Spinal paragangliomas are rare benign tumors. The gangliocytic paragangliomas (GP) of spine are even rarer. The GPs are almost exclusively seen in duodenum. In spine, the usual site of affection is cauda equina region. The involvement of other spinal levels is far less often and includes thoracic and cervical region. We report this case of GP involving the conus medullaris region and reaching up to the upper part of cauda equina. The prognosis of spinal GP is excellent after total excision, as it is classified under WHO Grade I tumor. The patient made a full recovery after tumor removal. Clinical, radiological, and pathological characteristics of this rare tumor are discussed here along with.

Background: The prevalence of sleep deprivation is rising globally as is that of obesity. The association between the two is also gaining much evidence. The medical students may be specifically affected due to decreased sleep duration. Aims and Objectives:The aim is to study the association between decreased sleep duration and obesity by means of body mass index (BMI) as a measure of obesity among the medical students. Materials and Methods: This is a crosssectional study among 199 medical students. The participants reported their sleep duration, and their height and weight were noted. BMI was calculated from data obtained. Students were categorized according to BMI into underweight, normal, overweight, and obese and according to sleep duration into >8 h, 6-8 h, and <6 h per night. Statistical analysis was done using ANOVA and unpaired t-test using GraphPad software, and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: About 22.6% of the participants had a BMI >25 kg/m

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ABO and Rh blood group systems are the most important blood grouping systems from clinical aspect. Determination of blood group is important for blood transfusion therapy, medico-legal purposes, organ transplantation, settlement of paternity disputes etc. Nearly 25 types of blood groups are present. ABO incompatibility between mother and fetus may produce infertility or hemolytic disease of the new born, and persons of certain blood groups have an increased susceptibility to peptic ulcer or gastric cancer. The purpose of this review is to summarize the concepts and origin of ABO and other blood groups systems and Chemistry of Blood group specificity (Glycoproteins found in body fluids).

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Background: The various advantages of Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy/ cytology can be limited due to inadequacy of the specimen and expertise required for diagnosis. Cell blocks (CBs), though routinely used in cytology of body fluids, can also be used in FNA material with considerable increase in diagnostic accuracy. Aims & objectives: To compared FNA & CB as diagnostic tool and to evaluate whether cell block adds to the diagnostic accuracy of FNA. Methods: This is a two years prospective study carried out in the pathology department of a tertiary heath care hospital and medical college of South India which included the cases undergoing the FNAC, and followed by the biopsy. CB was prepared using Tissue coagulum clot (TCC) method. The smears and tissue sections were assessed for cellularity and adequacy for diagnosis. CBs were grouped into four diagnostic categories. FNA & CB were compared with histopathology (HPE) diagnosis to calculate Sensitivity, Specificity and Diagnostic Accuracy. Result: A total of 195 cases were included. Cellularity and adequacy for diagnosis were higher in CB. They were diagnostically better (superior) in 13.84% (27) cases. The sensitivity (95.77%) and diagnostic accuracy (94.87%) of CB was found to be considerably higher than FNA (78.84% and 78.46% respectively). Conclusion: In cases of suspicious/ intermediate diagnosis or diagnosis discordant with clinical ones, by FNA; should be followed with the CB to improve the diagnostic yield & to facilitate accurate diagnoses. TCC method is a simple CB method which has higher diagnostic accuracy than FNA.