Isolated tuberculosis thyroiditis as solitary thyroid nodule

Isolated involvement of the thyroid by tuberculosis is very rare as reported in literature. We are presenting a case of isolated tuberculous thyroiditis presented as a solitary thyroid nodule. The patient was treated with anti-tuberculous regimen and he responded well with disappearance of the nodule and normalization of the thyroid scan

Film retakes in digital and conventional radiography

To determine the film-retake rates and causes in digital radiography comparison to conventional X-rays method. Comparative study. Radiology Department, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 2004 to December 2006. X-rays of different body parts, conducted during the year 2004, with conventional radiography [n=170300], and in 2006 with digital radiography [n=174550], were included in this study. Measurements were done for number of X-rays re-take due to different quality control reasons for both the conventional and digital radiography. Quality control reasons included underexposure, overexposure, positioning errors, patient movements, portable X-rays, grid cut-off, and others [i.e. equipment related] due to which X-ray quality was questionable. Results were expressed in percentages. A total of 9423 X-rays [5.5%] were repeated in conventional radiography [n=170300] due to underexposure [38%], overexposure [28.5%], positioning errors [25%], portable procedures [4%], patient movement [2%], grid cut-off [0.5%], and others [2%]. Underexposure was the most frequently responsible factor for the X-ray repetition as compared to other factors [p<0.001]. In digital radiography [n=174550], 1464 X-rays [1%] needed to be repeated, which was significantly less in comparison to X-ray repetition in conventional method of radiography [5.5%] [p<0.001]. In digital radiography, the most frequent factor for X-ray re-take was positioning error [435, 30%]. Digital radiography is associated with significantly lesser number of re-take X-rays as compared to conventional radiography, hence minimizes the exposure of the patients to unnecessary radiations due to re-take X-rays. Positioning error remains a problem even in digital radiography, emphasizing training need for technologists

Informatics in medicine: Building companion website

Patients and their families are adapting to collect information from internet rather than by physically visiting the place of interest. As the demand is increasing gradually, the information availability in the form of website is becoming inevitable for all healthcare industry. This article introduces the building of a medical website in three simple steps. Medical website can focus on health professionals and patients or it can be used as e-publishing tool for advertisement of medical institutions, academics or for e-learning by telemedicine. Creating a presence on the web can be achieved in three simple steps. First, identify a website hosting-service and register your website name; second, assemble your contents and third step is to upload contents, advertise and get certified