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Biomedical subjects

S Koshy

Publications and source records attributed to S Koshy.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Radiographic practices of dentists undertaking endodontics in New Zealand.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the radiographic practices of New Zealand dentists undertaking root canal treatment, and to investigate the relationship between radiographic practices and educational and clinical factors. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to all 1200 general dental practitioners and five specialist endodontists in New Zealand. Data were subjected to descriptive and analytical statistics. RESULTS: The response rate was 79%. The mean number of root canal treatments done by general dentists in the previous 12 months was 103, and for the specialists 938. Pre-operative views were taken by 57.1% of respondents all the time and by 34.8% in most cases. The long cone paralleling and bisecting angle techniques were in regular use by similar numbers of respondents, and over one half of the practitioners regularly used film holders and electronic apex locators. Working length films were taken by 67% of practitioners all the time and by 18% in most cases. One-quarter of practitioners took a master point view all the time, and 15% did this for most cases. Almost 65% always took a film of the completed root filling and 21% did for most cases. Twenty-three per cent of practitioners did not follow up their work. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of respondents used radiographs pre-operatively, for working length assessment and to assess the final root filling. There was a general improvement in radiographic practices compared with data from a previous national survey held in 1980.

Dental Pulp Cavity↗
PubMed2002

Ocular complications in newly diagnosed borderline lepromatous and lepromatous leprosy patients: baseline profile of the Indian cohort.

AIM: To describe ocular manifestations in newly diagnosed borderline lepromatous (BL) and lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients in India. METHODS: Ocular complications, at enrolment, occurring in all new borderline lepromatous and lepromatous leprosy patients detected by active case finding within the geographically defined leprosy endemic area of the Gudiyattam Taluk in India from 1991 to 1997 who consented to ocular examinations every 6 months, during and 5 years after treatment with multidrug therapy (MDT), were studied. RESULTS: Orbicularis oculi weakness (4.62%), lagophthalmos (4.20%), ectropion (0.42%), trichiasis (0.84%), blocked nasolacrimal ducts (1.68%), pterygium (11.34%), impaired corneal sensation (53%), corneal opacity (10.5%), corneal nerve beading (1.68%), punctate keratitis (1.26%), keratic precipitates (4.62%), iris atrophy (1.68%), and cataract (12.6%) were ocular complications seen in the 301 lepromatous patients at enrolment. 4.6% had blind eyes. Increasing age was associated with ocular complications. 80% of patients were skin smear acid fast bacilli (AFB) positive. The LL/BL ratio was 1:6.4. 71% had some limb deformity. 44% had only leprosy related ocular complications (LROC), 28% had only general ocular complications (GOC) while 14% had both LROC and GOC. Ocular complications were significantly related to leg deformities. Corneal nerve beading was seen most in LL patients (100%) having high bacterial content. Lagophthalmos and muscle weakness were associated with reversal reactions. CONCLUSIONS: Corneal nerve beading occurs in LL patients with high bacillary count. Patients with reversal reaction are more likely to present with orbicularis oculi weakness and lagophthalmos. Leprosy related ocular complications and general ocular complications are significant problems in newly diagnosed lepromatous patients. Elderly, deformed, skin smear positive, lepromatous patients are associated with increased ocular morbidity and form a group that require acceptable and accessible eye care.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

The changing role of the apicectomy operation in dentistry.

Enormous progress has been made in the last quarter of a century in understanding the nature of root canal infection and periapical disease. New techniques and materials may be expected to increase the already high success of conventional root canal treatment. Surgical intervention is required for cases where retreatment has failed or is not an option, and the tooth is to be retained rather than extracted. This article reviews the operation of apicectomy and how this minor oral surgical procedure has evolved. Recent modifications to techniques and materials are likely to improve its success, allowing conservation of previously unsaveable teeth.

Apicoectomy↗
PubMed2001

Pathogenesis of dry eye in leprosy and tear functions.

Seventy-five leprosy patients and an equal number of age- and sex-matched controls were examined for tear functions, using Schirmer's test and tear break up time (BUT). There was no statistically significant difference in the Schirmer's test, but the tear BUT showed a statistically significant lower value of < 10 seconds in multibacillary patients compared to paucibacillary patients. Leprosy patients with lagophthalmos and decreased corneal sensation showed a lower value of tear BUT which was also statistically significant. This study shows that even though the quantity of tears is not affected, proper and prolonged wetting of the cornea is deficient in many leprosy patients.

Dry Eye Syndromes↗
PubMed2000

Therapeutic approaches to achieve desired blood pressure goals: focus on calcium channel blockers.

The new guidelines for blood pressure control recommended by the World Health Organisation, the International Society of Hypertension, and the JNC VI require that blood pressure be lowered to levels of < 130/85 mmHg in persons with either diabetes or renal insufficiency. A review of over 20 clinical trials performed over the last two decades indicates that an average of 62% of the participants required more than two medications to achieve a goal of < 140/90 mmHg. Thus, with the new guidelines it is clear that an even higher proportion of people will require at least two different medications to achieve this lower goal. Certain classes of antihypertensive medications are relatively more efficacious for lowering blood pressure in certain ethnic and racial groups, thus reducing the probability that two or more agents will be needed to achieve a stated blood pressure goal. This is exemplified by the effects of calcium channel blockers in African-Americans. However, even in these groups many require at least two different antihypertensive agents to achieve the blood pressure goal. The fixed-dose combinations of a calcium channel blocker and ACE inhibitor offer the advantages of complementary physiologic action, improved tolerability, lower side-effect profile, enhanced salutary effects on target organs, better compliance, and lower cost. Varieties of fixed-dose combination regimens for blood pressure lowering are available for clinical use. This article focuses on the subclasses of calcium channel blockers and their role in altering the natural history of both cardiovascular and renal disease. The article further discusses the role of fixed-dose agents with regard to their place in the antihypertensive armamentarium.

Antihypertensive Agents↗
PubMed1999

Hypopigmented face patches; their distribution and relevance to ocular complications in leprosy.

Eighty-two leprosy patients with hypopigmented patches over the face (cases) and an equal number of age-, sex-, and classification-matched leprosy patients without any hypopigmented patches over the face (controls) were examined for the distribution of hypopigmented facial patches, areas of anesthesia over the face, and eye complications. The hypopigmented patches did not follow any pattern and overlapped in the areas of sensation supplied by the three branches of the trigeminal nerve. Anesthesia over the face, evaluated by a Semmes-Weinstein monofilament which exerted a force of 0.05 grams, was present in 19.5% of the cases and 15.9% of the controls. Patients with hypopigmented facial patches were found to have more corneal hypoesthesia than patients who did not have hypopigmented facial patches. The risk of having impaired corneal sensation was three to four times higher in patients with hypopigmented facial patches. This feature can be used to identify decreased corneal sensation among leprosy patients under field conditions where direct estimation of corneal sensation is not advocated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Dental age assessment: the applicability of Demirjian's method in south Indian children.

The paper concerns the testing of Demirjian's method of age assessment in South Indian children. Since previous studies have shown the inapplicability of Demirjian's method on other populations, an attempt to compile a maturity standard for South Indian children was made. An additional independent indicator of age was employed, namely the skeletal age. The material was 184 South Indian children aged 5 to 15 years and an additional 34 children as the test sample. It was found that Demirjian's method gave an overestimation of 3.04 and 2.82 years in males and females, respectively. The skeletal age was found to differ from the dental and chronologic age. It may be concluded that the accuracy of age estimation based on Demirjian's method is not applicable for the South Indian children. For the population to be tested, it is imperative that individual assessment parameters need to be put forward because of wide ethnic differences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

A precaution when preparing very large plasmids by alkaline lysis procedure.

The extractabilities of plasmids of different sizes by the sodium lauryl sulfate (SDS)-alkali procedure were compared using either sodium acetate or potassium acetate buffer as the neutralizing agent. There was a selective loss of large plasmids (above 100 kb) when the potassium salt was used. When N-lauryl sarcosine instead of SDS was used as the detergent, no loss of large plasmids occurred in the presence of potassium salt. A comparison of the kinetics of precipitate formation with sodium acetate and potassium acetate indicated that the rate and the amount of lauryl sulfate precipitated were lower with the sodium salt. It is suggested that faster precipitation of lauryl sulfate with potassium acetate leads to trapping of large denatured plasmids that cannot renature as fast as the small ones.

Acetates↗