Introduction: COVID-19 is an emerging global health pandemic causing tremendous morbidity andmortality worldwide. Chronic symptoms progressing to poor functional status have been reportedin a substantial proportion of COVID-19 patients worldwide. This study aimed to determine theprevalence of functional limitation in COVID-19 recovered patients using the post-COVID-19functional status scale. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Tribhuvan University TeachingHospital. COVID-19 recovered patients with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactionnegative status were included and assessed using the post-COVID-19 functional status scale. Dataentry and analysis was done in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0. Descriptivestatistics were performed. Results: A total of 106 patients were included for the final analysis. More than half of the patients(56.6%) reported having no functional limitation (grade 0), while the prevalence of some degree offunctional limitation was observed in 46 (43.4%) patients (grade 1 to 4). Conclusions: Some form of functional limitation should be anticipated after COVID-19 infection.Post-COVID-19 functional status scale can be a valuable tool in determining the prevalence offunctional limitation in COVID-19 recovered patients in acute health care settings. It can potentiallyguide in planning rehabilitative measures in post-acute care management of COVID-19 survivors.

Introduction: Respiratory diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide imposing a significant global health burden. The admission rate of patients is the indication of the overall workload in the ward. The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of admission of patients in the pulmonology ward among patients visiting the pulmonology department of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Medical records of all patients visiting the pulmonology department and admitted to the pulmonology ward from May 2018 to April 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Data entry and analysis was done in SPSS version 20.0. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: A total of 30,480 patients visited the pulmonology department in the two-year study period. Out of them, 1296 (4.25%) patients were admitted to the pulmonology ward. Eleven respiratory diseases were identified as primary causes for admission. Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (44.5%), pneumonia (26.3%), tuberculosis (11%), lung cancer (5%), and bronchiectasis (3.9%) ranked the top five causes for admission. Conclusions: Respiratory diseases impose a tremendous burden in the health care setting. Acute exacerbation of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, and tuberculosis remains an important cause of respiratory admissions in our study.

Background: Fibreoptic bronchoscopy is one of the most vital procedures performed in health care setting. Globally, several studies have reported findings of fibreoptic bronchoscopy while only few studies have been reported in Nepal. The aim of this study was to perform two year retrospective analysis of diagnostic fibreoptic bronchoscopy at tertiary referral centre.Methods: A hospital based retrospective observational study was conducted at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal. Consecutive bronchoscopy reports from June 2017 to May 2019 were included. Data entry and analysis was done in Microsoft Office Excel 2010. Descriptive statistics was performed to obtain clinico-demographic profile of patients, indications and findings of bronchoscopy. Results: A total of 238 bronchoscopy procedures were analyzed. Mean age of patients was 55.02 years with range from 15 to 84 years. Majority of bronchoscopy were performed in male patients (58%). One hundred and twelve patients (47.05%) had no endobronchial lesion. Endoscopically visible tumor was the most common abnormality seen in 57 (23.9%) patients with highest prevalence in 55-65 years followed by extrinsic compression of bronchial tree seen in 13 (5.5%) patients. Bronchioalveolar lavage for routine examination (n=207) was the most commonly performed procedure during bronchoscopy followed by bronchial biopsy (n=55).Conclusions: Fibreoptic bronchoscopy is an extremely useful tool for evaluation of tracheobronchial pathology. Baseline bronchoscopic findings from tertiary referral centre in Nepal was obtained in this study. Keywords: Bronchoscopy; fibreoptic.

Piebaldism is a rare autosomal dominant disorder characterised by a congenital white forelock and multiple symmetrical hypopigmented or depigmented macules. We present a case of an 18 year old male with a typical clinical presentation, followed by a concise review of the literature discussing the genetics, clinical features, diagnosis, and management of the condition. This is the fi rst case of Piebaldism to be reported from Nepal with a good cosmetic surgery outcome.

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation is a leading cause of frequent hospital admission. Globally, several studies have reported potential risk factors associated with COPD exacerbations which are largely unknown in Nepalese health care setting. Objective To identify the risk factors associated with hospital readmission within ninety days of discharge in acute COPD exacerbation. Method This is a hospital based retrospective cohort study conducted at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. COPD patients admitted in respiratory ward from August 2019 to November 2019 were followed up till 90 days after discharge. Logistic regression analysis was performed at 95% Confidence Interval (CI) to identify risk factors for readmission in COPD exacerbation. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0. Result Of total 86 patients hospitalized for COPD, 42 (48.8%) had at least one subsequent readmission during post-discharge follow-up period of 90 days. Mean age of patients was 70.55±10.98 years. There were 45 (52.3%) males. Logistic regression analysis revealed preadmission domiciliary oxygen use (Odds Ratio (OR) 2.93; 95% CI 1.195- 7.202; p=0.019), admission in intensive care unit (ICU) (OR 3.060; 95% CI 1.145- 8.179; p=0.026), previous hospital admission for COPD exacerbation (OR 3.230; 95% CI 1.219-8.556; p=0.018), age (OR 0.946; 95% CI 0.905-0.988; p=0.012) and duration of hospital stay (OR 0.901; 95% CI 0.819-0.992; p=0.034) were independently associated with ninety day readmission in COPD patients. Conclusion Five clinical factors were found to be independently associated with COPD readmission in this study. Large multi-centre study at various health care levels is recommended to validate the potential risk factors in different populations and health care settings in Nepal.