Objectives: To determine the correlation between mean platelet count and grading of esophageal varices in patients of liver cirrhosis. Study Design: Cross Sectional study. Settings: Department of Medicine, DHQ Hospital (FMU) &AFM&DC Faisalabad. Period: 17th August 2019 to 16th February 2020. Material & Methods: A total of 105 patients liver cirrhosis with esophageal varices were included in the study according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. For assessment of platelet count 2ml blood sample was sent to hospital pathology laboratory and it was reported by the pathologist. Upper GI endoscopy was performed by gastroenterologist for confirmation and grading of oesophageal varices. Results: In our study, it was observed that 04 (3.81%) patients had grade- I EV, 34 (32.38%) Grade-II, 39 (37.14%) Grade III, 15 (14.29%) Grade IV and 13 (12.38%) patients had Grade V esophageal varices. While correlating the mean platelet count and grading of esophageal varices in patients of liver cirrhosis, it was observed that the mean platelet count of the patients with Grade-I EV was 149000± 26000, platelet count in patients with Grade-II EV was 122000 ± 26000, platelet count in patients with Grade-III EV was 100000 ± 23000, platelet count in patients with Grade-IV EV was 98000 ± 26000 and platelet count in patients with Grade-V EV was 94000 ± 22000 with correlation r value of 0.370 and p-value of 0.0001 which is statistically significant. Conclusion: This study concluded that there is inverse correlation between mean platelet count and grades of esophageal varices in patients of liver cirrhosis.

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ABSTRACT  BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Students reading strategies strongly influence their academic performance. Our study aimed to determine medical students' metacognitive awareness during reading strategies and its relation with their academic scores.  METHODOLOGY:  Study was done among third year MBBS students of Aziz Fatima Medical College Faisalabad. Students previous years academic achievement information was collected and they also filled questionnaire on metacognition regulation by the Metacognitive Awareness Reading Strategies Inventory. Convenient sampling was used for this study. The data were analyzed in SPSS 20. In our study the independent variable was metacognitive score while previous professional examination marks were taken as the dependent variable.Standard deviation and mean were used for the descriptive data. For categorical data, percentage and frequencies were used.  RESULTS: Different reading strategies employed by medical students in relation to metacognition were our main focus in the study. Metacognition was taken as score measured by a 30 item MARSI scale and their academic performance measured in terms of total marks obtained in the last professional examination held by the University. Total 101 out of 110 students from 3rd year MBBS class were enrolled in the study and the response rate was 92%. Forty one (41) respondents were females and sixty (60) respondents were male the mean± SD age of students was 21.05±0.74.  CONCLUSION: All dimensions of metacognition are positive and strongly correlated with each other’s. Higher the score in one dimension will cause positive change in other dimension score and vice versa.

Among all deaths, 40-50% are due to vascular events and out of these 10% aredue to stroke. More than 66% of the global stroke occurrence is in developing countries, wherethe average age of patients with stroke is 15 years less than in developed countries. Objectives:To determine the correlation between higher total cholesterol level and high Barthel Indexscore(estimate of functional daily independent activity level) in patients with acute ischemicstroke. Design: Cross sectional study. Period: May 2013 to Apr 2014. Setting: Medical Units ofDHQ and Allied Hospital, Faisalabad. Methodology: Sample size of 200 patients was collectedand patients were included through Consecutive (non-probability) sampling technique. Allpatients underwent CT scan Brain from the radiology department of the hospital to determinethe respective changes (hypo dense area) of the ischemic stroke. Fasting serum cholesterolwas measured in all patients after an overnight fast of 12 hours. Then patients were assessed byusing Barthel Index score (BI). The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0. SpearmanRank correlation coefficient was calculated to BI score in patients with ischemic stroke. Results:The mean age of the patients was noted as 61.76±11.55 years. In this study 55.50% weremales and 44.50% patients were females. The mean total cholesterol value of patients wasnoted as 251.58±71.15 mg/dl. Out of 200 patients, 111(55.5%) patients had high cholesterol(>200mg/dl) whereas 89(44.5%) patient had low cholesterol of(<200mg/dl).In statical analysisthe results showed that the mean value of total Barthel index score was 57.50±19.52. The studyresults described that 51.50% patients had high Barthel index score (>53) whereas 48.50%patients had low Barthel index score (<53). Spearman correlation coefficient was calculatedbetween high TC and high BI score as r= 0.641. This value was statistically significant i.e.p-value=0.000*. Conclusions: With the help of this study, we found a significant positiverelationship between high TC and high BI score in patients presented with ischemic stroke.Now we can better prognosticate the functional outcome of ischemic stroke in our patients.

Objective: To determine the frequency of eosinophilia among patients of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with acute exacerbationMethodology: This cross-sectional study was carried out at Aziz Fatimah Hospital (AFH), Faisalabad from February 2020-May 2020. Ethical approval was taken from Institutional Ethical Committee of Aziz Fatimah Medical and Dental College. After obtaining informed consent, 135 patients of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were enrolled by non-probability consecutive sampling technique according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. All the information was collected on predesigned proforma. Blood samples were drawn and sent to the AFH pathology laboratory for determination of eosinophilia. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 21. Mean and percentages were determined for continuous and categorical variables respectively. Chi square test was applied for differences in proportions.Results: This study comprised of 135 patients of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Out of total participants 48.89% (n=66) were male and 51.11% (n=69) were females. Mean±SD of the age of the study subjects was 56.30±7.01 years. Eosinophilia was found in 39.26% (n=53) patients of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with acute exacerbation.Conclusion: Eosinophilia is frequently found in patients of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with acute exacerbation.