Aims and objectives To assess the safety and efficacy of stem cell therapy in patients with cirrhosis of the liver (LC) in the context of developing country with limited facilities for cell-based therapy and advanced technologies. Materials and methods A total of 34 patients received granulocyte colony-stimulating factor at a dose of 30 IU, daily for 2 to 11 days to upregulate the numbers of white blood cells and stem cells. Subsequently, stem cells were isolated from the peripheral blood of LC patients in a closed chamber using a harvesting machine. Variable amounts of autologous stem cells were injected to LC patients for once. The patients were followed for 3 months and various factors related to safety and parameters of efficacy were analyzed in this interim report. Results Out of 34 patients available for final analysis, 3 months after the start of stem therapy, 4 patients died within this period. There was no significant alteration in biochemical parameters due to stem cell therapy, and patients also did not develop any features of acute liver failure indicating that short-term safety parameters of stem cell therapy may be acceptable. Stem cell therapy had a dominant effect on ascites of in this cohort. Although 24 of 34 patients had ascites at the start of therapy,ascites were found in 11 patients after one month and only 4 patients had ascites after 3 months. The positive role of stem cell therapy on ascites in LC patients may be attributed, even in part, to increased serum levels of albumin after therapy compared to basal levels (p <0.001). Conclusion This first study about stem cell therapy in Bangladesh indicates that cell therapy may be accomplished in general hospitals of developing countries if the proper design and mild to moderate types of invasive approach is utilized. The apparent safety of administered stem cells in LC patients and the observed effect on ascites of LC patients inspire optimism about the installation of new and innovative therapy in Bangladesh. Future studies with phase I/II may with stem cell and others cell may be planned at Bangladesh in patients with LC and other intractable diseases with suitable control arms. How to cite this article: Mahtab MA, Akbar SMF, Begum M, Islam MA, Rahim MA, Noor-E-Alam SM, Alam MA, Khondaker FA, Moben AL, Mohsena M, Khan SI, Huq MZ, Munshi S, Hoque A, Haque SA. Stem Cell Therapy for Cirrhosis of Liver in Bangladesh: Specific Design Compatible for Developing Country. Euroasian J Hepatogastroenterol, 2018;8(2):121-125.

Accurate detection of astrocytomas is very difficult. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of MRI in detection of intracranial astrocytoma. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Radiology and Imaging with the collaboration of Department of Neurosurgery and Department of Pathology at Sir Salimullah Medical College (SSMC & MH), Dhaka from January 2013 to December 2013 for a period of one year. All the clinically suspected and CT scan diagnosed cases of intracranial astrocytoma patients of any age of both sexes were included as study population. All cases having no contraindication for MRI underwent MR examination. MR imaging was obtained with 0.5 Tesla machine (SIEMENS). The postoperative resected tissues were examined histopathological in the respective department. Then the collected reports were compared with findings of MRI. The sample size of the present study was 48 astrocytoma patients. The highest sensitivity was found in grade III astrocytoma (90.5%) followed by grade II (85.7%) grade IV (75.0%) and grade I (60.0%). The highest specificity was found in grade I astrocytoma (97.7%) followed by Grade III (96.3%), grade IV (92.5%) and grade II (91.5%). The highest accuracy was found in both grade I astrocytoma (93.7%) and grade III (93.7%) followed by grade II (92.5%) and grade IV (89.6%). In the conclusion, MRI is an effective tool for the diagnosis of astrocytoma. MRI has a high diagnostic validity for the detection of different grades of astrocytoma. Bangladesh Med J. 2017 May; 46 (2): 48-52

Cardiac cephalgia is a migraine like headache that occurs during episodes of myocardial ischaemia. Although most of the patients presenting with ischaemic heart disease have chest pain, there are other rare presenting symptoms like cardiac cephalgia. Headache can be the only presentation of coronary artery disease. We report a case of a 57 years-old man, Presenting with only headache during brisk walking, Exercise Tolerance Test (ETT) was positive for Electrocardiograph (ECG) evidence of provocable myocardial ischemia, who latter was diagnosed as double vessel coronary artery diseaseon Coronary Angiogram (CAG). As the patient preferred remaining without revascularization, he was put onto optimum medical management for ischaemic heart disease. A follow up visit after one month revealed, marked improvement of the headache with anti anginal medications. Early evaluation and diagnosis of the headache symptom should be done because treatment with anti-migraine drugs may deteriorate headache and undermine the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. Bangladesh Med J. 2019 Sep; 48 (3): 46-49

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a widely accessible imaging technique for the detection of brain tumours and cancer, which are further confirmed by histopathological examination. Accurate detection of the tumours and its extent is very difficult. The present study attempted to evaluate the convenience of MRI in detection of different grades of astrocytomas, which are the most commonly occurring brain tumours. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Radiology and Imaging with the collaboration of Department of Neurosurgery and Department of Pathology at Sir Salimullah Medical College (SSMC & MH), Dhaka from January 2013 to December 2013 for a period of one year. The study population was all the diagnosed cases of intracranial astrocytoma patients regardless of their age and sex. The studied included 48 brain tumour (astrocytoma) patients, ages between 13 and 69 years old. All cases having no contraindication for MRI underwent MR examination followed by histopathological examination of the postoperative resected tissues. The findings of the MRI and histopathological examination were compared to find out the test validity of the MRI findings of the different grades of astrocytoma’s. The highest sensitivity was found in grade III astrocytoma (90.5%) followed by grade II (85.7%) grade IV (75.0%) and grade I (60.0%). The highest specificity was found in grade I astrocytoma (97.7%) followed by Grade III (96.3%), grade IV (92.5%) and grade II (91.5%). The highest accuracy was found in both grade I astrocytoma (93.7%) and grade III (93.7%) followed by grade II (92.5%) and grade IV (89.6%). As per the study findings it can be concluded that,MRI has a high diagnostic accuracy and validity for the detection of different grades of astrocytoma. Bangladesh Med J. 2017 Sep; 46 (3): 85-89

Background: COR-KNOT® (LSI Solutions, New York, NY, USA) is an automated suture securing device has not been well known. We report a case series for first automated knotting device used for minimally invasive heart valve surgery in Bangladesh. Method and Results: To overcome the challenge of knot securing via a Key-Hole surgery we have used CORKNOT ®. The newest device is capable of remotely and automatically secure sutures and simultaneously can cut and remove the excess suture tails. We covered the spectrum of heart valve surgery: There was one case of bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement, one case of mitral valve repair, one case of bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement, one case of failed mitral valve repair with COR-KNOT® explantation followed by mechanical mitral valve replacement and one case of redo-mitral valve replacement. Average length of hospital stays was 5 ± 1days. There was one reopening, one post-operative atrial fibrillation. No wound infection and no 30day mortality. Conclusion: We conclude, COR-KNOT® is a safe and effective tool to reduce the duration of operation. Clinical outcome of heart valve surgery with COR-KNOT® is comparable with other methods of suture tying methods. Bangladesh Heart Journal 2019; 34(2) : 127-131