Plasma d-Dimer Levels in Non-prosthetic Orthopaedic Implant Infection: Can it Aid Diagnosis?

PURPOSE: d-Dimer estimation has been proposed as a reliable biomarker in prosthetic joint infections. Its role in non-prosthetic orthopaedic implant infections has, however, not been studied. The objectives of this study were to assess the levels of plasma d-Dimer in non-prosthetic orthopaedic implant infection. The diagnostic efficiency of d-dimer on orthopaedic implant-related infection was evaluated. METHODS: The study was designed as a cross-sectional comparative study. Patients who presented with orthopaedic implant-related infection as diagnosed by modified MSIS criteria were allocated to case group (n = 49) and patients who underwent surgical procedures with orthopaedic implants with no evidence of infection at 6 weeks postoperatively were allocated to the control group (n = 48). Serum d-Dimer levels were assessed quantitatively using immunoturbidimetric assays in both groups and compared between both groups. RESULTS: The mean (± SD) value of serum d-Dimer in case group was 0.64 (± 0.45) µg/ml and control group was 0.77 (± 0.47) µg/ml. No significant difference was found in serum d-Dimer levels between cases and control groups (p value = 0.183). The diagnostic accuracy of d-dimer in orthopaedic implant-related infection also could not be demonstrated. CONCLUSION: The findings of d-dimer as a marker for the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infections cannot be extrapolated to non-prosthetic orthopaedic implant infection.

Early Onset Pre-Eclampsia with Nephrotic Range Proteinuria as the Initial Manifestation of Lupus Nephritis: Report of three cases.

Early onset pre-eclampsia (pre-eclampsia at less than 34 gestational weeks) is a severe form of preeclampsia; in addition, some women may also develop nephrotic range proteinuria. De novo diagnosis of lupus nephritis (LN) in pregnancy is challenging as it may present with features similar to commonly occurring preeclampsia. We report three cases of early onset pre-eclampsia with nephrotic range proteinuria and subsequent diagnosis of LN at the Women and Children hospital attached to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India, between 2014 and 2017. These cases highlights the need for further evaluation of the association between nephrotic-range proteinuria and early onset pre-eclampsia. The index of suspicion for underlying LN of these type of cases should be high. Earlier detection of LN will prompt better management that can avert or delay short- and long-term morbidity.

A hospital-based study of splenomegaly with special reference to the group of indeterminate origin.

In any study there remains a proportion of cases, about 25-40%, where cause of splenomegaly is not identified on usual evaluation, that is labelled as indeterminate group. The aim of this study was to evaluate various causes of splenomegaly. Thereafter the patients with splenomegaly of indeterminate origin were to be re-evaluated with detailed investigations (for the cause of splenomegaly). Causes of splenomegaly were looked into 100 adult patients with splenomegaly, admitted over a period of ten months in a teaching hospital in South India. Patients having ascites were excluded from the study. Malaria was the commonest cause of splenomegaly, observed in 22 patients. Other causes, in order of importance, were chronic myeloid leukaemia (n=11), non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis (n=9), enteric fever (n=9), cirrhosis of liver (n=8) and hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly also called as tropical splenomegaly syndrome (n=7) and so on. Hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly was the commonest cause (7 of 24 patients) of massive splenomegaly. Twenty-three patients had splenomegaly of indeterminate origin ie, cause could not be detected on first assessment. Detailed re-evaluation with repeat investigations including liver biopsy revealed the causes as follows: Hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly -7 (30.4%), non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis - 4 (17.4%), cirrhosis of liver - 4 (17.4%) and iron deficiency anaemia - 5 (21.7%). In 3 patients (13.0%), no diagnosis could be arrived at despite best efforts. Obscure splenomegalies may be due to conditions like hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly, non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis, iron deficiency anaemia, and even cirrhosis of liver, while malaria is still the most important cause of splenomegaly in India. Whereas the overall incidence of hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly was only 7% in this study, it stood as the leading cause (29.2%), when analysed among patients with massive splenomegaly. Liver biopsy should be performed in all cases of obscure splenomegaly to arrive at the final diagnosis.