A retrospective evaluation of the status of soil-transmitted helminthic infection in Nepal during the period from 1985 to 1992 was conducted at the Parasitology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, TU Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu. An average of 6,537 faecal samples were examined each year for the presence of various types of intestinal parasites. The annual rate of positivity of these samples for soiltransmitted helminthiasis ranged from 18.0 to 36.6%. The annual incidence decreased every successive calender year in both adults and children, irrespective of sex. Among the various types of helminths, the most common was Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm), followed by hookworm. The incidence of A. lumbricoides remained constant throughout the study period, while that of other parasites markedly decreased each year.

A serosurvey of Toxoplasma gondii infection in apparently healthy subjects (n = 404) living in Achham (n = 215) and Dang (n = 189) districts in western Nepal was carried out. An interview with 249 participants, each representing a household, was also conducted. This interview pertained to their meat eating habits and the keeping of cats in their houses. Toxoplasma antibodies were detected by using the microlatex agglutination test. The overall seroprevalence was 65.3% with no significant difference in the two districts (Achham: 66.9% and Dang: 63.5%) included (p = 0.546). Females and the Indo-Aryan ethnic-group showed marginally higher prevalence compared with their male (p = 0.545) and Tibeto-Burman (p = 0.075) counterparts. The majority of the infections was found to have occurred during childhood. The frequency of meat eating in western and eastern regions differed greatly (p = 0.000) with the people in the eastern region being frequent meat eaters than those in the western region. About one-third of the subjects, all Indo-Aryans, in the western region had the raw meat eating habit but none in the eastern region. Approximately 7.0% of households in both western and eastern regions kept cats. The present findings demonstrated a typical role of meat eating habits of people in the high Toxoplasma seroprevalence in Nepal.

Background and Aims: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) refers to a group of clinical symptoms consistent with new onset or worsening ischemic symptoms. ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and unstable angina (UA) are the three types of ACS. The objectives were to study the risk factors prevalence, angiographic distribution and severity of coronary artery stenosis in ACS among patients admitted in Cardiology Department of Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Center (MCVTC). Methods: This is a restrospective study of 419 ACS patients admitted and treated in MCVTC from November 2017 to October 2018. Patients were divided into STEMI, NSTEMI and UA then analyzed for various risk factors, angiographic patterns and severity of coronary artery disease. Results: Mean age of presentation was 59.3Å}12.8 years. Majority were male 317(75.7%). Most patients had STEMI 252 (60.1%) followed by NSTEMI 98 (23.4%) and UA 69 (16.5 %). Risk factors: smoking was present in 241 (57.5%), hypertension in 212 (50.6%), diabetes in 144 (34.4%), dyslipidemia in 58 (13.8%). Single-vessel disease was present in 34.6 % patients, double- vessel disease was present in 27.44 % patients and triple vessel disease was present in 26.3 % patients, left main disease in 1.4 % patients. Normal coronaries were present in 6.4% patients and minor coronary artery disease in 3.8 % patients. Conclusions: STEMI was the most common presentation. Three quarters of ACS were male patients. Smoking was most prevalent risk factor. Single vessel involvement was the most common CAG finding in all spectrum of ACS. Diabetic patients had more multivessel disease.

Introduction: Coronary Angiogram and Percutaneous Coronary Interventions are commonly performed via the femoral route. Then, transradial coronary catheterization became a popular & default technique due to less vascular access site complications and bleeding as compared to femoral route. Distal puncture of the radial artery through the anatomical snuff box access, however, has recently been shown potential benefit, like comfort to patients and operators, as well as maintenance of blood flow through the superficial palmar arch, in case of radial artery occlusion. Our aim was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of this new approach. Methods: A cross-sectional observational prospective study of patients underwent invasive diagnostic or therapeutic coronary procedures through the distal trans-radial access and traditional radial access. The primary endpoints were to access difficulties and in-hospital access-site related complications. Results: In 2 months, 190 patients underwent coronary procedures, of which 82 (43%) were selected in both distal transradial & traditional radial group. In 2 (2.4%) & 3 (3.6%) cases, distal radial & traditional radial access cannulation was unsuccessful respectively (p > 0.05). The mean age was 57.7 ± 10 & 57.2 ± 10 years in successful distal transradial & traditional radial cases respectively. There were no any major vascular complications in distal transradial group while there were 2 vascular complications in traditional radial group (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Distal transradial access is feasible and safe in selected cases, when performed by experienced operators. Larger case series and randomized trials are required to determine its efficacy in reducing vascular complications when comparing to the traditional technique.

The clinical data of 30 eyes with intraocular epithelial invasion were correlated to the histopathological findings (15 iridocyclectomies, four diagnostic iridectomies, one corneal button, ten globes). The diffuse (46.7%) and cystic (53.3%) types occurred with equal frequency. The correlation to the clinical data makes the relationship between the type of epithelial invasion and the pathogenetic mechanism clear: the cystic type occurs more frequently after perforating injuries (nine out of 13 patients), the diffuse type after intraocular surgery (nine out of 14 patients). Sixteen patients with intraocular epithelial ingrowth had secondary glaucoma preoperatively. In this group diffuse epithelial invasion predominates: of 14 patients with the diffuse type 12 had high intraocular pressure, while this was only the case in four out of 16 patients with cystic epithelial invasion. The multifactorial genesis of secondary glaucoma in eyes with epithelial ingrowth in discussed.

Background and Aims: Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) is the preferred method of revascularization in Acute ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Our aim was to study the clinical profile and outcomes of patients who underwent PCI for STEMI at tertiary cardiac centre of Nepal. Methods: It is a retrospective, single centre study, performed at Tribhuvan University, Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre, Kathmandu, Nepal. All patients who underwent PCI for STEMI from November 2015 to July 2018 were enrolled in this study. All the data were collected from hospital registry and cath lab records. Results: The Study showed that out of 232 patients who presented with STEMI, 74.5% were male with average age of 57.39 years. The mean time of presentation after onset of symptom/s was 17.5 hours. About 66% patients presented in less than 12 hours of symptoms onset, 21% presented at 12-24 hours of symptoms onset and 13% patients presented late. Primary PCI was done in 87% of patients. Almost all patients (98.2%) underwent coronary artery stenting with drug eluting stents. Multivessel PCI during index procedure was done in 7 patients. TIMI III flow following PCI was achieved in 97% cases. Average LVEF at discharge was 44.73%. There were 8 deaths, all after Primary PCI. In-hospital mortality rates for patients presenting with and without cardiogenic shock were 38.46% and 1.59% respectively. The overall mortality rate was 3.98%. Conclusion: This study has reemphasized that PCI is effective in the management of STEMI cases in Nepal with improving mortality rates and decreasing complications. Minimizing the delayed presentation after the onset of symptoms should be one of the prime focuses for effective management of STEMI.

We report an annual prevalence of hookworm infection among Nepalese as studied at Par

INTRODUCTION: Access to hemodialysis is limited in Nepal due to geographical terrain and hemodialysis centers being mostly limited to major city. Therefore, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis is likely to be a better option in Nepal. In 1998, CAPD was initiated in Nepal without success. High rate of peritonitis was cited for failure. Hot tropical climate and poor sense of hygiene among patients was thought to be responsible for the high rate of peritonitis. A new CPD program was started in 2002 in our institute. We reviewed the incidence of peritonitis and factors predisposing. METHODS: All chronic renal failure patients on CAPD since 2002 to 2007 were included in the study. They were followed up for complications and treatment outcome. Patients complicated with peritonitis (N=19) and patients without peritonitis (N=31) were compared. RESULTS: A total of 50 patients were enrolled and mean duration of dialysis was 12 month per patients (Total patients month=600). Twenty six episodes of peritonitis in 19 patients were recorded during this period. Fourteen episode of peritonitis were culture positive. Culture sterile peritonitis was recorded in 12 episodes. Low serum albumin was predisposing factors for peritonitis and peritonitis rate was higher in end stage disease related due to diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSION: Peritonitis rate was comparable in our new program. Thus peritonitis is not a limiting factor for growth of CAPD in Nepal. Hypoalbuminemic and diabetic patients are prone for CAPD related peritonitis.  KEYWORDS: continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, Peritonitis, Peritonitis rate.