Do preoperative glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) and random blood glucose levels predict wound healing complications following exodontia in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients?-a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Many dental surgeons consider a type 2 diabetic patient to be at higher risk for wound healing complications following exodontia. Random blood glucose (RBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) values help the surgeon determine the glycemic control and assess if the patient can undergo the surgical procedure. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to analyze if preoperative HbA1C and RBG testing could predict the risk of wound healing and infectious complications in type 2 DM patients undergoing exodontia in an office setting. METHODS: This prospective observational study included 133 type 2 diabetic patients and age- and gender-matched non-diabetic patients undergoing exodontia. Preoperative HbA1C values and random blood glucose levels were obtained for patients in both groups. Wound healing and infectious complications and additional interventions performed were recorded. RESULTS: Duration of diabetes ranged from 1 to 25 years. 80.5% of diabetics were treated with oral hypoglycemics. A vast majority of patients in both groups underwent extraction of only a single tooth. There was no significant difference in non-infectious complications between the two groups. The absolute risk of infectious complications in diabetics was 10.5% compared to a 6.8% risk among the control group. Age, RBG values, HbA1C, duration of DM, and number and nature of exodontia performed did not show any statistical significance. CONCLUSION: This study observed a slight, but not statistically significant increase in the risk of infectious complications in type 2 DM patients undergoing exodontia. Surgical site infections were amenable to surgical drainage with or without oral antibiotics on an outpatient basis with favorable healing outcomes. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The RBG and HbA1C values were not significantly associated with risk of infectious complications. Resorting to prophylactic antibiotics and warning about possible adverse healing for routine exodontia in type 2 DM patients is unnecessary.

Occupational exposure and tuberculosis among medical residents in a high-burden setting: an open-cohort study.

SETTING: Postgraduate (PG) residency programme of a tertiary care teaching hospital in southern India. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) among PG residents, determine the frequency of exposure to infectious TB patients and assess whether particular specialties were associated with higher risk of exposure and incident TB. DESIGN: We assembled an open cohort of PG residents who were on the academic rolls for more than 3 months at any time between December 2011 and January 2013. We collected data both retrospectively and prospectively using two surveys-an entry survey at study initiation or entry into the cohort, and an exit survey at residency completion or study closure. RESULTS: Among 398 PG residents enrolled in the study, we identified five cases of incident TB during a cumulative follow-up period of 10 962 person-months. The incidence rate was 547 per 100 000 person-years, which was 3.1 times the incidence in the general population. Nearly two thirds (n = 257, 65%) of the residents were exposed to at least one infectious patient. Across the three specialty-based risk strata, there was an ordered increase in the median number of exposures (P < 0.001) and evaluation for presumptive TB (P = 0.024), as well as a trend towards higher incident TB. CONCLUSION: TB incidence is significantly higher among PG residents than in the general population.

Consensus and evidence-based Indian initiative on obstructive sleep apnea guidelines 2014 (first edition).

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) are subsets of sleep-disordered breathing. Awareness about OSA and its consequences among the general public as well as the majority of primary care physicians across India is poor. This necessitated the development of the Indian initiative on obstructive sleep apnea (INOSA) guidelines under the auspices of Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. OSA is the occurrence of an average five or more episodes of obstructive respiratory events per hour of sleep with either sleep-related symptoms or co-morbidities or ≥15 such episodes without any sleep-related symptoms or co-morbidities. OSAS is defined as OSA associated with daytime symptoms, most often excessive sleepiness. Patients undergoing routine health check-up with snoring, daytime sleepiness, obesity, hypertension, motor vehicular accidents, and high-risk cases should undergo a comprehensive sleep evaluation. Medical examiners evaluating drivers, air pilots, railway drivers, and heavy machinery workers should be educated about OSA and should comprehensively evaluate applicants for OSA. Those suspected to have OSA on comprehensive sleep evaluation should be referred for a sleep study. Supervised overnight polysomnography is the "gold standard" for evaluation of OSA. Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is the mainstay of treatment of OSA. Oral appliances (OA) are indicated for use in patients with mild to moderate OSA who prefer OA to PAP, or who do not respond to PAP or who fail treatment attempts with PAP or behavioral measures. Surgical treatment is recommended in patients who have failed or are intolerant to PAP therapy.

Pentraxin-3 and nitric oxide as indicators of disease severity in alcoholic cirrhosis.

Recent studies have indicated that pentraxin-3 can be used as a marker to assess the severity of hepatic fibrosis in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. The present study was designed to assess pentraxin-3, nitric oxide and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNFα) in alcoholic cirrhosis and their association with disease severity. We enrolled 47 alcoholic cirrhosis cases and 32 controls. Serum pentraxin-3, nitric oxide (NO) and TNFα levels were estimated in both groups. Serum pentraxin-3, NO and TNFα were significantly increased in alcoholic cirrhosis patients compared to controls. Pentraxin-3 had a significant positive correlation with TNFα (r=0.303, P=0.039), Child-Pugh score (r=0.394, P=0.006) and MELD score (r=0.291, P=0.047) in alcoholic cirrhosis cases. Also we found positive association between NO with Child-Pugh score (r=0.391, P=0.007) and MELD score (r=0.311, P=0.033) in these cases. Linear regression analysis shows significant association of pentraxin-3 and NO (ß=0.375, r2=0.141, P=0.009). We conclude that elevated pentraxin-3 and NO levels are associated with severity of alcoholic cirrhosis.

Consensus & evidence-based INOSA Guidelines 2014 (first edition).

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) are subsets of sleep-disordered breathing. Awareness about OSA and its consequences amongst the general public as well as the majority of primary care physcians across India is poor. This necessiated the development of the INdian initiative on Obstructive sleep apnoea (INOSA) guidelines under the auspices of Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. OSA is the occurrence of an average five or more episodes of obstructive respiratory events per hour of sleep with either sleep related symptoms or co-morbidities or ≥ 15 such episodes without any sleep related symptoms or co-morbidities. OSAS is defined as OSA associated with daytime symptoms, most often excessive sleepiness. Patients undergoing routine health check-up with snoring, daytime sleepiness, obesity, hypertension, motor vehicular accidents and high risk cases should undergo a comprehensive sleep evaluation. Medical examiners evaluating drivers, air pilots, railway drivers and heavy machinery workers should be educated about OSA and should comprehensively evaluate applicants for OSA. Those suspected to have OSA on comprehensive sleep evaluation should be referred for a sleep study. Supervised overnight polysomnography (PSG) is the "gold standard" for evaluation of OSA. Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is the mainstay of treatment of OSA. Oral appliances are indicated for use in patients with mild to moderate OSA who prefer oral appliances to PAP, or who do not respond to PAP or who fail treatment attempts with PAP or behavioural measures. Surgical treatment is recommended in patients who have failed or are intolerant to PAP therapy.

Association between proinflammatory cytokines and lipid peroxidation in patients with severe dengue disease around defervescence.

OBJECTIVES: Proinflammatory cytokines and the oxidative stress response are reported to be involved in dengue viral disease. The present study investigated the correlation of proinflammatory cytokines and lipid peroxidation with dengue severity. METHODS: Clinical samples from 27 dengue fever (DF) cases, 30 dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) cases, and 24 dengue shock syndrome (DSS) cases were studied around defervescence, along with samples from 30 healthy controls. Plasma samples were analysed for tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) by ELISA and for malondialdehyde (MDA) by thiobarbituric acid assay. RESULTS: Dengue-infected individuals had significantly higher levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, and MDA in comparison to controls. The ratio of TNF-α to IFN-γ was significantly higher in DHF and DSS than in DF. A TNF-α/IFN-γ ratio value of 5.69 around defervescence predicted DHF and DSS with moderate accuracy and thus may serve as an indicator to study dengue severity. The study observed a significant positive correlation of lipid peroxides with TNF-α levels and the TNF-α/IFN-γ ratio in severe dengue cases. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that the oxidative stress response induced by the dengue virus may trigger the inflammatory cytokine responses in dengue severity and thereby contributes to the pathogenesis of the disease; however the interplay between the oxidative response and inflammatory activity in disease virulence needs further study.