Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Household Food Access And Child Malnutrition: Results From The Eight-Country Mal-Ed Study, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Maled Network Investigators, Anita K. M. Zaidi, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Ali Turab, Didar Alam, Shahida Qureshi, Aisha Khizar Yousafzai, Syed Asad Ali, Imran Ahmed, Sajad Memon, Muneera Rasheed

Woman and Child Health

Background: Stunting results from decreased food intake, poor diet quality, and a high burden of early childhood infections, and contributes to significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although food insecurity is an important determinant of child nutrition, including stunting, development of universal measures has been challenging due to cumbersome nutritional questionnaires and concerns about lack of comparability across populations. We investigate the relationship between household food access, one component of food security, and indicators of nutritional status in early childhood across eight country sites.
Methods: We administered a socioeconomic survey to 800 households in research sites in eight countries, including a …

Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Pakistan: Where Do We Stand?, Amna Butt, Zaigham Abbas, Wasim Jafri

Section of Gastroenterology

Context:

From the 1970s till the mid 1990s, hepatitis B was the most common etiological factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Pakistan. Afterwards, a shift in HCC etiology was observed with a steady rise in hepatitis C virus (HCV) related HCC cases. HCV-3a, which is the most prevalent genotype, is also most frequent in HCV related HCC. There was an increase in the proportion of non-B non-C (NBNC) HCC cases as well, which might be attributed to an increase in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Evidence Acquisition:

The age-standardized rate for HCC is 7.64/100 000 in males and 2.8/100 000 in …

Frequency Of Poor Quality Of Life And Predictors Of Health Related Quality Of Life In Cirrhosis At A Tertiary Care Hospital Pakistan, Om Parkash, Romaina Iqbal, Fatima Jafri, Iqbal Azam, Wasim Jafri

Section of Gastroenterology

Background

Cirrhosis produces variety of symptoms which eventually lead to a negative impact on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL). The general aim of this study was to evaluate the magnitude of poor HRQOL and to assess factors related with HRQOL in patients with CLD in Pakistan.

Findings

This was a cross sectional study conducted in gastroenterology outpatient clinics of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi on adult patients with cirrhosis. In this study chronic liver disease questionnaire (CLDQ) was used to assess HRQOL of these patients and CLDQ score was used as an outcome measure to determine factors related with …

The Clinical, Endoscopic And Histological Spectrum Of The Solitary Rectal Ulcer Syndrome: A Single-Center Experience Of 116 Cases, Shahab Abid, Ali Khawaja, Salima Ahmed Bhimani, Zubair Ahmad, Saeed Hamid, Wasim Jafri

Section of Gastroenterology

Background

Solitary rectal ulcer syndrome (SRUS) is an uncommon although benign defecation disorder. The aim of this study was to evaluate the variable endoscopic manifestations of SRUS and its association with other diseases.

Methods

All the patients diagnosed with SRUS histologically from January 1990 to February 2011 at The Aga Khan University, Karachi were included in the study. The medical records were reviewed retrospectively to evaluate the clinical spectrum of the patients along with the endoscopic and histological findings.

Results

A total of 116 patients were evaluated. The mean age was 37.4 ± 16.6 (range: 13–80) years, 61 (53%) of …

Virulence Markers Of Helicobacter Pylori In Patients With Diarrhoea-Dominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome., Javed Yakoob, Zaigham Abbas, S. Naz, M. Islam, Waseem Jafri

Department of Medicine

Recent studies suggest that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is associated with low-grade inflammation. This study aims to determine the distribution of Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin-associated gene A (cagA) and vacuolating cytotoxin A (vacA) alleles (e.g., s1 and s2) in Patients with diarrhoea-dominant IBS (IBS-D) as the latter causes vacuolation in colonic epithelial cells in vitro. One hundred and seventy Patients meeting Rome III criteria for IBS-D (mean age: 40 +/- 15 years) were enrolled. Gastric biopsy was assessed histologically and DNA extraction was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for H. pylori genus 16S ribosomal DNA (16S rDNA), cagA and vacA …

Relationship Between Vitamin B12, Folate And Homocysteine Levels And H. Pylori Infection In Patients With Functional Dyspepsia: A Cross-Section Study, Shahid Rasool, Shahab Abid, Mohammad Perwaiz Iqbal, Naseema Mehboobali, Ghulam Haider, Wasim Jafri

Section of Gastroenterology

Background

H. pylori infection has been associated with many micronutrient deficiencies. There is a dearth of data from communities with nutritional deficiencies and high prevalence of H. pylori infection. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of H. pylori infection on serum levels of vitamin B₁₂, folate and homocysteine in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD).

Methods

One hundred and thirty-two patients with FD undergoing gastroscopy were enrolled. The serum was analyzed for B₁₂, folate and homocysteine levels before gastroscopy. H. pylori infection was diagnosed by histopathological examination of gastric biopsies and urea breath …

Correlates Of Morbidity And Mortality In Severe Necrotizing Pancreatitis, K. M. Pal, Pashtoon Murtaza Kasi, Mohammad Tayyeb, S. M. Faisal Mosharraf, Zafar Fatmi

Community Health Sciences

Acute severe pancreatitis is associated with a high morbidity and mortality and frequently is accompanied by underlying pancreatic parenchymal necrosis. Patients with pancreatic necrosis must be identified, because the morbidity and mortality rate in this subgroup is much higher. Our objective was to compare the clinical outcomes of these patients based on the degree of pancreatic necrosis. A total of 35 patients were noted to have pancreatic necrosis. These were divided into 2 groups based on extent of necrosis: group A had less than 50% necrosis and group B had more than 50% necrosis. The rate of mortality (5% versus …