Computed Topographic-Guided Core Needle Biopsy of Lung Masses: Our Experience at a Diagnostic Center in Western India

Introduction: Lung carcinomas are one of the most common malignancies and major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. India also shares a great burden of this disease. Computed topography (CT)-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology of lung masses is a widely used and simple diagnostic tool which is being replaced increasingly by CT-guided core biopsies. This study shows our experience at a diagnostic center.Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study conducted over a period of 1 year from April 2018 to April 2019 and consisted of 107 cases. After taking detailed history, CT-guided core biopsies were obtained using coaxial needles of 17–19 gauge and biopsy needles of 18–20 gauge. The tissues were then examined histopathologically and the results were noted.Results: Out of the 107 patients, 81.3% were male and 18.7% were female. The age range of patients was from 33 to 92 years, with mean age being 63.7 years. Majority of the lesions were located in the right lung (57.9%). The most common histopathological diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma 74.7%, followed by small cell carcinoma (12.1%) and adenocarcinoma (9.3%), Hodgkin lymphoma (1.8%), malignant mesothelioma (0.9%), and angiosarcoma (0.9%).Conclusions: This study shows our experience regarding lung malignancies in a diagnostic center in Western India. The epidemiology of lung malignancies seen across the Indian subcontinent reflects in our study. CT-guided core needle biopsies though less invasive may cause complications in some patients. Hence, utmost care should be taken during the procedure to ensure patient safety.

Sarcopenia como factor predictivo de dehiscencia de anastomosis en pacientes operados de cáncer de colon / Predictive value of sarcopenia for anastomotic dehiscense in colon cancer surgery

Resumen Introducción: Una complicación importante de la cirugía colorrectal es la dehiscencia de anastomosis (DA). El estado nutricional es uno de los factores importantes en la DA. Una forma objetiva para evaluar nutricionalmente a los pacientes es medir la sarcopenia, definida como disminución de masa muscular esquelética, que puede ser objetivada por análisis de Unidades Hounsfield (UH) y área muscular (AM) por medio de Tomografía Computarizada de Abdomen y Pelvis (TCAP). Objetivo: Evaluar si existe relación entre la DA y la presencia de sarcopenia detectada por medición de UH y AM en TCAP en pacientes sometidos a colectomía por cáncer. Materiales y Método: Estudio de casos y controles con estadística analítica. Se eligen de manera aleatoria 21 pacientes con DA y 40 sin DA. Se incluyen > 18 años, con colectomía por cáncer y anastomosis primaria. Fueron excluidos pacientes ostomizados, que no tuvieran TCAP preoperatoria o que éste no permitiera medir UH y AM. La evaluación imagenológica fue realizada por radiólogo experto. Resultados: La comparación entre grupos evidencia que son homogéneos con respecto al sexo (predomino hombres), edad (promedio 60 años) y localización. Se evidencia signos imagenológicos sugerentes de sarcopenia en el grupo de DA, puesto que existe disminución en UH con valores estadísticamente significativos y tendencia a presentar valores menores en el AM. Conclusiones: La presencia de sarcopenia evaluada por alteración de UH en estudio radiológico se correlaciona con DA, pudiendo ser un predictor de riesgo. La importancia de este hallazgo es que es un factor de riesgo potencialmente corregible.

Introduction: An important complication of colorectal surgery is anastomotic dehiscence (AD). Nutritional status is one of the important factors in AD. An objective way to evaluate the patients' nutritional status is to measure sarcopenia, which is the reduction of skeletal muscle mass. It is possible to standardize Sarcopenia using the analysis of the Hounsfield Units (HU) and the muscular area (MA) which consider Computed Tomography of Abdomen and Pelvis (CTAP). Aim: To evaluate whether there is a relationship between AD and the presence of sarcopenia detected by the measurement of HU and MA using CTAP. The situation considers patients undergoing colectomy for cancer. Materials and Method: Cases and controls were studied with analytical statistics. 21 patients with AD and 40 without AD were chosen randomly. They include > 18 years, with colectomy for cancer and primary anastomosis. Ostomized patients, who previous the surgery do not have CTAP or if it was not available to measure HU and MA, were excluded. The imaging evaluation was performed by an expert radiologist. Results: The comparison between groups shows that they are homogeneous with respect the sex (predominant men), age (average 60 years) and location. There are signs of imaging which suggest the presence of sarcopenia in the AD group. This is explained because there is an important statistical decrease in the HU values and a tendency to present lower MA values. Conclusions: The presence of sarcopenia due to alteration of HU in a radiological study is correlated with AD, and could be a predictor of risk. The importance of this finding is that this risk factor is potentially correctable.

Relationship between Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in 99m-Tc-ECD SPECT and Symptom Profiles in Unmedicated Patients with Schizophrenia / 신경정신의학

Symptom profiles in schizophrenia consists of positive and negative symptom dimensions which are considered to be related to different underlying pathophysiologies and neural substrates. The purpose of the study was to identify the possible relationship between relative regional cerebral perfusion and positive and negative symptom dimension in unmedicated patients with schizophrenia. Twenty-seven unmedicated patients with schizophrenia(13 patients who were antipsychotic drug-naive and 14 patients who had been drug-free for at least 1 week) were included in the study. Regional cerebral perfusion was studied with the single-photon emission computed tomography(SFECT). Symptom dimensions were assessed with positive and negative syndrome scale(PANSS). The scores of each symptom dimension were correlated with regional cerebral perfusion. The results were 1) positive symptom dimension score was significantly related to decreased perfusion in the medial temporal lobe and increased perfusion in the frontal lobe, 2) negative symptom dimension score was significantly related to decreased perfusion in the basal ganglia, thalamus and increased perfusion in the frontal lobe. These results suggest that positive symptom dimension is associated with the dysfunction of the link between the frontal lobe and the medial temporal lobe and that negative symptom dimension is related with the impairment of frontal-basal ganglia circuit.