Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Facebook: ANS and dilated pupil.

So, this post is regarding answer of our recent pharmacology question posted on facebook medicowesome group. If you still are not following it, please follow for latest updates and interesting questions.

Q) What is the probable diagnosis in a patient with a dilated pupil not responsive in 1% pilocarpine? (AIIMS 2011 Nov)

1) Diabetic 3rd nerve palsy.
2) Adie's tonic pupil.
3) Uncal herniation.
4) Pharmacological block.

Answer is option 4- Pharmacological block.

Let's start with the basics of the ANS to understand the question.

First, imagine an eye with simplest of the structures.
A central area called as pupil. Surrounded by group of muscles called as "constrictor pupillae muscles" which obviously helps in constriction (miosis) of the pupil as their name suggests. They are  further surrounded by "radial muscles" which causes dilation (and mydriasis) of the eye.

Now, each of these muscles will have receptors on them. Receptors need to be stimulated for their respective actions, right? - Yes!
Now, remember - M3 receptors are present on constrictor muscles and Alpha-1 receptors are present on radial muscles.

Now, you must be thinking why I am goofing around with such simple basic concepts?!
Hold on, question may contain confusing options but you already know the answer. Atleast now you do know!
(Read question again and come back!)

Pilocarpine is selective M3 agonist. Stimulation of M3 receptors will lead to miosis.

In pharmacological block, drugs like atropine block the muscarinic receptors present on the pupil. As, the receptors cannot work, pilocarpine cannot produce miosis.

( You really don't need to know all the things to answer MCQs. Sometimes basics are enough!)

Now, let us know more about other options.

1) Diabetic 3rd nerve palsy: Occulomotor motor nerve supplies constrictor puplillae So, palsy of 3rd nerve will cause mydriasis but does it cause any damage to receptors? - No.
So, pilocarpine will respond and thus miosis will occur!

2) Adie's tonic pupil: It manifests as denervation supersenstiviy. Normal pupil responds to 1% pilocarpine but not to dilated solution like 0.05-0.1%. However, in Adie's pupil due to supersenstiviy of receptors, even this diluted solution may results in constriction.

3) Uncal herniation: Pressure on 3rd nerve causes pupil dilation but again it will respond to pilocarpine as receptors are intact.

Some important MCQ points related to above information.
1) Echothiophate is also M3 agonists. It is an anti-glaucomic drug which acts by promoting drainage of fluid via schlemm's canal.
Adverse effect: Causes cataract.

2) Adrenergic drugs causes mydriasis (Stimulation of Alpha-1 receptors) and Anticholinergic drugs (Inhibiting M3 receptors) causes mydriasis and cycloplegia.

Monday, May 28, 2018

Tips to get interviews in top-tier residency programs

Who didn’t dream about starting his residency in a great famous program? What is your dream program? Is it Harvard? Yale? John Hopkins? Stanford?......and the list goes on..

It is hard but it is not impossible. Besides having nice USMLE scores, here are some points that make your application stands out:

1- Research
Doing a research in big institutes may help in getting a call from these places. While doing your research, you will be able to meet new people, some of them may know a person who is related to the residency selection process. At the same time, you are showing your commitment, social skills and your willingness to be a part of the team.
Another point to consider is having publications in international journals with a high impact factor. This includes but is not limited to JAMA, The Lancet, Nature, Cell. Whether you worked in institutes in the US to have these publications or you were involved in an international research that was eventually published in these journals, having such accomplishments is a great addition to your application.

2- MPH and/or PhD
Having a Masters degree - especially if done in the US - can be a big plus for some university programs. You may do masters in biostatistics,epidemiology and many others. It may be costly and lengthy (a year or two) but it's worth it.

3- Preliminary (transitional) year
Doing a preliminary year in some high-tier residency programs may be your winning ticket to enter that program. You may match in the same program or apply to and get interviewed by another amazing program since you will now have a 1 year of fully accredited USCE (United States Clinical Experience) in addition to the experience and knowledge that you gain.

4- Contacts
It is amazing how social life shapes us as humans. The importance of having contacts or making new ones during your research, MPH or preliminary year can’t be overemphasized. Programs prefer a person who they already know and whom they are sure they can work with.
Consider attending conferences in your field too, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine...etc.

5- Exceptional Academic Record
Famous institutes like applicants who are bright, smart and committed. An “excellent “academic record helps to prove this.

6- LUCK
Believe it or not, occasionally, luck plays a role here. Be outgoing and interact nicely with as many people as you can. Being in the right time at the right place is what you need sometimes!

Finally, for all AMGs and IMGs, always remember that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Start now and chase your dreams :)

-Murad

Complications of massive blood transfusion


Hii everyone! 

Massive blood transfusion is defined as

Complications from massive transfusion include :
1) Hypothermia
2) Hypocalcemia - because citrate present in transfused blood is a calcium chelator, it decreases the available calcium.
3) Acidosis - as citrate is acidic in nature.
4) Hyperkalemia - as Hydrogen ions are present in excess due to acidosis, it is compensated by H+ loss in urine and K+ is regained back into blood. So this causes hyperkalemia.
5) Hypokalemia - in stored blood, the Na+-K+ pump is less functioning,  so there is decrease in intracellular K+ in stored blood.  But after blood transfusion, the Na+ K+  pump again starts functioning and increases intracellular K+, this leads to decrease in the available K+ outside the cell causing hypokalemia.
6) Dilutional coagulopathy - massive blood transfusion leads to dilution of clotting factors . It later manifests as DIC-like leading to multiorgan failure and death.

Thanks for reading.

Madhuri.

Complications of blood transfusion

Hii everyone!
This post is about the complications from a single blood transfusion.

1) The most common complication is febrile nonhemolytic tranfusion reaction(FNHTR). -- this occurs due to anti-HLA antibodies in the recipient which kills WBCs leading to release of interleukins and cytokines which are pyrogens. So the treatment is antipyretics.
2) Urticaria - it is due to IgE antibodies in plasma. So we give antihistamines to control it.
3) Hemolytic transfusion reaction - due to antibodies against RBCs. This is rare.  It may occasionally occur due to clinical errors in pretranfusion tests.
4) Infections - bacterial infection due to faulty storage, hepatitis, HIV, malaria.
5) Air embolism
6) Thrombophlebitis
7) Transfusion- related acute lung injury - usually occurs within 6 hrs after transfusion.

Hope this helps.

Madhuri

MCQ mnemonics series: Genital tuberculosis most common site

#Obs_Gyn
Question:
Most common site of genital tuberculosis is?
(A) Fallopian tubes
(B) Uterus
(C) Ovary
(D) Fimbriae
________
Answer:

MCQ mnemonics series: Fusion inhibitors

#Pharmacology
# Antiretroviral drugs
Question
-
*Fusion inhibitor approved for use in HIV is*
a. Enfuvirtide
b. Atazanavir
c. Cobicistat
d. Rilpivirine
-
Answer:

MCQ mnemonics series: Naturally occurring anticancer drugs

#Pharmacology
#Anticancer Drug

Question
-
*All of the following are naturally occurring anticancer drugs except*
a. Irinotecan 
b. Paclitaxel
c. Etoposide
d. Chlorambucil
-
Answer

MCQ mnemonics series by Dr. Shubham Patidar

Hello Awesomites! :D

I am starting a new series for post graduate medical entrance examination. I'll be solving frequently asked confusing difficult MCQ by simple tricks, tips and mnemonics.

In every post MCQ along with authentic answer and mnemonic will be given!

Friday, May 25, 2018

Hematology Diagrams

Hello Awesomites! :D

I made these diagrams during my exams.
I kept in mind the details of cells.
Hope it will help.



-Upasana Y. :)

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Referred Pain

The pain sensation produced in some parts of the body is felt in other structures away from the place of development. This is called referred pain According to dermatome rule,
  • Pain is referred (transferred) to a structure.
  • This structure is developed from the same Dermatome from which pain producing structure is developed.
I know! It’s confusing *_*
Let me make it easy for you, There is a pain in your heart and this pain is transferred to your left arm.
How is this happening •_• This is because the heart and inner aspect of the left arm is developed from the same dermatome. Now, you must be thinking, what about other areas of the body!
  1. Pain in testis is referred to the abdomen.
  2. Pain in the ovary is referred to the umbilicus.
  3. Pain in the diaphragm is referred to the right shoulder.
  4. Renal pain is referred to loin.
Thought question: Do you know about any other areas? Comment me with your answers! 
I wonder, can acidity cause referred pain?

- Written by Anisha Valli

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Time management tips for USMLE exams

The USMLE exams are really long and tiring but they are like parts of a big puzzle and each part does play an important role in the journey to become a doctor in the US.

This post will focus on some time management and test-taking skills that are helpful to each test-taker. I hope you enjoy reading

Before your exam:

1- It is advisable to do a simulation of the exam. Do 7 or 8 uworld blocks- with breaks in between - or 2 consecutive NBMEs or UWSAs. This way, you ll be familiar when you start to lose your concentration or feel hungry and when you will need a longer break between the blocks.

2- This is optional, but for some people, doing the practice test in the prometric greatly reduces the tension of the exam day. If you are very tensed, schedule a practice test in your prometric and live the experience. This is also considered a test drive and by doing this, you ll know exactly where the prometric is :)

The night before the exam:

1- Sleep well. You need each synapse in your brain to work perfectly :D your memory and logic will be tested tomorrow. Your brain should be ready for that.

2- Try your best to sleep without taking any meds, if u have to, make sure that this time is not the first time you try them.

Exam morning:

1- Arrive early to the prometric, 30-40 mins earlier than your exam starting time. You'll sign some papers and pass a simple security check.

2- Wear comfortable clothes with less pockets and shorter sleeves. You ll be asked to show your pockets and roll your sleeves each time you go out for a break and each time you back into the exam hall.

Blocks and breaks:

1- Skip the tutorial
By doing this, you ll have a complete one hour break instead of a 45 minutes one. The tutorial will show you the software which is a replica of Uworldso save your time and use these 15 precious minutes.

2-Pre-schedule breaks according to the previous simulation
Enter the exam with a plan in mind about using your breaks. Will you take a small break after each block? Will you do 3 blocks with breaks then 2 without? Choose what best suits you based on what you felt during the simulation that you did. For example, you might have felt hungry after your 3rd block, so you may need a longer break in the real exam after your 3rd block.

2- Eating, drinking and using the restroom
Use your breaks wisely. Eat small things/snacks in breaks to avoid hypoglycemia during the exam and eat a small sandwich/breakfast before the exam to have some energy to start.
Don’t forget to "visit" the restroom in your breaks. You are not allowed to go to the restroom during a block, if you urgently need to do that, this will be labelled as “an irregular behavior” and it will be reported to ECFMG.

3- Staying in the exam hall
You don’t have to leave the hall during your break. If you wanna take a fast 5 minutes break, you can simply stay where you are, close your eyes, relax your mind and continue your exam when you feel ready

While solving blocks:

1- Reading the question/the last line first
 Always read the last line first in all USMLE exams, some questions are answered only by reading this last line! Especially in pharmacology questions, you may have a question stem which is 12 lines long then you ll read: What is the mechanism of action of …..? This will help you to save some valuable seconds.
As a rule, read last line first then go back and read the question normally.

2- Highlight any abnormalities
When you read a question, highlight the age,sex and where the patient was admitted; ER, outpatient. Also highlight any abnormality like hemodynamic instability….chest pain...etc.
Your eyes will focus on these findings and will try to associate them to reach a diagnosis.

3- Omit distractors
With time, this becomes a skill in the USMLE world, you realize that many sentences are just fillers to distract you. For example, a myocardial infarction in a 70-year old male, a person who smokes only occasionally or who drinks on weekends.

4- Resist the urge to re-re-read, simply mark and go on
Read the question and apply the hints mentioned above. If you don’t know the answer yet, read the highlighted parts again, if you still don’t know the answer or you are not 100% sure of it, pick the one you feel it is the right one, mark the question and move to the next question. You may get back to this question only when you finish answering all other questions.

5- Leave abstracts and drug ads till the end
This applies for Step 2 CK and Step 3 exams. Abstracts and drug ads are very lengthy and they may take a lot of time in addition to the fact that many statistically insignificant data is thrown here and there. When you see an abstract or a drug ad, choose any answer then move on and go back only when you finish all other questions. It’s illogical to spend 10 minutes on 2 drug ad questions and miss 7 questions at the end of the block!

6- Don’t leave unanswered questions
Even if you don’t have any clue about a question when you read it, choose an answer, mark it and go on. Having a 20% possibility to answer the question right (supposing a question has 5 choices) is better than having nothing. This will also save some much needed seconds, because if you read a hard question then skip answering it, after reading another 20 questions, you' ll have to re-read the hard one.

In general, don’t change your first answer, your first hunch is most probably the right one. Change your answer only if you are sure that the one that you chose is wrong.

Test taking skills are very important and play a vital role in your journey

Good luck to everyone :) USMLE exams are tough but manageable, just tell yourself: I WILL DO IT :)


And that’s it :)
Murad

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Interglobular Dentin


  • Sometimes mineralisation of Dentin begins in small globular areas that fail to fuse into the homogeneous mass. 
  • It results in Zones of Hypomineralisation between globules. 
  • Most commonly found in Circumpulpal Dentin which is present below the Mantle Dentin. 


In other words, in poorly formed teeth, due to deficiency of vitamin D or exposure to fluoride, it leads to defect in mineralization i.e. loss of globular dentin.

Note: Defect is not because of improper matrix formation.

Thought Question: Dentinal tubules pass uninterruptedly through Globular Dentin. Why? Comment your answers!

- Written by Anisha Valli

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Leech therapy for venous congestion

Today, I came to know that leeches are a well-recognized treatment for congested tissue :O

When this image was sent to me, I thought it was an infestation. After reading about it though, it was clarified that the leech was put deliberately by the plastic surgeons to treat venous congestion (hirudotherapy).