No abstract

Background: The objectives of this study were to evaluate thyroid lesions, to differentiate between possible benign and malignant lesions and to assess the diagnostic accuracy of high resolution sonography in thyroid lesions. Methods: Patients presenting with clinical suspicion of thyroid disease referred to the Department of Radiodiagnosis were included in the study. Ultrasound was done as an initial diagnostic imaging method and later underwent to ultrasound guided FNAC, for confirmation of diagnosis. Findings of the thyroid ultrasound scan were correlated with FNAC diagnosis. Results: Ultrasound was able to pick up lesions in all 100 cases with a sensitivity and specificity of 72 %and 100% respectively. Ultrasonography showed a Diagnostic accuracy of 97% for thyroid diseases. Sonography could considerably differentiate between malignant and benign lesions. Ultrasound guided FNAC showed high diagnostic yield for detection of thyroid diseases. Conclusion: The current study suggests that high resolution sonography can be used as a primary imaging modality for the evaluation of thyroid diseases with high diagnostic accuracy. Ultrasound helps in guiding FNAC for confirmation of the diagnosis.

Background: Obesity and related co-morbidities are increasing at an alarming pace all over the world. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the asymptomatic involvement of the liver mainly seen in obese individuals. NAFLD can progress to chronic liver disease and has to be identified early. The aims of our study were to determine the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease among obese children in our local population. To determine the prevalence of abnormal liver enzymes in obese children.Methods: Cross sectional descriptive study in a tertiary care center among children aged 5-18 years for a 1 year period. NAFLD was diagnosed based on ultrasonography. Alanine amino transferase more than 40IU/l was taken as abnormal.Results: A total of 65 patients were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of NAFLD in the study group was 60%. 20% had elevated alanine amino transferase levels.Conclusions: The prevalence of fatty liver in Kerala is comparable to that in the West. Since this is a public health issue more population based studies are needed on a larger group to find out the exact magnitude of the problem.