Wavelet and deep learning-based detection of SARS-nCoV from thoracic X-ray images for rapid and efficient testing.

This paper proposes a wavelet and artificial intelligence-enabled rapid and efficient testing procedure for patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus Syndrome (SARS-nCoV) through a deep learning approach from thoracic X-ray images. Presently, the virus infection is diagnosed primarily by a process called the real-time Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (rRT-PCR) based on its genetic prints. This whole procedure takes a substantial amount of time to identify and diagnose the patients infected by the virus. The proposed research uses a wavelet-based convolution neural network architectures to detect SARS-nCoV. CNN is pre-trained on the ImageNet and trained end-to-end using thoracic X-ray images. To execute Discrete Wavelet Transforms (DWT), the available mother wavelet functions from different families, namely Haar, Daubechies, Symlet, Biorthogonal, Coiflet, and Discrete Meyer, were considered. Two-level decomposition via DWT is adopted to extract prominent features peripheral and subpleural ground-glass opacities, often in the lower lobes explicitly from thoracic X-ray images to suppress noise effect, further enhancing the signal to noise ratio. The proposed wavelet-based deep learning models of both, two-class instances (COVID vs. Normal) and four-class instances (COVID-19 vs. PNA bacterial vs. PNA viral vs. Normal) were validated from publicly available databases using k-Fold Cross Validation (k-Fold CV) technique. In addition to these X-ray images, images of recent COVID-19 patients were further used to examine the model's practicality and real-time feasibility in combating the current pandemic situation. It was observed that the Symlet 7 approximation component with two-level manifested the highest test accuracy of 98.87%, followed by Biorthogonal 2.6 with an efficiency of 98.73%. While the test accuracy for Symlet 7 and Biorthogonal 2.6 is high, Haar and Daubechies with two levels have demonstrated excellent validation accuracy on unseen data. It was also observed that the precision, the recall rate, and the dice similarity coefficient for four-class instances were 98%, 98%, and 99%, respectively, using the proposed algorithm.

Delayed haemolysis after treatment with intravenous artesunate in patients with severe malaria in India.

BACKGROUND: Parenteral artesunate is the treatment of choice for severe malaria. It is safe, efficacious and well tolerated anti-malarial. However, delayed haemolysis has been reported in travellers, non-immune individuals and in African children. METHODS: A prospective, observational study was carried out in admitted severe malaria patients receiving parenteral artesunate. The patients were followed up until day 28 for monitoring clinical as well as laboratory parameters for haemolytic anaemia. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients with severe malaria receiving injection artesunate were enrolled in the study. Post-artesunate delayed haemolysis following parenteral artesunate therapy was observed in three of 24 patients (12.5%, 95% confidence interval 4.5-31.2%). Haemolysis was observed in two more patients possibly due to other reasons. The haemoglobin fall ranged from 13.6 to 38.3% from day 7 to day 28 in these patients. CONCLUSION: The possibility of delayed haemolysis should be considered while treating the severe malaria patients with parenteral artesunate. The study highlights the need for further studies in different epidemiological settings.

Ganaplacide (KAF156) plus lumefantrine solid dispersion formulation combination for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria: an open-label, multicentre, parallel-group, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial.

BACKGROUND: Emergence of drug resistance demands novel antimalarial drugs with new mechanisms of action. We aimed to identify effective and well tolerated doses of ganaplacide plus lumefantrine solid dispersion formulation (SDF) in patients with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. METHODS: This open-label, multicentre, parallel-group, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial was conducted at 13 research clinics and general hospitals in ten African and Asian countries. Patients had microscopically-confirmed uncomplicated P falciparum malaria (>1000 and <150 000 parasites per µL). Part A identified the optimal dose regimens in adults and adolescents (aged ≥12 years) and in part B, the selected doses were assessed in children (≥2 years and <12 years). In part A, patients were randomly assigned to one of seven groups (once a day ganaplacide 400 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 960 mg for 1, 2, or 3 days; ganaplacide 800 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 960 mg as a single dose; once a day ganaplacide 200 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 480 mg for 3 days; once a day ganaplacide 400 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 480 mg for 3 days; or twice a day artemether plus lumefantrine for 3 days [control]), with stratification by country (2:2:2:2:2:2:1) using randomisation blocks of 13. In part B, patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups (once a day ganaplacide 400 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 960 mg for 1, 2, or 3 days, or twice a day artemether plus lumefantrine for 3 days) with stratification by country and age (2 to <6 years and 6 to <12 years; 2:2:2:1) using randomisation blocks of seven. The primary efficacy endpoint was PCR-corrected adequate clinical and parasitological response at day 29, analysed in the per protocol set. The null hypothesis was that the response was 80% or lower, rejected when the lower limit of two-sided 95% CI was higher than 80%. This study is registered with EudraCT (2020-003284-25) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03167242). FINDINGS: Between Aug 2, 2017, and May 17, 2021, 1220 patients were screened and of those, 12 were included in the run-in cohort, 337 in part A, and 175 in part B. In part A, 337 adult or adolescent patients were randomly assigned, 326 completed the study, and 305 were included in the per protocol set. The lower limit of the 95% CI for PCR-corrected adequate clinical and parasitological response on day 29 was more than 80% for all treatment regimens in part A (46 of 50 patients [92%, 95% CI 81-98] with 1 day, 47 of 48 [98%, 89-100] with 2 days, and 42 of 43 [98%, 88-100] with 3 days of ganaplacide 400 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 960 mg; 45 of 48 [94%, 83-99] with ganaplacide 800 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 960 mg for 1 day; 47 of 47 [100%, 93-100] with ganaplacide 200 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 480 mg for 3 days; 44 of 44 [100%, 92-100] with ganaplacide 400 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 480 mg for 3 days; and 25 of 25 [100%, 86-100] with artemether plus lumefantrine). In part B, 351 children were screened, 175 randomly assigned (ganaplacide 400 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 960 mg once a day for 1, 2, or 3 days), and 171 completed the study. Only the 3-day regimen met the prespecified primary endpoint in paediatric patients (38 of 40 patients [95%, 95% CI 83-99] vs 21 of 22 [96%, 77-100] with artemether plus lumefantrine). The most common adverse events were headache (in seven [14%] of 51 to 15 [28%] of 54 in the ganaplacide plus lumefantrine-SDF groups and five [19%] of 27 in the artemether plus lumefantrine group) in part A, and malaria (in 12 [27%] of 45 to 23 [44%] of 52 in the ganaplacide plus lumefantrine-SDF groups and 12 [50%] of 24 in the artemether plus lumefantrine group) in part B. No patients died during the study. INTERPRETATION: Ganaplacide plus lumefantrine-SDF was effective and well tolerated in patients, especially adults and adolescents, with uncomplicated P falciparum malaria. Ganaplacide 400 mg plus lumefantrine-SDF 960 mg once daily for 3 days was identified as the optimal treatment regimen for adults, adolescents, and children. This combination is being evaluated further in a phase 2 trial (NCT04546633). FUNDING: Novartis and Medicines for Malaria Venture.

Accessory right hepatic artery and its significance for a surgeon: A case report

Right hepatic artery (RHA) is a branch of the common hepatic artery; however, there are cases documented in the literature showing anatomical variations. Accessory RHA is an incidental finding during hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery. This artery should be identified, carefully separated, and preserved during these surgeries. We encounter the variation while doing Whipple’s procedure in a 61-year-old patient diagnosed with carcinoma of the head of the pancreas. Intra-operatively, accessory RHA was present which was arising from the superior mesenteric artery. It was identified, carefully separated, and preserved. Variations in the origin of the artery may make it vulnerable to injuries during surgical procedures if due care is not taken

Evaluation of procalcitonin as a predictor of severity of acute appendicitis

Background: Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency worldwide. The treatment of choice is emergency appendectomy. A delayed diagnosis and hence a delayed treatment increases the complication rate. Despite the best efforts negative appendectomy rate is still high since there is no single best test available to reach the diagnosis.Methods: This was an institutional study conducted at DRPGMC Tanda, comprising of 28 patients and 7 healthy controls. The patients with clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis were subjected to appendectomy after taking a blood sample for serum procalcitonin and performing an ultrasonogram of abdomen.Results: We observed that mean levels of procalcitonin (PCT) were significantly higher in patients of acute appendicitis in comparison to healthy controls. The range of PCT levels in group 2 i.e., patients with uncomplicated acute appendicitis were from 0.54 to 0.74 ng/ml with mean value of 0.61 ng/ml, whereas in group 3 i.e. patients with complicated acute appendicitis, the range were from 1.14 to 2.56 ng/ml with mean value of 1.62 ng/ml. PCT levels were significantly higher in group 3 as compared to group 1 and group 2 (p<0.0001). In group 2, mean PCT levels were significantly higher in comparison to group 1 (p<0.0001). Statistical analysis of our data shows a cut-off value of procalcitonin to be 0.203 ng/ml. We observed sensitivity and specificity of PCT to be 96% and 100% respectively.Conclusions: This study concludes that levels of serum PCT can be used as a laboratory marker for making a diagnosis of acute appendicitis and also for predicting its severity.

Ultrasonogram in Acute Appendicitis, A Surgeon’s Perspective: Original Article

Introduction: The diagnosis of acute appendicitis has essentially been clinical, but USG abdomen has been said to be highly accurate in diagnosing AA. The surgeon’s perspective may not always be the same. Materialsand methods: Appendectomy data of 106 patients from two hospitals of Kangra region was retrospectively analysed. The data was collected for age, sex, initial pre-operative diagnosis, USG findings, intra-operative findings, Histo-pathological examination (HPE) report, post operative hospital stay. Observations:It revealed a sensitivity of about 54% and specificity of 100% for diagnosing AA with the help of USG abdomen. AA was seen most commonly in males as compared to females. Mean age of presentation was 29.34 +/-14.4 years. Mean hospital stay was 3.68 +/-2.25 days. Most common initial preoperative diagnosis was AA (84%). Most common position of the appendix during surgery was retrocecal (53.7%). HPE report revealed AA in 105 patients. Conclusion:USG abdomen is often falsely assuring, leading to unnecessary delay in effectively managing a patient of AA further leading to increased complications. Only the clinically equivocal cases require further radiological investigations where CECT abdomen is the preferred investigation, but it should be used judiciously.

Spectral Analysis Of Poisoning In Children In Tertiary Care Centre

Background:Poisoning in childhood is major health concern. But the profile of substances used & their relative outcome change according to age, availability of substances, pattern of life and medical awareness in different geographical areas.In this hospital-based study, we sought to investigate the epidemiology and outcome of acute poisoning among children admitted to a pediatric emergency department. Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study conducted in Pediatric department of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, a tertiary care hospital in Ranchi, Jharkhand .Children and adolescents less than 18 years of age with diagnosis of acute poisoningduring January 2018 –June2018 were included in the study. Results:In our study,97children presented with diagnosis of acute poisoning (3.32% of admissions). 59patients (60.8%)were boys. The greatest proportion of patients (45%) were aged between 1 and 5 yrs. Regarding the intention of poisoning, 91.8% were accidental .Bites accounted for 32.9%, drug ingestion- 19.5%, hydrocarbon ingestion & pesticide,rodenticide for 13.4% , corrosives-1%, household items- 2%, unknown substance -17% of the total cases.14 patients (14.4%)required admission to intensive care unit.Mean duration of hospital stay was 40 hrs. 2 children succumbed to complications during the study period, others were discharged successfully. Conclusion:Most of pediatric poisoning cases are preventable calamities. Death due to poisoning in children can largely be avoided if sufficient awareness can be created among parents and guardians.

The Enterolith Causing Jejunal Obstruction, An Unusual Presentation: A Case Report

Enteroliths are a rare cause of intestinal obstruction. Patients can present with repeated episodes of intestinal obstruction as long as an enterolith is able to pass through the gut and then suddenly, they get stuck at the terminal ileum or present with the perforation peritonitis, as may happen in case of a diverticular disease. Here, we report the case of a young male presented to the emergency room with acute intestinal obstruction. During the explorative laparotomy, an enterolith was found stuck inside the proximal jejunum which was removed through an enterotomy. This was an interesting case, as the patient did not have any predisposing factors nor did we find any evidence of other pathologies intraoperatively. Moreover, the enterolith was stuck in jejunum, contrary to the belief that terminal part of the ileum is a most common site for the enteroliths to get stuck.