A Comparative Study of Temporalis Fascia and Tragal Cartilage with Perichondrium in Type 1 Tympanoplasty.

Background: Many materials such as fascia, cartilage have been used for the reconstruction of the ear drum. Cartilage retains its rigidity and resists retraction, resorption and reperforation, even in cases with eustachian tube dysfunction. The hearing gain and uptake rate of cartilage is comparable to that of temporalis fascia.

Critical peripheral ischemia: Higher prevalence in Indian systemic lupus erythematosus inception cohort for research (INSPIRE).

Introduction: There is limited literature on digital ischemia in systemic Lupus erythematosus (SLE). We report the prevalence, associations and outcome of digital infarcts and gangrene from the Indian SLE inception cohort (INSPIRE).

Methods: From the web-based database of INSPIRE, we extracted information for patients with 'Digital Infarct' and 'Digital gangrene' at enrolment into cohort, together considered as critical peripheral ischemia (CPI); all others were controls.

Pattern of disease expression in SLE patients with antiphospholipid antibodies: data from Indian Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Inception cohort (INSPIRE).

Antiphospholipid antibodies (APLA) are present in one-third of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, and they are associated with both criteria and non-criteria manifestations. We studied the prevalence, clinical associations, and impact on mortality of APLA in SLE patients from India. Among the Indian SLE inception cohort (INSPIRE), patients who had data on all five routinely performed APLAs [lupus anticoagulant (LA), IgG and IgM anticardiolipin antibody (aCL) and anti-β2-glycoprotein I(β2GPI)] at enrolment were selected.

Effect of Adenotonsillectomy on Spectral and Acoustic Characteristics.

Acoustic analysis and perceptual analysis has been extensively used to assess the speech and voice among individual with voice disorders. These methods provide objective, quantitative and precise information on the speech and voice characteristics in any given disorder and help in monitoring any recovery, deterioration, or improvement in an individual's speech and also differentiate between normal and abnormal speech and voice characteristics. The present study was carried out to investigate the spectral characteristics (formant frequency parameters and formant centralization ratios) and voice characteristics (Acoustic parameters of voice) changes in individuals following adenotonsillectomy.

Vitamin D - An Elixir for Recurrent Upper Respiratory Tract Infection.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess and compare the level of serum vitamin-D in participants affected with recurrent upper respiratory tract infections and in healthy population and to know whether vitamin-D deficiency is factor contributing to recurrent upper respiratory tract infections (URTI).

Materials And Methods: A case control study was conducted on 52 subjects with recurrent URTI and 52 controls. Frequency and severity of infections in the previous 6 months were assessed and documented among the case group.