The dermatoglyphics is the study of epidermal ridges present on the surface of palm, soles, finger and toe and have emerge a promising tool in screening and diagnosis of medical and genetics conditions. It is one of the low-cost and noninvasive methods used for mass screening. Materials & methods: This study was conducted out in 100 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients and 100 Non diabetic individuals as control. Dermatoglyphic prints of both hands of study subject were taken by using ink method as described by Cummins and Midlow. Results: This study observed that whorls are increased in diabetic patients both in right and left hand, this difference was found statistically significant (p<0.0001, p<0.003). Arches found more in control than diabetes mellitus patient and this difference is statistically significant (p< 0.007, p<0.0001) Ulnar loop found more in control than diabetes mellitus patients and this difference found statistically significant. There was increase in ‘atd’ angle in patients of diabetes mellitus than controls and this was statistically significant.

Objective: This preliminary study aims (1) at validating the use of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scoring system in cardiac patients admitted to the intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU) for prediction of the risk for mortality, (2) to evaluate the use of a modified APACHE II (mAPACHE II) with addition of the scores related to urinary levels of oxidative stress parameters in prediction of the risk for mortality. Design: Hospital based prospective study. Setting: Tertiary care hospital in South India. Methods: Cardiac patients (n=100) admitted to the intensive cardiac care unit between the age of 18-77 years were enrolled. APACHE II score was calculated. The predicted mortality was calculated on the basis of this score. Urinary malondialdehyde (MDA) and ceruloplasmin (Cp) levels were analyzed and mAPACHE II was calculated. Results: The mean APACHE score was 11 ± 4.14. The ICCU mortality rate within 24 hours after admission was 8%. The area under the receiver operating curve (ROC) for APACHE II score was found to be 0.8 indicating good discrimination and for mAPACHE II score was 0.7 indicating moderate discrimination. Conclusion: APACHE II scoring system has a good discrimination when applied to cardiac patients. However, mAPACHE II also shows moderate discrimination when applied to these patients.

Objective : This study aims at (1) validating the use of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scoring system in the medical intensive care unit ( MICU) for prediction of the risk for mortality, (2) to compare the predicted death rate with the observed death rate of the patients gender wise and age wise. Design: Hospital based prospective study. Setting: Hospitals in South India, affiliated to medical colleges. Methods: A total of 350 patients admitted in the MICU between the age of 18-57 were enrolled for this study. APACHE II score was calculated in each patient on the day of admission within 24 hours. The predicted mortality was calculated on the basis of this score. Results: The mean APACHE II score was 9.42 ± 3.4. The ICU mortality rate within 24 hours after admission was 14%. The area under the Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was 0.8 indicating good discrimination. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was 0.9. Conclusion: The study validates that APACHE II can be a reliable tool in predicting the mortality rate in MICU patients of Indian population within 24 hours of their admission.

Electrolyte derangement is a common feature in anaemia. This study was undertaken to elucidate the effect(s) of ferrous sulphate on the renal handling of electrolytes. 28 male albino Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups of 7 rats each namely: the normal control given distilled water (10ml/kg body weight), ferrous sulphate administered ferrous sulphate (75mg/kg body weight), anaemic control given phenyl hydrazine (40mg/kg body weight) and the anaemic treated group given phenylhydrazine administered (40mg/kg body weight of phenyl hydrazine and 75mg/kg body weight) and ferrous sulphate. Results show that mean Na+ and Cl- levels in the serum (P<0.001) and urine (P<0.01 and P<0.001 respectively) of the anaemic control group was significantly higher than control and ferrous sulphate groups. K+ concentration in the serum of AC was significantly (P<0.001) higher than that of control and FES but significanlty (P<0.05) lower in urine of AC compared with control and FES. The bicarbonate concentration of the serum and urine of AC was significantly (P<0.05 and P<.001 respectively) lower than the FES group only. The levels of Na+, Cl-, K+ and HCO3- in the AFES group were not significantly different from any of the groups. Conclusion: We conclude that ferrous sulfate does not only restore Hb but also kidneys ability to handle electrolytes.

Thyroid gland is a highly vascular endocrine gland consists of two lobes connected by an isthmus present in the anterior midline of the neck against vertebrae C5, C6, C7 and T1. Many study have indicated the morphometric differences of this important gland. This study puts in an effort to study the morphological and morphometric variations of thyroid gland.

Variations in the superficial veins of the face and neck are quite common and this knowledge is important in performing various head and neck surgical procedures. Aim of this study was to observe variations in the formation and termination of the superficial veins of face and neck. We studied 30 cadavers of male and female of South Indian population which were used for routine dissection for teaching medical graduates. During the study, we found an unusual termination of retromandibular vein on both sides in one cadaver and also variations in the formation and termination of anterior facial vein, lingual vein and superior thyroid vein were found in the same cadaver.

Very little literature has been published about the morphometry of the coracoid process of the scapula. The coracoid process along with acromian process and coraco-acromian ligament stabilizes the shoulder joint and gives structural integrity for the shoulder joint. In the present study, the length, breadth, thickness and the height of the coracoid process of the scapula is measured in 50 human dry scapula bones of adult size after careful excluding of abnormal morphology and variation. The pattern of coraco-glenoid space is also studied and the percentage is calculated. The results are compared with the previous studies and the significance of the morphological values of the coracoid bone is stated as it is an gateway for laproscopic and open shoulder surgeries.