North Bengal Medical College

About: North Bengal Medical College is a other organization based out in Darjeeling, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 624 authors who have published 691 publications receiving 5492 citations.

MRI Study on Spinal Canal Morphometry: An Indian Study.

Abstract: INTRODUCTION A large proportion of adults suffer from neck pain at some points of their life and show altered ranges of spinal canal morphometry in various studies The differences in values are also seen due to genetic, hormonal and other factors too Torg's ratio is a widely accepted measurement to eliminate such discrepancies The measurement of Space Available for Cord (SAC) is also gaining importance as spinal stenosis is a contributor to neck pain AIM (1) To examine the cervical spinal canal and spinal cord morphometric determinants in symptomatic sub-Himalayan North Bengal population and to compare the obtained data with other populations; (2) To determine whether Torg's ratio vary with gender or not; (3) To determine SAC values in symptomatic individuals MATERIALS AND METHODS Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) based on midsagittal diameter of vertebral body, spinal canal, spinal cord and its Torg's ratio and SAC value of the lower cervical spine (C3-C7) from 71 symptomatic adults were recorded at the Radiology Department of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, Bengal, India Individuals with any evidence of trauma, infection, neoplasia or any congenital anomalies related to spinal canal and below 18 years of age were excluded from the study RESULTS The average diameter for vertebral body was significantly larger in males The average diameter for spinal canal, spinal cord and values of Torg's ratio and SAC has no significant gender difference But the mean value of Torg's ratio is greater in females is due to smaller vertebral body size in females CONCLUSION It is interpreted from our study that sagittal spinal canal diameter, Torg's ratio and SAC value did not show any significant gender difference But sagittal vertebral body's diameter showed sexual dimorphism which influenced the mean value of Torg's ratio

Comparative evaluation of different forms of calcium hydroxide in apexification.

Abstract: Background: One out of every two children sustains a dental injury most often between 8 and 10 years of age. Majority of these teeth subsequently become non-vital and most often with immature apex. Management of these teeth is an enormous challenge for lack of apical stop. Calcium hydroxide in various formulations has maximum literature support in favor of successful apexification or induced apical closure. Aim: The aim of the following study is to determine the efficacy of calcium hydroxide in a different formulation to induce apexification. Materials and Methods: The present study was undertaken on 51 children of 8-10 years of age (both sexes) at Dr. R Ahmed Dental College and Hospital from April 2006 to March 2007. All children had one or two maxillary permanent central incisor (s), non-vital and apices open. In all the cases, apexification was attempted with either calcium hydroxide mixed with sterile distilled water, or calcium hydroxide plus iodoform in methyl cellulose base, or calcium hydroxide plus iodoform in polysilicone oil base. The success of apexification was determined on the basis of clinical and radiographic criteria. Results: In the pre-operative asymptomatic cases (72.55%), failure occurred in only 5.45% cases and pre-operative symptomatic cases failure rate was as high as 35.71%. Success rate was 94.6% in cases with narrow open apices, whereas 64.28% in wide open apices. In cases with pre-existing apical radiolucencies, successful apexification occurred in 63.63% and success rate was 92.5% in the cases without pre-existing apical radiolucencies. Average time consumed for apexification was minimum with calcium hydroxide plus iodoform in polysilicone oil base. Conclusion: The overall success rate observed to be 86.27%, which is in close proximity to the findings of most of the previous studies across the globe.

Analysis of the Role of Human Leukocyte Antigen Class-I Genes to Understand the Etiopathology of Schizophrenia

Abstract: Background: Schizophrenia is the paradigmatic illness of psychiatry. The involvement of immunological and immunopathological mechanisms in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia has been a matter of research, with recently increasing effort. Aims: In this study, we investigated the incidence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) Class I antigens to understand the role of HLA genes in schizophrenia. Materials and Methods: India born schizophrenic patients in and around Siliguri who attended outpatient department (OPD) of Department of Psychiatry, North Bengal Medical College and Hospital were considered for the present study. After the longitudinal follow up, 50 patients were enrolled for the study. The same number of age, sex and ethnically matched healthy subjects were considered as control. Low resolution polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer method was applied for typing the HLA antigens. Statistics: The phenotype frequencies were calculated by direct count. χ2 test was done to compare the frequency of each antigen among the patients and control group and it was followed by Fisher's exact test. Relative risk was estimated by using Haldane's method. Results: The result showed that some of the HLA antigens are associated with the schizophrenia and significant increase were observed for HLA A*03 antigen along with the significant decrease for HLA A*25, A*31 and HLA B*51. Conclusions: The study provides the evidence for the possible existence of susceptibility locus for schizophrenia within the HLA region. This preliminary observation may help to understand the etiological basis of this disorder and the study may further strengthen the HLA antigens as the marker for schizophrenia.

Disseminated staphylococcal disease in healthy children-experience from two tertiary care hospitals of West Bengal.

Abstract: Objectives To assess the etiology, precipitating factors, treatment and outcome of disseminated staphylococcal disease (DSD) in healthy immunocompetent children.

Ultrasound detected changes in joint cartilage thickness in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Abstract: AIM The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in joint cartilage thickness in different subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) using ultrasound, comparing them with healthy children and to evaluate the relationship with disease duration and inflammatory markers. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study comprising of 27 cases of JIA and 54 age- and sex-matched healthy children. Bilateral wrist, knee and ankle joint cartilage thicknesses were measured by ultrasound as per European League Against Rheumatism standard guidelines and compared them between JIA subtypes as well as between cases and control. RESULTS Descriptive analysis of the whole cohort revealed the mean age of the study population was 8.3 ± 3.2 years with mean cartilage thicknesses at the wrist, knee and ankle being 1.40 ± 0.89 mm, 1.57 ± 0.78 mm and 1.41 ± 0.85 mm, respectively. The median cartilage thicknesses of wrist, knee and ankle joints of JIA cases (n = 27) and healthy controls (n = 54) were 1.01, 1.35, 1.05 and 1.95, 2.00, 1.95, respectively. The joint cartilage thickness was significantly reduced in JIA in comparison to the healthy cohort (P < 0.01). Diseased boys suffered greater cartilage damage in knee joints compared to girls; the polyarticular variety of cases had thinner knee cartilage in comparison to the oligoarticular subtype. Further, it was found that joint cartilage destruction is independent of inflammatory markers and disease duration. CONCLUSION Significant cartilage thinning in addition was found in JIA children, particularly in the polyarticular subtype, and more in boys than girls, which is independent of disease duration and inflammatory markers, using ultrasound as a primary investigative tool.