Trends to access internet among medical students of a government medical college in West Bengal.

The use of computer and information technology is on an escalation. The internet, one of the key developments in this field, provides instant access to latest medical information. The present study was conducted (i) to estimate the extent and purpose of internet usage among undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) medical students, (ii) to identify factors that encourage the students to use internet for medical information, (iii) to assess the need for incorporating computer education in medical curriculum.

Impact of increased rate of caesarean section on perinatal outcome: sociolegal evaluation.

Sharp rise in the caesarean section rate, over the past years has been causing lot of concerns. It is to be evaluated whether the decrease in perinatal mortality rate is due to the rising rate of caesarean section. Five hundred consecutive patients were selected on whom caesarean section had been performed.

Deep vein thrombosis.

Occlusive clot formation in the veins causes venous thrombosis, the site most common in the deep veins of leg, called deep vein thrombosis. The clot can block blood flow and when it breaks off, called an embolism which in turn can damage the vital organs. Venous thrombosis occurs via three mechanisms ie, Virchow's triad.

Pharmaco-epidcemiology of drugs utilised for cataract surgery in a government medical college and hospital.

Prescription audit is a powerful tool for rational prescription. To evaluate pharmaco-epidemiology of drugs utilised for cataract surgery, a retrospective study was conducted in the department of pharmacology, RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata. Data from bed head tickets of one year, available in medical record section, were collected in case report forms and analysed.

Profile of postmortem cases conducted at a morgue of a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata.

A record based cross-sectional study of postmortems performed at the mortuary attached to the forensic medicine and toxicology department of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital from March 2008 to February 2009 comprising 1900 cases was conducted to determine the sociodemographic profile and to assess the nature and cause of such deaths. Bodies of 5 foetuses were decomposed which were excluded from the study. Out of a total of 1895 postmortems analysed, 23 autopsies were performed of limbs where the subjects were alive.

Study of victims of organophosphorus compound poisoning: evaluation after medicolegal autopsy.

Indiscriminate use of organophosphorus compounds (OPC) increases the potential threat of self-poisoning and death. To make a conclusive diagnosis on academic interest a retrospective record-based study was undertaken. Postautopsy studies were carried out on 100 victims of OPC poisoning by collecting data from following 3 sources: Medicolegal autopsy reports, inquest reports, and inpatient case sheets.

Isolated ascites in hypothyroidism: medical and ethical issues.

Hypothyroidism presenting as ascites is one of the rarest clinical scenarios encountered in medical practice. A case of a 65-year-old woman, presenting with progressive onset ascites, secondary to underlying hypothyroidism, which responded to thyroid hormone replacement therapy is reported. A feature of hypothyroidism Induced ascites is the high protein content of the ascitic fluid (> 2.

Recovery of a bundle of bones leading to unveiling of a murder mystery.

A bundle of bones, packed in a gunny bag, was detected by the villagers in a jungle situated in Bankura, West Bengal. After thorough autopsy, it revealed that the bones belonged to a male person aged 25 +/- 2 years of stature 167.5 +/- 5 cm.

DNA test--a forensic boon.

DNA fingerprinting (DNAFP) profiles can be applied to identify an individual in criminal as well as in civil cases. The main advantage of the technique is its ability to analyse small and environmentally challenged samples and to accurately establish their origins with a high degree of certainty: DNAFP can identify an individual in criminal and civil cases eg, rape, kidnapping, assassination and so on. The forensic DNA analysis can be stored in a data bank.

Heterotransplantation of kidney: medical and legal issues.

Since 1905, various attempts were made to transplant kidney from rabbit, pig or goat. But the attempts failed due to strong immune reaction-response. Heterotransplantation or xenotransplantation is a process to transplant kidney between various species.