Capecitabine and Hand-foot Syndrome: A Case Report.

Capecitabine, a prodrug of 5-fluorouracil, is an FDA-approved drug for adjuvant treatment of colon, metastatic colorectal, and breast cancer. A variety of mucocutaneous adverse effects has been recognized with capecitabine. The pathogenesis of such manifestations still remains an enigma though various theories have been proposed. Here, we report two such cases. A 59-year-old female with carcinoma of the sigmoid colon on palliative therapy developed localized cutaneous hyperpigmentation of the palms and soles secondary to capecitabine in her 2nd cycle. Another case was of a 42-year-old female with stomach adenocarcinoma, who developed similar adverse effects after administration of capecitabine in her 4th cycle. Since these drugs have been widely used in recent years due to their relative ease in administration, the relative unawareness of Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) caused due to this drug makes it a prudent topic to be reported.

A study of risk factors and complications in elderly hypertensive subjects.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension among the elderly is a major, highly prevalent yet treatable cardiovascular disease. AIMS & OBJECTIVES: Study aims to highlight the risk factors for hypertension in the elderly in an urban setup for the benefit of improving quality of life and also reduce the incidence of the cardiovascular related complications. METHODOLOGY: This is a Cross-sectional observational study. Included 125 study subjects based on selection criteria. The selected patients were subjected to a preformed and pretested schedule of questions pertaining to the risk factors. RESULTS: Among the known hypertensive patients above 60 years of age, 125 subjects were included in the study. Smoking (62%), alcohol consumption (21%), family history of hypertension (26%), family history of diabetes (70%) were statistically significant risk factors observed for the development of hypertension. CONCLUSION: Sedentary lifestyle (physically less active) and anthropometric measures like overweight and obesity, abnormal waist circumference, and abnormal waist hip ratio were all identified as remarkable risk for hypertension. Myocardial infarction (20%), stroke (14%), and heart failure (12%) were the chart buster complications of hypertension in the vulnerable geriatric population.