Machine learning model for classification of predominantly allergic and non-allergic asthma among preschool children with asthma hospitalization.

OBJECTIVE: Asthma is the most frequent chronic airway illness in preschool children and is difficult to diagnose due to the disease's heterogeneity. This study aimed to investigate different machine learning models and suggested the most effective one to classify two forms of asthma in preschool children (predominantly allergic asthma and non-allergic asthma) using a minimum number of features. METHODS: After pre-processing, 127 patients (70 with non-allergic asthma and 57 with predominantly allergic asthma) were chosen for final analysis from the Frankfurt dataset, which had asthma-related information on 205 patients. The Random Forest algorithm and Chi-square were used to select the key features from a total of 63 features. Six machine learning models: random forest, extreme gradient boosting, support vector machines, adaptive boosting, extra tree classifier, and logistic regression were then trained and tested using 10-fold stratified cross-validation. RESULTS: Among all features, age, weight, C-reactive protein, eosinophilic granulocytes, oxygen saturation, pre-medication inhaled corticosteroid + long-acting beta2-agonist (PM-ICS + LABA), PM-other (other pre-medication), H-Pulmicort/celestamine (Pulmicort/celestamine during hospitalization), and H-azithromycin (azithromycin during hospitalization) were found to be highly important. The support vector machine approach with a linear kernel was able to diffrentiate between predominantly allergic asthma and non-allergic asthma with higher accuracy (77.8%), precision (0.81), with a true positive rate of 0.73 and a true negative rate of 0.81, a F1 score of 0.81, and a ROC-AUC score of 0.79. Logistic regression was found to be the second-best classifier with an overall accuracy of 76.2%. CONCLUSION: Predominantly allergic and non-allergic asthma can be classified using machine learning approaches based on nine features.Supplemental data for this article is available online at at www.tandfonline.com/ijas .

Comparative Evaluation of Efficacy of Non-cultured Epidermal Cell Suspension and Epidermal Curettage in Stable Vitiligo.

CONTEXT: Vitiligo is a common primary acquired pigmentary disorder due to loss of epidermal functioning melanocytes. Many surgical techniques have evolved over the years for its treatment and the need of a cost-effective modality has always been put forward. AIM: The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy of non-cultured epidermal cell suspension with that of epidermal curettage in repigmentation of stable vitiligo. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: It was a prospective randomized non-controlled study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty lesions were selected in patients of stable, recalcitrant vitiligo belonging to different age-groups and genders. After histopathological confirmation, the patients were taken up for surgery after obtaining written consent and were divided into two groups for two different procedures, that is, non-cultured epidermal cell suspension (Group A) and epidermal curettage (Group B). Follow-up was carried out at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks of procedure to assess the repigmentation achieved. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 21.0, was used. RESULTS: At the end of the study, >50% repigmentation was achieved in 95% (19 of 20) lesions of Group A and 85% (17 of 20) lesions in Group B, whereas >75% repigmentation was achieved in 60% (12 of 20) in both Groups A and B. The color matching with surrounding skin and yield of graft was better in epidermal cell suspension technique than that in epidermal curettage. The difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Though both the surgical techniques of melanocyte transplantation are effective in achieving uniform pigmentation, epidermal curettage has an extra edge of being simpler and more cost-effective.

Sudden cardiac deaths: Role of nonischemic myocardial disorders-Part II.

Sudden death, a catastrophic event, falls within the purview of the forensic experts. It is often caused by cardiovascular diseases, which may be evident or occult. A vast majority of sudden cardiac deaths (to the extent of 90%) are due to ischemia of the working or conducting myocardial tissues consequent to coronary artery diseases. A heterogeneous group of nonischemic myocardial disorders, most producing structural abnormalities are responsible for the remainder; they predominantly represent various cardiomyopathies. This review, in two parts, covers sudden cardiac death in medicolegal autopsies with an approach to some common and uncommon nonischemic myocardial diseases that have a genetic and/or nongenetic basis.

Sudden cardiac deaths: Role of nonischemic myocardial disorders-Part 1.

Sudden death, a catastrophic event, falls within the purview of the forensic experts. It is often caused by cardiovascular diseases, which may be evident or occult. A vast majority of sudden cardiac deaths (to the extent of 90%) are due to ischemia of the working or conducting myocardial tissues consequent to coronary artery diseases. A heterogeneous group of nonischemic myocardial disorders, most producing structural abnormalities are responsible for the remainder; they predominantly represent various cardiomyopathies. This review, in two parts, covers sudden cardiac death in medicolegal autopsies with an approach to some common and uncommon nonischemic myocardial diseases that have a genetic and/or nongenetic basis.

Spontaneous aortic rupture: Report of two cases with review of literature.

Acute aortic syndromes comprise a heterogeneous group of life-threatening disorders, characterized by acute-onset chest or back pain with or without cardiovascular collapse. The major entities include acute aortic dissection, penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer, and intramural hematoma. Spontaneous rupture of the aorta is an additional, rare cause of this syndrome, which frequently leads to sudden cardiac death. This is a report of two cases of this uncommon entity with detailed pathological analysis.

Pathology of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease in the young Indian population.

Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) is of great concern in young adults because of its potential to cause great incapacitation. This arena of cardiology has gained importance in South Asian countries, particularly India due to increased prevalence that is related to traditional risk factors, altered life styles and inherent risk factors. In this study, we sought to evaluate, at autopsy, the pathology of atherosclerotic CAD in young patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD). A 10-year retrospective autopsy-based study was carried out in a large tertiary-care centre and patients aged ≤45 years with IHD were selected. Out of 545 autopsied cases of IHD, 95 patients (17.4%) were young. Among these 95 patients, 84 (88.4%) had IHD related to atherosclerotic CAD; the youngest patient was 18 years old. Predictably there was sole involvement of left anterior descending artery and the presence of fibrous plaques. Irrespective of the plaque morphology, the commonest complication was thrombosis produced by plaque erosion seen in 36.9% of patients. Acute coronary insufficiency was noted in 52 patients (61.9%), while healed infarctions were surprisingly noted in 28 patients (33.3%). Screening for IHD in the young population may help to improve prognosis by detecting subclinical disease, although more studies are necessary to establish reference limits for this young population. Additional research must also focus on treatment concerns that are specific to young patients.

Both-sided native valve infective endocarditis in a drug addict with incidental pneumoconiosis.

Involvement of both right and left heart chambers with infective endocarditis is extremely rare. In this case report, we aimed to present a rare case of Infective endocarditis (IE) in an intravenous & inhalational drug misuse involving both cardiac chambers with incidental pneumoconiosis.