As a working defi nition, unions contracted between persons biologically related as second cousins or closer are categorized as consanguineous. The offspring of consanguineous relationships are at greater risk of certain genetic disorders. Recent studies have shown a signifi cantly higher rate of consanguinity among parents of epilepsy patients and a signifi cantly higher rate of epilepsy among family members with consanguineous marriages for both cryptogenic and idiopathic epilepsies. Carrier detection and genetic counseling programmes have been very successful in reducing the incidence of inherited disorders in many populations. Models for prevention of hereditary diseases due to consanguinity should be multiaxial focusing on public education on genetic diseases and also deal with applicable preventive measures. These programmes are most successful when they are sensitive to the cultural backgrounds of populations in which they are applied.

India is home to about 10 million people with epilepsy (prevalence of about 1%). The number of Epilepsy Specialists and Neurologists being very small in India, most people with epilepsy are being diagnosed and treated by non-specialists at both primary and secondary care levels. It is obvious that epilepsy management in such situation can be sub-optimal. The Indian Epilepsy Society strongly felt for a need to have its own guidelines for management of epilepsy in India (GEMIND). The guidelines were developed based on a consensus arrived by a group of experts on the good practice parameters relevant to epilepsy treatment in India. The recommendations of the expert group were peer reviewed. The guidelines are parameters of practice and should be considered as guidelines only. The electronic version of GEMIND is now available on the Indian Epilepsy Society-Indian Epilepsy Association website (http://www.epilepsyindia.org) and the ILAE website (http://www.ilae-epilepsy.org).

Genetic data and tools offer enormous potential benefi ts to humankind but raise signifi cant societal concerns as well. As the impact of the new genetics grows, we can expect the society to be increasingly confronted with many novel, challenging, and sometimes disturbing issues. Genetic testing of complex disorders such as epilepsy raise even more concerns in regards to various social and ethical issues because of the associated stigma. Proper research involving all concerned should result in the formulations of guidelines for the clinicians, researchers, people with epilepsy and their families and health care planners.

Spontaneous perforation of the extrahepatic bile duct leading to biliary peritonitis is a rare occurrence once other causes of biliary peritonitis, such as trauma, choledochal cyst, stone diseases, and distal atresia of the bile duct, are ruled out. A 7-month-old male infant was brought to the hospital in critical condition with distension of the abdomen. He had a history of vomiting and diarrhoea, low-grade fever, and refusal to feed for 2 days. Signs of peritonitis were found upon examination. Due to the poor general condition of the patient, the case was taken up for laparotomy, and a diagnosis of spontaneous extrahepatic bile duct perforation was made intra-operatively. In the present case, the cause was idiopathic. An external drain was placed near the site of the leak for 2 weeks. The patient recovered well and was discharged on post-operative day 16. Disease awareness for correct pre-operative diagnosis and interventional planning is required to reduce mortality, morbidity, and complications in spontaneous perforation of the common bile duct.

PURPOSEBoth cannulated cancellous screw (CCS) and sliding hip screw (SHS) are used in femoral neck fracture fixations, but which is superior is yet to be determined. This study was aimed to compare the clinicoradiological outcome of femoral neck fracture treated with SHS or CCS in young adults.

METHODSAdults (16e60 years) with femoral neck fracture were divided into Group 1 fixed with SHS and Group 2 fixed with three CCS after closed reduction. Pain relief, functional recovery and postoperative radiographs at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and then yearly for upto 4 years were analyzed.

RESULTSGroup 1 (n=40) achieved radiological union at mean of 7.6 months, with the union rate of 87.5% (n=35), avascular necrosis (AVN) rate of 7.5% (n=3) and mean Harris Hip Score (HHS) of 86.15 at the end of 4 years. In Group 2 (n=45) these parameters were union at 7.1 months, union rate of 82.22% (n=37), AVN rate of 6.67% (n=3) and HHS of 88.65. Comparative results were statistically insignificant.

CONCLUSIONThere is no significant difference in clinicoradiological outcome between the two implants.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Bone Screws ; Female ; Femoral Neck Fractures ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Osteonecrosis ; epidemiology ; Postoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; Prospective Studies ; Recovery of Function ; Young Adult

Background: Wistar rats are extensively used as the model for assessing toxicity and efficacy in preclinical research.Hematological and biochemical laboratory data are essential for evaluating specific variations in the physiological and functional profile of a laboratory animal. Establishing hematological and biochemical reference values for Wistar (han) rats at various age intervals was the goal of this work. Male and female Wistar rats (n = 660) of ages 6–8 weeks, 10–14 weeks and > 6 months were used in the experiment. Blood and serum were collected from these rats under fasting conditions. Results: We observed that the majority of hematological and biochemical parameters were significantly influenced by sex and age. Hematological changes were significantly correlated to aging were increased red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, neutrophils, monocytes and eosinophils in both sexes, as well as decreased platelet, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and lymphocytes in both sexes. White blood cells of male rats were considerably higher than those of female rats in all age ranges. For biochemistry, increase in glucose, total protein and creatinine were seen in both sexes, along with increases in urea in females and alanine aminotransferase in males.Age was significantly associated with decreased alkaline phosphatase in both sexes. Conclusions When using Wistar rats as a model, these reference values may be useful in evaluating the results.

Background: Nonhuman primates are used for research purposes such as studying diseases and drug discovery and development programs. Various clinical pathology parameters are used as biomarkers of disease conditions in biomedical research. Detailed reports of these parameters are not available for Indian-origin rhesus macaques. To meet the increasing need for information, we conducted this study on 121 adult Indian rhesus macaques (57 wild-sourced and 64 inhouse animals, aged 3–7 years). A total of 18 hematology and 18 biochemistry parameters were evaluated and reported in this study. Data from these parameters were statistically evaluated for significance amongst inhouse and wild-born animals and for differences amongst sexes. The reference range was calculated according to C28-A3 guidelines for reporting reference intervals of clinical laboratory parameters. Results: Source of the animals and sex appeared to have statistically significant effects on reference values and range. Wild-born animals reported higher WBC, platelets, neutrophils, RBC, hemoglobin, HCT, MCV, and total protein values in comparison to inhouse monkeys. Sex-based differences were observed for parameters such as RBCs, hemoglobin, HCT, creatinine, calcium, phosphorus, albumin, and total protein amongst others. Conclusions Through this study, we have established a comprehensive data set of reference values and intervals for certain hematological and biochemical parameters which will help researchers in planning, conducting, and interpreting various aspects of biomedical research employing Indian-origin rhesus monkeys.

PURPOSE: Intramedullary implants are well accepted fixation of all types of intertrochanteric (IT) fractures, both stable and unstable types. Intramedullary nails have an ability to effectively support the posteromedial part, but fail to buttress the broken lateral wall requiring lateral augmentation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of proximal femoral nail augmented with trochanteric buttress plate for broken lateral wall with IT fractures, which was fixed to the femur through hip screw and anti-rotation screw nail. METHODS: Of 30 patients, 20 had Jensen-Evan type III and 10 had type V fractures. Patients with IT fracture of broken lateral wall and aged more than 18 years, in whom satisfactory reduction was achieved by closed methods, were included in the study. Patients with pathologic or open fractures, polytrauma, prior hip surgery, non-ambulatory prior to surgery, and those who refused to participate were excluded. The operative time, blood loss, radiation exposure, quality of reduction, functional outcome, and union time were evaluated. All data were coded and recorded in Microsoft Excel spread sheet program. SPSS 20.0 was used for data analysis and normality of the continuous data was checked using Kolmogorv Smirnov test. RESULTS: The mean age of patients in the study was 60.3 years. The mean duration of surgery (min), mean intra-operative blood loss (mL) and mean number of exposures were 91.86 ± 12.8 (range 70 - 122), 144.8 ± 3.6 (range 116 - 208), and 56.6 (range 38 - 112), respectively. The mean union time was 11.6 weeks and the mean Harris hip score was 94.1. CONCLUSION Lateral trochanteric wall in IT fractures is significantly important, and needs to be reconstructed adequately. Nail-plate construct of trochanteric buttress plate fixed with hip screw and anti-rotation screw of proximal femoral nail can be successfully used to augment, fix or buttress the lateral trochanteric wall giving excellent to good results of early union and reduction.
Humans ; Middle Aged ; Bone Nails ; Treatment Outcome ; Retrospective Studies ; Hip Fractures/surgery* ; Bone Screws ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary/methods*