ABSTRACT
Background: As hypofractionated radiotherapy for post-operative breast cancer patients safe, effective and more convenient, it might be beneficial for patients of developing countries like ours. Objective: This study was done to evaluate the safety and efficacy of hypofractionated whole breast radiation therapy in patients who underwent breast conserving surgery and hypofractionated radiation therapy in patients who underwent mastectomy and axillary clearance. Materials and method: This cross sectional study was conducted in Delta Hospital Ltd, Dhaka, Bangladesh, including 50 postoperative patients, (12 patients in Breast Conservation Therapy group and 38 in Post Mastectomy Radiation Therapy group), with invasive ductal carcinoma of breast treated with this hypofractionated radiotherapy protocol during the last 1.5 year. The patients were treated with 3DCRT, LINAC, 6 MV photon and appropriate electron energy. Results: Minimal post treatment acute morbidity was observed. Forty seven patients (94%) had grade-I acute skin toxicity and only 3 patients (6%) developed grade-II acute skin toxicity. Conclusion: Hypofractionated radiotherapy is as safe and effective as conventional fractionated radiotherapy and superior in terms of convenience.
ABSTRACT
Importance of imaging in all clinical or medical research, and especially, of Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT scan), has demonstrated a unique place in diagnostic or radiation therapy. Two-dimensional images of internal structures of the body are examined and reported. This process of imaging, any anatomical location, viz. head and neck, thorax, pelvis, etc. takes about 30 seconds to perform with a minimal dose of less than 1.6- 2.0 mGy. The images are constructed by the hardware with software algorithm, using the attenuation and absorption of X rays of tissues, of varying electron densities of the anatomical structures. Sometimes a contrast dye is injected to a patient intravenously, rectally or orally, to make hollow or fluid-filled structures such as blood vessels more visible. Radiologists and radiation oncologists are confronted with a task to delineate the information of the CT images to a meaningful diagnosis. The images are, therefore, valuable for diagnostic reports, some of these may relate to cancerous tumors and tissues. Cancer treatment, radiation therapy or else, from such observations may start. But an artifact and distortion on such images will contribute to erroneous and/or unusable interpretations in offering a clinical report to provide wrong clinical decisions. The implications of the presence of distortion in CT images is, for a patient, described here so as to instruct the experts, in medical and clinical fields, to rectify the situation in acquiring a sharp and flawless image or in reaching the correct clinical goal.
ABSTRACT
Gonorrhoea is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in developing countries, and the emergence of resistance to antimicrobial agents in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a major obstacle in the control of gonorrhoea. Periodical monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility of N. gonorrhoeae is essential for the early detection of emergence of drug resistance. In total, 1,767 gonococcal strains isolated from males and females (general population and those with high-risk behaviour) from different parts of Bangladesh were studied during 1997-2006. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of penicillin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, spectinomycin, and azithromycin for the isolates were determined by the agar dilution method. Isolates resistant to three or more antimicrobial agents are considered multidrug-resistant. The prevalence of plasmid-mediated penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae (PPNG) and plasmid-mediated tetracycline-resistant N. gonorrhoeae (TRNG) was determined. Nine percent of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin in 1997 compared to 87% in 2006. Multidrug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae have emerged in 1997, and 44% of the strains (n=66) isolated during 2006 were multidrug-resistant. Forty-two percent of the isolates in 2006 were both PPNG- and TRNG-positive compared to none in 1997. The rapidly-changing pattern of gonococcal antimicrobial susceptibility warrants the need for an antimicrobial susceptibilitymonitoring programme, and periodical analysis and dissemination of susceptibility data are essential to guide clinicians and for successful STI/HIV intervention programmes.
ABSTRACT
A cross-sectional study was conducted during May-December 2000 among pregnant women attending an urban maternal and childcare-delivery unit in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to assess the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis, Trichomonas vaginalis, and syphilis. All pregnant women at 16-24 weeks gestation attending the clinic for antenatal check-up irrespective of symptoms were enrolled. Sociodemographic information and obstetric history were obtained from each enrolled subject. High vaginal swabs and serum samples were tested for bacterial vaginosis, and T. vaginalis and syphilis respectively. In total, 284 pregnant women were enrolled. Of them, 17.7% had bacterial vaginosis, 1.4% had Trichomonas infection, and 3% had syphilis. The prevalence of bacterial vaginosis was higher in women with low socioeconomic status.