Determinants of delirium in elderly in-patients in a general ward setting in a teaching hospital: A case control study.

Background: There is a dearth of research on risk factors of delirium among elderly inpatients in nonintensive low resource settings.

Aim: To determine the risk factors of delirium in elderly inpatients in a nonintensive care unit setting.

Materials And Methods: Sixty two elderly patients with delirium (cases) and 62 patients without delirium (controls) were administered a semi-structured proforma with socio-demographic variables and putative predisposing and precipitating risk factors and the Vellore screening instrument for dementia.

Pattern and Correlates of Depression among Medical Students: An 18.Month Follow-Up Study.

Background: Medical students are subjected to various challenges, which are possibly etiological in the onset and persistence of depression. There is inadequate research on the longitudinal pattern and correlates of the emotional health of medical students in India. We aim to delineate the longitudinal pattern of depression among medical students and the factors predictive of depression.

Effectiveness of a group intervention led by lay health workers in reducing the incidence of postpartum depression in South India.

Background: Postnatal depression is a highly prevalent disorder with serious implications on maternal and child outcomes. There are few studies examining feasible interventions in low-middle-income community settings.

Aims: To assess the effectiveness of a low intensity group intervention led by lay workers during the antenatal period in reducing postnatal depression at 6-2 weeks postpartum.

Ocular Pulse Amplitude in Non-Diabetic Patients with End Stage Renal Disease and Normal Individuals Using Dynamic Contour Tonometry.

Introduction: Ocular Pulse Amplitude (OPA) is the fluctuation of IOP with the cardiac cycle which is equal to the difference between systolic and diastolic IOP. These variations in IOP are thought to be caused by the blood volume that is pumped into the eye, mainly the choroidal bed during each cardiac cycle. In patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD), Choroidal perfusion has been found to be reduced as determined by Indocyanine Green Angiography (ICG) which is an invasive procedure.

Prevalence, correlates of depression, and its impact on quality of life of cancer patients attending a palliative care setting in South India.

Objective: Depression is an easily treatable yet frequently underdiagnosed affliction in palliative population with deleterious implications on their quality of life. It has been studied poorly in developing countries like India.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was done with 234 consenting subjects attending a palliative care unit.

Does greater individual social capital improve the management of hypertension? Cross-national analysis of 61 229 individuals in 21 countries.

Introduction: Social capital, characterised by trust, reciprocity and cooperation, is positively associated with a number of health outcomes. We test the hypothesis that among hypertensive individuals, those with greater social capital are more likely to have their hypertension detected, treated and controlled.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from 21 countries in the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study were collected covering 61 229 hypertensive individuals aged 35-70 years, their households and the 656 communities in which they live.

Psychiatry and Cinema: What Can We Learn from the Magical Screen?

Cinema, a vehicle of social transformation sheds light on different aspects of mental illness. Due to its dramatic and stigmatising depictions, it often spreads a negative aspect of psychiatric disorders and the patients who are suffering from them. Though it brings out a few positive and inspiring stories, they are sparse in comparison to its negative views.

Psychiatric Comorbidity and Physical Correlates in Alcohol-dependent Patients.

Aim: To examine the prevalence and pattern of comorbidity in alcohol dependence and its relationship with physical and laboratory findings.

Materials And Methods: Eighty males with alcohol dependence were examined using the Hindi version of Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies, the International Classification of Disease-10 Edition Personality Disorder Examination, Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test for alcohol use, global assessment of functioning, blood sampling electrocardiogram, and ultrasonogram.

Results: Eighty-seven percent had a comorbid Axis I or an Axis II psychiatric disorder, over 78% had nicotine dependence, and 56% had comorbid Axis II disorder, antisocial personality being the most common.

Pattern and correlates of agitation in an acute psychiatry in-patient setting in a teaching hospital.

Agitation among psychiatry inpatients can be a distressing and burdensome entity for patients, caregivers and staff. It has been poorly studied in low-middle income countries such as India both within acute care as well as long stay settings. 272 psychiatry admissions had 19.

Rare Presentation of Ophthalmia Nodosa.

We report a rare case of ophthalmia nodosa, presenting as a painless swelling in the lower palpebral conjunctiva for 2 years with no signs of inflammation. Excision biopsy confirmed the diagnosis.

Antenatal depression in coastal South India: Prevalence and risk factors in the community.

Background: Antenatal depression is a highly prevalent disorder with serious implications on maternal and child outcomes. There are few studies examining this in low-middle-income community settings.

Aims: To determine the prevalence of antenatal depression in women from a coastal rural background in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and to determine its associated factors.

Cord Blood TSH Level Variations in Newborn - Experience from A Rural Centre in Southern India.

Background: Universal screening of all neonates has for long been recognized as the most effective method to detect congenital hypothyroidism. However, various maternal as well as perinatal factors can influence the cord blood TSH levels.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of perinatal factors on cord blood TSH level variations in neonates born in a rural tertiary care institution in South India.

Normative data for vestibular evoked myogenic potential in different age groups among a heterogeneous Indian population.

To establish normative data of vestibular evoked myogenic potential in different age groups among a heterogeneous Indian population. Prospective study design using a sample of convenience. Eighty five normal controls ranging between the ages 7 and 71 years were asked to provide a written signed consent for the study.

Benign cephalic histiocytosis.

A one and a half year old girl born of a non-consanguineous marriage presented with multiple asymptomatic erythematous to hyperpigmented and skin colored papules on both cheeks slowly increasing in number of 1 year duration. On the basis of clinical, histopathological, and immunohistochemistry findings, a diagnosis of benign cephalic histiocytosis was made.

Penile pyoderma gangrenosum.

A 70-year-old man presented with indurated penile ulcers of 1-month duration. Initial biopsy was reported as chronic ulcer. A repeat biopsy done due to inadequate response to doxycycline showed features of pyoderma gangrenosum.

Tackling the problems of tumour chemotherapy by optimal drug scheduling.

Introduction: There are various strategies for overcoming the major pitfalls of cancer chemotherapy, such as toxicity and drug resistance. The scientific computing of drug scheduling by optimisation before drug administration is one among them. In a majority of these strategies, the pharmacodynamic variations are given more importance than the pharmacokinetic variations.

Clofazimine-induced Hair Pigmentation.

A 45-year-old man was treated with WHO multibacillary multidrug therapy for borderline leprosy and high dose daily Clofazimine for lepra reaction. Along with the expected side effect of skin pigmentation, the patient also noticed darkening of previously grey hair. This colour persisted eight months after completing multibacillary multidrug therapy.

Post-tsunami mental health: A cross-sectional survey of the predictors of common mental disorders in South India 9-11 months after the 2004 Tsunami.

Introduction: The Asian earthquake and subsequent tsunami of December 2004, one of the largest natural disasters in history, resulted in the deaths of over 250,000 people and massive destruction in eight countries. The mental health consequences of the disaster remain relatively poorly explored. This study sought to go beyond the dose-response paradigm to examine the effect of pre-disaster socio-cultural variables on common mental disorders (CMD) after the tsunami.

Extrauterine Intrapartum Treatment (EXIT) in bilateral primary fetal hydrothorax.

Primary Foetal Hydrothorax (PFHT), is an intrathoracic collection of fluid in the fetus, which may be present on either side or even bilaterally. Advances in foetal diagnostics now allow consideration of the Ex-utero Intrapartum Treatment (EXIT) procedure for PFHT. Ex-utero Intrapartum Treatment (EXIT) allows therapeutic interventions on the neonate while maintaining fetoplacental circulation and thereby maintaining oxygenation.

Decompressive hemicraniectomy in large putaminal hematomas: an Indian experience.

Objective: The treatment of large putaminal hematomas is predominantly medical and the role of surgery is debated. Decompressive hemicraniectomy in large hemispheric infarctions has been reported to lower mortality and improve outcomes. Decompressive hemicraniectomy may also have a role in putaminal hematomas.

Twist drill craniostomy with closed drainage for chronic subdural haematoma in the elderly: an effective method.

Objective: Chronic subdural haematoma is a disease of the elderly and surgery in these patients carries a much higher risk. The common surgical procedures for chronic subdural haematoma include twist drill craniostomy, burr hole evacuation or craniotomy. The aim of this study was to analyse the results of twist drill craniostomy with drainage in elderly patients with chronic subdural haematoma.