Impact of Levothyroxine on Lipid Profile in Patients with Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is a common endocrine disorder and requires lifelong treatment. Hypothyroidism is often associated with dyslipidemia in some populations. The present study was designed to evaluate the impact of levothyroxine (LT₄) on lipid profile in hypothyroid patients. This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Rajshahi Medical College in collaboration with the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Rajshahi from July 2018 to June 2019 to compare serum total cholesterol (TC), serum triglyceride (TG), serum LDL-C and serum HDL-C levels among euthyroids, newly diagnosed hypothyroid patients and levothyroxine (LT₄) treated hypothyroid patients. A total of 30 patients with newly diagnosed hypothyroidism and an equal number of age-matched healthy controls (n=30, control group) of both sexes were recruited in the present study. Thirty (30) hypothyroid patients were reevaluated after 6 month of LT₄ therapy. The fasting blood samples were collected from the subjects for the estimation of lipid profile. Significantly higher values were observed in total cholesterol (TC) 198.5±19.2mg/dl, triglycerides (TG) 147.0±14.5mg/dl, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) 133.9±19.7mg/dl (p<0.001) and a significant decreased value was seen in high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels (35.1±3.67mg/dl) in newly diagnosed hypothyroid patients as compared to after LT₄ therapy and normal healthy individuals (p=0.009). These observations suggest that people with hypothyroidism have high risk of development of atherosclerosis which may lead to coronary heart diseases (CHD) due to persistent dyslipidemia. Hypothyroidism induces dyslipidemia or expedites the process of existing dyslipidemia, LT₄ therapy corrects it to a significant level thus reduce the risk for atherosclerosis.

Correlation between HRCT Findings of Symptomatic COVID-19 Patient with RT-PCR Test in a Tertiary Hospital of Bangladesh

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a global calamity and affected millions of lives around the world. Even though the vaccination efforts have started, they are yet to have an effective impact on the lower to middle-income countries. Early detection and isolation are still the best way to control the spread of the virus. The standard practice for detecting COVID-19 is the RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) test but this test has a high probability of producing false-negative results plus lack of availability at all the time due to shortage of kit. Since COVID-19 is a respiratory disease affecting the lungs and the imaging patterns caused by COVID-19 can be observed in chest HRCT (High Resolution Computed Tomography) scans. As a result, HRCT can be used as an alternative diagnostic modality for any suspected cases of COVID-19. In this cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Radiology and Imaging, BSMMU, Dhaka, Bangladesh from May 12, 2020 to August 10, 2020. Chest HRCT scans of 284 suspected patients irrespective of age and sex who had done RT-PCR test either positive or negative test result having symptoms suggesting COVID pneumonia were enrolled in this study. Patients who had not done RT-PCR and who were not willing to do HRCT chest were excluded. According to the study, ground glass opacity is the most common feature and found in 89.44% of patients. The other predominant features were including consolidation, crazy paving, fibrotic density and vascular enlargement. The diagnostic performance of the CT scan was also evaluated using the RT-PCR test result as the gold standard and the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the CT scan diagnosis were found to be 83.2%, 50% and 79.9% respectively. The severity of the five lung lobes has also been studied. The right middle lobe and the left upper lobe seemed to be in more severe condition for most of the patients compared to the other lung lobes.

A Comparative Study between Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinical FIGO Criteria in Different Stages of Carcinoma Cervix

The objective of this study was to determine whether Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a sensitive and specific alternative method to clinical FIGO criteria in the staging of cervical carcinoma. This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Radiology and Imaging, BSMMU, Dhaka during the period of September 2018 to August 2020. A total of 60 patients were selected purposively and all are staged clinically by EUA. Then all samples underwent MRI in Department of Radiology and Imaging, BSMMU. Images of uterine cervix, corpus, vagina and parametrium were taken with a prefixed standard protocol (TIWI axial, T2WI axial and sagittal, DWI axial & DCE) and reporting was done by Radiologist. Comparison was done between the MRI and clinical FIGO criteria of staging of cervical carcinoma. P value <0.05 was considered as significant. Sensitivity & specificity of the MRI was measured. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 23.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA). Out of 60 patients in this study the mean age was found 47.5±10.1 years with range from 22 to 60 years. Positive correlation (r=0.993; p=0.001) between histopathological size and MRI size of tumour. Positive correlation (r=0.950; p=0.001) between histopathological size and FIGO size of tumour. MRI findings more correlates with histopathology than clinically detected tumor size. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values of MRI diagnosis evaluation for vaginal extension was 100.00%, 95.20%, 100.00%, 98.30% and 97.50% respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values of MRI diagnosis evaluation for parametrial invasion was 100.00%, all. In this study we observed that MRI staging was more likely to be concordant with pathological stage in comparison to the clinical stage. There was a concordance rate of 95.00% in MRI and 65.00% in clinical staging respectively. Out of 3 non-concordant cases in MRI, 2 were upstaged and 1 case was down staged in histopathology. FIGO staging concurred with histopathology in 39(65.00%) cases and differed in 21(35.00%) cases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a sensitive and specific modality for accurate staging of cervical carcinoma in comparison with clinical FIGO criteria considering histopathology as gold standard.