Comparison of Modified Rose Method of Thyroid Palpation versus other Methods for the Detection of Retrosternal and Nodular Goitre / Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies

Objectives@#This is a diagnostic test research study to evaluate the various existing methods of thyroid examination and their comparison with the novel modified Rose method. It also aims to measure inter-examiner variation in clinical findings based on the level of education and training, as compared to ultrasonography.@*Methodology@#This cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital with 83 patients presenting to surgery OPD with neck swelling. Each patient was examined by one trained Junior Resident and a Surgery Consultant with all the four methods and with ultrasonography. Data was analysed by Stata-14, agreement between the two categorical variables was assessed by Kappa. In case of continuous variable agreement was assessed by Intra class correlation and Bland-Altman plot.@*Results@#Modified Rose method by the consultant has the highest sensitivity (98%) and diagnostic odds (210) as compared to others but its specificity ranges from 46.7-91.1% to diagnose retro-sternal extension of a goiter. It has 93.98% agreement for identification of nodules. It has a high specificity (Consultant - 100%, Resident - 95.5%) with relatively lower sensitivity (Consultant - 94%, Resident - 86.8%) to diagnose solitary thyroid nodule (STN) but the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing a multinodular goitre (MNG) was high. However, the highest sensitivity to diagnose STN was highest with Crile’s method, but specificity was low. Lahey’s method was a better clinical method to palpate lymph nodes compared to the other three.@*Conclusion@#Examination in modified Rose’s position is a better method of clinical examination of thyroid especially in patients with occult substernal extension. Lahey’s method is a better method to examine cervical lymph nodes.

Mucinous cystadenocarcinoma arising in an ectopic kidney simulating a retroperitoneal dermoid cyst: a rare tumour presenting as a diagnostic dilemma

Primary mucinous cystic neoplasms are rare tumours of the kidney, with a very few case reports in the literature. They arise from metaplasia of renal pelvic urothelium. We describe here a 45-year-old male who presented with pain in the abdomen and a lump in the left iliac fossa for two months. Ultrasound and CT scan showed a large, complex, heterogenous mass in the central abdomen and left iliac fossa, suggesting the possibility of dermoid cyst. Excision of the mass showed an enlarged multicystic kidney fi lled with mucin, destruction of renal parenchyma and a small viable area of grey white tumour. Histopathology revealed a peripherally located mucinous cystadenocarcinoma arising in the background of chronic pyelonephritis and mucinous metaplasia. We report this case for the rarity of the lesion and the associated clinical and radiological diagnostic dilemma.

Simultaneous medullary carcinoma, papillary carcinoma and granulomatous inflammation of the thyroid

Thyroid tumours with both papillary and medullary carcinoma features are rare and represent less than 1% of all thyroid malignancies. These tumours have a different clinical presentation and biological behaviour from tumours that have only papillary or medullary carcinoma features. The phenomenon of mixed thyroid tumours can be observed in two settings--a mixed tumour showing dual differentiation, or a collision tumour. For a precise diagnosis of this rare mixed thyroid carcinoma, fine needle aspiration cytology results should be correlated with serum calcitonin and thyroglobulin levels. The diagnosis should also be confirmed using immunocytochemistry. Surgery is the treatment of choice, and the role of postoperative radioiodine is controversial. We herein report the case of a 35-year-old man with a mixed medullary-papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, which presented with C-cell hyperplasia, granulomatous inflammation and metastasis to the cervical lymph nodes. The patient was treated with total thyroidectomy and nodal clearance. This case highlights the need for awareness of coexistent entities as they warrant separate treatments.

Comparison of quality of life in patients undergoing transhiatal esophagectomy with or without chemotherapy

To compare the quality of life [QOL] in patients undergoing transhiatal esophagectomy [THE] with or without chemotherapy, who were admitted to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh and enrolled in the study, from July 2004 to October 2005. Thirty patients of esophageal carcinoma by purposive sampling were randomized into two groups i.e., patients undergoing THE after chemotherapy and patients undergoing THE without chemotherapy. Two QOL questionnaires, one generic i.e., EORTC-QLQ C-30 [European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer] and other esophageal cancer-specific i.e., EORTC OES-18 were utilized to assess the QOL. Physical functional scales were better in patients, who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The role and social aspects of functional scales deteriorated after completion of treatment in both groups. This was primarily due to the effect of surgery. However, they were better from an emotional and cognitive point of value after surgery and radiotherapy. Fourteen out of 30 patients experienced vomiting and diarrhea due to radiotherapy. THE in esophageal carcinoma improves global health scales and majority of symptom scales in all patients. QOL improvement in general was better in patients who were administered neoadjuvant chemotherapy along with surgery

Giant Myofibroblastoma of the Male Breast: A Case Report and Literature Review

Myofibroblastomas are soft-tissue neoplasms that are thought to arise from myofibroblasts. They are mostly observed in males 41–85 years of age; however, this lesion also occurs in women. The usual clinical presentation is a unilateral painless lump that is not adherent to overlying or underlying structures. Microscopically, myofibroblastomas can be divided into 5 subtypes: classical, epithelioid, collagenised, cellular, and infiltrative. Mammary ducts and lobules are absent in the typical histological subtypes and the adjacent breast parenchyma may form a pseudocapsule. The majority of myofibroblastomas are immunoreactive for CD34, desmin, smooth muscle actin, and vimentin and are negative for cytokeratin and S-100 protein. We present a case of a giant myofibroblastoma arising in the background of gynecomastia in an adult male.