Search

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The pathology of acne is vaguely understood to date, current epidemiologic evidence in Eastern populations indicates that consumption of chocolate, milk intake, fatty products, and glycemic load may be involved. Previously little research has been conducted highlighting the possible relationship between diet and acne among patients in Pakistan. The objective of this study was to identify the association of acne vulgaris and dietary intake patterns. METHODOLOGY: An observational study enrolled 246 participants, both genders, 16 to 40 years of age, diagnosed with Acne Vulgaris recruited from a tertiary-care hospital out-patient clinic in Karachi. The structured questionnaire consisted of various methods for assessing nutritional parameters. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS, the association of Acne was tested with dietary habits using Pearson-Chi Square test. Food items with a p-value less than 0.05 in the Chi Square test were considered in Binary logistic regression for estimating the risk for Acne with a 95% confidence interval (C.I.). RESULTS: Fifty-two percent of participants were found with mild acne, use of yogurt, ice cream butter, margarine, French fries, chocolate, bakery chips, white bread, vegetable, fruits, cake dates, and pickles give a significant association with severity of acne using Fisher's Exact test p<0.05. Logistic regression showed that butter gave more risk for acne with an odds ratio of 1.11 and 95% C.I. (1.0, 9.2). CONCLUSION: It can be stated that dairy products, high glycemic index, and fatty foods are associated with acne aggravation in our population. As patients are always concerned about dietary advice, suggesting that they reduce these products would help them maintain their skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine frequency and pattern of skin changes during pregnancy. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Outpatient department of Dermatology and Gynaecology at Dow University Hospital, Ojha campus in Karachi. Period: May 10, 2013 and January 10, 2014. (8 months). Patients & Methods: It comprises 80 consecutive pregnant women with skin problem, who presented in outpatient department of Dermatology with referral cases from Obs&Gynae outpatient department. Information was collected on predesigned questionnaire after taking informed consent. Results: Total 80 pregnant women were included in study with different skin problems. The results indicate thatmost of women 72.5% presented during third trimester and 43.8% women were primigravida. Striagravidarum and lneanigra was commonest physiological changes, reported in 54%, 52% women consecutively. Eczema, utricaria and candidiasis were reported in 16.3% and 15% and 15% women consecutively. Prurigo of pregnancy was reported in 17.5% followed by pruritic folliculitis of pregnancy in 6.3% women. Conclusions: This study concluded that skin changes during pregnancy are frequent in Pakistani women. These changes could be physiological or pathological. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the utility of liver function tests (LFTs) for early recognition and prediction of severity of Dengue fever in hospitalized patients., Study Design: An analytical study., Place and Duration of Study: Services Institute of Medical Science and Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, from September - December 2010., Methodology: Admitted cases of Dengue fever were divided into 3 groups; mild, moderate and severe increases in aminotransferases. Elevation in LFTs was co-related with good or bad outcome i.e. (survival or complication free stay) or (death or complications). RESULTS were analyzed in SPSS version 18., Results: Out of the 353 patients with mean age of 37.12 ± 15.45 years, 245 (69.4%) were males and 108 (30.6%) were females. Seventy five patients (21.2%) had mild elevation of aminotransferases (2 fold increases), 265 patients (75.1%) had moderate increases (3 to 4 fold) and 13 (3.7%) had severe (> 4 fold increase). ALT was statistically higher in patients with septicemia, hepatic and renal failure (p-value ² 0.05). AST was higher in almost all complications. Prolonged hospital stay was associated with raised LFTs and greater complications and mortality. AST was found to be twice as much raised as ALT., Conclusion: AST and ALT were statistically higher in patients with worse outcome thus can lead to early recognition of high risk cases.

Objective: To determine the frequency of membranous glomerulonephritis(MGN) in the renal biopsy specimens. To observe the presenting features and the demographics to determine association, if any, between MGN and hepatitis B in these patients., Design: Descriptive study., Place and Duration of Study: The section of histopathology, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi over a period of three years (May 1999-April 2002)., Subjects and Methods: All consecutive percutaneous renal biopsy specimens received during the study period were included. A total of 1590 renal biopsy specimens were evaluated. All cases where a definitive diagnosis of MGN (stage II to IV) was made on light and/or immunofluorescence studies were included in the results. Twenty-eight cases were excluded owing to inadequate material. Cases with a presumptive diagnosis and those in stage I of MGN were also excluded. Laboratory investigations carried out include urine examination, blood urea nitrogen. (BUN), serum creatinine, 24 hours urinary protein, Hepatitis B sAg, serological tests for hepatitis C virus, ANA, dsDNA, etc. Clinical features and results of laboratory analysis were recorded along with light microscopic features and statistical analysis was carried out., Results: Out of 1562 renal biopsy specimens, 835(53.4%) cases showed primary glomerular pathology. 741(47.4% of the total) cases presented with nephrotic syndrome. Out of these in 176 cases (23.75%), findings were those of membranous glomerulonephritis followed by amyloidosis and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Among the cases with MGN, 23(13%) cases were those of secondary MGN whereas 87% were grouped under primary MGN. The male to female ratio was 2.2:1. Mean age at presentation was 29 years, median 29 years and a mode of 30 years. Nineteen cases (1.07%) were seen in children of 14 years old or less., Conclusion: The frequency of MGN was much higher in our study subjects as compared to most other regional studies. No significant association with hepatitis B was seen with only 4 out of 89 cases showing positivity for HBsAg. The pattern of disease corresponds more to that seen in the west.