18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-based evaluation of systemic and vascular inflammation and assessment of the effect of systemic treatment on inflammation in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis: A randomized placebo-controlled pilot study.

Background: Psoriasis is a systemic inflammatory disorder associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Objective: To evaluate the utility of [F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in identifying vascular and systemic inflammation in psoriasis patients with moderate-to-severe disease and to analyze its usefulness in assessing the effect of systemic treatment.

Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind pilot study conducted in a tertiary care center.

A meta-analysis to assess usefulness of procalcitonin-guided antibiotic usage for decision making.

Background & Objectives: Development of antibacterial resistance and its association with antibiotic overuse makes it necessary to identify a specific and sensitive biomarker for the diagnosis of bacterial infection and guiding antibiotic therapy. Procalcitonin (PCT), as a sepsis biomarker, may play a role in guiding antibiotics treatment in hospital settings. The aim of the current meta-analysis was to analyze the utility of PCT on various outcomes of interest in inpatients.

Pharmacoeconomic Analysis of Drugs Used in the Treatment of Pneumonia in Paediatric Population in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India-A Cost-of-Illness Study.

Aims And Objectives: The cost of antibiotic therapy for the treatment of pneumonia in the inpatient paediatric population can have a major impact on the healthcare expenditure. We planned to assess the direct and indirect costs of diagnosis and medical treatment of paediatric patients with community acquired pneumonia who are hospitalized in a tertiary care hospital in India.

Methods: 125 children with a diagnosis of pneumonia who were admitted to the inpatient department of a paediatric hospital receiving antibiotic treatment were observed.

Drug utilization study in medical emergency unit of a tertiary care hospital in north India.

Objective. To generate data on the drug utilization pattern and cost of drug treatment and to determine the rationality of prescriptions. Methods.

N-acetyl cysteine in clomiphene citrate resistant polycystic ovary syndrome: A review of reported outcomes.

Clomiphene citrate (CC) has been the gold-standard drug for ovulation induction in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but still CC resistance is seen in approximately 15-40% in women with PCOS. N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), a safe and cheap drug available in the market many years ago as mucolytic agent, was found to have a role in infertility management. Recently, some reports discussed the possible beneficial effects of NAC on ovulation.

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis induced by rarely implicated drugs.

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) and Steven-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) are serious disorders commonly caused as idiosyncratic reactions to drugs, the most common ones being oxicams, anticonvulsants, allopurinol, and sulfonamides. We present a case of TEN in a patient who developed the lesions after ingesting multiple drugs including paracetamol, metoclopramide, antihistamines, and multivitamins. These drugs have rarely been implicated in this disorder.

Painful diabetic neuropathy: an update.

Diabetes, a silent killer, is a leading cause of neuropathy. Around 50% of diabetic patients develop peripheral neuropathy in 25 years. Painful diabetic neuropathy manifests as burning, excruciating, stabbing or intractable type of pain or presents with tingling or numbness.

Pharmacotherapy of polycystic ovary syndrome--an update.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a persisting challenge to clinical and basic research scientists as none of the presently available medications have been fully able to combat these consequences. The aim of the present review is to summarize the different lines of treatment available for the different symptomologies that women with PCOS presents. In this comprehensive review, search was made for various treatment options available for PCOS by using Cochrane library, Pubmed, Medline, in addition to the relevant printed medical journals and periodicals.

Dietary treatment for familial hypercholesterolaemia.

Background: A cholesterol-lowering diet and several other dietary interventions have been suggested as a management approach either independently or as an adjuvant to drug therapy in children and adults with familial hypercholesterolemia. However, a consensus has yet to be reached on the most appropriate dietary treatment.

Objectives: To examine whether a cholesterol-lowering diet is more effective in reducing ischaemic heart disease and lowering cholesterol than no dietary intervention in children and adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia.