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Background: Sepsis is a complex, life-threatening, heterogeneous infectious disease associated with increased rates of morbidity and mortality. Early assessment of the prognosis of sepsis is key to achieving a favorable outcome for the disease. This study aimed to identify the prognostic value of PCT for sepsis patients. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective analytical study involving 100 adult patients with sepsis who were admitted to the Medicine dept and intensive care unit from 2019 to 2020. At least one blood test for PCT level was performed for all patients within the first 24 hours of suspecting an infection. Results: Our study found that a maximum number of patients (43.0%) were between 51-60 years age group, mean age of the patient was 49.35 ± 11.7 years. Out of 100 cases, 65% were male and 35% were female. The male and female ratio was 1.85:1. In this study serum, procalcitonin levels 0.5-2.0 ng/were detected in 15.0% of patients with mean±SD 1.3±0.8. Serum procalcitonin levels 2.1-10.0 ng/mL were detected in 29.0% of patients with mean±SD 5.9±2.5 and >10.0 ng/mL was detected in 56 patients. Based on the receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves, procalcitonin had the area under curve 0.923, with 89.4% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity. In our study, procalcitonin showed the best predictive value for the short-term outcome of sepsis with a cut-off value of 14.8 ng/mL (AUC 0.923). Study shows that 76.0% of the patients recovered completely, but 24.0% of patients expired during the hospital stay. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant correlation in serum procalcitonin with the outcome of sepsis (p < 0.001). So the effectiveness of serum procalcitonin has proven significant in the prediction of mortality in sepsis patients. J MEDICINE 2023; 24: 18-22

Background: The incidence of diabetes mellitus is on a constant rise, affecting children and the elderly alike. This incidence is presumed to rise even further in the next few decades. Diabetes is often associated with various cardiovascular and kidney-related comorbidities, which can greatly affect the life expectancy. The comorbidities often have a direct influence on the mortality rate. The present study was conducted to find out the cause of death among hospitalized diabetic patients. Methods:This retrospective study was conducted Medicine and allied departments of BIRDEM General Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study period was July 2020 to June 2021 and the study was conducted with the data of 75 patients. Data was collected from hospital records by retrieving the files with proper permission from hospital authority. Patients whose cause of death was due to traumatic injury unrelated to diabetes and cases where investigation reports were not available were excluded from the study. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethical review committee of Bangladesh Diabetic Association. Results:Among the study subjects, 38.7% were older than 70 years, 30.7% between 61-70 years and only 4% between 23-40 years. Mean age was 65.3±13.2 years. There was slight male predominance, with male: female ratio 1.3:1. Clinical presentation included fever (60%)and shortness of breath (49.3%). Hypertension was the most common comorbidity (92%), followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (18.7%) and acute kidney injury on chronic kidney disease (37.3%). The most common cause of death was urosepsis (30.7%) followed by septic shock (13.3%), myocardial infarction (12%) and the least common cause was meningoencephalitis (1.3%). Conclusion: The study found that the most common cause of death in diabetic patients was sepsis, specifically urosepsis, followed by renal failure and cardiovascular disease related ailments. BIRDEM Med J 2022; 12(3): 212-216

Solitary plasmacytoma of bone (SPB, also called osseous plasmacytoma) is a localized tumor in the bone comprised of a single clone of plasma cells in the absence of other features of MM (Multiple Myeloma). Most patients present with skeletal pain or a pathologic fracture of the affected bone. Patients with vertebral involvement may have severe back pain or neurologic compromise (e.g. cord compression). J MEDICINE 2022; 23: 173-175