Clinico-pathological parameters of 50 Oral Squamous cell carcinoma cases in Karachi

Background: The incidence of oral squamous cell carcinoma remains high in Indo-Pak region. Worldwide oral and oropharyngeal carcinomas are the sixth most common cancers. A number of clinic-pathological parameters have been implicated in prognosis, recurrence and survival for this tumor. As a very high frequency reported in major hospitals of Karachi, this study documented some of the well known clinicpathological parameters in the indigenous population of Karachi

Objective: To analyze the clinicopathological parameters of cases of OSCC in the population of Karachi

Methods: The study protocol was approved by the Ziauddin University ethics committee for human research. The patients' data was entered onto questionnaires. The reporting included a range of clinical, operative and histopathological variables. Recurrence of tumor after initial treatment was also documented

Results: The patients' population comprised 31 males and 19 females. The mean age was 45.56 [SD + 12.08]. Minimum age was 15 years, while maximum was 75 years. Pathological analysis revealed that majority of SCC cases were moderately differentiated SCC with clinical stage T2 or T3, N0,M0/N1,M0. Most common oral sites came out to be buccal mucosa of cheeks followed by lateral borders of tongue and lips. All patients underwent primary resection +/- neck dissection and reconstruction when necessary

Conclusion: Overall experience with OSCC shows that it has a high tendency to disseminate to regional lymph nodes, i.e. cervical lymph nodes, as well as to re-emerge at the primary site after resection

Unconditional compensation: reducing the costs of disagreement about compensation for research subjects

A central requirement of research involving humans is that people who participate as subjects should do so voluntarily. We argue that disagreements about the effect of offers of compensation on subjects' ability to participate voluntarily are likely to persist and to have high social costs. We propose a novel compensation practice-to pay potential subjects whether or not they participate-and argue that its implementation in some regions, including the Eastern Mediterranean Region, may reduce disagreement and thus mitigate such costs. We outline a research programme for assessing the potential of this practice to reduce costs

Informed consent: views from Karachi

Little is known about the public's perceptions about the process of obtaining informed consent for participation in medical research. A study was made of the views of patients, their attendants, parents, schoolteachers and office workers living in Karachi, Pakistan. Participants felt that informed consent was an important step in recruiting research participants but many felt that it was a trust-based process not requiring proper documentation. For recruiting women, both men and women believed it was important to approach women through their husbands and fathers. When there was a conflict with the opinions of family leaders, it was clear that the male participants' opinion was valued more than that of the female participants by both men and women

review of rectal biopsies

A review of 377 rectal biopsies received in the Department of Pathology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, during the period 1963-1969 is presented. The significant findings were non-specific colitis in 37.93 percent of the cases, amoebic colitis in 8.75 percent cases and Juvenile polyps in 9.81 percent of the cases. No adenomatous polyp was seen in the series

Liver disease in hepatitis B antigen [HBAg] positive blood donors

Clinical examination and liver function tests of 14 HBAg positive and 8 HBAg negative blood donors were done. A history of jaundice, contact with hepatitis and hepatosplenomegaly were more frequently observed in the antigen positive donors. Two of the 7 biopsies obtained from donor with persistant HB antigenaemia were normal while 5 showed minimal structural changes. The likely causes of differences in the hepatic response to HBAg and other factors in different ethnic groups is discussed. The incidence of liver disease in asymptomatic individuals with persistant antigenaemia is variable. Banke et al [1971] found no morphological abnormalities in 17 out of 18 biopsies, while changes varying from minor structural distortion to well established chronic aggressive hepatitis and cirrhosis were observed in 14 out of 23 liver biopsies done in HBAg carriers by Prince et al [1969]. Of the 18 biopsies reported by Bolin et al [1973] 5 had chronic aggressive, 8 chronic persistant and 1 acute hepatitis. Changes consistant with past hepatitis were observed in 1, nonspecific changes in 2 and only 1 biopsy was reported as normal. This study is the part of a survey conducted at the blood bank of this center to determine the incidence of HBAg carrier state and the differences in the pattern of liver disease in HBAg positive donors observed here as compared to those reported by others

Effects of methotrexate and total body irradiation on mouse lungs

Separate and combined effects of methotrexate and total body irradiation were studied on normal lungs of mouse. Forty female albino mice weighing 25 to 30 gms were divided into five groups including that of controls. On gross inspection, 70% of lungs of combined therapy group showed signs of congestion, 10% edematous changes; and 20% blackish mottling. Microscopic examination revealed marked histopathdogical changes in the lungs of combined therapy group and milder changes in the methotrexate [Group III] and total body irradiation [Group IV] groups. These findings confirm the enhanced effects of combination of radiations and methotrexate

histological study of the effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs [NSAIDs] on the gastric and duodenal mucosa

The effect of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs] on the gastric and duodenal mucosa was studied in 53 patients. On endoscopic biopsies, 87% patients showed gastritis and 90% duodenitis. Chronic superficial gastritis was the most frequent lesion in the stomach [49%]; and mild duodenitis in the duodenum [54%]. The antrum was the most frequently involved site in the stomach. An interesting finding in cases of duodenitis was the presence of dilated intestinal glands plugged with mucus