Pak J Med Sci
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Our understanding of homicide-suicide (H-S), a rare yet tragic event, is sparse. While the phenomenon has been studied in the West for many years, only limited literature is available from Asia and none to our knowledge from Pakistan. There is evidence of complexity of the interaction between cultural, societal, and psychological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon; therefore, research findings from the Western countries cannot be directly applied in non-Western societies. Our objective was to study homicide-suicides in Pakistan, describe the characteristics of offenders and victims, determine the types of H-S, and examine possible motives and any events prior to the offense. ⋯ The study highlights several unique patterns (predominance of familicide, multiple victims including high proportion of children) and a series of vulnerabilities (incidents related mostly to familial/ financial and social stressors) that overlap each other and ultimately lead to this tragic end. There is need to increase our understanding and develop effective evidence-based prevention strategies for H-S in Pakistan. It is also very important to have a national surveillance network and national violent death reporting system in the country for studying H-S cases, and for evaluating the impact of prevention programs.
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Tibia plateau fractures account for 1-2% of all fractures and might adversely affect the knee joint. The current research aimed to evaluate the effect of surgical procedures, age, and gender on proximal tibia fracture functional outcomes. ⋯ Tibia Plateau fracture patients respond almost equally to both external fixation and Open Reduction Internal Fixation procedures. Age does not influence the outcome. However, males had better functional outcomes at three months post-surgery indicating that gender could affect the outcomes. Further exploration might assist in planning gender-based proximal tibia fracture treatment strategies for optimum outcomes.
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Pakistan, a South Asian developing country, is experiencing a rapid increase in number of diabetes cases. High prevalence ratio of diabetes in Pakistani population and lack of genetic research studies prompted us to design this study. This present study investigated Pakistani Pashtun population for (known and novel SNPs) and its possible correlation with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). ⋯ This study reports new genetic risk variants for T2DM in Pashtun population providing valuable insights into the genetic basis of T2DM in this group.
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In the past, brain stem was treated with surgery or placement of shunt in Pakistan. Gamma Knife surgery is currently an alternative to surgery for deep brain lesions. In the current study, we show the clinical experience of our Centre treated with Gamma Knife surgery. ⋯ Among the diverse gliomas, their peril varies not just by type but also by their intricate location within the brain. The efficacy of gamma knife radiation is excellent particularly when tackling high-grade tumors, exhibiting its prowess in both adult and pediatric cases.
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This study aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of ORIF versus Ilizarov for the management of Type C closed pilon fractures of the distal tibia at 12 months follow up. ⋯ Among patients with an acute, displaced, intra-articular fracture of the distal tibia, neither external fixation nor locking plate fixation resulted in superior disability status at 12 months. Patient factors may need to be considered in deciding the optimal approach.