Abdominal tuberculosis is an ancient problem with modern nuances in diagnosis and management. The two major forms are tuberculous peritonitis and gastrointestinal tuberculosis (GITB), while the less frequent forms are esophageal, gastroduodenal, pancreatic, hepatic, gallbladder and biliary tuberculosis. The clinicians need to discriminate the disease from the close mimics: peritoneal carcinomatosis closely mimics peritoneal tuberculosis, while Crohn's disease closely mimics intestinal tuberculosis. Imaging modalities (ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and occasionally positron emission tomography) guide the line of evaluation. Research in diagnostics (imaging and endoscopy) has helped in the better acquisition of tissue for histological and microbiological tests. Although point-of-care polymerase chain reaction-based tests (e.g. Xpert Mtb/Rif) may provide a quick diagnosis, these have low sensitivity. In such situations, ancillary investigations such as ascitic adenosine deaminase and histological clues (granulomas, caseating necrosis, ulcers lined by histiocytes) may provide some specificity to the diagnosis. A diagnostic trial of antitubercular therapy (ATT) may be considered if all diagnostic armamentaria fail to clinch the diagnosis, especially in TB-endemic regions. Objective evaluation with clear endpoints of response is mandatory in such situations. Early mucosal response (healing of ulcers at two months) and resolution of ascites are objective criteria for early response assessment and should be sought at two months. Biomarkers, especially fecal calprotectin for intestinal tuberculosis, have also shown promise. For most forms of abdominal tuberculosis, six months of ATT is sufficient. Sequelae of GITB may require endoscopic balloon dilatation for intestinal strictures or surgical intervention for recurrent intestinal obstruction, perforation or massive bleeding.
Introduction: There is inconsistent and conflicting evidence regarding the risk of cervical dysplasia/cancer in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This systematic review was conducted to determine the risk of cervical abnormalities in patients with IBD and also estimate the comparative risk with respect to the general population. Methods: We searched various databases for studies which reported about rates of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN), cervical cancer or high risk HPV in IBD patients. We also extracted the rates of CIN, cervical cancer and high risk HPV in controls. Pooled prevalence of these lesions in IBD and relative risk in IBD patients in comparison to the healthy controls was estimated. We excluded studies which did not provide relevant data. All analysis were done in R version 4.1.1 using the meta and metafor packages. The random effects model was used with inverse variance approach for pooled prevalence and M-H method for calculation of relative risk. Results: We searched Embase, Medline and Pubmed and identified 522 relevant papers on 25th April 2022. Duplicates were removed and after initial screening, 44 papers were selected for full text screening. Eventually, 9 papers (5 case control and 4 cohort studies of 53,781 patients with IBD) were included in the quantitative synthesis. The pooled prevalence of CIN, cervical cancer and high risk HPV in the IBD population was 0.04 (0.01 -0.11, I 2 5 100%). Patients with IBD were at a greater risk of cervical dysplasia/cancer when compared with healthy controls (relative risk 3.01, 1.44 -6.31, I 2 5 100%).
Conclusion:The patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at a heightened risk of developing cervical abnormalities like CIN,cervical cancer and high risk HPV lesions as compared to normal controls. These findings point to the importance of undergoing screening at regular intervals and significance of HPV vaccination in IBD patients in aiding to reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer.
Background: Transgender people are those who by definition, have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their assigned sex at birth. The Government of Tamil Nadu was the first Indian state to pioneer welfare schemes for transgenders such as formation of transgender welfare board, creation of a third column for gender in college application forms. The study aims to assess the discrimination faced by the transgenders in health care facilities. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among 50 transgenders using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Among 47 responendents, 17.6% of the transgenders had delayed going to hospital fearing discrimination. Harassment either in physical or verbal form experienced by 41.2% and 37.5% faced discrimination in form of judgemental looks or comments, while 5.9% of the transgenders were denied treatment altogether in the hospital. Denial of equal treatment experienced by 52.9% of the study participants. Conclusions: The study highlights that transgenders even today face considerable discrimination which refrains them from assessing health care facilities. Even though we in Tamil Nadu have pioneered with the formation of transgender board, free sex re-assignment surgery in government health care facilities, the utilisation by the transgenders are far from behind. This may be attributed due to the discrimination faced by the transgenders.
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