Anterior abdominal wall metastasis following curative resection and chemoradiation of rectal cancer masquerading as a desmoid tumour: A clinical conundrum.

Desmoid tumour of the anterior abdominal wall (rectus sheath) commonly occurs in women post abdominal surgery. Metastasis from colorectal cancer to the anterior abdominal wall, on the other hand, is rare and produces a complex management dilemma. This Case study presents a 57-year-old woman who received a curative laparoscopic low anterior resection and adjuvant chemoradiation in 2013. Seven years later, she presented with an asymptomatic anterior abdominal wall lump. Clinically, the lump appeared to be a desmoid tumour. A wide local excision of the lump was carried out and the final histopathology showed a metastatic lesion (adenocarcinoma). With adjuvant chemotherapy, the patient is now disease-free and doing well. A possibility of distant metastasis must be kept in mind for all patients, even when they have undergone curative resection with adjuvant chemoradiation for colorectal cancer.

Giant eccrine acrospiroma of the scalp.

Eccrine acrospiroma is a benign skin tumor that arises from the ducts of sweat glands, presents as small solid or cystic lesions that rarely can undergo malignant transformation, and leads to a diagnostic dilemma. We report a 32-year-old woman who presented with a large pedunculated tumor of the scalp that was excised and histopathologically proven to be a giant eccrine acrospiroma. This case is being presented because of its infrequent occurrence and the unusual large size of the lesion on the scalp that has been not reported in the literature so far.

The Role of Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) in the Prognosis of Acute Pancreatitis.

OBJECTIVES: Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) is a reliable, safe, instant, and inexpensive score for prognosticating patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) due to its ability to reflect ongoing changes of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome associated with AP. Our study sought to determine an optimal MEWS value in predicting severity in AP and determine its accuracy in doing so. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with AP and admitted to a single institution were analyzed to determine the value of MEWS in identifying severe AP (SAP). The highest MEWS (hMEWS) score for the day and the mean of all the scores of a given day (mMEWS) were determined for each day. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (NPV), and positive predictive values (PPV) were calculated for the optimal MEWS values obtained. RESULTS: Two hundred patients were included in the study. The data suggested that an hMEWS value > 2 on day one is most accurate in predicting SAP, with a specificity of 90.8% and PPV of 83.3%. An mMEWS of > 1.2 on day two was the most accurate in predicting SAP, with a sensitivity of 81.2%, specificity of 76.6%, PPV of 69.8%, and NPV of 85.9%. These were found to be more accurate than previous studies. CONCLUSIONS: MEWS provides a novel, easy, instant, repeatable, and reliable prognostic score that is comparable, if not superior, to existing scoring systems. However, its true value may lie in its use in resource-limited settings such as primary health care centers.

Primary cervical lymph nodal leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis, an endemic disease in several parts of India, is a parasitic disease caused by protozoa and transmitted by the sandfly. Although cutaneous and visceral varieties are common, isolated lymph nodal involvement is extremely rare, and the diagnosis is often delayed owing to its uncommon presentation and lack of awareness of this possibility. We present a 72-year-old woman with asymptomatic right facial lymphadenopathy which on biopsy revealed leishmaniasis and responded well to drug therapy.

Rectal actinomycosis mimicking malignancy.

Abdominal actinomycosis is a chronic suppurative infection caused by Actinomyces species. The ileo-cecal region is most commonly affected, while the left side of the colon is more rarely involved. The infection has a tendency to infiltrate adjacent tissues and is, therefore, rarely confined to a single organ. Presentation may vary from non-specific symptoms and signs to an acute abdomen. We present a 56-year-old male who underwent a colonoscopy for complaints of bleeding per rectum that showed an ulcero-proliferative lesion at the recto-sigmoid junction that seemed like malignancy. Multiple biopsies done were reported this lesion to be Actinomycosis. He responded well to medical management that avoided a major surgical procedure.