Objective- To test the hypotheses that patients with knee OA will have an altered proprioception in ankle. Methods- This study compared the ankle proprioception levels of a group of 35 clinically and radiographically diagnosed cases of unilateral knee OA by the orthopaedic department of MGM Medical College, Navi Mumbai to a control group of 35 normal subjects. The data was analyzed by an unpaired ‘t’ test. Results- Since tcal > ttab and P value is < 0.01 we reject H0 and accept Ha i.e. there is significant difference in ankle proprioception in OA knee cases compared to normal’s. Conclusion- There is significant difference in ankle proprioception in OA knee cases compared to normals. These results confirm the strong association between reduced proprioception in ankle in cases of osteoarthritis of knees.

The second session of the interval meetings of the Neuro-Oncology Scientific Club (NOSC-2)- Mashhad, took place on 19th April 2012 in Mashhad, Iran. NOSC is an interdisciplinary forum providing updates in brain tumor diagnosis and management. The focus for this scientific meeting was how fundamental brain tumor science can foster clinical advances in treating patients with glial brain tumors and glioblastoma multiforme in particular. Having experts from radiation oncology, neurosurgery, neuroradiology, pathology, neurology and medical genetics under one roof, turned this meeting to a touching platform for redirecting debates while putting brain tumor patients’ survival and quality of life first. This is expected to lead to provincial and later countrywide practice guidelines for interdisciplinary management of brain tumors. Translational research, bridging fundamental science to bedside care for brain tumors is also on schedule for NOSC activities. During the “NOSC-2” meeting, current brain tumor international guidelines were reviewed to ensure compatibility to our local setting and practice. Furthermore, strategies for brain tumor patient referral and bidirectional collaboration between various allied disciplines were lined up. Research opportunities in basic science and clinical neuro-oncology within Mashhad University of Medical Sciences cancer research center were shared and targeted. The current draft of the provincial brain tumor registry (PBTR) software was presented. PBTR was agreed to be installed in two distinguished oncology centers in Mashhad as pilot. Taking initial steps towards provincial practice guideline definition (primarily for high grade gliomas) will be the main agenda constituent for the upcoming NOSC session to be held in mid September 2012.

The paired renal arteries arise from the aorta just below the origin of the superior mesenteric artery and takes 20% of cardiac output. These are end arteries with no anastomoses. Variations in the number and arrangement of the renal vessels are extremely common. The so called aberrant or accessory arteries were in fact, normal segmental arteries. The arteries which had proximal origin at the hilum or in the pedicle were probably the result of a variation in the degeneration of the rete arteriosum while those from the aorta were persistent mesonephric arteries. The distal origin of the renal vessels could be explained by the persistence of earlier vessels which were supplying the kidneys when they were in sacral region. In the present study out of 184 kidneys 52 (28.2%) kidneys showed the presence of additional renal arteries. Out of 52 kidneys 34 kidneys had one additional artery, 18 kidneys had two additional arteries. The results are statistically significant. The presence of additional renal arteries was found unilaterally in 6 cadavers and bilaterally in 20 cadavers. In 23 kidneys additional artery towards the superior pole (Superior polar artery) was observed and in 29 kidneys inferior polar arteries were seen. With the increase in number of cases of kidney transplantation, living donar grafts have become major source for maintaining the donor pool, and the successful allograft with multiple arteries had become a necessity. Variations in the origin and course of the renal arteries occur frequently and are of special interest to the urologist with respect to the disease associated with it. Multi Detector Computer Tomography (MDCT), angiography and arteriography should be performed prior to every nephrectomy. It become’s mandatory for the surgeon to understand the abnormality or variations in the renal vasculature.

Apart from widespread clinical impression of a rapid spurt in the proportion of cases with Coronary heart Disease (CHD) being evaluated by various levels of medical practice there are demographic and social reasons to apprehend a major epidemic of CHD in India and other developing countries. A major chunk of Indian population stays in urban slums and Mumbai has a large share in it. Such large population always go ignored when people assume that coronary heart disease is a disease of affluence, while poverty is no bar for coronary heart disease. The objectives of present study are to find out prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) in the age group of 25 to 64 years in urban slum community in Mumbai and to study various factor associated with it, also to study the level of knowledge about CHD and its risk factors among the subjects. The present study was designed to be a cross-sectional study conducted in an urban slum, community with a population of 35,967, served by Urban Health Centre, attached to the department of Preventive and Social Medicine of teaching institute. CHD was diagnosed using Rose Questionnaire and/or documentary evidence of MI. Total 186 cases (126 males and 60 females) of CHD were found in the community and prevalence of CHD was 15.80 per thousand. It was maximum (99.11 per thousand) in the age group of 55-64 years. Majority of cases were Muslims as the community was predominantly having Muslim population. The rate of detection of new cases increases with increasing age in both sexes, especially, more among females. Proportion of newly detected cases in males is 45.2% and in females 61.7%. In the age group of 55 to 64 years 81 males (75.7%) and 31 females (81.6%) were suffering from hypertension. The mean systolic blood pressure of all 186 subjects was 161.8 (SD-18.4 & SE-1.35) while mean diastolic blood pressure was 97.6 (SD-10.3 & SE-0.76). The 6 males (4.8%) and 11 females (18.3%) were suffering from Diabetes among the study group. The mean total cholesterol was 255.30 (SD-41.1 SE-3.0). Only 13 cases (7%) had total cholesterol levels were below 200mg/dl while 73% had levels above 240 mg/dl. The 51 cases (27.4%) were receiving 2800 or more calories through daily diet. But only 3.8% cases were eating fats amounting 30% or more of total calories. Among cases 66.7% were smokers while 39.8% had given history of passive smoking. The study findings show that knowledge about CHD and its risk factor is very poor in general. To obtain a composite picture for the whole country, large community based epidemiological studies will have to be conducted in different parts of the country. It will help the policy makers to chalk out programmes to minimize the extent of the problem of CHD.