Bangladesh Medical Research Council Bulletin

In Bangladesh, nearly 10.5 hundred thousand individuals may have autism. Recent figures released by the CDC (2012) show that autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) now affect 1 in 88 children. Cognitive impairment, limited adaptive skills, and severe social impairment as seen in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) thought to be associated with poorer health related quality of life (HRQoL). The objective of the study was to measure HRQoL and cognitive functioning in a group of autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) children and to relate HRQoL with their socio demographic characteristics and cognitive functioning from parents' perception...

The second generation antipsychotic agents, although exhibit superior safety profile, is associated with metabolic adverse effects including weight gain, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia. These adverse effects are not only the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus but may also impair patient's adherence to treatment. However, different member of second generation antipsychotics differ. in their extent of metabolic adverse effects. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between olanzapine, risperidone or quetiapine treatment and body mass index, blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia in patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder...

A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific for Salmonella enterica subspecies enteric serovar Typhi was used for the detection of the pathogen, in blood. This study was done during the period of March 2013 to February 2014. A total of 80 clinically suspected cases of typhoid fever were included in the study. Blood was collected from all participating individuals. Nested PCR targeting the flagellin gene (fliC) of Salmonella Typhi & blood culture were done for each of the cases. The positivity rate of PCR & blood culture was 70%& 20% respectively...

Cervical cancer is the main cause of malignancy-related death among women living in developing countries. The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) among Bangladeshi cervical cancer survivors and its relationships with demographic and disease related factors A cross-sectional study was carried out onlone hundred nine consecutive cervical cancer survivors in National Institute of cancer Research and Hospital, Dhaka from September 2014 to february 2015 using European organization-for Research and treatment of cancer core Questionnaires (QOL-C30 and QOL- CX24)...

Diabetes mellitus is one of the systemic diseases affecting the kidneys. Diabetic nephropathy is a serious microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus. It is the most important,cause of death in type I diabetic patients, of whom 30%-40% eventually develop end-stage renal failure and 40% of type II diabetics are at risk of developing diabetic nephropathy. So, diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy is paramount for the survivability of the diabetic patients not only because of the consequences of renal progression but also because of the strong association with the risk of developing cardiovascular disease...

The aim of epilepsy surgery is not only to control seizures but also to curtail future adverse neurological sequelae and improve quality of life. Epilepsy surgery is a viable treatment option for selected cases of medically refractory epilepsy. A study was carried out with a series of 34 cases who underwent epilepsy surgery at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science & Technology, Kerala, India during July, 2010 to December, 2010. Clinical features, operative procedures and early response to treatment were cha'racterized...

Bangladesh being a subtropical country provides varieties of herbs and vegetables. Brassica is a broad genus available in Bangladesh and it encompasses a lot of nutritive herbs. Among these, Brassica rapa subspecies chinensis (L.) Hanelt (Family-Brassicaceae) is popular in many parts of the world. In the quest of medicinal property, this plant was investigated here for observing analgesic and antidepressant activities in Swiss-albino mice model. The herb was extracted well with methanol and then assayed by acetic acid-induced writhing and tail immersion methods for analgesic action...

Infants are the most vulnerable group among all the age groups in our society. Breastfeeding decisions and practices are influenced by multiple factors including knowledge, attitude and beliefs. This rural based cross sectional descriptive study carried out among 320 mothers having infant up to 1 year of selected villages at Dhamrai from 7th August to 31 th January 2014, to determine the characteristics of feeding practices and nutritional status of infants. Near fifty. percent infants belonged to age group 9-12 months and of them one third were more than 8 kg...

This study was designed to investigate the resistance profile along with the genetic background of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics among the nosocomial A. baumannii in Bangladesh. A. baumannii was confirmed by detecting blaoXA-51-like. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined by disk diffusion method. Agar dilution method was used to determine MIC of ceftazidime and imipenem. All A. baumannii were phenotypically screened for ampC, ESBL and MBL production. Genetic markers of antibiotic resistance. such as blaampC, blaOXA-51, 23, 40, 58 and 143, blaKPc, blaMp, blavi and blaNDM-j, genetic environment around blaADc and ISAbal upstream of blaoXA, were evaluated by PCR...

According to National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital most frequently observed cancers in Bangladeshi population are lungs, breast, cervix, lymph node, esophagus, larynx and stomach. The point of epidemiological background, the rate of incidence and mortality are likely unavailable due to lack of population based cancer registry system in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted from 2003 to 2012 with an aim to describe trends and pattern of cancer cases attended a specialized hospital in Dhaka city...

Central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections (CVC-BSI) are associated with morbidity and mortality especially in critically ill patients. This study was performed to find out the rate of CVC-BSI and CVC colonization, causative organism and their antibiogram in patients of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Department of Nephrology of tertiary care hospitals. A total of 100 patients from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) who had-CVC and clinically suspected of septicemia were included in the study...

This cross sectional study was carried enrolling 47 subjects with suspected solid liver mass, in the Department of Radiology and Imaging, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, over a period of twelve months. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of transabdominal ultrasonography in the diagnosis of solid SOL in the liver. Majority of the respondents (42.55%) were found between 41-60 years of age. Five (10.63%) subjects were found below 20 years of age. There were 31 men (65.95%) and 16 women (34...

Silkworm, Bombyx mori, has passive immunity and can be infected by pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, it can be used as a robust bacterial infection model for screening of pathogenic isolates from various sources. In this work, 11 environmental, clinical and veterinary isolates were screened for pathogenicity using silkworm larvae by injecting bacterial suspension through their dorsal surface and observing response. Experimental conditions were established by using Bacillus thuringiensis SW_R_F_1, Escherichia coli 0157:H7, E...

This study was done to identify different pathogenic aerobic bacteria from egg shell and egg contents of hen. Egg shells and egg contents of 150 eggs collected from poultry were tested. Of 150 egg shells, 130 (86.67%) yielded growth of bacteria and 60 (40%) Esch. coli,.25 (16.67%) Providencia rettgeri, 5 (3.33%) Providencia alkalifaciens, 20 (13.33%) Citrobacter freundii, 10 (6.67%) Salmonella spp, 10 (6.67%) Enterobacter aerogenes were isolated. No bacteria were isolated from 150 egg contents. Total 14 (9...

Bangladesh ranks sixth among higher TB burden countries. Extra-pulmonary TB contributes 12% of all tuberculosis cases in 2008. Risk factors for EPTB in Bangladesh are hypothesized to be different from pulmonary tuberculosis as seen in other high-burden countries. A case control study was conducted to compare the sociodemographic, household condition and lifestyle characteristics between extra pulmonary and pulmonary tuberculosis. This case control study was conducted in thirteen sub districts of Pabna, Shirajgonj and Cox's Bazar districts from January to June 2013...

During the last decade, survival rates for breast cancer have increased as a result of earlier detection and increased use of adjuvant therapy. Limited data exist on the post mastectomy quality of life in the process of transition from health to cancer in its different phases of treatment. The aim of current study was to evaluate the changes of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after mastectomy and to measure their impression about future perspectives in Bangladeshi Breasts cancer patients. A group of 250 women with a diagnosis of primary breast cancer who was admitted in the department of surgical oncology in National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital, Dhaka were enrolled in this study from January 2012 to March 2013...

Post myocardial infarction (MI) short and long-term clinical outcome is largely determined by the size of the infarcted area. It is generally assumed that as the lead involvement in electrocardiography (ECG) is less in anteroseptal ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (AS-STEMI), where ST segment elevation (STE) is limited to leads V1 to V3, myocardial damage is likely to be less; and in extensive anterior STEMI (EA-STEMI), as the STE extends further upto V6, the myocardial damage is likely to be more...

Injuries are a focus of public health practice because they pose a serious health threat, occur frequently and are preventable. The evidence regarding injury, its contributing factor and its consequence in rural population of Bangladesh is scarce. Present study aimed to assess the epidemiology of injury in a rural area. The study was conducted in the 'Bairag' Union of Anwara upazilla in Chittagong district of Bangladesh. Data of 6256 individuals were collected from 1016 households. Three structured and standardized questionnaires were used for data collection...

Since its introduction in early 1990s, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) has become integral to the diagnosis and staging of various luminal, extraluminal gastrointestinal (GI) and certain non-GI lesions. There is no data on EUS experience in Bangladesh. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the initial recent experience and clinical impact of EUS. All EUS procedures data were recorded prospectively from July 2013 to December 2014. These included patients' demographics, referral details, provisional diagnosis, management plan before and after EUS & indications of procedures...

The risk factor profiles, management and outcome have significant difference between stroke subsets. Aim of this study was to investigate the risk for the two most common subtypes of stroke in Bangladeshi population. Seventy cases of hemorrhagic stroke (HS) and 105 cases of confirmed ischemic stroke (IS) were recruited from the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital (ShSMCH) and Dhaka Medical College Hospital between January-June 2011. Total 171 age, sex matched controls were selected from the hospitalized patients with history of no stroke ever...