Frequency of hearing impairment in children between the ages of 2 and 10 years with middle ear infection.

This study was conducted on children between 2 and 10 years age to determine the frequency of hearing impairment in middle ear infection. It was a cross-sectional survey, done at Riphah International University from August 2018 to January 2019. Data was collected from the ENT Department of Children's Hospital Lahore through convenience sampling technique and included 52 patients with middle ear infection. Measurements for the level of hearing impairment were taken, and data was analysed using statistical package for social sciences, SPSS 20.0. Of the total 52 patients, 15 (28.8%) had ear infection once a month and 37 (71.2%) had it off and on. Mild hearing loss was determined in 35 (67.3%) patients,13 (25%) had moderate, 2 (3.8%) severe and 2 (3.8%) had normal hearing. It was concluded that most of the children with middle ear infections developed hearing loss.

Knowledge of scientific misconduct in publication among medical students.

BACKGROUND: Publication is a central element in research dissemination and scientific misconduct in publication is relatively ignored in biomedical research. This study is to assess the knowledge of scientific misconduct in publication among private and public sector medical students. METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was carried in four (two public and two private) medical colleges of Karachi in 2015. After ethical approval, data were collected through convenient sampling and analyzed in SPSS 16.0. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the data and Chi-square test was used for cross tabulation with sex, type of medical colleges, and knowledge of scientific misconduct in publication. RESULTS: A total of 592 medical students participated with mean age of 22.2 ± 1.47 years. The majority (491, 79%) of medical students had heard about the word "publication ethics," higher among public sector students than from private sector (P < 0.001). Only 78 (13.2%) reported to had published original articles, and 64 (10.8%) and 53 (9%) medical students had heard of "ICMJE authorship criteria" and "COPE," respectively. Knowledge about fabrication of data and scientific misconduct in publication was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05) among males than female students. Statistically significant differences were also observed between public and private medical students for knowledge regarding salami slicing, ghost author, fabrication, and photomanipulation (P < 0.001) and for plagiarism (P < 0.005). Participants from public sector colleges scored significantly better in all above variables than private medical colleges except knowledge about salami slicing in which participants from latter performed significantly better than public sector students. DISCUSSION: The study demonstrates deficiencies in knowledge regarding several aspects of publication ethics among medical students of both public and private medical colleges in Karachi. There is a need to increase the awareness of research and publication ethics among students during their academic years.

A Case Of Thrombosis Due To Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria Presenting At An Early Age.

Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired, rare life-threatening disorder characterised by compliment mediated hemolytic anemia, thrombosis and impaired bone marrow function. It occasionally presents in childhood or adolescence. This is a case of a 14-year old female presented with complaints of shortness of breath, palpitation and abdominal pain whose laboratory test results were consistent with Coomb's test negative haemolytic anaemia. Contrast enhanced Computed Tomography Scan (CT scan) of abdomen revealed splanchnic circulation thrombosis as well as partially occluding thrombus in the inferior vena cava. Flow cytometry showed loss of CD59 expression on erythrocytes confirming the diagnosis of paroxysmal nocturnal hemogloubinuria. Supportive treatment was given with haematinics, blood transfusions and anticoagulants. After that, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was conducted successfully as a permanent treatment. PNH can present at an earlier age and therefore should be included in differential diagnosis of haemolytic anaemia.