Background: Head and neck swelling is a frequently encountered complaint in the outpatient department. A wide plethora of conditions give rise to head and neck lumps. Sometimes the diagnosis of these lesions is apparent from the site and associated features, while at other times the cause for mass in this region can be confusing. Fine needle aspiration cytology has emerged as a reliable tool for clinching the diagnosis in head and neck swellings. Methods and Materials: A retrospective study was conducted in the department of Pathology, Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences, Western Regional Hospital, Pokhara. Details of diagnosed cases of HN swellings from the period of November 2015 to February 2018 were obtained from recorded data. Descriptive statistics was applied from the data collected for analysis. Results: Out of total 456 patients included from a period of 28 months, female patients outnumbered male patients by 1.5 times. The most common age group of presentation for head and neck swellings was observed to be 20-29 years, with 93 patients which comprised of 20.39% of total. Highest incidence was that of lymph node swellings (55.04%) followed by thyroid swellings (21.49%). Conclusion: Lymph node pathology was determined to be the commonest cause for head and neck mass. FNAC is a reliable and inexpensive means in investigating such lesions, which provides immense help in treatment of patients.

Background: Obesity, a chronic disease that is increasing in prevalence in adults, adolescents and children, is now considered a global epidemic. Thyroid dysfunction contributes to the pathogenesis of obesity. Many clinical studies raise the questions of whether thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) changes in physiological limits is associated with obesity and whether there is a link between adipose tissue and hypothalamo-thyroidal axis. Materials and Method: This was a cross-sectional study. All clinically euthyroid patients and healthy volunteer adults of age 18 to 60 years of either gender were included in the study. Fasting blood sample was taken for thyroid function evaluation, which included Free T3, Free T4 and thyroid stimulating hormone. Height, weight, waist circumference and hip circumference were measured. The results were compared with calculated Body Mass Index (BMI). Results: 61 patients who met the inclusion criteria were studied. Among 61 patients 16 had subclinical hypothyroidism, 2 patients had hypothyroidism and 43 were euthyroid. Similarly, 2 underweight patients were observed, 7 had normal weight, 13 were over weight and 39 were obese. The mean TSH according to BMI were 3.8, 4.04, 3.88 and 6.19 respectively. Conclusion: The result in this study showed that the mean TSH increased as BMI increased with significant relationship between serum TSH and BMI (p <0.001). Thus thyroid dysfunction mainly subclinical hypothyroidism and hypothyroidism could be found in association with increased body weight.

Introduction: A number of studies have shown that anosmia and dysgeusia present as symptoms of COVID-19. These symptoms can appear with sudden onset following COVID-19 infection. The objective of the study was to observe epidemiological and clinical profile of COVID-19 patients who had experienced anosmia and dysgeusia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Ear, Nose and Throat outpatient department of Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences over a period of two months, from February 2022 to March 2022. Patients visiting the outpatient department were enquiredabout the COVID-19 infection status in the past and symptoms related to taste and smell impairment were asked about. Results: Out of total 198 patients, 141 (71%) had experienced impairment of taste and smell, either one or both, while the rest did not develop such features after testing positive for COVID-19 virus. Conclusions: Anosmia and dysgeusia were common features in COVID-19 infection.

Background: Various neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases affect the eye and orbit. Different tissues of ocular area contribute to lesions that varies from inflammation to different types of neoplastic conditions. Histopathology is the key to diagnosis for most neoplastic and non-neoplastic swellings. Histopathological studies have the indirect role to ongoing patient care. Materials and Methods: It was a retrospective study of ocular biopsies done in Himalayan Eye Hospital Gharipatan, Pokhara. These biopsy specimens were submitted during the period of one year (2018/12/1 to 2019/12/1). Results: The total number of biopsies we analyzed for ocular lesions were 102. Maximum number of patients were from the second decade. Out of 102 cases, 7(6.86%) were neoplastic and 95(96.07%) were non neoplastic cases. Two cases of SCC were diagnosed out of 102 specimens, while one case each of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and meibomian gland carcinoma were detected. Conclusion: Epidermal cyst and nevus were the most common non-neoplastic lesions in this study. SCC and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma were the commonest malignant lesions in the present study.

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