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Patients suffering from end stage renal disease (ESRD) often present to the emergency with breathlessness, mostly due to fluid overload. We report a rare case of recurrent unilateral massive pleural effusion in an ESRD patient on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). The patient was on MHD thrice weekly for the last 2 years with right internal jugular vein (IJV) tunneled cuffed catheter (TCC). Chylothorax was identified as the cause of recurrent pleural effusion which was due to superior vena cava stenosis (SVCO). It was managed successfully by balloon venoplasty of SVC and anticoagulation. SVCO is a rare but a serious complication in patients on long term indwelling dialysis catheters. Physicians involved in the care of dialysis patients must be aware about complications of long term dialysis catheters like central vein stenosis. A strong suspicion of chylothorax should be reserved for a patient with recurrent unilateral pleural effusion and long term dialysis catheters.Iron deficiency (ID) is clinically significant comorbidity usually reported with acute and chronic heart failure (HF) and associated with prognostic outcomes, independent of anemia. The exact cause of ID and anemia and their association with HF is not entirely clear. Current evidence highlights neuro-hormonal and proinflammatory cytokine activation and renal dysfunction favoring the development of anemia and ID. Intravenous iron therapy (IV Iron) enhances exercise capacity, HF-associated symptoms and health-related quality of life. Oral iron therapy might be less effective compared to IV Iron in HF patients. At the same time, large, well-designed cardiovascular outcome studies are warranted to establish the long-term efficacy and safety of IV Iron in patients with HF with coexisting ID. In India, the high prevalence of anemia increases the burden of ID in patients with HF. HF being a complex multifactorial disease, it is essential to understand the association of ID with HF which can be easily corrected to improve the patient outcomes. At the same time, there is a need to generate more robust clinical evidence on IV Iron therapy for in Indian patients of HF.

Candida score has been developed and used for identifying patients at risk for developing Candida infections. However, its usefulness in predicting outcome of patients with candidemia has not been evaluated. We aimed to determine the risk factors for mortality in patients with candidemia admitted to an Indian medical intensive care unit (ICU).

We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of 56 patients with candidemia presented in 18 months duration. Baseline patient characteristics, ICU course and outcome were noted and Candida score was calculated. We conducted analysis based on the primary outcome measure of ICU mortality.

Out of 3,142 ICU admissions, the incidence of candidemia was 17.8/1,000 admissions. The mean interval between ICU admission and candidemia was 12.9 ± 14.4 days. C. tropicalis was the commonest species isolated from 28.6% isolates, followed by Candida albicans (21.4%) and C. glabrata (12.5%). The mean length of ICU stay was 22.9 ± 28 days and hospital stay was 30.1 ± 30.2 days. Crudion. Previous antifungal therapy and Candida score were found to be independently predicting mortality.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease and musculoskeletal ultrasonography (USG) is gaining popularity for assessing the disease activity bed side, objectively and cost effectively. There is paucity of such studies from India which establish the correlation between RA disease activity and musculoskeletal USG.

The objective of this study was to compare the disease activity scores in RA patients, assessed by 'clinical and laboratory evaluation' with 'musculoskeletal ultrasound scoring of the affected joints.

It was a cross sectional study conducted from December 2015to May 2017. We enrolled the diagnosed patients of RA, having at least one USG assessable joint with definite clinical synovitis. Disease activity was assessed by swollen joint count, tender joint count, Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Disease Activity Score (DAS) 28 ESR and DAS 28 CRP. Musculoskeletal USG was performed by experienced radiologist. Grayscale scores (GSUS) and Power Doppler scores (PDUS) were calcula cost-effective alternative to gadolinium enhanced MRI.;Strong correlation exists between USG and physical examination of joint swelling as;well as disease activity scores in RA patients.

Henoch Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a small vessel vasculitic disorder common in children and has been extensively studied. Although it is known to also occur in adults there is relative paucity of data as regards to its clinical spectrum, complications and outcome, particularly in Indian context. Hence the study was undertaken with the objective to evaluate the various skin manifestations, systemic complications of HSP in adults and also compare it with data available in children in various published clinical studies.Study design, materials, methods In this retrospective, observational, hospital-based cohort study conducted at Goa Medical College the premier teaching institute from Goa, clinical data of adult patients (>18 years age) fulfilling the diagnostic criteria as per European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) 2010 criteria for HSP was obtained, over period of 6 years. All the clinical manifestations, complications, investigations, outcomes were recorded. Skin biopsy histopathology and immunof where majority of these cases are self-limiting. Skin involvement does not necessarily mirror gastrointestinal involvement in terms of severity and temporal occurrence.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is autoimmune disorder charaterized by exocrine glandular involvement and extra-glandular manifestations. Associations between hypokalemic paralysis and SS have not been emphasized enough. Present study evaluates hypokalemic paralysis as presenting feature in PSS.

A retrospective cross-sectional study from 2015 to 2020 was conducted to evaluate the clinical phenotype of primary Sjögren's syndrome (PSS) who presented to us with hypokalemic paralysis.

Data of 13 patients were evaluated. All were female patients and mean age was 38 years. 61.5% (n= 8) had more than one episode of hypokalemic paralysis; 61.5% (n= 8) patients had oral dryness and 69% (n= 9) had dryness of eyes. 23% (n= 3) patients had inflammatory arthritis and 1 patient had Raynaud's phenomenon, myopathy respectively. 1 patient had chronic constipation and hypothyroidism was present in 61.5% (n= 8) patients. Other co-morbidity included hypertension, renal calculi and situs inversus present in 15%, 15% and 7% respectively. The mean ESR at presentation was 64 mm/hr; average serum potassium level was 2.04meq/dl and distal renal tubular acidosis was present in all patients. Paralysis was completely recovered in all patients after supplementation with potassium.

The renal involvement in PSS can uncommonly present as hypokalemic paralysis in the absence of significant sicca symptoms or may precede sicca symptoms. A high index of suspicion for PSS should be kept in all patients with hypokalemic paralysis. This phenotype may represent a distinct subset. Serum electrolytes should be regularly monitored in all patients with SS.

The renal involvement in PSS can uncommonly present as hypokalemic paralysis in the absence of significant sicca symptoms or may precede sicca symptoms. A high index of suspicion for PSS should be kept in all patients with hypokalemic paralysis. This phenotype may represent a distinct subset. Serum electrolytes should be regularly monitored in all patients with SS.

The management of septic shock has undergone significant modifications in the past decade. this website Various studies have concluded that while corticosteroids reduce the duration of shock, they do not have any proven mortality benefit. Moreover, the time of initiation of corticosteroids has been debatable. Since, little literature is available on geriatric patients, we have designed a randomized trial to assess the importance of early initiation of low dose hydrocortisone comparing with the standard therapy.

To determine the efficacy of early initiation of low dose hydrocortisone in reducing mortality in septic shock in geriatric patients.

We conducted a single blinded, randomized controlled trial at a tertiary care hospital in India. Geriatric patients (age>60 years) fulfilling the criteria for septic shock were included in the study. All the participants were randomly assigned to two arms- intervention and standard therapy group. The outcomes were studied in terms of 28-day mortality, duration of ICU stae concern that whether steroids are safe in elderly patients with septic shock.

The Competency-based medical education (CBME) has been introduced for MBBS programme in India from 2019. Reorganization of the assessment system is required to meet the challenges imposed by this new framework.

An evaluation of the university summative assessments held prior to the introduction of CBME-based curriculum was carried out to analyze the pattern, relevance and distribution of questions.

Five sets of annual and supplementary summative examination papers from three universities, State (SU), Private (PU) and Medical (MU) were evaluated. The analysis included format i.e. Structured and Modified Essay questions, Short notes, other formats; marks distribution; terminology-based level of cognitive domain; subject-based relevance and topic-based distribution of questions.

A total of 352 questions were analyzed. The maximum number of questions were from the state university (140, 39.7%).The contribution of short notes in the theory papers was 65.8% (PU), 87.1% (SU) and 88.9% (MU).Only the PU had Momodified essays were a rarity; few questions targeted higher cognitive levels although majority had high-moderate relevance.

Intensive Care Unit (ICU) readmissions during the same hospitalization are associated with increased hospital stays, morbidity and mortality. Whereas mortality rates in patients admitted to the ICU for the first time may range from 10 to 20% depending on various factors, readmission mortality rates can be up to 50 to 70%. Factors leading to readmission in ICU in Indian Armed Forces Hospitals have not been well studied till date.

This was a record based cross sectional descriptive study conducted at the ICU of a tertiary care Armed Forces hospital. Demographic and clinical data of ICU patients were analysed. ICU admission and discharge data for the duration of last three years were acquired from admission and discharge registers and Hospital Informatics system (HIS) software. The primary outcome was readmission rates to ICU during the same hospitalization. Secondary outcomes included diagnosis at time of index admission (first time admission) to ICU and at readmission, multiple readmissions to ICU and mortse outcomes. Objective measures in the form of a discharge protocol incorporating the stability and work index for transfer (SWIFT Score) may help minimizing readmission to ICU. Such protocols must be in place while shifting any patients from ICU so as to improve outcomes in patients of tertiary care hospitals.