No abstract

Chewing habits of tobacco, betel quid (paan), and betel nut (chhaliya) are common traditions in Pakistan. Different other preparations and combination of flavors with tobacco, paan, and chhaliya ingredients are commonly available in the market and have received considerable attention as sources of carcinogens that promote OSCC. Mutagens can damage DNA and generate promutagenic lesions. The germ line mutation/polymorphism of p53 gene has been reported to be involved in multiple steps of carcinogenesis. This study aims to find out the loss of TP53 functions due to mutation/polymorphism caused by genomic alteration and interaction with tobacco-related ingredients.Tissue and blood specimens from 260 OSCC patients were collected and compared with blood samples of 260 age- and sex-matched controls. Mutations in exons 2-11 of p53 gene were examined by PCR-SSCP and directly sequenced.A novel mutation was found in exon 7 of p53 gene. This mutation was observed in the tumors of the OSCC patients. The blood samples of the patients and the controls did not show the nucleotide change in this region. The "AGT" to "ACT" missense mutation was identified at position 719 at TP53. This results in the substitution of amino acid serine with threonine at codon 240 of p53 protein.This novel missence mutation in the DNA-binding domain indicated that the DNA structure may be damaged by the use of exogenous DNA-damaging agents, including tobacco-related carcinogens present in gutka, niswar, and manpuri, which may result in the loss of p53 protein function.

Background: WHO has recommended a positive pregnancy experience for a healthy mother and her newborn and for achievement of positive motherhood. Oral disease of the mother during pregnancy is an important public health issue due to its prevalence and life course connections with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted of 200 ANC providers and questionnaires were filled by 100 obstetricians, 65 medical officers and 35 post graduate trainees practicing in gynecological department in twenty hospitals of Karachi. Results: The results indicated insufficient knowledge among ANC providers about effect of poor maternal oral health on pregnancy and birth consequences. Majority of the participants agreed on importance of oral health during pregnancy even minority was engaged in discussing the importance of dental care or referring them to a dental surgeon. Those participants who had more knowledge about oral health during pregnancy were also seen engaged with their practices. Conclusion: The findings indicate that in Karachi ANC providers are not well knowledgeable about maternal oral health. The main reasons may be lack of practices guidelines in oral health care during pregnancy, no refresher courses for ANC providers keep them updated. ANC providers seem cooperative to discuss oral health if they are having adequate knowledge in this domain.

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the  patterns of cleft lip and palate by its type, side, gender, laterality and extent of involvement of hard and/or soft palate in patients reported to a tertiary care hospital in Karachi. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted from January 2016 to January 2017 at Saifee hospital Karachi. It includes patient’s data from December 2014 till December 2015. Total 198 patients with diagnosed cleft lip and /palate anomaly were included in the study.  Data was collected by patient record forms and relevant findings were recorded on a predesigned proforma. Data was tabulated and analyzed using SPSS 17.00. Results:  Out of 198 patients 117 patients were males (59%). Total 54(27.27%)) cases of isolated cleft lip were observed, isolated cleft palate cases were 34(17.17%)  while mixed cleft lip and palate cases were 110 (55.55%). Out of 54 cases of isolated cleft lip 43(79.62%) cases were unilateral, in which 26(48.14%) were left sided and 17(31.48%) were right sided while 11 (20.37%) cases were bilateral. Among mixed cleft lip and palate patients 82(74.54%)  were unilateral having 48(43.63%) left sided  and 34(31%) were right sided while 28(25.45%)  were identified as bilateral. Total unilateral cases were 125(63.13%). Total left sided cases were 74 (37.37%) and right sided  were 51(25.75%). Total bilateral cases were 39(19.69%). Cases of isolated cleft palate were divided into mix hard and soft palate cleft which were 21(61.76%) while soft palate clefts were 13(38.23%). Conclusion: I the  clefts of mixed lip and palate was most common type, unilateral cleft lip and clefts of left side of both lip and palate comprised of major segment of cleft patients and  incomplete clefts of both lip and palate are more common in terms of extent in a tertiary care hospital of Karachi. Key words:  Cleft Lip Palate, Tertiary Care, .

Abstract Objective: To compare general quality of life of youths having repaired non-syndromic CLP with controls using a generic quality of life instrument, Youth Quality of Life – Research Version (YQOL-R). Methods: case control study was conducted from January, 2017 to December, 2018. Inclusion criteria was patients having repaired non syndromic Cleft Lip and Palate, age 15 to 29 years, of either gender while controls were healthy individuals of similar age. Quality of life was measured using validated YQOL-R instrument. Data of 62 cases and 107 healthy controls, consented for study was analysed using statistical software, SPSS version 20. Results:. Mean age was 22.09+5.04. Cronbach’s alpha for domains of sense of self was 0.630, relationship domain (0.795), environmental domain (0.826) and general quality of life domain was 0.688 and for YQOL-R was 0.866. Significant difference was observed for self care domain (63.10 vs. 73.50; p-value = 0.001), relationship domain (79.5 vs. 83.73; p-value = 0.013), environmental domain (70.89 vs. 84.60; p-value = 0.001), general quality of life domain (79.80 vs. 86.04; p-value = 0.012) and percent score of total perceptual score between cases and controls (73.32 vs. 81.97; p-value = 0.001).   Conclusion: Compared to cases healthy controls had a better quality of life as they have significantly better results in self care, relationship, environment and general quality of life domains along with mean perceptual percentage.