Pattern of coagulopathy in viperidae snake bite

The study was carried out in the Department of Physiology, Isra University, Hyderabad. Seventy three cases of viperidae snake bite were studied to observe the pattern of coagulopathy. All had prolonged clotting time at the time of admission. Prothrombin time was increased in 56 cases, activated partial thromboplastin time was increased in 63 cases, bleeding time was normal in all cases. Platelet count was decreased in 28 cases and fibrinogen levels were decreased in 36 cases. Disseminated intravascular coagulation was found to be the predominant pattern of coagulopathy in viperidae snake bite cases

Acute renal failure in viperidae snake bite victims

This study included 10 cases of viperidae snake bite that developed acute renal failure out of 73 cases admitted to various wards of Liaquat Medical College hospital during the last two years. All these patients reported to the hospital 3-5 days after the bite. All had signs of severe envenomation with incoagulable blood and prolonged PT and APTT. All has bleeding manifestations. Blood urea and serum creatinine were increased in all patients and four were anuric. Leucocytosis and thrombocytopenia were found in 7 cases, serum bilirubin was increased in 4 cases, 4 patients required dialysis and 4 out of 10 cases expired. Bad prognostic features included severe envenomation, leucocytosis, thrombocytopenia, and necessity for dialysis. We conclude that acute renal failure is a serious complication of viperidae snake bite with high mortality rate and it necessitates early and effective treatment

Stroke in young adults: identification of risk factors and prognosis

The present study was undertaken to identify stroke risk factors in young adults and prognosis of stroke. The subjects included eighty six stroke patients at or below the age of 45 years. Most important risk factors prevalent in young adults were found to be hypertension [37%], diabetes mellitus [20%], smoking [22%], obesity [14%], heart disease [10.5%], hypercholestraemia [11.6%], psychogenic stress [23.2%] drug addiction [7%], and peurperium [3.5%]. In about 35% cases, no definite risk factor was found. Features predicting poor prognosis included haemorrhagic stroke, severe hypertension, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, papillary abnormalities and post stroke seizures. Over all mortality rate was 12%

Maximum mid expiratory flow rate: a better index of detection of early small airway obstuction than FEV1 in healthy smokers

Expiratory spirometry was performed on forty Male asymptomatic smokers of different age groups. Maximum Mid expiratory flow rate [MMFR] and forced expiratory volume first second [FEV1] were recorded. It was found that MMFR shows a significant decrease in smokers as compared to the control subjects; FEVI was found to be within normal predicted values in most of the cases. These results suggest that MMFR is a more sensitive and better test in detecting early changes in the small airways of healthy smokers than FEVI