BACKGROUND Outcome following epilepsy surgery has traditionally been measured in terms of relief of seizures. However, changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after surgery for intractable epilepsy are also important to document. There are no studies on the Indian population which assess the outcome of epilepsy surgery in terms of HRQOL. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted a prospect...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether Clostridium difficile is present in the food of hospitalized patients and to estimate the risk of subsequent colonization associated with C. difficile in food. METHODS This was a prospective cohort study of inpatients at a university-affiliated tertiary care center, May 9, 2011-July 12, 2012. Enrolled patients submitted a portion of food from each meal. Patient st...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the willingness of medical doctors working at a tertiary hospital to participate in HIV vaccine trials, their perceptions of patients' willingness to participate, and the major reasons underlying these views. DESIGN A self-administered, anonymous postal survey conducted in two rounds between May and July 2001. SETTING A tertiary care hospital in the Western Cape. SU...

Encephaloceles are anomalous herniations of the meninges, with or without brain matter. Globally the incidence of encephalocele is about 1 per 35,000 births, but it is more frequently reported in Southeast Asia. As the defect is more pertinent to embryological development, an encephalocele is a more common entity in an infant with a mean age of presentation ranging between 15.5 and 21 months; m...

Under the National Health Insurance, a hospital is expected to provide service to patients based on its category. However, in reality the tertiary hospitals offer every level of care, resulting in poor quality of care and over-expenditure. The Polokwane/Mankweng Hospital Complex is a provincial tertiary hospital that delivers tertiary care as well as dealing with some secondary and primary care...

We estimated cord blood 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels of 50 term healthy neonates born in a tertiary care center of Kozhikode, Kerala, India. Vitamin D levels were normally distributed with a mean (SD) value of 11.36 (4.75) ng/mL and median (range) values of 10.85 (3.9-24.9) ng/mL. Majority of babies had values between 5 to 15 ng/mL. This study shows that even in tropical climates most of our neo...

Near-death experiences, unusual experiences during a close brush with death, may precipitate pervasive attitudinal and behavior changes. The incidence and psychological correlates of such experiences, and their association with proximity to death, are unclear. We conducted a 30-month survey to identify near-death experiences in a tertiary care center cardiac inpatient service. In a consecutive ...

Phenalenone derivatives were efficiently constructed from 1,8-diiodonaphthalene and tertiary propynols via a one-pot domino reaction which eventually included Pd-catalyzed Sonogoshira coupling, Pd-catalyzed allylic oxidation and Pd-catalyzed C(sp(2))-H activation. Moreover, the synthesized phenalenone derivative presented a practical application as a fluorescent chemosensor for fluoride anion w...

BACKGROUND Suction blister grafting is a useful modality of treatment of patients with resistant and stable vitiligo. However, there have been no detailed studies to find out the best donor site for blister formation. METHODS The study was conducted between the period of October 2004 and February 2005 in the dermatology department at a tertiary care center. Nine patients with vitiligo (focal ...

Thus, for each student a composite unscaled mark is generated for each course taken. However, the cohort of students taking a particular course P may be academically more able than the cohort of students taking course Q. This means that a composite unscaled mark of, say, 60 in course P represents a higher level of attainment than the same mark in course Q. Since marks in different courses are a...