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Background:The present study aimed to quantify the burden of structural heart disease in Nepali children.Methods:We performed a school-based cross-sectional echocardiographic screening study with cluster random sampling among children 5–16 years of age.Results:Between December 2012 and January 2019, 6573 children (mean age 10.6 ± 2.9 years) from 41 randomly selected schools underwent echocardiographic screening. Structural heart disease was detected in 14.0 per 1000 children (95% CI 11.3–17.1) and was congenital in 3.3 per 1000 (95% CI 2.1–5.1) and rheumatic in 10.6 per 1000 (95% CI 8.3–13.4). Rates of rheumatic heart disease were higher among children attending public as compared to private schools (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.6–5.2, p = 0.0001).Conclusion:Rheumatic heart disease accounted for three out of four cases of structural heart disease and was more common among children attending public as compared to private schools.

Introduction: Anaemia is an important comorbidity common in patients with heart failure and is associated with poor clinical status and worse outcomes. In Nepal few studies have evaluated anaemia amongst patients suffering from heart failure. We intended to find out the prevalence of anaemia in patients with heart failure in a tertiary care centre. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among patients of heart failure presenting to tertiary care hospital in eastern Nepal from April 2017 to January 2018. Ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Committee of a tertiary care centre (reference number: IRC/0842/016). Using the convenience sampling method, 100 patients were enrolled in the study. Blood samples from the patients were taken for haemoglobin and serum iron studies. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 11. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated, with frequency and percentage. Results: Among 100 patients with heart failure, 82 (82%) (74.47-89.53 at 95% Confidence Interval) had anaemia. Mean haemoglobin level of the study population was 10.40±2.73 g/dl. Fifty four (54%) of patients had iron deficiency status irrespective of presence or absence of anaemia. Conclusions: Prevalence of anaemia among patients of heart failure in our study was found to be higher than various other homologous international studies.

Background and Objectives: Iron Deficiency is the commonest nutritional deficiency worldwide, affecting more than one-third of the population, its association with Heart Failure with or without anemia is of growing interest. As iron supplementation improves prognosis in patients with Heart Failure, Iron Deficiency is an attractive therapeutic target – a hypothesis that has recently been tested in clinical studies. This study is designed to estimate the prevalence and pattern of iron deficiency (ID) in heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction patients with or without anemia. Material and methods: It was a single center hospital based cross sectional observational study. A total of 60 male and female patients with diagnosis of heart failure based on the Framingham Criteria, who gave consent for the study were included. They underwent laboratory evaluation including hemoglobin concentration, serum iron, transferrin saturation percentage, serum ferritin, total iron binding capacity. Serum ferritin

In this paper, a novel dual circular polarized antenna is proposed. The main radiating element of the proposed design is made-up with swastika shaped crossed dipoles. A circular parasitic patch element is placed on top of it to enhance mutual coupling between the crossed dipoles. A dual feed with quadrature phase difference is employed to realize dual circular polarization. A metallic cavity is utilized to maximize the antenna gain and axial ratio bandwidth. The proposed CP antenna with AR bandwidth of 670 MHz (1.18 _ 1.85 GHz) finds its suitability for L-band small satellite applications like satellite communication, navigation (like GPS, GLONASS etc.) and satellite broadcasting.

Key Points Question Is echocardiographic screening of schoolchildren in regions with an endemic pattern of rheumatic heart disease followed by secondary antibiotic prophylaxis in children with evidence of subclinical rheumatic heart disease effective in reducing the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease? Findings This cluster randomized clinical trial found a nonstatistically significant lower prevalence of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease in schools with echocardiographic screening 4 years after intervention compared with control schools with no previous screening. An auxiliary repeated cross-sectional analysis of experimental schools found a significant reduction in the odds of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease. Meaning A lower prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in schools with prior echocardiographic screening warrants further study of the effectiveness of early detection and timely treatment of rheumatic heart disease in children and adolescents., Importance Echocardiographic screening allows for early detection of subclinical stages of rheumatic heart disease among children in endemic regions. Objective To investigate the effectiveness of systematic echocardiographic screening in combination with secondary antibiotic prophylaxis on the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease. Design, Setting, and Participants This cluster randomized clinical trial included students 9 to 16 years of age attending public and private schools in urban and rural areas of the Sunsari district in Nepal that had been randomly selected on November 17, 2012. Echocardiographic follow-up was performed between January 7, 2016, and January 3, 2019. Interventions In the experimental group, children underwent systematic echocardiographic screening followed by secondary antibiotic prophylaxis in case they had echocardiographic evidence of latent rheumatic heart disease. In the control group, children underwent no echocardiographic screening. Main Outcomes and Measures Prevalence of the composite of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease according to the World Heart Federation criteria in experimental and control schools as assessed 4 years after intervention. Results A total of 35 schools were randomized to the experimental group (n = 19) or the control group (n = 16). After a median of 4.3 years (interquartile range [IQR], 4.0-4.5 years), 17 of 19 schools in the experimental group (2648 children; median age at follow-up, 12.1 years; IQR, 10.3-12.5 years; 1308 [49.4%] male) and 15 of 16 schools in the control group (1325 children; median age at follow-up, 10.6 years; IQR, 10.0-12.5 years; 682 [51.5%] male) underwent echocardiographic follow-up. The prevalence of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease was 10.8 per 1000 children (95% CI, 4.7-24.7) in the control group and 3.8 per 1000 children (95% CI, 1.5-9.8) in the experimental group (odds ratio, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.11-1.07; P = .06). The prevalence in the experimental group at baseline had been 12.9 per 1000 children (95% CI, 9.2-18.1). In the experimental group, the odds ratio of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease at follow-up vs baseline was 0.29 (95% CI, 0.13-0.65; P = .008). Conclusions and Relevance School-based echocardiographic screening in combination with secondary antibiotic prophylaxis in children with evidence of latent rheumatic heart disease may be an effective strategy to reduce the prevalence of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease in endemic regions. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01550068, This cluster randomized clinical trial investigates the effect of systematic echocardiographic screening in combination with secondary antibiotic prophylaxis on the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in schoolchildren in Nepal.

Background: Only few dedicated cardiac centres provide cardiac surgery service in Nepal. We are the only government affiliated centre outside the capital providing this service. In this study, we aim to present our early results of cardiac surgery.Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences with objective of analysing the early results of cardiac surgery in the patients operated from July 2016 to March 2017.The data were analysed for patient demographics, type of surgery and cardiac disease, mortality, hospital and intensive care unit stay, valve related complications.Results: Total 51 major cardiac surgeries (42 on pump and nine off pump) were performed. There were 27 (53%) males and 24 (47%) females with median age of 36 years (range: 1 to 70 years).The cardiac diseases consisted of 28 rheumatic heart disease, 12 congenital heart diseases, five coronary artery disease, five chronic constrictive pericarditis and one left atrial myxoma. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass and cross clamp times were 106 ±35 and 80±26 minutes respectively. The mean intensive care unit and hospital stay was 4±2 and 8±3 days respectively. Two (4%) patients required re-exploration for mediastinal bleeding. There was no prosthetic valve thrombosis or infection.Two patients (4%) had superficial wound infections.There were four (7.8%) in hospital mortalities. Remaining 47 patients (91.8%) are in NYHA class I aftermean follow up duration of five months.Conclusions: Our early result of cardiac surgery is encouraging and has established the safety and feasibility of starting open heart surgery in other parts of Nepal.Keywords: CABG; cardiac surgery; congenital heart disease; early results; RHD.

Background & Objectives: Congenital heart diseases are neglected especially in world’s poorest nations and appear to be ignored and unexplored dimension of health. The exact prevalence and spectrum of congenital heart diseases in Nepal is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to describe the local experience on the magnitude and the pattern of congenital heart disease in order to increase the awareness of the public and health policy makers on its burden in Nepal.Materials & Methods: This is an observational hospital based study carried out in a tertiary care hospital in Eastern Nepal. The duration of this study was from April 2015 to July 2016. The echocardiography reports of all patients clinically suspected of having congenital heart disease were retrieved, and their diagnostic details were extracted. Only patients of day one of life to 14 years of age were included. Congenital heart diseases like bicuspid aortic valve, mitral valve prolapse and various inherited cardiomyopathies were excluded.Results: A total of 330 echocardiograms were performed for clinically suspected congenital heart disease. The mean age of study population was 22.31±34.08 months with male to female ratio of 1.2:1. 23% of clinically suspected congenital heart disease cases turned out to have normal echocardiography. Acyanotic congenital heart disease was most common (81.5%) followed by cyanotic congenital heart disease (14.2%) and obstructive congenital heart disease (4.3%). Atrial septal defect was found to be the most common form of acyanotic congenital heart disease (52%) which was followed by ventricular septal defect (28.8%) and patent ductus arteriosus (14.8%). Tetralogy of Fallot and double outlet right ventricle were the most common form of cyanotic CHD representing 44.4% of all cyanotic patients. Pulmonary stenosis was the most common obstructive congenital heart disease observed in this study population (63.6%). Rarer entities, like d-transposition of great arteries, congenitally corrected transposition of great arteries, various types of total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, double inlet left ventricle, interrupted aortic arch, Shone complex, etc. were also observed, however represented only the minority of the study population.Conclusion: The spectrum of congenital heart disease seen in this study very likely and only represents the tip of the iceberg. Public awareness programmes and training of health care personnel needs to be emphasized in order to facilitate its early diagnosis and improve its outcome.

Background: Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a pregnancy assosciated myocardial disease. It is a rare disease with unknown etiology. Certain characteristics are risk factors for the disease. Recognition of its risk factors is important for prevention and treatment. Objectives: To determine clinical characteristics, echocardiographic profile and in hospital outcome of patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy. Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective study. All patients files with the diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy from 1 st November 2009 to 30 th December 2014 were studied. Demographic data, echocardiogram and in hospital outcome of patients were reviewed. Results: Sixty five patients were diagnosed with PPCM during the study period. Mean age was 28 ± 6.5yrs. Fifty eight patients (89%) were multigravida and only seven (11%) were primigravida. Only two patients had twin pregnancy. Fourty four (68%) presented after delivery and twenty one (32%) presented during pregnancy. Most of the patients 57 (88%) were in NYHA class III and IV. Fifty seven (88%) patients had moderate to severe Left ventricle systolic dysfunction. Five (8%) had preeclampsia, four (6%) had eclampsia and two developed gestational hypertension. Two patients were diabetic. None of the multiparous patients had history of PPCM. No maternal mortality was there. Fetal outcomes were good with all resulting live births and most were appropriate for gestational age.

Background : COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted pediatric cardiac services across the globe. Limited data are available on the impact of COVID.19 on pediatric cardiac care in India. Aims : The aims are to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the care of children with heart disease in India in terms of number of outpatient visits, hospitalizations, catheter-based interventions, and cardiac surgeries. Settings and Design : This is a retrospective, multicentric, observational study. Methods : We collected monthly data on the number and characteristics of outpatient visits, hospitalizations, catheter-based interventions, and cardiac surgeries and major hospital statistics, over a period of 5 months (April to August 2020), which coincided with the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India and compared it with data from the corresponding months in 2019. Results : The outpatient visits across the 24 participating pediatric cardiac centers decreased by 74.5% in 2020 (n = 13,878) as compared to the corresponding period in 2019 (n = 54,213). The reduction in the number of hospitalizations, cardiac surgeries, and catheterization procedures was 66.8%, 73.0%, and 74.3%, respectively. The reduction in hospitalization was relatively less pronounced among neonates as compared to infants/children (47.6% vs. 70.1% reduction) and for emergency surgeries as compared to elective indications (27.8% vs. 79.2%). The overall in-hospital mortality was higher in 2020 (8.1%) as compared to 2019 (4.8%), with a higher postoperative mortality (9.1% vs. 4.3%). Conclusions : The current COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the delivery of pediatric cardiac care across India with two-third reduction in hospitalizations and cardiac surgeries. In an already resource-constrained environment, the impact of such a massive reduction in the number of surgeries could be significant over the coming years. These findings may prove useful in formulating strategy to manage subsequent waves of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As science evolves, the need for more efficient and innovative knowledge transfer capabilities becomes evident. Advances in drug discovery and delivery sciences have directly impacted the pharmaceutical industry, though the added complexities have not shortened the development process. These added complexities also make it difficult for scientists to rapidly and effectively transfer knowledge to offset the lengthened drug development timelines. While webcams, camera phones, and iPads have been explored as potential new methods of real-time information sharing, the non-"hands-free" nature and lack of viewer and observer point-of-view render them unsuitable for the RD laboratory or manufacturing setting. As an alternative solution, the Microsoft HoloLens mixed-reality headset was evaluated as a more efficient, hands-free method of knowledge transfer and information sharing. After completing a traditional method transfer between 3 RD sites (Rahway, NJ; West Point, PA and Schnachen, Switzerland), a retrospective analysis of efficiency gain was performed through the comparison of a mock method transfer between NJ and PA sites using the HoloLens. The results demonstrated a minimum 10-fold gain in efficiency, weighing in from a savings in time, cost, and the ability to have real-time data analysis and discussion. In addition, other use cases were evaluated involving vendor and contract research/manufacturing organizations.

Unroofed coronary sinus, an unusual form of interatrial communication, is a rare cardiac anomaly. It is not a true defect of the atrial septum. It is described as a partial (focal or fenestrated) or complete absence of the roof of the coronary sinus, resulting in a communication between the coronary sinus and left atrium. It is presumably the least common variety of defects associated with interatrial shunting. Such defects are often difficult to diagnose and may even be overlooked during surgery for complex congenital heart disease. In most cases, they are associated with a persistent left superior vena cava, pulmonary or tricuspid atresia, and hearts with isomeric right atrial appendages. We report a case of this unusual form of interatrial communication without any associated anomalies in a 7-year-old girl child who presented to us with exertional dyspnea.

Background: Endoscopy procedures are now becoming a mandate for any upper or lower abdominal conditions in addition to any radiological investigations. Patients have reluctance. It's mainly because of the painful experience they come across during upper GI endoscopy. If pain can be addressed during endoscope then all patients would smile after this procedure. The main objective of the study is to compare nasal endoscopy vs conventional endoscopy in gastrointestinal disorders.Methods: This prospective study was conducted in the department in the department of bariatric and metabolic surgery, Apollo Spectra Hospitals, Chennai. Totally 200 cases were included in the study for the study. Nasal packing was done with xylocaine and oxymetazoline without oral spraying of 10% xylocaine. Oral mouth gag was not inserted in nasal cases. Pain score was primarily used as a scoring method.Results: Comparative study was done for both groups for pain score, gag reflux, nausea, comfort level, voice change, image clarity, intervention procedures, and overall scoring was done. There was a significant advantage in the nasal endoscopy group.Conclusions: More screening endoscopies can be done for a large patient population to diagnose Gastro diseases at an early stage if a painless endoscopy can be offered instead of regular endoscopy hereafter. But however, the endoscopy suite should have regular scope for therapeutic procedures.

Congenital aneurysms of the sinus of Valsalva are uncommon abnormalities that are usually silent and slowly progressive without symptoms of cardiac dysfunction unless catastrophic rupture occurs. However, in rare cases, unruptured aneurysms can produce symptoms resulting from compression of adjacent structures, ventricular outflow tract obstruction, heart block, and coronary and valvular insufficiency. We report a case of a single unruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm producing left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in an 8-year-old boy who presented with chest pain on exertion.

Malignant melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer. Recently, drug therapy of advanced disease has been revolutionized by new agents. More therapeutic options, coupled with the desire to extend treatment to the adjuvant setting mean that prognostic biomarkers that can be assayed from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded clinical would be valuable. microRNAs have potential to fill this need. We analyzed 377 microRNAs in 79 primary melanomas and 32 metastases using a split sample discovery strategy. From a discovery analysis using 40 thick primary melanomas (20 cases with metastasis and 20 controls without metastasis at 5 years), microRNA expression was measured by quantitative RT-PCR (QRT-PCR). MiR-10b emerged as a candidate prognostic microRNA. This was confirmed in an independent validation set of thick primary melanomas (20 cases with metastasis and 19 controls without metastasis at 5 years). In the combined discovery and validation cohorts (n=79), miR-10b expression showed a 3.7-fold increase in expression between cases and controls (P=0.005) and showed a trend of increasing expression between primary melanomas and their matched metastases (P

The association between gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and upper airway obstruction in children is recognized but not well understood. Our objective was to determine if the creation of a model of upper airway obstruction in dogs would cause GER and to determine if the GER is related to intrathoracic pressure changes. Five dogs underwent evaluation with esophageal manometry and pH probe at baseline and 1 week after creation of an upper airway obstruction. Airway obstruction was created by placement of a fenestrated cuffed tracheostomy tube, which was then capped and the cuff was inflated, requiring the animals to breathe via the fenestrations. The negative inspiratory pressure (Pes) (+/- SD) increased from 11.8 +/- 4.8 cm H(2)O at baseline to 17.6 +/- 4.9 cm H(2)O 1 week after creation of an airway obstruction (p = .029). None of the dogs had GER at baseline with a reflux index (RI) value of 0.0; however, 1 week after creation of airway obstruction, three out of five dogs had GER, with a mean RI value of 21.2 +/- 21.2. There was a significant (p = .023) correlation (r = .928) of the changes in Pes and RI values following airway obstruction. Upper airway obstruction (UAO) does cause GER in this canine model. Severity of GER is significantly correlated with Pes changes.

Background Monitoring of intrapleural pressure (IPP) is used for evaluation of lung function in a number of pathophysiological conditions. We describe a telemetric method of non-invasive monitoring of the IPP in conscious animals intermittently or continuously for a prolonged period of time. Materials and methods After IACUC approval, six mongrel dogs were used for the study. After sedation, each dog was intubated and anesthetized using 0.5% Isoflurane. A telemetric implant model TL11M2-D70-PCT from Data Science International was secured subcutaneously. The pressure sensor tip of the catheter from the implant was inserted into the pleural space, and the catheter was secured with sutures. The IPP signals were recorded at a sampling rate of 100 points/second for 30 to 60 min daily for 4 days. From these recordings, the total mean negative IPP (mmHg), and the total mean negative IPP for a standard time of 30 min were calculated. In addition, the actual inspiratory and expiratory pressures were also measured from stable recording of the IPP waveforms. Results In six dogs, the total mean ± SD negative IPP was −10.8 ± 10.6 mmHg. After normalizing with respect to acquisition time it was −13.2 ± 11.2 mmHg/min. The actual inspiratory pressure was −19.7 ± 15.3, and the expiratory pressure was −11.0 ± 12.9. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that telemetric monitoring of IPP can be performed reliably and non-invasively in conscious experimental animals. The values for IPP in our study are compatible with the results of other investigators who used different methods of IPP measurement. Further work may show this method to be helpful in understanding the pathophysiology of various breathing disorders.

Background There has been an increase in the number of elderly patients considered for cardiac surgery. Several reports have documented acceptable morbidity and mortality in patients 80 years and older. The results from surgical patients 85 years and older were analyzed. Methods The records of 89 consecutive patients 85 years and older having cardiac operations between June 1993 and May 1999 were retrospectively reviewed. For purposes of statistical analysis follow-up was considered as a minimum of one office visit to the surgeon, cardiologist, or internist at least 1 month postoperatively. Results Eighty-seven patients underwent coronary artery grafting and two patients had mitral valve replacement. Follow-up was 100% complete. The operative mortality rate was 12.3%; probability of in-hospital death was 8.2%; risk-adjusted mortality rate was 3.2%. The complication rate was 31.5%. The actuarial 1-, 3-, and 5-year survivals were as follows: 75%, 67%, and 40%. Multivariate predictors of 30-day mortality were preoperative EF, less than 30% (p = 0.029) and postoperative renal failure (p = 0.0039). Conclusions Cardiac surgery can be performed in patients 85 years and older with good results. There is an associated prolonged hospital stay for elderly patients. Consistent successful outcomes can be expected in this patient population with selective criteria identifying risk factors.