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Cancer Patterns In Quetta (1998-1999), Yasmin Bhurgri, Hadi Bhurgri, A. Ajam, Shahid Pervez, S. H. Hasan, A. Usman, J. A. Khan, Q. Kasi, I. Kasi, A. G. Rasool, A. Bhurgri, N. Faridi, J. Malik

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Introduction: Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, is located at latitude 30,25; longitude 67.00. It has a population of 759,245; 425,474 males (56%) and 333,771 females (44%); Census 1998. The majority of residents are Persian or Baluchi speaking Baluchs.

Methodology: The cancer cases from Quetta reported to the Karachi Cancer Registry were reviewed. The data included cases from the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Pathology Department (Quetta collection point) and health care facilities in Karachi. The residents of Baluchistan were ascertained and cancer cases residents of Quetta identified with the help of recorded addresses and retraceable telephone numbers.

Results: During a …

A Comparison Of 'Cough And Cold' And Pneumonia: Risk Factors For Pneumonia In Children Under 5 Years Revisited, Zafar Fatmi, Franklin White

Community Health Sciences

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify and measure the risk factors differentiating upper respiratory infection from pneumonia.Methods: The World Health Organization's acute respiratory infection case management criteria were used. We studied 259 cases of pneumonia (cases) and 187 cases of 'cough and cold' (controls) among children under 5 years of age at a large tertiary-care hospital in Gilgit, Pakistan. While previous studies used healthy controls, in this study we used controls who had mild infection ('cough and cold').Results: In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, lack of immunization (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.54, 95% CI 1.0, 2.3), previous history …

Leiomyosarcoma Presenting As A Spontaneously Ruptured Renal Tumor-Case Report, Mohammad Moazzam, M Hammad Ather, Akber S. Hussainy

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background:
Ruptured renal neoplasms can be a catastrophic clinical presentation. Angiomyolipoma is the commonest renal tumor which presents in this fashion. Renal sarcomas are rare renal neoplasms. Renal leiomyosarcomas are the most common histological subtype of renal sarcomas, accounting for approximately 50-60% of the reported cases. These tumors are usually peripherally located and appear to arise from either the renal capsule or smooth muscle tissue in the renal pelvic wall.
Case presentation:
A 70 years old male, with hypertension and ischemic disease, developed acute left flank pain. The general physician evaluated this using ultrasound, which showed a solid left renal …

Clinical And Demographic Characteristics Of Psychiatric Inpatients Admitted Via Emergency And Non-Emergency Routes At A University Hospital In Pakistan, E U. Syed, S Mehmud, R Atiq

Department of Psychiatry

Objective: To examine the differences in the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients admitted through emergency versus non-emergency routes and see if these two groups of patients were significantly different from each other with respect to criteria mentioned in the title.Methods: Retrospective data was analysed in all 2576 patient records were reviewed and these patients were divided in two groups with respect to their mode of admission (emergency vs non emergency). These groups were then compared with respect to sex, age, length of stay, discharge status and diagnostic categories. Statistical package for social sciences version 8.0 (SPSS 8.0) was used …

Aku Newsletter : October 2002, Volume 3, Issue 2, Aga Khan University

AKU Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Ischemic Stroke In Young Adults Of South Asia, A A. Razzaq, B A. Khan, S M. Baig

Section of Neurology

Objective: To study the risk factors, etiology and management of ischemic stroke in young adults in a South Asian population.

Methods: Retrospective study conducted at a large tertiary hospital in Karachi. One hundred and eighteen patients between fifteen and forty-five years admitted over a five year period with a diagnosis of ischemic infarct constituted the study population. The study variables included the full clinical spectrum, spanning historical, laboratory, radiological and outcome parameters.

Results: Forty-three percent of patients were hypertensive and 30% were diabetic. The combination of diabetes and hypertension was found in 19.5% of patients, intra-cranial and carotid …

The Obesity Pandemic--Implications For Pakistan, D J. Nanan

Community Health Sciences

Background: Adverse health outcomes are associated with overweight and obesity. In February 2000, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, the International Association for the Study of Obesity and the International Obesity Task Force published provisional recommendations for adults for the Asia-Pacific region: overweight at Body Mass Index (BMI) > or = 23 and obesity at BMI > or = 25.Methods: Data from the National Health Survey of Pakistan, 1990-94 were reanalyzed using BMI cut-offs recommended for Asians to reassess prevalence of overweight and obesity in the adult Pakistani population.Results: Prevalence of obesity (BMI > or = 25) in 25-44 year olds …

Health Needs Of Clients As Reported By Medical Practitioners From Two Districts Of Sindh, M A. Mahmood, M M. Kadir, H A. Afsar, N Barney

Community Health Sciences

Objective: To identify the major health and reproductive health problems for which people consult local medical practitioners.METHODOLOGY: Forty-one practitioners completed a self-administered questionnaire. A startified purposive sample of practitioners was selected by asking the community members from various towns and rural areas to identify practitioners who have most busy practices and are perceived as providing quality care.Results: Nine of the forty-one practitioners were females. Twenty-two were consulted mainly by women and another seventeen by an equal number of women and men. Practitioners pointed to malnutrition, malaria, gastrointestinal and respiratory tract problems as being the most common ailments. They identified menstrual …

Health Sector Reform In Pakistan: Future Directions, A Islam

Community Health Sciences

The health care system in Pakistan is beset with numerous problems--structural fragmentation, gender insensitivity, resource scarcity, inefficiency and lack of functional specificity and accessibility. Faced with a precarious economic situation characterized by heavy external debt and faltering productivity, Pakistan's room to maneuver with health sector reform is quite limited. Although the recently announced Devolution Plan provides a window of opportunity, it must go beyond and introduce far-reaching changes in the health and social sectors. Regionalization of health care services in an integrated manner with functional specificity for each level of care is an essential step. Integration of current vertical programs …

Predictors Of Mortality In Brain Abscess, H U. Qureshi, A A. Habib, A A. Siddiqui, T Mozaffar, A R. Sarwari

Section of Neurosurgery

Objective: Brain abscess carries significant morbidity and mortality. Our objective was to elucidate the clinical presentation of brain abscess and to assess predictors of mortality in these patients.
Methods: All patients with a brain abscess presenting to the Aga Khan University Hospital, a tertiary care referral center in Karachi, Pakistan, were studied retrospectively. Statistical analysis involved univariate analysis and a logistic regression model.
Results: Among the 66 patients analyzed, a distant metastatic focus of infection was the most commonly identified predisposing factor (29%). Otogenic infection was the commonest contiguous source and sinusitis was noticeably absent. Multiple abscesses were frequent (35%). …

Health Sector Reform In Pakistan: Why Is It Needed?, A Islam

Community Health Sciences

Objective: The health care system in Pakistan is beset with numerous problems--structural fragmentation, gender insensitivity, resource scarcity, inefficiency and lack of accessibility and utilization. Moreover, Pakistan is faced with a precarious economic situation, burdened by heavy external debt and faltering productivity and growing poverty. These circumstances, on the one hand, underscore the need for innovative health sector reform and, on the other, indicate the complexity of the task involved. The recently announced Devolution Plan of the Government of Pakistan (GOP) that seeks to introduce elected district level local bodies, offers an opportunity to assess the existing publicly funded health care …

Communicating About Aids-Changes In Understanding And Coping With Help Of Language In Urban Kagera, Tanzania, Aldin Mutembei, Maria Emmelin, Joe Lugalla, Lars Dahlgren

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Faced with the problems of HIV/AIDS, people have to find ways to communicate around them. The aim of this paper is to mirror changes over time in the Kagera people's social cognition regarding HIV/AIDS, using their own language as a tracer of this process. Focus group discussions and personal and group interviews conducted during 1992 to 1995 in urban Bukoba, Kagera, constitute the basis for an analysis of metaphorical expressions in use since 1985. Pronounced uncertainty is later transformed into a deeper understanding of the pandemic and an increased disposition to cope with the situation. Knowledge about the socio-linguistic expressions …

Ethics In Journalism And Cheryl Kernot: A Colloquium, Rhonda Breit, John Harrison, Martin Hirst, Trina Mclellan, Desley Bartlett

Graduate School of Media and Communications

Ethics asks the 'ought' question. Ought Laurie Oakes have disclosed Cheryl Kernot's affair with Gareth Evans? Ought the affair be taken into account in any assessment of Kernot's motives for defecting to the ALP? Ought Kernot have disclosed the affair to ALP leaders before her defection? Ought Kernot have omitted the affair from her memoir? Ought politicians' private lives be paraded in public? Ought journalists re-consider their treatment of high-profile women in public life? All these issues and more are discussed in the colloquium below.

Long-Term Outcomes Of Acute Myeloid Leukemia In Adults In Pakistan, G. N. Kakepoto, S. N. Adil, Mohammad Khurshid, I. A. Bumey, S. Zaki

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: To describe the long-term outcomes of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and to study clinico­pathological features at presentation, morphological subtypesand remission rates.
Methods: Demographic information, response to therapy and survival of patients (>14 years of age) admitted between January 1988 to August 1996 with acute myeloid leukaemia was retrieved and analysed.
Results: Seventy-four patients were admitted with a diagnosis of AML during the study period. There were 43 males and 31 females. Age ranged between 15 and 70 years with a mean age of 38 years. The most common presenting feature was fever (67.5%) and the …

Acute Myocardial Infarction: Profile And Management At A Tertiary Care Hospital In Karachi, Z Samad, A Rashid, M A U Khan, S Mithani, M H. Khan, M S. Khan, S S. Malik, U S. Nehal, S Sami, M Karim

Community Health Sciences

Objective: Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) is a rising epidemic in developing countries. While studies in the West have established the characteristics and management of AMI patients, comprehensive data reflecting these issues in the Pakistani subjects is scarce. This study examined the profile and management of AMI in patients hospitalized at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: Three hundred forty four patients admitted in 1998 with the diagnosis of AMI met our inclusion criteria. Data on presentation, investigations, monitoring and therapy was obtained. Chi-square and t tests were used to analyze the data.Results: Out of 344 patients with AMI, 71% …

Health-Seeking Behavior Of Karachi Women With Reproductive Tract Infections, Lubna Ishaq Bhatti, Fariyal F. Fikree

Community Health Sciences

To explore the contextual factors influencing health-seeking behavior of women in Karachi regarding reproductive tract infections, 18 women with reproductive tract infections from different clinics and community settings were identified and in-depth interviews were conducted. Physicians in our study diagnosed a woman to have lower reproductive tract infection if she complained of malodorous vaginal discharge with or without perineal itching; and to have pelvic inflammatory disease or upper reproductive tract infection if she had any two of the following complaints: malodorous vaginal discharge, menstrual irregularities, lower abdominal pain or dyspareunia. Women consulted a variety of healthcare providers in their pursuit …

Improvement In Quality Of Life Indices: The Role Of Women’S Literacy In Rural Punjab, Pakistan, Iffat Farah

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.