A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VICRYL RAPIDE SUTURE VERSUS CHROMIC CATGUT SUTURE FOR EPISIOTOMY REPAIR.

Background: An episiotomy is a perineal incision performed to facilitate childbirth by enlarging the diameter of the vulvae outflow. This study used vicryl rapide suture, a polyglactin analogue that causes less tissue reactivity and is removed through hydrolysis (as opposed to chromic catgut suture), because long-term complications after episiotomy repair are common. Made of collagen, chromic catgut is broken down by proteolytic enzymes and phagocytosis, which causes an inflammatory response in the tissues.

Quality assurance for cancer patient safety: Clinical assessment for precise angles in linac during radiation therapy.

Purpose: Quality assurance for stereotactic body radiation treatment requires that isocentric verification be ensured during gantry rotation at various angles. This study examined statistical parameters on Winston-Lutz tests to distinguish the deviation of angles from isocenter during gantry rotation using machine learning.

Method: The Varian TrueBeam linac was aligned with the marked lines on the Ruby phantom.

Disparities with global standards about growth references of mid-upper arm circumference-for-age for Pakistani children aged 6-60 months.

Aim: Growth reference values about mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) are vital for assessing children's nutritional status. However, Pakistan lacks these reference values and growth charts. This study aims to develop these for children aged 6-60 months and compare them with global standards.

Developing neck circumference growth reference charts for Pakistani children and adolescents using the lambda-mu-sigma and quantile regression method.

Objective: Neck circumference (NC) is currently used as an embryonic marker of obesity and its associated risks. But its use in clinical evaluations and other epidemiological purposes requires sex and age-specific standardised cut-offs which are still scarce for the Pakistani paediatric population. We therefore developed sex and age-specific growth reference charts for NC for Pakistani children and adolescents aged 2-18 years.

A dataset about anthropometric measurements of the Pakistani children and adolescents using a cross-sectional multi-ethnic anthropometric survey.

Evaluation of nutritional status is necessary during childhood and the juvenile years when the level of hydration and the adipose tissues experience significant changes. Anthropometric measurements and their derived indices are valid proxies to predict body fat, obesity (general or central) and their associated cardiovascular risks. The dataset under consideration also provides the socio-demographic related information and anthropometric measurement values related to height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HpC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHpR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), neck circumference (NC), and wrist circumference (WrC).

Developing waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio percentile curves for Pakistani children and adolescents aged 2-18 years using Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS) method.

Objectives Children from different countries and with different ethnic backgrounds have a distinct pattern of central fat deposition. Therefore, it is essential to develop population-specific percentiles of waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and waist-to-height ratio exponent (WHtR (exp)) for the evaluation of central obesity. The objective of this study was to develop age-and-gender-specific smoothed WC and WHtR percentile curves for the Pakistani children and adolescents aged 2-18 years.

Establishing Body Mass Index growth charts for Pakistani children and adolescents using the lambda-mu-sigma (LMS) and quantile regression method.

Background: Assessment of growth and nutritional status is an essential part of clinical evaluation and care in pediatrics. Therefore, we aimed to establish age and gender specific smoothed BMI growth reference charts of Pakistani children and adolescents aged 2-18 years and to compare our LMS median percentile values with WHO 2007 international references and with references from other foreign studies.

Methods: A representative cross-sectional sample of 10,668 healthy Pakistani subjects aged 2 to 18 years was studied.

Diagnostic Performance of Neck Circumference and Cut-off Values for Identifying Overweight and Obese Pakistani Children: A Receiver Operating Characteristic Analysis.

Objective: Neck circumference (NC) is considered to be an alternative screening method for obesity. The aims were: (1) to examine the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and NC; and (2) to determine diagnostic performance including the best cut-off values of NC for identification of overweight and obese Pakistani children.

Methods: The study sample was 7,921 children, aged 5-14 years, by cross-sectional survey carried-out in four major cities of Pakistan.

Prevalence and Sociodemographic Factors of Overweight and Obesity among Pakistani Adults.

Background: Obesity is a serious public health problem that is growing alarmingly worldwide. The main objective of this study is to examine the current prevalence of overweight and obesity among Pakistani adults and to identify the sociodemographic factors that are associated with overweight and obesity.

Methods: Secondary data from a population-based household survey (the Pakistan Panel Household Survey) were used for this study.

Evaluation of anthropometric parameters of central obesity in Pakistani children aged 5-12 years, using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Background Different anthropometric parameters have been proposed for assessing central obesity in children, but the ability of these anthropometric parameters to correctly measure central obesity in Pakistani children is questionable and needs to be assessed. The aims of this investigation were to examine the diagnostic performance of anthropometric parameters as indicators of central obesity in Pakistani children as measured by waist circumference (WC) and to determine the sex-specific best cut-off values for these parameters that would identify obese children. Methods Anthropometric measurements - height, weight, WC, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), conicity index (CI) and neck circumference (NC) - from a cross-sectional sample of 5964 Pakistani children aged 5-12 years were analyzed.

A comparative study of RapidArc and intensity-modulated radiotherapy plan quality for cervical cancer treatment.

Background: RapidArc therapy, a complex form of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), is now widely used to treat cancer patients.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate and compare the plan quality of IMRT and RapidArc techniques using various dosimetric indices to find the better treatment modality for treating patients with cervix cancer.

Materials And Methods: Thirteen cervical cancer patients treated with IMRT were selected for analysis and original plans were subsequently re-optimized using the RapidArc technique.

Radiation absorbed dose for cobalt-60 gamma source in phantoms for different materials.

Current practices in radiation therapy required high doses of radiation to be delivered with increased accuracy. Treatment planning task is exercised till an optimum dose distribution is achieved. The present reported work was performed to compare the various aspects of the cobalt-60 radiation beam therapy with fixed source-surface distance 70cm incident normally.

Mid-upper-arm circumference as a screening measure for identifying children with elevated body mass index: a study for Pakistan.

Purpose: Mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) is considered an alternative screening method for obesity. The aims of this investigation were to examine the ability of MUAC to correctly identify children with elevated body mass index (BMI) and to determine the best MUAC cutoff point for identification of children with high BMI.

Methods: Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, and MUAC) from a cross-sectional sample of 7,921 Pakistani children aged 5-14 years were analyzed.

Predictors of pulmonary function test values for Pakistani children, aged 5-14 years.

Objective: To predict pulmonary function test values in children.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at Nishtar Medical College, Multan, Pakistan, from August 2014 to March 2015, and comprised school-going children aged 5-14 years. After noting their gender, age, height and weight, the pulmonary function test measures, force vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 second and peak expiratory flow rate were taken.

Forecasting Health Indicators Of Pakistan.

Background: Forecasting of health indicators is of great importance for health policy makers. This study is aimed to forecast some important health indicators like crude death rate (CDR), crude birth rate (CBR), and infant mortality rate (IMR) and total fertility rate (TFR) of Pakistan.

Methods: In this retrolective study, annual data of these indicators for years 1984-2010 have been used.