Short Term Outcome of Therapeutic ERCP in the Management of Biliary Ascariasis in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Bangladesh

The history of ascariasis is very old. It is endemic in various parts of Bangladesh. Hepatobiliary ascariasis is a well-known complication of the intestinal ascariasis. Although cosmopolitan, it predominantly affects people in Asia, Africa, and South America. This was a prospective observational study conducted from July to December 2014 to explore the short term outcome of therapeutic ERCP in the treatment of biliary ascariasis in a tertiary care hospital of Bangladesh. A total of 60 cases of biliary ascariasis were selected conveniently in this study. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews and observation with the help of data sheet. Data were checked for quality control and analyzed by computer using SPSS software. The mean±SD age of the patients was 30.96±7.66 years. All the patients were aged between 17 and 55 years and predominantly affect women in the 3rd and 4th decades. The most common presentation was upper abdominal pain in 47(83.32%) of the patients. Ultrasound was the diagnostic tool of choice, where biliary ascariasis was found in 40(66.7%) of patients. ERCP is reserved mainly for therapeutic purposes and found successful in 57(95%) of the patients.

Frequency of Osteoporosis among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients Attending Respiratory Medicine Out Patient Department, BSMMU

Osteoporosis is an important systemic manifestation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Osteoporosis is a systemic disease of bone which may present as low bone mass and micro-architectural disarray that increases the risk of fracture. The World Health Organization defines osteoporosis as bone density ≥2.5 standard deviations below the bone density of a normal young adult. Osteopenia, a less severe form of bone loss, is defined as a bone density between 1 and 2.5 standard deviations below that reference point. The aetiology of osteoporosis in COPD patients remain unclear, but several factors significantly correspond to reduced bone density in COPD, including older age, female sex and body mass index (BMI). However, the relationship to other factors, such as FEV₁, tobacco smoking, physical inactivity and corticosteroid therapy, are still an unresolved issue. This cross-sectional study was done in the Department of Respiratory Medicine, BSMMU from March 2018 to March 2019. A total of 86 patients of which prevalence of osteoporosis is 29.1%, osteopenia 50% and normal BMD in 20.9%, majority of them was belonging to age group 51-60 years. Male were predominant with male-female ratio of 3.5:1. The frequency of osteoporosis was 32.0%, 64.0% and 4.0% in moderate, severe and in very severe COPD patients, respectively. The frequency of osteopenia was 14.0% in mild, 53.5% in moderate, 20.9% in severe and 11.6% were in very severe COPD patients. The p value (p=0.018) was significant for prevalence osteoporosis and osteopenia with increase in severity of COPD. The prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia was high in COPD patients under study. The frequency of osteoporosis and osteopenia was more with severity of COPD.