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Objective: The role of medical thoracoscopy in the treatment of pleural infections is increasingly being recognized. This study was done to assess the role of medical thoracoscopy in the management of carefully selected subset of patients with complicated parapneumonic effusions (PPEs). Materials and Methods: We analyzed retrospective data of 164 thoracoscopic procedures performed at our center on patients with complicated PPE in the past 10 years. Patients were subjected to medical thoracoscopy based on ultrasonographic stratification and a computed tomography (CT) thorax. Medical thoracoscopy was performed after an intercostal block under conscious sedation with midazolam (2 mg) and fentanyl (50 mcg) and local anesthesia with lignocaine 2% (10–15 ml), through a single port 10 mm diameter thoracoscope. Results: A total of 164 patients (119 males and 45 females) underwent medical thoracoscopy during the study period. The mean age was 47.4 ± 15.9 (median, 50; range, 16–86). The final diagnosis by thoracoscopy was bacterial empyema in 93 patients and tuberculosis in 71 patients. Medical thoracoscopy was successful without subsequent intervention in 160 (97.5%) patients, two patients underwent a second procedure, in the form of decortication, and two patients died due to sepsis. There were no major procedure-related complications that required intervention. Conclusion: Early adhesiolysis and drainage of fluid using medical thoracoscopy should be considered in patients with multiloculated complicated PPE after careful radiological (ultrasonography and CT) stratification, as a more cost-effective and safe method of management.

Background and Objectives: Hypermucoviscoid Klebsiella(hvKP), a dreaded variant of Klebsiella, so far, fewer cases were reported from the community. This study was designed to evaluate the incidence of hvKP isolates, risk factors for hvKP infections, antibiotic sensitivity pattern and clinical outcome including morbidity and mortality. Patients and Setting: Patients who have got admitted under medical intensive care unit (MICU) and had positive culture of Klebsiella infections. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted at department of MICU at a tertiary care hospital between January 2018 and December 2018. A standardized proforma was prepared and data was collected, which includes basic demographics of the patients, co-morbidities, clinical details and mortality. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board and Ethics Committee. Results: A total of 165 patients (males, 123; 74.5%) had Klebsiella pneumoniae infection during the study period, out of whom 32 was hvKP (19.4%). The mean age was 53.1 ± 16.8 years. Among the 32 hvKP patients, 22 (68.8%) were hospital acquired infection (HAI) and 10 were (31.2%) community acquired infection. The overall mortality rate of hvKP infection was 56.2% (18/32). The incidence of mortality rate was similar in patients having pan-drug sensitive and in patients with extreme drug-resistance (61.9% vs. 66.7%; P = 0.831). HAI is significantly associated with multi drug resistance of hvKP (odds ratio [OR], 7.917; P < 0.05) and diabetes is associated with increased risk of hvKP related mortality (OR, 5.250; P = 0.054). Conclusions: Our study results showed, increased incidence of HAI with hvKP predominantly associated with pneumonia and increase in trend of drug resistance with two cases being pan resistant. More number of studies are required to evaluate the existing antibiotics strategy and steps to curb the spread of this dreaded infection.

Background: It is well known that anemia and red cell turn over affects the HbA1c value. Iron deficiency anemia increases the HbA1c and haemolytic anemia lowers it. However, the cut-off of haemoglobin (Hb) or red-cell indices when the HbA1c value becomes unreliable is not known. Aim: We sought to find out values of HbA1c and red-cell indices where there is considerable discordance between HbA1c and plasma glucose (PG) values in the diagnosis of diabetes (DM) and pre-diabetes (Pre-DM) making HbA1c values unreliable. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 237 non-diabetic subjects who attended our out-patient division of preventive health check-up clinics, between November 2016 and December 2017. Data was collected only from relatively healthy subjects who had voluntarily opted for undergoing a preventative health check-up (including a diabetes screening). Patients were classified as concordant (fasting and 2-hr post meal glucose values are in agreement with HbA1c) and discordant (values are not in agreement with HbA1c). Results: A total of 237 patients (73% males) with mean age was 47.2±9.7 years (range 25-75) were included in the study. The HbA1c definition group had more diagnosis of DM (153 vs 96) and but lesser numbers of pre-DM (66 vs 102) compared to the PG group. Out of 237 patients, 133 (56%) showed concordance and 104 (44%) were discordant. The FPG, 2h-PPBG and HbA1c are significantly higher in the concordant group. The Hb value and MCV were significantly higher (p7% (20%). While no single Hb or MCV value could predict discordance, a RDW value >17 was consistently associated with discordance across all the HbA1c strata. Conclusion: A HbA1c below 7% is significantly influenced by red-cell turn over indices and clinicians need to perform additional testing using plasma glucose levels to confirm the presence of diabetes or pre-diabetes. In patients whose RDW >17, HbA1c should be replaced by 75gm OGTT as a test of choice for diagnosis of diabetes or pre-diabetes.