Morphologic patterns of testicular lesions in Uyo: A university hospital experience

Background: The testis can be biopsied either for a diagnostic or therapeutic purpose. Objective: The aim of this study is to characterize the common indications for testicular biopsy and determine the pattern of testicular lesions. Materials and Methods: This was an 8­year retrospective study of all testicular and paratesticular specimens that were histologically diagnosed in the Department of Histopathology in University of Uyo Teaching Hospital between January 2008 and December 2015. Results: Sixty­four cases of testicular specimens were received in the histopathology laboratory, accounting for 1.3% of all received specimens. The youngest patient was 4 years, while the oldest patient was 86 years with a mean age of 54.4 ± 21.62. The most common presenting complaints seen in the nonfertility, nonprostate cancer­related cases were testicular swelling, pain, and small­sized testis as seen in 50%, 31.3%,and 12.5% of cases, respectively. In 60.9% of cases, the clinical diagnosis was prostatic cancer, while primary and secondary infertility accounted for 12.5% and 1.6%, respectively, with testicular/paratesticular tumor been the clinical diagnosis in 7.8% of cases. The mean ages for surgical castration patients, male infertility patients, and malignant lesion patients were 68.9, 41.7, and 46.5 years,respectively. Hypospermatogenesis was the most common histopathologic diagnosis of testicular biopsies in infertile men (33.4%). Four malignant lesions were seen, with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma accounting for 50% of cases. Conclusion: Benign neoplastic lesions of the testis are very rare in study population, while embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common malignant lesion seen. Most men do not present to health facility for infertility management

Postmortem forensic imaging: An essential tool in contentious cases

Background: Traditional autopsy (TA) is employed towards determining the cause and manner of death. Over the last decade, virtual autopsy (VA), involving the application of forensic imaging techniques have gained prominence and, with great precision in developed countries. Aim: This is to compare the findings at post-mortem using forensic imaging techniques and, those of TA. Materials and Methods: Post-mortem CT-Scan and MRI techniques were employed in the present case and for the first time in Nigeria, to identify the fatal injuries and determine their causation. The examination was done prior to the TA; the latter was done by a team of pathologists without the prior knowledge of the imaging findings. The results, using both methods, were subsequently compared. Results: Most of the VA and TA findings were the same except for the areas that were not readily accessible to the pathology team because of prior embalmment of the body. The inexperience of the radiologist in the area of post-mortem forensic imaging also contributed to the few discrepancies. Conclusion: This is the first virtopsy to be conducted in Nigeria and, with impressive results. The findings compare favourably with those of TA and, have the added advantage of identifying minor injuries that might easily be missed using TA method. Success is however hinged on the expertise of the forensic radiologist and forensic pathologist. While VA can be employed to solve the problems of religious opposition to TA, the cost of the former is astronomical

Human bites as a weapon of violence: how common are they and do they constitute a significant medical evidence?

Objective: To document the pattern of HBM seen in police clinic Benin City Nigeria.Methods: This is a review of all the human bite mark (HBM) seen at the police clinic.Results:HBM were seen in 68 cases of assault and included 90 separate bites. The youngest victim was 10 years old while the oldest was 59 years with a mean age of 31.9±9.68. Age group 30-39 years accounted for most cases. Female victims were more in number both as victims and as assailants. About 94.1% of the assailants were known. The major events that lead to the use of human bite(HB) were quarrel and fights which accounted for 98.5% of cases.HB was mainly used in conjunction with other weapons. About 77.9% of the HB had single bite marks while complete tissue avulsion were seen in 1.5% of cases. The arm was the commonest site (17.8%), closely followed by the fingers (15.6%).Conclusion: This will serve as a baseline data in Nigeria, while we strongly advocate the development of a proforma for HBM examination following ABFO guideline and HIV PEP for victims with grade 4 HBM and above