Thymoglobulin (Thymoglobulin®; Genzyme, Cambridge, Mass., USA) is a polyclonal antibody which has been used in the field of transplantation over the last four decades. With an initial hesitancy, it is widely used now in the prevention and treatment of rejection following renal transplantation. Thymoglobulin's lack of nephrotoxic properties (unlike calcineurin inhibitors) may potentiate it to be a very useful induction therapy during the early days following transplantation, particularly in a donation after circulatory death programme. More recently its role in conjunction with inhibitors of terminal complement activation has been shown to be beneficial in cross-match-positive transplantation. This review article consolidates up-to-date available evidence to address the therapeutic role of thymoglobulin in immunological tolerance, ischemia perfusion, live donor transplantation, delayed graft function, prevention and treatment of rejection, graft survival and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder following renal transplantation.

Acute pancreatitis(AP) is one of the common causes of acute abdomen and known to be associated with high morbidity and mortality in severe cases. Though most common causes of AP are cholelithiasis and alcoholism, it has also been reported in association with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Triad of AP, hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG) and DKA is rare co-association and here the causal factor of AP is still not fully established. We report a case of AP in a DKA patient with recent diagnosis of hyperlipidaemia and diabetes. Usually AP has been associated with severe HTG; interestingly, our patient showed only moderate raise in triglycerides but still suffered AP during DKA. Hence, it raises question about the real culprit in this enigmatic triad.

Meckel's diverticulum is the commonest congenital malformation of gastrointestinal tract and represents a persistent remnant of the omphalomesenteric duct. Although it mostly remains silent, it can present as bleeding, perforation, intestinal obstruction, intussusception, and tumours. These complications, especially bleeding, tend to be more common in the paediatric group and intestinal obstruction in adults. Stone formation (lithiasis) in Meckel's diverticulum is rare. We report a case of Meckel's diverticulum lithiasis which presented as an acute abdomen in an otherwise healthy individual. The patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy which revealed a perforated Meckel's diverticulum with lithiasis; a segmental resection with end-to-end anastomosis of small bowel was performed. Patient recovery was delayed due to pneumonia, discharged on day 20 with no further complications at 6 months following surgery.

No abstract

No abstract