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With the advent of intra ocular lens implantation at the time of cataract extraction, especially by intracapsular method, it has become very important to prevent the loss of vitreous during surgery. This can be achieved by lowering the intraocular pressure by various methods. In order to find out the best method to achieve a soft & safe eye before surgery, a study was conducted on 90 patients, undergoing intracapsular cataract extraction. The patients were divided into 9 groups of 10 each, & different methods of lowering intraocular pressure were tried and results compared. It was observed that intravenous mannitol given preoperatively and pressure with mercury column together, formed the best combination to achieve the maximum tension lowering effect.

Presented is a rare case of cavernous sinus thrombosis of nasal septic origin leading to ophthalmoplegia and blindness of the ipsilateral eye and contralateral visual field involvement. An attempt is made to correlate the aetiopathology with the clinical features.

In the present study on 60 normal subjects, the effect of 0.5% timolol eye drops on intraocular tension was assessed in the presence of oral indomethacin. The subjects were categorized in four groups for comparing the results. Also the side effects of timolol maleate were noted. The following conclusions were made:- 1. In cases in whom indomethacin was given along with timolol drops, average fall in intraocular tension was almost identical with those in whom timolol alone was used. 2. The ocular hypotensive effect of timolol maleate eve drops is not attenuated by indomethacin given orally; but before we can conclude that the simultaneous administration of timolol maleate eye drops and indomethacin is entirely without risk of attenuation. We must study the effect of combined administration in patients with glaucoma.

Intraocular pressure was measured before, at 2 hours & after haemodialysis in 75 uraemic patients of Indian origin, undergoing haemodialysis. There was no significant rise in intra-ocular pressure in these patients.

Byline: A. Dubey, N. Pathi, S. Viswanath, A. Rathore, A. Pathak, R. Sud BACKGROUND: A novel fusion gene of echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) has [...]

This article, published in the journal Endoscopy, discusses a case study of a 41-year-old male patient who presented with gastrointestinal bleeding. The patient was found to have a large submucosal growth in the proximal body of the stomach, which was confirmed to be a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) through biopsy. Due to the large size of the tumor, the patient was prescribed imatinib therapy for three months to downstage the tumor. After the tumor regressed in size, the patient underwent successful endoscopic submucosal dissection and is currently doing well six months post-resection. The study highlights the effectiveness of imatinib therapy in downstaging GISTs and making them amenable to endoscopic resection. [Extracted from the article]

Until 2014, pegylated interferon plus ribavirin was the recommended standard of care for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus ( HCV) infection in India. This open-label phase 3b study, conducted across 14 sites in India between 31 March 2014 and 30 November 2015, evaluated the efficacy and safety of sofosbuvir plus ribavirin therapy among treatment-naïve patients with chronic genotype 1 or 3 HCV infection. A total of 117 patients with genotype 1 or 3 HCV infection were randomized 1:1 to receive sofosbuvir 400 mg and weight-based ribavirin (1000 or 1200 mg) daily for 16 or 24 weeks. Among those with genotype 1 infection, the primary efficacy endpoint of sustained virologic response at 12 weeks post-treatment ( SVR12) was reported in 90% (95% confidence intervals [ CI], 73-98) and 96% (95% CI, 82-100) of patients following 16 and 24 weeks of treatment, respectively. For patients with genotype 3 infection, SVR12 rates were 100% (95% CI, 88-100) and 93% (95% CI, 78-99) after 16 and 24 weeks of therapy, respectively. Adverse events, most of which were mild or moderate in severity, occurred in 69% and 57% of patients receiving 16 and 24 weeks of treatment, respectively. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events were asthenia, headache and cough. Only one patient in the 24-week group discontinued treatment with sofosbuvir during this study. Overall, sofosbuvir plus ribavirin therapy achieved SVR12 rates ≥90% and was well tolerated among treatment-naïve patients with chronic genotype 1 or 3 HCV infection in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intestinal transplant is a therapeutic challenge not just surgically but also logistically because of the multidisciplinary expertise and resources required. A large proportion of patients who undergo massive bowel resection and develop intestinal failure have poor outcome, because of inability to sustain long-term parenteral nutrition and limited availability of intestinal and multi-visceral transplantation facilities. We report the first successful isolated intestinal transplant from India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The aim of the present study was to investigate variations in the chemical composition of the essential oil from seeds of large cardamom grown at different altitudes in Himachal Pradesh, India. The composition of the essential oil was determined by gas chromatography ( GC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry ( GC-MS) and gas chromatography-olfactometry ( GC-O). Results The oil components showed qualitative and quantitative variations in the composition. GC and GC-MS analysis led to the identification of 55 compounds representing 98% of total oil. Major components in the oil were 1,8-cineole, α-terpineol, dl-limonene, nerolidol, 4-terpineol, δ-terpineol, δ-3-carene, β-myrcene, germacrene D, α-terpinene and longifolenaldehyde. The oil yields obtained were 9.8-19.5 g kg−1. Cardamom oil from Himachal Pradesh was found to contain new compounds, viz. 4-terpineol, δ-3-carene, trans-sabinene hydrate, 1-phellandrene, α-terpinene, bicyclo-germacrene, isopinocarveol and ledenoxid- II. α-Terpenyl acetate, the major constituent of small cardamom, was also detected in the oil of large cardamom grown in Himachal Pradesh. Application of aroma extract dilution analysis revealed 35 compounds having aroma impact with the flavour dilution factor ranging from 2 to 1024, and 34 of these compounds were identified. The five most intense aromatic components are dl-limonene, 1,8-cineole, β-myrcene, α-pinene, α-basabolol. This is the first time that the characterisation of odour-active compounds has been carried out on large cardamom. Conclusion The presence of 4-terpineol, δ-3-carene, trans-sabinene hydrate, 1-phellandrene, α-terpinene, 1-terpineol, bicyclogermacrene, isopinocarveol, ledenoxid- II, longifolenaldehyde and α-terpenyl acetate make the aroma of the oil different from large cardamom oil of Sikkim and could offer potential as a new food flavour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of ectopic variceal bleed may be difficult at times due to anatomical location or presence of collaterals. We present a case of an elderly cirrhotic male with acute upper gastrointestinal bleed due to a large duodenal varix successfully managed by endoscopic ultrasound guided coil placement along with glue (N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate) injection.

Certain herbicides were evaluated against Lantana in noncrop land and tea plantation by application in different months either on freshly cut stumps or on its 1 month old regrowth. Count of dead bushes of Lantana at 1 year after treatment showed that treatments on cut stumps were more effective than those applied on regrowth. 2,4-D Na:diesel in the proportion 1 :4 applied on freshly cut stumps provided the highest mortality of Lantana . Amongst foliar treatments on regrowth, glyphosate 0.4% alone or tank-mixed with paraquat 0.12% resulted in better control of Lantana . For the treatments on stumps, May to January excluding July were more suitable months, while the Lantana bushes cut during July to September and March were more vulnerable to the treatments on regrown foliage. Application of 2,4-D Na:diesel in the proportion 1:4 in November on cut stumps of Lantana growing within multistemmed bushes of China hybrid tea provided best economic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cover image, by S. R. Shah et al., is based on the Original Article Sofosbuvir plus ribavirin in treatment‐naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 or 3 infection in India, DOI 10.1111/jvh.12654. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The concept of quality of life relates to the perceptions of individuals about their mental and physical health as well as non-health related areas. The evaluation of quality of life in the context of substance abuse has been conducted using generic instruments. The Drug Users Quality of Life Scale (DUQOL) is a specific assessment tool in which the most pertinent and salient areas to drug abusers are taken into consideration. In this study, the authors report the results of a validation study in which the DUQOL was used for the first time in Australia. Methods A sample of 120 participants from inpatient and outpatient treatment facilities completed a series of questionnaires, including the DUQOL and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF). Parameters investigated in this study included the demographic characteristics of the sample, internal structure, and convergent validity. Correlations between the DUQOL scale scores and the scores of the WHOQOL-Bref test were investigated via Pearson product-moment correlation analyses. Results The English version of the DUQOL attained a significant overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.868. The factorial analysis of the DUQOL identified one principal factor that accounted for 28.499% of the variance. Convergent validity analyses demonstrate significant correlations (p < 0.01) between the DUQOL scores and the scores of all four dimensions of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Conclusions This study demonstrates that the DUQOL constitutes a reliable research instrument for evaluating quality of life of substance users in Australia.