissions within a short timeframe, highlighting the persistent and complex nature of COPD exacerbations. The aim of this retrospective study is to investigate risk factors for all-cause hospital readmissions in COPD patients discharged on steroid tapers following exacerbations, emphasizing the need for personalized management strategies to reduce readmission rates.

A Rare Case of Refractory Catastrophic Antiphospholipid Syndrome Successfully Treated With Rituximab and Plasma Exchange.

A small subset of patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) may develop widespread thrombotic disease with organ damage, referred to as catastrophic APS (CAPS) that is associated with a high mortality. Medical therapy typically involves a combination of anticoagulation, systemic glucocorticoids, plasmapheresis, and intravenous immune globulin (IVIG). There is currently no consensus for the management of refractory cases of CAPS.

Role of medical thoracoscopy in the diagnosis of pleural effusions.

Background: Medical thoracoscopy (semi-rigid and rigid thoracoscopy) have revolutionized the management of undiagnosed pleural effusions. Though semi-rigid thoracoscopy has a good diagnostic yield in malignant and tubercular effusions, its role in the management of a complicated pleural effusions is debatable. Hence, rigid thoracoscopy becomes handy in these cases.

A Case of Unusual Presentation of Kartagener's Syndrome in a 22-Year-Old Female Patient.

Kartagener's syndrome (KS) is a rare hereditary disease. It is a triad of chronic sinusitis bronchiectasis and situs inversus. The condition is probably underdiagnosed and the symptoms are more prevalent in children in their first decade of life.

Clear Cell Hidradenoma in a Pregnant Female.

Solid cystic hidradenoma, or clear cell hidradenoma, is a distinct and histologically rare tumor formed at the sweat glands, found mainly in adults and majorly among women. In this case, a 26-year-old female presented with asymptomatic swelling in her left inguinal area. Similar cases have been discussed in the literature considering the same kind of tumor.

Multidisciplinary team obviates biopsy in most patients with diffuse parenchymal lung diseases-A retrospective study from India.

Introduction: The inflammation and fibrosis in diffuse parenchymal lung diseases (DPLDs) in varied proportions give rise to different patterns in radiology and histopathology. The radiological pattern on CT of the thorax most often allows us to make a diagnosis with varying levels of confidence, to optimize management. With a multidisciplinary team bringing the strengths of their individual domains of knowledge, clinical, radiological, histopathological, and in many cases rheumatological, the level of confidence in making this diagnosis increases, often to the stage where the diagnosis is most often right, is concordant with the diagnosis achieved at histopathology and therefore obviates the need for lung biopsy which carries its own costs and risks of complications.

Role of medical thoracoscopy in the treatment of complicated parapneumonic effusions.

Objective: The role of medical thoracoscopy in the treatment of pleural infections is increasingly being recognized. This study was done to assess the role of medical thoracoscopy in the management of carefully selected subset of patients with complicated parapneumonic effusions (PPEs).

Materials And Methods: We analyzed retrospective data of 164 thoracoscopic procedures performed at our center on patients with complicated PPE in the past 10 years.

Yield of pleural biopsy in different types of tubercular effusions.

Introduction: The yield of mycobacteria is shown to be very low in pleural effusions as it is a pauci-bacillary disease. The present study looked at the yield of mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in terms of GeneXpert for acid fast bacilli (AFB) and culture using a medical thoracoscopy guided biopsy and analysed whether the yield increases in more complicated effusions.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent medical thoracoscopy for tubercular pleural effusions at our institute over the last 5-years.

Prophyactic platelet transfusion in stable dengue Fever patients: is it really necessary?

Our hospital is a referral centre for Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) patients, who as a matter of religious belief refuse transfusions of blood/blood components. We have treated JW patients with dengue fever (DF) and thrombocytopenia without platelet transfusion, without any mortality or major morbidities. We retrospectively compared the duration needed for platelet recovery and duration of hospitalization of DF with thrombocytopenia in those treated with prophylactic platelet transfusion and JW patients who were managed without these.