Introduction: In chronic liver disease (CLD), the lipid profile biomarkers are altered because of decreased lipoprotein biosynthetic capacity. Objectives: To identify the association of dyslipidemia with various characteristics in chronic liver disease patients. Patients and meth­ods:  This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, Civil Hospital, Karachi. The study was conducted between 1st July to 31st December 2017. A total of 211 adults with chronic liver disease were included in the study. Data regarding age, gender, body mass index (BMI), duration of CLD, family history of dyslipidemia, and severity of cirrhosis were obtained.  A 5ml fasting (12-14 hours) venous blood was collected and sent to the laboratory forthe measurement of lipid profiles. Dyslipidemia was established based the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP-ATP III) guidelines and definition.  Results: The mean age of the study patients was 43.16(8.63) years. The majority of the subjects were males (57.3%). The mean duration of CLD in years was 5.21(2.32). The prevalence of dyslipidemia was found to be 76.3%. Dyslipidemia was prevalent among patients of the age group > 45 years and male gender. Variables including age, gender, income, duration of CLD and family history of dyslipidemia showed significant association with dyslipidemia.  In the multivariable stage analysis, the only retained significant variables are gender and family history of dyslipidemia.  Conclusion: The prevalence of dyslipidemia among chronic liver disease patients was high. Various characteristics of the CLD patients were found to be significantly associated with dyslipidemia and identified as potential risk factors for its development.

Introduction: Diabetes and thyroid disorders are the two most common disorders amongst endocrine diseases. Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (DM) may disturb thyroid metabolism by disturbing the levels of thyroid hormones in the plasma. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and thyroid dysfunction in type 2 diabetic population presenting in a public sector tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) in the department of medicine from October 01, 2018, to March 31, 2019. The study population consisted of 317 patients diagnosed with DM type 2 based on American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria. Patients with fasting blood sugar ≥ 126 mg/dL, or HbA1c >6.5 (%), and 2 h postprandial blood glucose levels >200 mg/dL were included. After a minimum of 8 h of fasting, plasma samples of patients were collected and sent for fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, FT3, FT4, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Descriptive statistics were calculated. Post-stratification Chi-squared test was applied, and a P value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Among all enrolled DM type 2 patients, 207 (65.3%) were male with a mean age of 46.54 ± 8.72 years. Mean fasting blood sugar (FBS), random blood sugar (RBS), and HbA1c were 212.76 ± 26.91 (mg/dL), 328.89 ± 52.89 (mg/dL), and 9.43 ± 2.47 (%), respectively. The mean duration of DM was 7.81 ± 3.15 years. Mean FT3, FT4, and TSH were 113.13 ± 44.40 (ng/dL), 7.63 ± 3.11 (mg/dL) and 2.64 ± 2.57 (mIU/mL), respectively. In the present study, 55 (17.4%) patients had subclinical hypothyroidism, 27 (8.5%) had hypothyroidism, 19 (6.0%) had hyperthyroidism, and 16 (5.0%) had subclinical hyperthyroidism. Significant association of thyroid dysfunction was established with age group, female gender, and family history of thyroid dysfunction (P =< 0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction is higher among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), in which hypothyroidism was the most common dysfunction with more prevalence among female patients.

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem, autoimmune, inflammatory disorder presenting with manifestations from various organ systems. Objective: To determine the frequency of clinical presentations in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus at tertiary care hospital Methodology: The cross-sectional study was conducted during 21st October 2018 to 20th April 2019 in the Department of Medicine Civil Hospital Karachi. Total 143 diagnosed patients were included. All patients were evaluated for the initial clinical manifestations including clinical investigations at presentation, Ocular, Mucocutaneous, Pulmonary, Cardiovascular, Gastrointestinal, Musculoskeletal, Hematological, Renal, Neuro Psychiatric, Gynaecological. Descriptive statistics were calculated and stratification was done. Post stratification chi square test was applied. p value≤0.05 was taken as significant. Results: There were 18.9% male and 81.1% female patient. Mean age was 32.36±9.92 years. Mean SLE duration was 8.16±2.22 months. 79.7% were married and 20.3% were unmarried. In this study among major findings, 52.4% patients were found with fever, 79% with fatigue, 79.7% with arthralgia, 66.4% with weakness, 71.3% with body ache, 35.7% with decreased appetite, 40.6% with headache, 60.1% with photosensitivity, 67.1% with malar rash, 67.1% with alopecia, 60.8% with oral ulcer, 52.4% with Raynaud’s phenomenon, 52.4% with nausea/vomiting, 33.6% with diarrhea, 31.5% with arthritis, 37.1% with muscle atrophy, 35.7% with osteoporotic fractures, 38.5% with hemolytic anemia. Conclusion: In this study, majority of patients presented with combination of fever, fatigue, arthralgia, weakness, body ache, photosensitivity, and malar rash.