Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P S Sarma.
Capnocytophaga cynodegmi (formerly "DF-2 like organism"), a commensal organism of the canine oral cavity, is a capnophilic, gram-negative, facultative bacillus. C. cynodegmi has rarely been encountered in human diseases. We report the first known case of cellulitis, bacteremia, and pneumonitis caused by C. cynodegmi in a diabetic man from central India following a dog bite.
Eighty-five women with epilepsy were followed up for reproductive functions under the registry of epilepsy and pregnancy. 32 of them had completed the pregnancy. Their mean age was 26 years and mean seizure frequency was 0.7 during current pregnancy. Nineteen of them (59.4%) had generalized epilepsy. Nine of them were not on any anti epileptic drugs (AED), 23 women were on various AEDs, 19 being on monotherapy. Only 40% of the women were taking folic acid during pregnancy. Pregnancy ended as spontaneous abortion in one patient. Nearly one third required cesarean section. Majority (87.5%) had term babies. Three (10.7%) babies had birth asphyxia. Six babies (21.4%) had low birth weight. Congenital malformations were detected in four cases (12.5%). Malformations included neural tube defects, talipes equinovarus and other minor anomalies. These babies were exposed to sodium valproate, carbamazepine or phenobarbitone. The risk of malformation was significantly greater (p<0.05) when the mother had generalized epilepsy. The odds ratio for risk of malformation was much higher with sodium valproate (6) than that with carbamazepine (1.2) or phenobarbitone (0.8). Majority of women with epilepsy had safe pregnancy and childbirth without any aggravation of epilepsy.
To date, very few studies have investigated patients' views on the information they receive from the doctor concerning epilepsy and its management. Little information is available about the influence of doctor-patient communication and locus of control on the compliance of persons with epilepsy. We investigated, through a questionnaire-interview design, among patients attending the epilepsy clinic of a tertiary referral center in South India, their views about the provision of information by the doctor, and their compliance and locus of control. We also determined the interrelation between doctor-patient communication, compliance and locus of control. Our subjects comprised 200 adult persons with epilepsy, 113 males and 87 females, mean age 30.5 (range 18-67) years. Over one-third of the subjects received from the doctor insufficient information about epilepsy and its treatment. There was a significant positive correlation between effective doctor-patient communication and compliance. A majority of our patients had an external locus of control, which negatively influenced the compliance. Even in a comprehensive epilepsy clinic of a model tertiary referral center in a developing country, a significant proportion of patients do not receive optimal information about epilepsy from the doctor. Knowledge about their disease will encourage people with epilepsy to make informed choices, and achieve better compliance and personal control of their problems. Educating primary and secondary care physicians about the importance of doctor-patient communication in the management of epilepsy and educating the public about the positive aspects of life in epilepsy cannot be overemphasized.
PURPOSE: To ascertain the prevalence and pattern of epilepsy and to characterize and quantify knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward epilepsy among the people of the state of Kerala, which is distinguished from the rest of India by a high level of literacy and health awareness of its population. METHODS: We conducted a door-to-door survey covering the entire population of 238,102 people residing in 43,681 households in a semiurban area of central Kerala. The screening questionnaire administered by medical social workers had a sensitivity of 100% for identifying persons with epilepsy. Neurologists examined all the individuals suspected of having epilepsy. We evaluated KAP toward epilepsy among 1,118 subjects (439 males and 679 females; mean age, 33.3 years; age range, 15-85 years) from households without epilepsy in the study area. RESULTS: Through a three-phased survey, we ascertained 1,175 cases (616 males and 559 females) with active epilepsy, providing a crude point prevalence ratio of 4.9 cases per 1,000 people and an age-adjusted prevalence ratio of 4.7 cases per 1,000 population. The highest age-specific prevalence rate of 6.5 per 1,000 occurred in the 10- to 19-year-old age group. Sex-specific prevalence rates did not significantly differ. The proportion of generalized and localization-related epilepsies was 58.8% and 30.6%, respectively. Ninety-nine percent of the KAP respondents had read or heard about epilepsy. Thirty-one percent and 27% thought epilepsy was a hereditary disorder and a form of insanity, respectively. About 40% of the respondents felt that individuals with epilepsy could not be properly educated or employed. Eleven percent would object to their children having contact with epileptic children. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence and pattern of epilepsy in central Kerala, South India, do not differ from that of developed countries. Although the awareness of epilepsy among the people of Kerala was comparable to that of developed countries, the attitudes were much more negative. The need for educating the people of Kerala on epilepsy and for incorporating an adequate knowledge of epilepsy in the school curricula cannot be overemphasized.
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PURPOSE: To study the current pharmacotherapy practices of epilepsy and its economics in a developing country by correlating the epidemiology and economics of antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment in general epilepsy care and comprehensive epilepsy care. METHODS: We compared the AED-use profiles, efficacy, and tolerability at entry and at last follow-up for 972 patients seen at a comprehensive epilepsy care program in South India from 1993 to 1995. The relative cost was expressed as the average percentage of the per capita gross national product (GNP/capita) each individual spent for AED treatment. RESULTS: At entry, 562 (57.8%) subjects were receiving polytherapy; at last follow-up, 743 (76.4%) patients were receiving monotherapy, an increase of 34.3% in the use of monotherapy. One or more adverse drug reactions were reported by 28.6% of patients at entry and by 19.8% at last follow-up. The proportion of patients who were seizure free increased from 29.0 to 44.8%. Carbamazepine (CBZ) was the most frequently used AED, followed by diphenylhydantoin (DPH), valproate (VPA), and phenobarbitone (PB). The relative cost (% GNP/capita) for standard AEDs were as follows: PB, 4.4%; DPH, 7.1%; CBZ, 16.8%; and VPA, 29.5%. The average annual cost of AED treatment per patient in U.S. dollars was $64.32 at entry and $47.73 at last follow-up. Reduction in polytherapy resulted in the net annual saving of $16,128 ($16.59 per patient, or 5.4% GNP/capita). CONCLUSIONS: The more frequent use of relatively expensive drugs like CBZ and VPA and the use of polytherapy-still quite prevalent in developing countries-has escalated the cost of AED therapy. Although in recent years AEDs have become more available in developing regions, primary and secondary care physicians have not been adequately educated about the current trends in the pharmacotherapy of epilepsy.
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The emergence of chloroquine resistance, and a world-wide scarcity of quinine, have resulted in a search for newer antimalarial drugs directed against falciparum malaria. Allopurinol causes virtually complete inhibition of purine biosynthesis of malaria parasites, which may prove lethal to the parasites. This study was designed to examine if allopurinol is additive to quinine in the treatment of acute falciparum malaria. Forty-seven Asian-Indian adults with acute complicated falciparum malaria were assigned to a treatment period of five days. They were randomly assigned to receive either oral allopurinol (12 mg/kg in three divided doses for five days) plus quinine (600 mg intravenously every 8 hr for two days, followed by 600 mg orally every 8 hr for three days ) (n = 24), or quinine alone (600 mg intravenously every 8 hr for two days, followed by 600 mg orally every 8 hr for three days) (n = 23). The responses were assessed by parasite clearance time, defervescence time, splenomegaly disappearance time, and cure rate. In the allopurinol-quinine (ALLQUIN)-treated group, all the durations were significantly shorter than those in the quinine alone (QUIN)-treated group. They were ALLQUIN versus QUIN (mean +/- SD = 65.33 +/- 11.47 hr versus 76.78 +/- 18.20 hr; P = 0.0214; 57.66 +/- 13.01 hr versus 82.52 +/- 23.55 hr, P = 0.0002; 10 +/- 1.64 days versus 14.65 +/- 2.4 days; P = 0.0002), respectively. The cure rate was higher in the ALLQUIN group (91.7%) than in the QUIN group (87%). However, this difference was not statistically significant. Therefore, this study indicates that allopurinol can be an additive to quinine to bring about both faster eradication of Plasmodium falciparum and clinical remission than with quinine alone.
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We retrospectively reviewed the records of 110 patients with infective endocarditis (IE) who were hospitalized between 1977 and 1994 at a tertiary referral center in Southern India to assess the occurrence of neurologic complications and the factors that contribute to their development, and to compare our experience from a developing country with the reported data from developed countries. There were 62 males and 48 females, aged 0.6-59 (mean 24.0) years. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) was the most frequent underlying cardiac lesion accounting for 65 (59.1%) patients. Neurologic complications were observed in 58 (52.7%) patients: cerebral embolism was the most frequent (23 patients). Thirty-five (31.8%) patients died. Mortality in the group with neurologic complications (41.4%) was significantly higher than in the group without (21.2%) (p = 0.04). The duration of symptoms prior to the diagnosis was longer in the group with neurologic complications, mean 174.9 versus 95.6 days (p = 0.03). We conclude that (1) IE occurs at younger ages in the Third World and RHD still constitute the major underlying heart disease; (2) in spite of the differences in the general aspects of IE between developed and developing nations, the frequency and gravity of neurologic complications are similar, (3) mortality is significantly increased in patients with neurologic complications; and (4) delay in the diagnosis of IE contributes to the development of neurologic complications.
The case of a young woman is described who suffered from acute pancreatitis related to the ingestion of zinc phosphide. This unusual complication was successfully managed with conservative treatment.
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We describe mixed bacterial meningitis in a young man due to Acinetobacter calcoaceticus var lwoffi and Streptococcus faecium. The combination of A calcoaceticus var lwoffi and S faecium as aetiology of mixed bacterial meningitis has not been previously reported. The patient recovered completely without neurologic sequelae on chloramphenicol and penicillin.
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