Surgical treatment of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection

Fourteen infants ranging in age from 18 days to 10 months (median age = 4 months) underwent surgical repair of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) between September, 1988 and December, 1989. The anomalous drainage was supracardiac in nine, cardiac in two, infracardiac in one and mixed in one. One patient had a complex type of TAPVC. There were two hospital deaths, one a critically ill three week old infant with obstructed infracardiac TAPVC and the other with complex TAPVC. There was no late death. All twelve survivors are in NYHA functional Class 1. Postoperative echocardiography revealed unobstructed pulmonary blood flow in all of them. Surgical correction of TAPVC in infancy has been performed with gratifying results. A high index of suspicion, early diagnosis, prompt referral and an aggressive surgical approach are essential for success in this otherwise lethal condition.

On a method of robust standardization

"The need of summary measures of the incidence of a phenomenon independent of age structure (composition) and other compositional factors is noted in demographic literature. One such index is developed in this paper. A standardized index is defined as robust, if it is least sensitive [to] the age structure of the standard population. The Banerjee-Stuvel price index is shown to have this property by a computer simulation experiment."

A stochastic diffusion model of the time path of nuptiality

"The time path of nuptiality is approximated by means of the log normal diffusion process. The drift coefficient is estimated by the method of maximum likelihood. Swedish and Canadian data on nuptiality have been utilised to illustrate the model. A piece-wise fitting of the log-normal model to the Swedish data reveals that the drift coefficient is changing over time. The use of mixing distribution is suggested to remedy this problem. On the whole the Hajnal theory of nuptiality transition is supported. It is also seen that the Hajnal transition is one in a series of transitions."

Adoptions: follow-up from an orphanage in Bombay

The practice of adoption, though long accepted as a social phenomenon, is only recently gaining popularity in India. Due to the paucity of adequate follow-ups, evaluation of these adopted children is incomplete. For the purpose of studying the well-being of these children after adoption, they were followed-up at the various places, i.e., orphanages, institutions, juvenile courts and adoption agencies, responsible for their care. One hundred sixty children, 63 boys and 97 girls, adopted from an orphanage in the vicinity of our hospital over a period of 13 years are included in this study. There were 104 local and 56 foreign adoptions. Due to sociocultural background in Indian adoptions, males were preferred; whereas the international adoptions mostly depended on human considerations without any specific preference for the sex of the child. On follow-up, all children except three were reported to be physically healthy and well-adjusted emotionally in the new family, and well accepted by the society. Although adoption is not the only solution for an abandoned child, it may open some avenues for the betterment of socially deserted and deprived children.

Some innovative methods in demographic analysis

"This paper suggests the use of the Matusita affinity and distance measures for the relative ranking of human populations and for developing an age distribution free index of demographic phenomena. A plea for modifying the conventional parity progression rates through semi-Markov analysis is made. The input-output model, the notion of entropy, etc., are suggested as new tools for looking at demographic events." Some illustrations based on Canadian and U.S. data concerning family planning attitudes, mortality, migration, and stable populations are included.