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OBJECTIVES: Dengue fever, being hyperendemic with analogous presentations as in many other acute febrile illnesses, poses a challenge in diagnosis during the acute stage. Additionally, the coexistence of multiple serotypes further complicates the disease prognosis. The study was undertaken to determine the dengue virus serotypes, clinical, and laboratory markers as predictors in the severity of infection. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted among 106 patients admitted with acute febrile illness having positive NS1 antigen/IgM ELISA. Clinical data were extracted from medical records including demographics, presence of comorbid conditions, clinical presentation, laboratory investigations, and course including length of hospital stay and outcome. Detection of dengue serotypes was done by multiplex reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT_PCR). RESULTS: Out of 106 RT-PCR-confirmed cases, DENV-3 was the most common serotype found in 56 (52.8%) patients, followed by DENV-3 and DENV-4 coinfection in 27 (25.4%) patients. Coinfection with more than one serotype was witnessed in our study. Raised liver enzymes and increased ferritin are good biomarkers in differentiating dengue from severe dengue with cutoff levels for AST (134 U/L), ALT (88 U/L), and ferritin (3670 ng/ml). Musculoskeletal, followed by gastrointestinal, manifestations were comparatively higher than respiratory and cutaneous manifestations. CONCLUSION: This study provides more information on the dengue serotypes. The clinical spectrum along with laboratory parameters such as ferritin, liver enzymes, platelet can be used as potential biomarkers in prediction of dengue severity. The data demonstrated will be useful in early detection and monitoring of the disease.
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INTRODUCTION: Both, the renal pelvis and the ureter, are affected by developmental, reactive and neoplastic disorders, though rare in incidence. AIM: This series of cases were analysed to study the clinicopathological characteristics of the common and comparatively rare lesions involving the renal pelvis and pelviureteric junction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective collection of 476 nephrectomies and pelviureteric junction resections, received over a period of 13 years from 2001 to 2013 was done. The patients' clinical details were obtained and the histopathological findings reviewed. The lesions were classified into non-neoplastic and neoplastic categories. RESULTS: Primary involvement of the renal pelvis and pelviureteric junction was seen in 105 of 476 specimens. The mean age was 54.5 years with a male to female ratio of 2.2:1. The non-neoplastic lesions accounted for 76.2% of cases with a majority being pelviureteric junction obstruction due to inflammation induced fibromuscular hypertrophy (68.6%) causing hydronephrosis. Urothelial carcinomas were encountered in 20% of the cases. A majority of the urothelial carcinomas were infiltrative (81%) and high grade (71%) tumours. CONCLUSION: Renal pelvis, a conduit to propel urine, can be the site for numerous disorders. Non-neoplastic lesions were more common than neoplasms. Pelviureteric junction obstruction due to inflammation induced fibromuscular hypertrophy was the commonest lesion in our study. In the neoplastic category, urothelial carcinoma was most common. However, rare lesions such as hamartomatous fibroepithelial polyp, Von Brunn's nests, flat urothelial hyperplasia and intramuscular haemangioma of upper ureter at the pelviureteric junction were encountered along with occasional cases of tuberculosis and squamous cell carcinomas.