Gangrenous cutaneous mucormycosis of the anterior chest wall

Mucormycosis is a rare but serious fungal infection. We report a case of pro g ressive gangrenous cutaneous mucormycosis of the anterior chest wall

Evaluation of diagnostic procedures and outcomes in thyroid surgery: the experience of Al-Amiri hospital

To evaluate the ability of different diagnostic procedures in predicting thyroid malignancy, and to highlight outcomes of thyroid surgery Al-Amiri Hospital, 1990-95 Retrospective review of surgical records. 1.4% of all surgical interventions performed during that period [N=210] were thyroid cases. Surgical indications were solitary cold nodule [58%], multinodular goitre [36%] and hyperthyroidism [5%]. Following surgery, only 10% [n = 21] were histopathologically malignant. Based on postoperative findings, malignancy could have been predicted by thyroid isotopic scanning in no more than 11% of cases, and by ultrasounds [U/S] in 9% of solid lesions. Fine needle aspiration [FNA] accurately predicted 87% of cases. Only 26 patients [13%] developed post-operative complications, of which the most common was voice change [n = 8], mostly transient [6/8]. In this series, most patients [77%] stayed in-hospital for 3-5 days. The predictive value of malignancy in thyroid nodule[s] using fine needle aspiration is by far higher than that of ultrasound or thyroid scans. U/S may be preferred to visualise sub-clinical nodules. At this point in time, FNA is always recommended to diagnose malignancy, and the adjunct use of U/S helps in locating all potentially active nodules. In the presence of U/S. thyroid scans may be of lesser value. Thyroid surgery is generally safe, and should become an outpatient procedure. Hospital stays should be determined by the extent of surgery and/or the appearance of complications

Preliminary results on prevalence of hepatitis C viral infection among patients with surgical biliary diseases

To assess the frequency of hepatitis C virus [HCV] seropositivity among biliary surgical patients. Follow-up of 105 patients tested over 6 months at the Al-Amiri Hospital [1997]. Results: 8.6%, of patients were HCV seropositive. There were no age and sex differences between seropositive and seronegative patients. The risk for seropositivity was higher among Egyptian patients compared to other nationalities. A history of blood transfusion was reported by only one seropositive patient. The prevalence of seropositivity among biliary surgery patients was higher than that reported among blood donors in Kuwait [2.6% in 1997], suggesting that HCV may indeed be a risk factor for biliary problems. The relatively higher proportion of seropositivity among Egyptian patients reflects the endemicity of HCV in their country of origin. This study highlights the importance of adhering to standard surgical precautions. Routine testing is not recommended except for Egyptian patients

Laparoscopic removel of needle embedded in small bowel wall

In this report, we describe a successful laparoscopic removal of foreign body [FB] "Metallic Needle" embedded in the small bowel wall