Endometrial Patterns Among Rural Women Undergoing Gynecological Procedures in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

Introduction Women with endometrial diseases often present in outpatient departments, and outpatient procedures easily enable diagnosis. Histopathological patterns vary with age, menstrual cycle, drug use, and pathological state. Teaching hospitals are often located away from rural areas. Materials and methods An ambispective study was performed over 33 months in a rural medical college hospital by perusing the histopathological registers of the department. Details of history and endometrial samples (biopsy and hysterectomy) were obtained using biopsy numbers and requisition forms. Functional and organic histopathology findings were manually entered into a spreadsheet, and statistics were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 22 (IBM SPSS Statistics, Armonk, NY, USA). Results There were 226 women, with total abdominal hysterectomies (TAH) performed in a significantly higher proportion of middle-aged women (range: 41-59 years). Of the middle-aged women, 70% presented with excessive menstrual bleeding, and a similar percentage of older women presented with uterovaginal (UV) prolapse. Hysterectomy specimens constituted most samples in this study. Proliferative endometrium was observed in 40% of patients and metaplasia (papillary syncytial, tubal, and squamous) in only 1.7%. Normal proliferative and secretory endometrium were observed in 91 (40.3%) and 41 (18.1%) patients, respectively. The presence of hyperplasia, decidualization, stromal breakdown, adenocarcinoma, adenomyosis, and endometrial polyps did not vary significantly among the three age groups (elderly, middle-aged, and young). Conclusion Most women in rural areas presented to the gynecologist with uterine bleeding; middle-aged women constituted most of those with gynecological complaints. Normal endometrium was observed in nearly half of the patients. Adenomyosis was the most common cause of uterine bleeding. Uterine endometrial malignancies were rare.

Histomorphological Spectrum of Cervical Lesions in a Rural Hospital.

Background Pathologically the cervix is affected by infective, inflammatory, and neoplastic diseases. Non­neoplastic lesions of the cervix are seen often in sexually active women. Inflammatory lesions include chronic granulomatous cervicitis, acute and chronic cervicitis. In India, cervical cancer is a significant health problem. Many factors contribute to the differences in the spectrum of cervical diseases in the rural population compared to urban areas, but the studies in these populations are scarce. Materials and methods A retrospective analysis of all gynecological lesions over one year was studied. All case files were manually extracted, and the data was entered in an Excel sheet. The information included was clinical history (symptoms, signs, menstrual history, duration of illness, parity status), physical examination, per vaginal examination, investigations, including pathological diagnosis. The curated data was then analyzed using IBM SPSS for Windows version 22 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results There were 164 women in the study, with a mean age of 46.07 ± 8.17 years. A majority (n = 124, 75.6%) presented with excessive bleeding. Two-thirds of the study population had a normal cervix on examination. Twenty-seven women had squamous metaplasia, six had low-grade (LSIL) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), and one had malignancy. Excessive bleeding was significantly associated only with LSIL. Among the microscopic findings, only squamous metaplasia (p < 0.001) and dysplasia (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with the final diagnoses, such as LSIL, HSIL, and chronic cervicitis. Conclusion Most studies involving rural populations have involved the knowledge, attitude, and practices of the study cohort rather than the histomorphological spectrum of cervical lesions. Since these disorders are also influenced by education, parity, hygiene, and socioeconomic status, it behooves us to be aware of the spectrum of cervical lesions in a rural cohort who differ in these aspects when compared to urban populations. Most of such lesions of the cervix in the population that our medical institution served were benign in nature.

Utility of platelet indices in alcoholic hepatitis: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: The commonly available platelet indices are platelet distribution width (PDW), plateletcrit (PCT), and mean platelet volume (MPV). They have been used in diagnosis and prognosis of various abdominal disorders. They have never been used to predict severity of alcoholic hepatitis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of chronic alcohol consumers presenting with jaundice and deranged liver function tests was performed. Maddrey discriminant function (MDF) and modified end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores were calculated and patients compared between severe and nonsevere alcoholic hepatitis (MDF ≥32 vs MDF <32 and MELD >20 vs MELD ≤20). Logistic regression analysis was performed to find significant predictors. Receiver operating characteristic was used to find the area under the curve. Spearman correlation was performed to discover association between platelet indices and severity scores. RESULTS: There were 119 patients in the study. Coexisting illnesses included pancreatitis, cirrhosis, infections, and alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The mean age (years), duration of alcohol consumption (years), and ethanol (g/day) were 45.13 ±â€Š11.53, 18.84 ±â€Š11.40, and 65.61 ±â€Š45.42, respectively. The average MELD and Maddrey scores were 14.13 ±â€Š5.17 and 36.45 ±â€Š29.63, respectively. The mean platelet counts, PDW, MPV, and PCT were 194.01 ±â€Š178.82 × 109/L, 17.10 ±â€Š1.21, 5.99 ±â€Š0.96, and 0.14 ±â€Š0.04, respectively. PDW >18 and MPV had a significant positive correlation with MELD scores. Only bilirubin and prothrombin prolongation were significant predictors of severe alcoholic hepatitis. The area under the curve was highest for PCT at 0.622 (P = .07; confidence interval = 0.500-0.743). CONCLUSIONS: Platelet indices appear to be significantly altered in alcoholic hepatitis, but they do not predict severe disease. Whether this inability to predict severe alcoholic hepatitis is due to coexisting illnesses such as pancreatitis, cirrhosis, and infection needs to be studied further.

The Utility of Platelet Indices in Predicting Multiorgan Dysfunction in Scrub Typhus.

Platelet indices have been used to diagnose and prognosticate infections such as tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, and septic shock. Platelet indices have previously not been used in the prediction of multiorgan dysfunction (MODS) in patients with scrub typhus. A three-year retrospective review of patient charts was performed. Patients with and without MODS were compared. Platelet indices and other clinical and laboratory variables were used in logistic regression analysis to determine significant predictors. A ROC curve was generated with the platelet indices to predict MODS. Of 189 patients, 106 were male. Respiratory rate, serum creatinine, liver function tests, platelet count, thrombocytopenia <150 × 109/L, mean platelet volume (MPV) > 7.3 fL, and plateletcrit ≤0.19% varied significantly between patients with MODS and those without. Platelet indices are inexpensive and easily available. Only thrombocytopenia along with creatinine, alanine transaminase, and abnormal chest radiograph could significantly predict MODS in patients with scrub typhus.

Idiopathic CD4 Lymphocytopenia: Current Insights.

Idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia is a condition characterized by low CD4 counts. It is rare and most of the information about this illness comes from case reports. Presentation is usually in the 4th decade of life with opportunistic infections, autoimmune disease or neoplasia. The pathophysiology of this condition is not well understood. Management revolves around treatment of the presenting condition and close follow-up of these patients. This review presents a narrative summary of the current literature on idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia.