Paint-thinner-induced Acute Kidney Injury: A Case Series and Review.

Occupational health hazards contribute significantly to the morbidity and mortality of workers in factories. Toluene has become a widely abused inhaled volatile drug. The spectrum of toluene-induced renal injury includes rhabdomyolysis, myoglobinemia, distal renal tubular acidosis (RTA), acute tubular necrosis, glomerulonephritis, and interstitial nephritis. We describe two patients with paint-thinner-induced kidney injury who were affected through different routes of exposure and recovered well, with one requiring dialysis support; the second patient, who had developed Type 1 distal RTA and mild kidney injury, was managed with conservative measures. Toluene can cause acute neurological symptoms, accompanied by severe metabolic alterations, as well as organ injury and dysfunction. A common association of the development of hypokalemic paralysis and metabolic acidosis with toluene intoxication was observed. Liver injury and rhabdomyolysis are also common. Vomiting, dehydration, tubular injury, and rhabdomyolysis are all possible additional causes of acute renal failure in toluene intoxication. Type 1 distal RTA, which is characterized by an inability to lower urine pH despite acidemia, results in hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis with hypokalemia. The management of acute toluene toxicity is largely conservative, consisting of correcting the electrolytes and the acid-base balance, fluid alterations, and renal replacement therapy in severe acute kidney injury. A clinical suspicion of organ failure and prompt supportive care leads to encouraging results. Adequate protective steps for workplaces involved in the use of such substances in confined spaces include prior risk assessment, using low-toxicity chemical products, ensuring adequate ventilation, safety training, and using appropriate personal protective equipment.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) in Kidney transplant patients: A case series and literature review.

COVID-19 is a novel highly contagious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Immunosuppressed people are at a higher risk for unfavourable outcomes if infected with SARS-CoV-2, as cellular immunity plays a key role in determining the course and outcome in COVID-19. Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) are thus a distinct subset of the population. We describe our early experience with 2 KTRs requiring hospital admission due to COVID-19 and who recovered well. We conclude that timely intervention in the form of modifying immunosuppression and close monitoring and institution of further measures based on clinical severity is needed in KTRs with COVID-19.

Incidence and Risk Factors of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Hospitalized with Pneumonia: A Prospective Observational Study.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is frequent in hospitalized patients with critical illness and presents in up to one-quarter of patients with non-severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), resulting in increased short and long-term mortality. There is a paucity of literature from resource-limited settings regarding the incidence and risk factors for AKI in patients with CAP. In this study, we looked at the incidence and risk factors for AKI in patients hospitalized with CAP in a resource-limited setting Methods: This prospective observational study conducted over 1 year period included patients ≥ 18 years of age diagnosed with CAP admitted to a tertiary care center. The differences in baseline characteristics between hospitalized CAP patients with and without AKI; and risk factors for AKI and the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) were analyzed using Chi-square test, t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and logistic regression with p-value <0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: We observed 27.6 % (58/210) of patients had AKI in our study. Patients with AKI had significantly higher baseline comorbidities of chronic kidney disease (p=0.005) and coronary artery disease (p=0.032), and significantly higher uric acid (p=0.002), lower albumin (p=0.005), lower total protein (p=0.015), higher bilirubin (p=0.001), higher LDH (p=0.041), and higher CURB-65 score (p<0.001) in addition to elevated creatinine, BUN (p<0.001) compared to the no-AKI group. The patient group requiring RRT had significantly more males (p=0.019), with significantly higher phosphorus (p=0.038), lower ALT (p=0.022), and expectedly higher creatinine (p<0.001) and blood urea nitrogen (p=0.016). The adjusted logistic regression analysis revealed that patients with higher CURB-65 scores were at increased odds of undergoing RRT (OR 8.74, 95% CI 5.27 to 12.21, p=0.039). Conclusion: There is a high incidence of AKI in patients hospitalized for CAP in developing countries. Clinicians should be alert for the prevention and early detection of AKI in CAP patients.

Role of Scrape Cytology as an Adjunct to Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology in Diagnosis of Thyroid Lesions.

INTRODUCTION: Scrape cytology is an important diagnostic tool. It has been used in many tissue types as an adjunct or replacement for frozen section/ intra operative consultation. AIM: This study was done to evaluate the role of scrape cytology in the diagnosis of thyroid lesions, its role as an adjunct to Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) and application of this technique for intra-operative consultation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study on 50 thyroid neoplasms received over a period of 18 months (Nov 2014- March 2016) was conducted. Scrapings obtained from the fresh cut surface of thyroid specimens before formalin fixation, were smeared uniformly on to glass slides, and immediately fixed in 95% ethyl alcohol for rapid Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E). Cytological findings were compared with pre-operative FNAC findings and histopathological diagnosis. Variables taken in to consideration while assessing the smears included cellularity, nuclear, cytological details and amount of colloid. RESULTS: There were total of 50 patients. Out of the 50 patients, 15 were diagnosed as benign on scrape; of which 100% of cases were true negative for malignancy and five malignant cases were diagnosed as benign-false negative rate of 16.1%; four (8%) were deferred (non-diagnostic) with a true positive rate of 83.3%. Histopathological correlation was available in all cases. The overall diagnostic accuracy of scrape cytology was 89.1% with sensitivity and specificity of 83.87% (C.I.; 66.27% to 94.55%) and 100% (C.I; 76.84% to 100.00%) respectively. Fine Needle Aspiration results were available in 41 cases of which 2 were non-diagnostic. Of the remaining 39 cases 19 were benign and 20 were malignant with false negative rate of 40% and true positive rate of 60%. The overall diagnostic accuracy of FNAC was 64.1% with sensitivity and specificity of 60% (C.I.; 40.6% to77.3 %) and 77.78% (C.I; 39.9% to 97.1%) respectively. CONCLUSION: We conclude that scrape cytology can act as a useful adjunct to FNAC and is a good procedure for intra-operative consultation. It is especially helpful in neoplasms diagnosed as suspicious for papillary carcinoma on aspiration and may obviate the need for a second procedure for completion thyroidectomy.

Metastatic lesions: A diagnostic dilemma-retrospective study, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.

BACKGROUND: Renal clear cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for about 3% of adult malignancies and about 90% of neoplasms of the kidney. It is most common in men aged 50 to 60 years old. RCC has different manifestations, including metastasis in uncommon sites and paraneoplastic syndromes. AIMS: To evaluate the clinicopathological pattern of RCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, Government Medical College, Srinagar. It was a retrospective study done over a period of 5 years, November 2009 to November 2014. RESULTS: The study was done to evaluate the clinicopathological pattern of 6 cases of RCC diagnosed at a tertiary care hospital. All patients were males, presenting with submandibular swellings without any other symptom. Radiological and histopathological examination proved the lesion as metastasis of renal cell carcinoma to the mandible. CONCLUSION: Being a rare presentation in the head and neck region, metastatic renal cell carcinoma needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis of submandibular swellings even in patients younger than 40 years.