Frequency of primary solid malignant neoplasms in both sexes, as seen in our practice

To determine the frequency of various histologic types of primary solid malignant neoplasms in males and females, in our practice, in a large series of surgical biopsies. A retrospective study of 20,000 consecutive surgical biopsies in the section of Histopathology, Aga Khan University Hospital [AKU], Karachi, in 2004. Squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity was the commonest malignant neoplasm in males followed by diffuse Large B cell, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Prostatic adenocarcinoma. In females, infiltrating Ductal carcinoma of the breast was overwhelmingly the commonest malignant neoplasm followed by Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and esophagus. Out of 20,000 biopsies, there were 4616 [23.08%] malignant neoplasms. Carcinoma of oral cavity is very common in our population in both sexes

Fine needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodule; diagnostic accuracy and pitfalls

To evaluate the utility of FNAC in patients with Thyroid Nodule. Records of all patients treated surgically for thyroid nodule[s] at Aga Khan University Hospital from January 2000 to December 2004 were reviewed. The patients who had pre operative FNAC as first line of the evaluation and the final post operative histopathology report available were included in the study. 125 patients [90 female 35 male] had thyroid surgery. The cytological diagnosis was made according to following categories: Benign, Follicular lesion, Malignant and Inadequate sampling. Among 63 [Benign cases], 57 were benign and 6 turned out to be malignant. Among 44 cases from [Follicular group], 31 were benign and 13 were malignant. Out of 15 patients from [Malignant] group, 14 were malignant and 1 was benign. Among three patients from the [Inadequate sampling group], 2 turned out to be benign and one was malignant. The overall results showed a sensitivity of 98%, specificity of 70%, and positive predictive value of 91%, negative predictive value of 93% and diagnostic accuracy of 91%. We conclude that FNAC is an invaluable and minimally invasive procedure for pre operative assessment of patients with a thyroid nodule in our setting as well. FNAC has high sensitivity in picking up malignancy in thyroid and also has high diagnostic accuracy in the evaluation of thyroid nodules

Heterotopic glial tissue in tonsil: a case report

We describe a six month old boy with a mass in the left tonsil. It was present since birth and was enlarging progressively. It was completely excised. Histopathology showed a choristoma of neural origin composed of glial cells - astrocytes in a fibrillary background, and a choroid plexus. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the findings

Prevalence of mitral valve prolapse in Saudi sickle cell disease patients in Dammam - A prospective - controlled echocardiographic study

Mitral valve prolapse [MVP] is the most common valvular heart disease and there are numerous reports of a strong association with many conditions including sickle cell disease [SCD]. Since SCD is very common in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, we undertook a prospective controlled study to determine and compare the prevalence of MVP in the SCD patients with other groups of subjects. Three hundred and sixteen subjects [156 males and 160 females] were studied. They were divided into four groups based on their hematologic diagnoses - I SCD, II normal controls, III sickle cell traits, IV other anemias. The prevalence of MVP is 17.4% in Group I, 13.3% in Group II, 21.4% in Group III and 19.4% in Group IV. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of MVP among the four study groups. In contrast to a previous study, these results show that the prevalence of MVP by echocardiographic criteria [M-mode and 2-dimensional] in SCD patients is the same as in the general population. We believe that mere case-reporting and lack of or inappropriate control in most of the clinical series are responsible for the wide range of conditions claimed to be associated with MVP

Amiodarone pulmonary toxicity: a review

Amiodarone hydrochloride is a very potent antiarrhythmic agent with some desirable pharmacologic properties such as long half-life and no negative inotropic effect. However, it has been reported to cause a variety of cardiac and extracardiac side effects. The most serious of these is pulmonary toxicity which may result in fatal respiratory failure. Amiodarone must, therefore, be used judiciously and patients should be followed-up carefully for side effects, especially amiodarone pneumonitis. The diagnosis of lung toxicity may be difficult because its features are indistinguishable from those of congestive heart failure or pulmonary infection. The prompt recognition and management of this serious toxic effect, however, may be lifesaving