HEALTH

New therapy for uterine fibroids treatment
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh , May 9
The PGI Radiology Department has become the first health institution in this part of the country to start a new therapy for the treatment of uterine fibroids — a commonly occurring tumour in the female reproductive tract.

According to Prof Sudha Suri, Head of the Radiology Department, with this non-invasive procedure called embolisation of uterine artery of fibroids, these non-cancerous growths are removed without a major surgery and minimal side-effects.

Uterine fibroids occur in one out of every four women of child-bearing age and are the main cause of infertility. Prof Suri says that fibroids are frequently symptomatic and cause excessive menstrual flow and discomfort due to their large size, besides excessive urination, sense of pelvic pain and even constipation. Besides, they also cause repeated miscarriage, premature labour and excessive bleeding during childbirth, she adds.

In this procedure, a thin tube called a catheter is introduced into the main artery of thigh through a small nick in the groin. Guided by the x-rays, catheter is pushed up the artery to the vessels supplying blood to the fibroid.

Explaining the technique, Dr Rajiv Bapuraj, Associate Professor, Radiology Department, says small microscopic particles of a polymer called polyvinyl alcohol are then injected under the TV fluoroscopic control.

These particles clog the feeding arteries of the tumour and block blood supply to the fibroid which shrinks with the passage of time, says Dr Bapuraj, who has performed the procedure in more than 16 cases till now. This results in the alleviation of the symptoms due to the fibroid and the womb too remains within the patient. Besides, there are no scars.

Till most recently, options for treatment of these tumours were surgical procedures like myomectomy where the tumour was eliminated, and hysterectomy the entire uterus was removed. These procedures also have some irreversible side-effects. Myomectomy leaves the uterus in place but it weakens the womb. Besides, in many cases there was a tendency for the fibroids to reoccur.

Hysterectomy, on the other hand, required the entire womb to be removed, which is why it could not be offered to women desiring to have children.

Although hormone therapy is yet another alternative to surgery, Prof Suri says it has its own limitations. The body suffers many side-effects due to these hormones and the fibroids tend to recur when the therapy is stopped.

Dr Sumitra Dash is back in PGI
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 9
Dr Sumitra Dash, Additional Professor of Haematology, PGI, who joined duty yesterday after a gap of several years and at the end of a legal battle, says that she finds her return to the institute like homecoming.

Talking to The Tribune today, she said: “The recent decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has deepened my faith in the judicial system”.

She has no acrimony against anybody and she is positively focussed on her work which includes endless research. “The department and my colleagues have given a very good response to my joining back,” she adds.

Painless pull-out
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 9
Dr Neeraj Nagpal, a gastroenterologist, today removed a nail cutter swallowed by a 30-year-old and mentally challenged man without invasive surgery. His effort ranks with his own similar feats for the removal of foreign bodies like hairpins and chicken bones from patients’ systems.

SPORT

STC puts athletes on new track
Arvind Katyal
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, May 9
The athletics track that has recently been laid at the Sector 18 Sports Training Centre for Girls of the Sports Authority of India is good news for trainees.

At this centre, 60 girls get training in athletics, basketball, volleyball and hockey.

Ms Ritu Pathik, Assistant Director of the SAI and head of the centre, said, after the opening of this track, trainees would be at a greater advantage than before.

She said this clay-and-grass track would benefit not only athletes but also trainees of the other disciplines.

She said this three-lane track had blind curves on four sides that helped athletes maintain their speed. Trainees now use this track in morning at the time of conditioning exercises and in the afternoon for warm-up exercises.

Ms Pathik said the surface gave cushioned jump to the legs compared to hard surfaces that caused injuries.

Ms Pathik said there were plans to convert one of the two basketball courts here into a synthetic court. She said, till past year, hockey players of the centre had to play on a small ground meant for six-a-side matches. This year, the ground has been increased to a standard size. She said the centre had still produced many outstanding players in all four disciplines.

Ms Pathik said Asrita Toppo and Saba Anjum, trainees of the centre, had left for Buenos Aires (Argentina) for the Junior World Cup Hockey Tournament. She said a former trainee of the centre, Mamta Kharab, was the skipper of the team.

She said the centre had also allowed school students to use its facilities, including the new track. She said some of the previous year’s trainees would be retrained for another term and new admissions would begin soon.

ADMINISTRATION

120 challans issued to rehriwalas
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 9
The enforcement staff of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh today issued 120 challans to rehri-phari vendors and other shopkeepers encroaching upon public corridors and MC land in Mani Majra, Sectors 4, 7, 8, 9, 15, 18, 35, 37, 43 and 48.

The Estate Office staff impounded 27 cycle-rickshaws for plying on the city roads without licence.

Nineteen challans were issued in Mani majra, particularly of rehriwalas and the shopkeepers who had extended their wares right up to the public corridors and parking areas in the market. As many as 70 challans were issued in Sectors 4, 7, 8, 9, 15 and 18 and 31 to the violators. The wares of these unauthorised vendors were also removed.

Meanwhile, the estate office staff impounded the rickshaws plying without licence.

DC’s directive on action plan
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 9
The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, directed officers to prepare an action plan for new development works to be carried out in the district and for the completion of on-going works, here yesterday. She was presiding over the first meeting of officers and elected representatives of panchayats, panchayat samitis, members of the Zila Parishad and those of the Municipal Corporation.

She asked officers of MITC, UHBVN, Public Health, PWD (B and R) to hasten the completion of on-going projects, while directing the PWD (B and R) to complete all works related to patchwork and prepare the roads by June 30.
She added that as per the directions of the Chief Minister, a 66 KV sub-station would come up in Kalka.

Jain case: MHA asks Admn for files
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh May 9
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the Chandigarh Administration to send files relating to cases of alleged corruption filed against as controversial former UT Home Secretary, Mr N.K. Jain.

Mr Jain was suspended and arrested on corruption charges. He was, however, reinstated to his parent cadre of the Haryana Government on April 30. The Haryana Government had reinstated Mr Jain on the plea that no official could be kept under suspension for an indefinite period. Within a day or two of his joining back the MHA sought for the files. 

A clarification

The Municipal Corporation has decided to pay salaries to its employees through the Syndicate Bank also. Besides payment of salaries, the bank will lend personal loans under various schemes.

The Assistant Commissioner-I, Mr Ashok Vashishtha, has in a letter issued to the Drawing and Disbursing Officers ( DDOs) said that the salaries of all those employees who were willing to open their accounts with the bank be paid through the bank. The same was optional and only the willing employees could open their accounts.