Clinical profile and outcomes of pediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a South Indian tertiary care cardiac center: a three decade experience.

Introduction: Although much research has been done on adult hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, data on pediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is still limited.

Methods And Results: The study enrolled all patients with cardiomyopathy who presented to us between 1990 to 2020 and were younger than 18 yrs. During the thirty-year study period, we identified 233 cases of pediatric cardiomyopathy.

Health Problems and Healthcare-Seeking Practices of Workers Processing E-Waste in the Unorganized Sector in the Slums of a South Indian City: An Exploratory Study.

Context: The precarious nature of the work in the unorganized e-waste processing sector poses a threat to workers' health by making them vulnerable to occupational injuries as well as other work-related diseases in addition to job insecurity and related issues.

Aims: To systematically explore and quantify employment and working conditions along with the occupational health problems and healthcare-seeking practices of workers processing e-waste in the slums of a south Indian city.

Settings And Design: Cross-sectional study conducted in the slums of a south Indian city.

Facilitators and barriers to medication adherence among stroke survivors in India.

Strict compliance with medication and life style modification are integral to secondary stroke prevention. This study was undertaken to find out medication adherence among stroke survivors and factors associated with it. Cross sectional survey among stroke survivors was conducted.

Anti-epileptic drug and folic acid usage during pregnancy, seizure and malformation outcomes: Changes over two decades in the Kerala Registry of Epilepsy and Pregnancy.

Background: This study was carried out to determine changes over time in use of folic acid, anti-epileptic drugs (AED), seizures during pregnancy and malformation rate over two decades in women with epilepsy enrolled in the Kerala registry of Epilepsy and Pregnancy (KREP).

Methods: All completed pregnancies with known outcome between 1998 and 2017 (n = 1962) were analyzed for the use of folic acid and AEDs in the first trimester, seizure count for the entire pregnancy and the presence of major congenital malformation (MCM). The results were presented for three epochs (1998-2004, 2005-2011 and 2012-2017).

Novel Face-Name Paired Associate Learning and Famous Face Recognition in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Neuropsychological and Brain Volumetric Study.

Purpose: To assess visual associative learning and famous face recognition ability among subjects with stable amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) relative to early stage dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cognitively normal healthy controls (NC) and to correlate these differences with volumetric changes on MRI.

Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 61 participants. The subjects underwent neuropsychological evaluation, including validated newly designed tests for novel face-name paired association learning recall and famous face recognition.

Results of Endovascular-First Approach for Treatment of Scalp Arteriovenous Malformations and the Effect of Simplified Angiographic Classification in Therapeutic Decision-Making and Outcomes.

Background: Scalp arteriovenous malformation (SAVM) is primarily treated by surgery and reports on endovascular treatment are scarce. We report the results of an endovascular-first approach in the treatment of SAVM. We also have proposed a simple dichotomized classification using the angiographically determined morphology findings and discussed its effect on therapeutic decision-making and outcomes.

Factors Predicting Spontaneous Thrombosis of Aggressive Cranial Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas.

Background: Dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) with cortical venous drainage is known to be aggressive in clinical course and is usually managed promptly. Spontaneous resolution of DAVF is a rare phenomenon and usually occurs in benign fistulas. Spontaneous thrombosis of aggressive DAVF is an extremely rare occurrence.

Malformation risk of antiepileptic drug exposure during pregnancy in women with epilepsy: Results from a pregnancy registry in South India.

Objective: Kerala Registry of Epilepsy and Pregnancy had been prospectively evaluating the reproductive issues of women with epilepsy since April 1998. This analysis aimed to estimate the relative risk of major congenital malformations (MCM) to the registrants.

Methods: All pregnancies with known outcome in this register until December 2013 were included.

Impact of non-contrast enhanced volumetric MRI-based feeder localization in the treatment of spinal dural arteriovenous fistula.

Background: The preoperative localization of the feeder of spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) could simplify the diagnostic spinal angiographic procedure. Localization by non-contrast-enhanced MRI-based techniques is an attractive option. However, the usefulness of such an approach for evaluation of SDAVF has not yet been reported.

Utility of 3D SPACE T2-weighted volumetric sequence in the localization of spinal dural arteriovenous fistula.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of a heavily T2-weighted volumetric MRI sequence (3D sampling perfection with application-optimized contrasts using different flip-angle evolutions [SPACE]) in the feeder localization of spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF). METHODS Patients who were diagnosed with SDAVF and who had 3D SPACE source images available for review were identified from a retrospective review of medical records. A total of 16 patients were identified, and MR images were analyzed separately by 2 blinded observers.

Selection of ideal candidates for extratemporal resective epilepsy surgery in a country with limited resources.

Aim: To investigate how to select ideal candidates for extratemporal resective epilepsy surgery, without compromising efficacy and safety, in countries with limited pre-surgical diagnostic facilities.

Method: From the prospective database maintained at an epilepsy surgery centre in southern India, we reviewed the attributes of consecutive patients who had completed at least two years of follow-up after resections involving frontal, parietal and occipital lobes for medically refractory focal seizures.

Results: Of 386 patients diagnosed with extratemporal refractory epilepsies during the study period, 61 (15.

Employment outcome and satisfaction after anterior temporal lobectomy for refractory epilepsy: a developing country's perspective.

We examined employment outcome and its determinants in 172 south Indian patients who had undergone anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) for medically refractory epilepsy. Despite seizure-free outcome in the majority, a significant change in post-ATL employment status occurred only in those involved in skilled jobs. Although factors such as younger age at surgery, shorter duration of epilepsy, longer post-ATL follow-up duration, and lower income were associated with favorable employment outcome in univariate analysis, only shorter duration of epilepsy was independently predictive in the multivariate model.

Risk factors for epilepsy: a population-based case-control study in Kerala, southern India.

We undertook a community-based case-control study on persons with active epilepsy residing in Kerala, southern India. Using a standardized questionnaire, we collected information from 362 cases and 362 controls. In the final multivariate model, family history of epilepsy (odds ratio=7.

Outcome after corpus callosotomy in children with injurious drop attacks and severe mental retardation.

Wide variability in patient selection, extent of callosal section and definition of successful outcome between studies make impact of corpus callosotomy on patients with medically refractory epilepsies difficult to interpret. Severe mental retardation is considered to be predictive of unfavorable seizure outcome after callosotomy. Very little attention has been paid on the influence of callosotomy on the psychosocial burden on the patients' families.

Employment concerns of people with epilepsy in Kerala, south India.

We examined current employment status, reasons for unemployment, and related psychosocial concerns of 202 persons with epilepsy from the south Indian state of Kerala. Compared with 19% of the general population, 58% of persons with epilepsy were unemployed. Seizure remission for > or = 2 years, monotherapy, better education, ability to travel alone, and ability to drive were significantly associated with being employed.

Tobacco use among medical students in Orissa.

Background: Tobacco use is the most important cause of preventable morbidity, disability and premature mortality. There is a lack of adequate and reliable data on tobacco use among medical students and their perceived role as future doctors in tobacco control. We aimed to find out factors associated with tobacco use among medical students and their perceived role in tobacco control as future doctors.

Access to pocket money and low educational performance predict tobacco use among adolescent boys in Kerala, India.

Background: Tobacco use is increasing among adolescents. We conducted this study to find prevalence and correlates of tobacco use among adolescent boys in Trivandrum city, Kerala.

Methods: Using a two-stage cluster sampling technique, 1323 boys (12-19 years) were selected from 14 schools.

Differential diagnosis of patients with intracranial sinus venous thrombosis related isolated intracranial hypertension from those with idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

In patients presenting with intracranial hypertension without hydrocephalus, mass lesions, and with normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) composition (pseudotumor cerebri syndrome), the diagnosis of intracranial sinus venous thrombosis (ISVT) has crucial etiological, therapeutic and prognostic implications. Utilizing two well-defined groups of pseudotumor cerebri patients, one with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or angiography confirmed ISVT (17 patients) and the other in whom ISVT has been excluded (idiopathic intracranial hypertension [IIH], 27 patients), we investigated the characteristics that might be helpful in distinguishing them. No clinical or auxiliary findings differed between the ISVT and IIH groups except for female gender and lower CSF protein level, which were significantly associated with the latter.

Impact of vitamin A supplementation through different dosages of red palm oil and retinol palmitate on preschool children.

Red palm oil (5 ml and 10 ml), ground nut oil fortified with 400 and 800 retinol equivalent retinol palmitate, and ground nut oil (5 and 10 ml), were administered to six groups of preschool children (four experimental and two control groups) in randomly assigned balwadis of Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu for a period of 7 months, to monitor the difference in the efficacy of the mode of supplementation and the optimum dose for improving vitamin A status. Results show that red palm oil groups recorded more gain in retinol and beta-carotene levels compared to other dosage groups, and that administration of 10 ml did not offer any substantial improvement over the 5-ml daily dose.

Mortality among epilepsy patients attending a tertiary referral center in a developing country.

Epilepsy is associated with excess mortality of two to three times in developed countries. Precise epidemiological data on mortality and cause of death are not available from India or most other developing countries. This study was carried out to estimate the mortality rates and to identify the demographic and clinical characteristics associated with mortality in a hospital based cohort of epilepsy patients.

Impact of beta-carotene supplementation through red palm.

A 10-month long feeding trial was conducted to assess the impact of beta-carotene supplementation through red palm oil (RPO) with the focus on vitamin A status, morbidity status and acceptability of an RPO-incorporated noon-meal as a dietary supplement among two cohorts of 409 (experimental) and 346 (control) preschool children in two southern districts of rural Tamil Nadu, selected by stratified random sampling. Information was gathered on ocular symptoms of vitamin A deficiency and anthropometry, and blood samples were drawn at baseline and final rounds for estimation of serum beta-carotene, retinol and tocopherol. Data about Socioeconomic Status (SES) were collected once during the study period, while information on attendance, consumption and morbidity was recorded by preschool teachers.

Neuropsychological impairment and altered thyroid hormone levels in epilepsy.

Background: Neuropsychological impairment is a common problem in epilepsy which interferes with the quality of life of patients. Similarly, thyroid hormone levels have been observed to be abnormal in patients with epilepsy on various treatments. This study aimed to ascertain any possible correlation between neuropsychological performance and thyroid hormone levels among epilepsy patients.