History of endoscopy

Endoscopy by its different routes and techniques has very much widely opened the way to visualise all the body passages, cavities and hollow organs. It has come to the present state of excellence through the improved visual access into these dark areas. Through the application of developments of the physics of optics, endoscopy has entered into a period of rapid expansion, new information and new therapeutic techniques. This made different lesions and foreign bodies well visualised and properly managed, with a high degree of efficiency

Metastatic involvement of draining paratracheal lymph nodes in hypopharyngeal carcinoma: a clinicopathological study

Histological evidence of metastatic involvement of paratracheal lymph nodes in hypopharyngeal carcinoma and its clinicopathological implications were studied. Twenty-five patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma underwent total laryngopharyngo-oesophagectomy with complete paratracheal clearance. The incidence of positive paratracheal lymph nodes was 40% in hypopharyngeal tumours. Postcricoid lesions showed a higher percentage of positive nodes [50%] compared to those in posterior wall lesions [16.67%]. There was a statistically significant increase in the incidence of positive paratracheal lymph nodes with thyroid gland invasion, vocal cord invasion, metastasis to the internal jugular chain of the deep cervical nodes and extracapsular and perineural spread

Hygienic nasal cavities in prayers

A clinical and bacteriological study was done in 1983 and 1984 including two hundred volunteers representing two similar groups of 100 each, regular prayers and non-prayers. This gave clinical and bacteriological data of importance proving the value of ablution in clearing the nose from many micro-organisms. Thus protecting the body from harmful effects of these organisms. The study also showed the necessity of hand washing at the start of ablution, the necessity of frequent nasal inhalation of water, its sniffing and the demand for frequent ablution, to keep the nose clean