Search

Objective: To determine correlation of HbA1c with serum iron and transferrin saturation in non-diabetic patients with iron deficiency. Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study was conducted at Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi from 15th September 2021 to 14th March 2022, on non-diabetic patients based on fasting blood sugar (FBS) of

Objectives: This study aimed to validate Baveno-VI recommendations for variceal screening in cACLD in our region and proposed our own cutoff values. Methods: Prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on cACLD patients from August 2020 till April 2021. Patients segregated into Group-A, having Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) of ≥ 20 kPa and platelet of ≤ 150 × 109 cells/L; and Group-B having LSM of < 20 kPa and PLT of > 150 × 109 cells/L. Gastroscopic findings were segregated into three categories, VNT, Varices Not Needing Treatment (VNNT) and No Varix (NV). ROC plots were generated for LSM and Platelet for VNT for sensitivity, specificity, Negative and Positive Predictive Values were calculated. Results: A total of 134 patients of cACLD were included. Group-A had 72 (53.7%) patients and Group-B had 62 (46.3%) patients. Group-A had 6 (8.3%) NV; 18 (25.0%) VNNT and 48 (66.7%) VNT. Group-B had 26 (41.9%) NV, 24 (38.7%) VNNT and 12 (19.4%) VNT. The sensitivity of 66.7%, specificity of 80.6% and NPV of 67.56% was obtained. Thus 19.4% VNT were missed on following Baveno VI recommendations. ROC in our study suggested cutoff value of 11.5 kPa with sensitivity of 100% and 1-sepcifity pf 78% (AUROC = 0.865; p < .001) of LSM below which screening gastroscopy could be avoided. The positive and negative predicted values for 84.85% and 100% respectively. Cut off value of platelet count for VNNT came out to be ≥ 97.5 × 109 cells/L with AUROC 0.891 (p < .001), having sensitivity of 100 % and 1-specificity of 83.3%. Conclusions: Substantial number of VNT in cACLD patients are missed by following Baveno-VI recommendations and these needs to be revised on regional basis. List If Abbreviations: AASLD: American Association for Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), AUROC: Area Under Receiver Operating Characteristic, cACLD: Compensated Advance Chronic Liver Disease (cACLD), CTP: Child-Turcotte-Pugh, DCLD: Decompensated Chronic Liver Disease (DCLD), EV: Esophageal Varices, KPa: Kilo Pascal, LSM: Liver stiffness measurement (LSM), NPV: Negative Predictive Value, NV: No Varix (NV)., PPV: Positive Predictive Value, ROC: Receiver Operating Characteristic, VNNT: Varices Not Needing Treatment (VNNT) and VNT: Varices Needing Treatment (VNT). How to cite this:Ali FS, Bader N, Zuberi BF, Rasheed T. Are we missing varices by implementing Baveno-VI recommendation of not screening patients with Compensated Advanced Chronic Liver Disease? Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(1):1-8. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.1.4796 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objective: To determine the effect of Remdesivir on liver enzymes and renal functions in SARS-CoV-2 patients. Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted at Dr. Ruth KM Pfau, Civil Hospital Karachi between 1st December 2021 to 31st January, 2022. All patients of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection who received Inj. Remdesivir for five days as per protocol of SARS-CoV-2 management were included. Biodata of selected patients including age, gender, diabetic, hypertensive status was recorded. Patients Liver Function Tests and Serum Creatinine were performed on days 0, 3, 5, 7 and 14. Results: This study included 85 patients, out of which 55 (64.7%) were males and 30 (35.3%) were females. Out of 85 patients, Remdesivir was stopped in 3 (3.5%) patients. Among these three patients Remdesivir was stopped in one patient on day three because of decrease in CrCl to

Objective: To present and validate psychometric properties of Urdu version CLDQ, yet another objective was to do exploratory factorial analysis (EFA) of CLDQ Urdu version. Methods: This Cross-sectional Analytical Study was conducted at Dr. Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi during the period Nov. 15, 2021 to Jan. 30, 2022. CLDQ Urdu questionnaire was self-administered by the patients. The questionnaire consisted of 29 items and responses were recorded on 7-point Likert type scale. Reliability testing was done by Cronbach’s α, test value of >0.7 is taken as reliable. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted with principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Adequacies for conduction of EFA depended on Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value of ≥0.5 and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity (BTS) of ≤0.05. Mean CLDQ Urdu scores were also compared with Child Class using ANOVA and post-hoc analysis was done. Results: A total of 320 patients were selected after informed consent. All conditions for adequate EFA were met (Cronbach’s α =.949; KMO = .846; BTS ≤.001). Mean CLDQ Urdu score was 156.74 in male and 133.27 in female (p

Objectives: To determine the frequency of vaccination status in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection Methods: This case-control study was conducted at Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, Pakistan between September 2021 to October 2021. All patients who had positive PCR on nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. Information regarding vaccination status and brand of vaccination administered and duration between the last dose of vaccine and positive PCR was noted. The disease status of patients was classified on admission into severe and non-severe disease. Results: Study included 143 patients, out of which 58 (40.6%) were males and 85 (59.4%) were females. Majority of our patients (78.3%) were unvaccinated. Frequency of Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection in fully vaccinated patients was less than in unvaccinated patients. The odds of developing severe COVID infection in unvaccinated patients versus vaccinated was 8.55 times higher (OR = 6.23, 95% CI 2.58-28.35). Proportion of vaccinated females was less as compared to males. Significant differences were found in severity between hypertension (p

Objectives This study was conducted to determine impact of insulin resistance using Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) score and BMI in non-hypoxemic out-patients with COPD on FEV1 using linear and polynomial regressions and to determine their correlation. Methods COPD patients of both genders were included after informed consent. Fasting blood sugar and serum insulin were done to calculate HOMA-IR, which were segregated into two groups of ≥ 3 and Results A total of 273 subjects were inducted after informed consent. There was a linear correlation between HOMA-IR and BMI (r2 0.498, p 60 predicted, but a clear negative association below that. Significant increase in HOMA-IR was seen from GOLD-2 to 3 and from GOLD-3 to 4 classes. The impact of HOMA-IR on FEV1 was 49.9% (p Conclusions The results indicate that there is a high prevalence of IR in non-hypoxemic COPD. A non-linear association is present between FEV1 & HOMA-IR which is most evident with FEV1

Objectives: To compare the efficacy of Vonoprazan based dual treatment versus PPI based treatment for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in Department of Medicine/Gastroenterology Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital, DMC during the period of 22 June to 21 September 2021. Sample size was calculated as 96 in each Group. All patients of age 18-75 years with Helicobacter Pylori Infection were inducted and randomly allocated to two groups. Group-A: were given Capsule Amoxicillin 1 gm; Tablet Clarithromycin 500 mg; Capsule Omeprazole 20 mg all medications were given twice daily for two weeks. Group-B were given Capsule Amoxicillin 1 gm; Tablet Vonoprazan 20 mg (Vonozon©, m/s Getz Pharma, Pakistan) twice daily for two weeks. Confirmation of Hp eradication was done by stool Hp antigen test four weeks after completion of treatment. Nine and four patients were lost to follow-up in Group-A & B respectively. Analysis was conducted on 87 patients in Group-A and 92 patients in Group-B. Results: Out of eighty-seven patients in Group-A and ninety-two patients in Group-B, 73 (83.9%) patients in Group-A and 86 (93.5%) patients in Group-B had negative H pylori result respectively after treatment (p = .042). Significantly higher frequencies of adverse events were observed in Group-A as compared to Group-B in nausea/vomiting (p = .035) and bloating (p = .045). Conclusion: VA-dual provides an acceptable eradication rate with fewer adverse events. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.4.5436 How to cite this:Zuberi BF, Ali FS, Rasheed T, Bader N, Hussain SM, Saleem A. Comparison of Vonoprazan and Amoxicillin Dual Therapy with Standard Triple Therapy with Proton Pump Inhibitor for Helicobacter Pylori eradication: A Randomized Control Trial . Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(4):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.4.5436 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objective: To compare 7-Day All-Cause Mortality among HDU Patients with Modified Early Warning Score of ≥5 with Those with Score of

Objective: To determine the frequency of hyponatremia in patients taking Sodium Picosulfate Solution (SPS) solution for bowel preparation prior to colonoscopy and to compare serum sodium levels before and after SPS. Methods: This interventional study was conducted at Dr. Ruth K. M. Pfau, Civil Hospital Karachi between June 2019 to November 2019. Patients undergoing colonoscopy were included in the study. All patients were given SPS. Two samples of blood for electrolytes were taken, one 30 minutes before taking SPS solution and another 30 minutes before colonoscopy. Paired sample t-test was used to determine the difference between serum sodium level before taking the colonoscopy solution and serum sodium level before colonoscopy. Results: Fifty- four patients fulfilling inclusion criteria were included. Out of the 54 patients 28 (51.9%) were males and 26 (48.1%) were females. Mean sodium levels before taking colonoscopy solution was 139.7±3.5 mEq/L and mean sodium level before colonoscopy was 138.9±3.8 mEq/L. The difference between serum sodium level before taking SPS colonoscopy solution and before colonoscopy was found to be statistically insignificant (t (53) = 1.308; p = 0.196). Conclusion: No serious adverse effects were reported in any of our patients. There was no significant difference in the serum sodium level of patients undergoing colonoscopy before taking SPS bowel preparation solution and serum sodium level before colonoscopy. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.7.2376 How to cite this:Rasheed T, Alvi H, Shaikh MA, Ali FS, Zuberi BF, Subhan W. Frequency of hyponatremia caused by sodium picosulfate solution when used as a bowel cleansing agent for colonoscopy. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(7):1651-1654. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.7.2376 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study was conducted to determine the impact of insulin resistance using Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) score and BMI in non-hypoxemic out-patients with COPD on FEVCOPD patients of both genders were included after informed consent. Fasting blood sugar and serum insulin were done to calculate HOMA-IR, which were segregated into two groups of ≥ 3 and3 labeled insulin resistance present and absent, these were compared with BMI. Patients were segregated into GOLD Grade 1-4 per GOLD Guidelines and compared with HOMA-IR and BMI. Curve and linear regressions, multivariate and univariate analysis of HOMA-IR with BMI, FVC, and FEVA total of 273 subjects were inducted after informed consent. There was a linear correlation between HOMA-IR and BMI (rThe results indicate that there is a high prevalence of IR in non-hypoxemic COPD. A nonlinear association is present between FEV1 and HOMA-IR which is most evident with FEV160% predicted.

Objective: To determine effect of pre-endoscopy intake of simethicone solution on endoscopic mucosal visibility. Methodology: A randomized, single blinded placebo control trial was done in patients undergoing oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy for any indication at DOTs Endoscopy Suite, CHK during the period of April to June 2019. Informed consent was taken. Patients were randomly allocated in two groups. Group-A received placebo while Group-B received Simethicone. Evaluation of mucosal visibility was assessed at 4 sites (oesophagus, fundus, antrum & duodenum) by previously validated scoring. Mean of visibility scores were compared in two groups. Results: Two hundred and forty-eight patients were inducted and randomly allocate to two groups of 124 each. Mean of total sum of scores in Group-A was 8.14 ±2.44 and that of Group-B was 5.80 ±1.75 (p

Objective: To determine frequency of thrombocytopenia in patients with Chronic Hepatitis C infection. Methods: A 6 months cross sectional study was carried out to determine frequency of thrombocytopenia in all patients admitted with chronic hepatitis c infection in all medical units at Civil Hospital Karachi, from April 2, 2012 to October 1, 2012. Patients with platelet count 9 in Grade C. Results: Out of 141 patients, 46(32.6%) were male and 65(46%) were female with 1.17:1 male to female ratio. The average age of patients was 47.25 ± 11.52 years (95%CI: 45.33 to 49.17). Similarly average duration of illness was 3.06 ± 1.78 Years (Range 8 months to 9 Years) and average platelet count was 165156.74± 176324.9. Seventy five patients (53%) had thrombocytopenia (platelet count

Objective: To determine effect of pre-endoscopy intake of simethicone solution on endoscopic mucosal visibility. Methods: A randomized, single blinded placebo control trial was done in patients undergoing oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy for any indication at DOTs Endoscopy Suite, CHK during the period of April to June 2019. Informed consent was taken. Patients were randomly allocated in two groups. Group-A received placebo while Group-B received Simethicone. Evaluation of mucosal visibility was assessed at 4 sites (oesophagus, fundus, antrum & duodenum) by previously validated scoring. Mean of visibility scores were compared in two groups. Results: Two hundred and forty-eight patients were inducted and randomly allocate to two groups of 124 each. Mean of total sum of scores in Group-A was 8.14 ±2.44 and that of Group-B was 5.80 ±1.75 (p

Objective: To determine number of sessions of Endoscopic variceal band ligation required to obliterate the esophageal varices. Methods: This study was conducted at Civil Hospital Karachi between June 2018 to April 2019. All patients undergoing endoscopic Variceal Band Ligation (EVBL) were inducted. Number of sessions of band ligation required to obliterate the varices were recorded. Number of EVBL sessions were correlated with Child-Pugh’s Score and etiology of CLD by χ2 test, while it was compared with duration of Chronic Liver Disease (CLD) by One-way ANOVA test. Results: One hundred ninety-two patients fulfilling selection criteria were admitted after informed consent. These included 101 (52.6%) males and 91 (47.4%) females. Most common cause of cirrhosis was HCV (66.7%) in our patients. Most of the patients were in Child Class-B (71.9%). Majority of patients (52.6%) underwent 3 sessions of EVBL while 68 (35.4%) underwent 4 sessions of EVBL. Duration of CLD was analyzed with number of sessions of EVBL by One-Way ANOVA test and it showed significant more sessions of EVBL were done with longer duration of CLD (p

Objectives: To document frequency of non-specific impairment of lung functions (NILF) in patients of HCV and to compare according to gender, genotype, liver fibrosis score and smoking status. Methods: Patients of chronic hepatitis C were included after informed consent. Demographic data was recorded, and they underwent baseline investigations, fibroscan, abdominal ultrasound and PFT. Patients were segregated on basis of gender, fibroscan stages and smoking status. NILF was labelled if any two of three criteria are fulfilled (a) FVC < 80% of Predicted, (b) FEV1 < 80% Predicted, (c) FEV1/FVC ≥ 70. Results: Two hundred thirty four patients were of chronic HCV who fulfilled the selection criteria were inducted in study. These included 49.6% males and 50.4% females. There were 15.0% smokers, 16.2% were ex-smokers while 68.8% were never smokers. NILF was present in 130 (55.6%) out of which 61.5% were female and 38.5% were male (p

Objectives: To document frequency of non-specific impairment of lung functions (NILF) in patients of HCV and to compare according to gender, genotype, liver fibrosis score and smoking status. Methods: Patients of chronic hepatitis C were included after informed consent. Demographic data was recorded, and they underwent baseline investigations, fibroscan, abdominal ultrasound and PFT. Patients were segregated on basis of gender, fibroscan stages and smoking status. NILF was labelled if any two of three criteria are fulfilled (a) FVC

Objective: To determine level and factors of job satisfaction among doctors working in tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan. Methods: This is a multi-center cross-sectional survey conducted among Post graduate trainees, medical officers, consultants and faculty doctors. Job satisfaction was measured using 35 specific questions about sources of work-related stress and sources of work-related satisfaction. Satisfaction was defined if mean score of a factor was≥3.0, where factors were rated using a 5-point Linkert scale ranging from 1 (completely dissatisfied) to 5 (completely satisfied). Results: In this study 373 doctors participated, out of which 215(57.6%) were males. Over all mean satisfaction score was of 2.69 ±0.37. Departmental mean satisfaction scores were Internal medicine 2.71 ±0.35, Medical subspecialties 2.63 ±0.38, Surgical and allied 2.73 ±0.45. Designation means were Consultant 2.87 ±0.38, Faculty 2.78 ±0.44, Medical officer/ Registrar 2.50 ±0.32, Post graduate trainee 2.71 ±0.45. Public and private sector means satisfaction scores were 2.53 ±0.80 and 2.92 ±0.84 respectively. Conclusion: Job dissatisfaction was seen among doctors from all the tiers and departments. Public sector doctors were more dissatisfied than private sector doctors. Increasing age, duration of current posting and working experience, positively correlated with satisfaction level.

Objective: To determine level and factors of job satisfaction among doctors working in tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan. Methods: This is a multi-center cross-sectional survey conducted among Post graduate trainees, medical officers, consultants and faculty doctors. Job satisfaction was measured using 35 specific questions about sources of work-related stress and sources of work-related satisfaction. Satisfaction was defined if mean score of a factor was ≥3.0, where factors were rated using a 5-point Linkert scale ranging from 1 (completely dissatisfied) to 5 (completely satisfied). Results: In this study 373 doctors participated, out of which 215(57.6%) were males. Over all mean satisfaction score was of 2.69±0.37. Departmental mean satisfaction scores were Internal medicine 2.71±0.35, Medical subspecialties 2.63±0.38, Surgical and allied 2.73±0.45. Designation means were Consultant 2.87±0.38, Faculty 2.78±0.44, Medical officer/Registrar 2.50±0.32, Post graduate trainee 2.71±0.45. Public and private sector means satisfaction scores were 2.53±0.80 and 2.92 ±0.84 respectively. Conclusion: Job dissatisfaction was seen among doctors from all the tiers and departments. Public sector doctors were more dissatisfied than private sector doctors. Increasing age, duration of current posting and working experience, positively correlated with satisfaction level. How to cite this:Ali FS, Zuberi BF, Rasheed T, Shaikh MA. Why doctors are not satisfied with their job-current status in tertiary care hospitals. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(1):205-210. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.1.72 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objective: To determine frequency of Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy in illiterate patients with compensated cirrhosis. Methods: Illiterate patients with compensated cirrhosis with F4 Score on Shear-wave Elastography were selected for study after informed consent. Sample size was estimated at 106. Selected patients were subjected to two tests for detection of MHE, Number Connection Test A and Block Design Test. Patients taking ≥ 30 seconds were labelled as Positive for MHE. Result: Out of 110 selected patients 10.9% were alcoholics and in 8.2% of patients no hepatic virus infection was detected. HCV was positive in 48.2% patients while HBV was positive in 13.6% of patients. MHE was detected in 72 (65.5%) of patients. Major differences were found in MHE Stage II & III by two tests. Over all BDT detected more cases and gave higher Staging in Stage II & III as compared to NCT-A test. Conclusion: Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy (MHE) could be detected in illiterate patients using NCT-A and BDT Tests.

Objectives: To determine the frequency of dyslipidemias in patients with stroke and to compare the lipid levels in ischemic andhemorrhagic stroke patients. Study design: An observational study. Setting: Medical wards of Civil Hospital Karachi. Period: January 2010 toJune 2011. Methodology: A total of three hundred and fifty- five patients above the age of 18 years with clinical evidence of stroke. CT scanbrain and fasting lipid levels were done in all patients. The lipid levels were compared between the ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke patients.Data was analyzed with SPSS version 16.0. Results: Out of the 355 patients 161 (45.4%) had dyslipidemia. Among the dyslipidemic patients,there was not a statistically significant difference in serum cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL and HDL levels between ischemic andhemorrhagic stroke. (p- value > 0.05). Conclusions: There is a high frequency of dyslipidemia in stroke patients. While comparing ischemicand hemorrhagic strokes there was not a significant difference between the various lipid fractions.