Pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma in children: a rare diagnosis not to be overlooked - case report.

Pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (PMEC) in children is a rare entity. The diagnosis is often unrecognized, often treated as pneumonia, a more frequent diagnosis at this age. Case presentation: The authors report in this article, the case of a 12-year-old child with a clinical history of chronic cough evolving for 6 months with recurrent episodes of pneumonia. The presence of a foreign body was suggested on the thoracic computed tomography (CT). PMEC was histopathologically determined on biopsy. Fluorine-18-fluorodesoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18 F-FDG PET)/CT was performed as part of the extension work-up prior to surgical management. Clinical discussion: Preoperative imaging with 18F-FDG PET/CT seems to be a valuable tool for predicting tumor grade, nodal stage, and postsurgical prognosis in mucoepidermoid carcinoma. PMEC patients with high 18F-FDG PET/CT uptake may need extensive mediastinal lymph node dissection and adjuvant therapy. Conclusion: PMEC has different presentations depending on the degree of tumor differentiation on PET/CT whose input in the management of these rare cancers requires further studies.

Evaluation of Quality of Life in Tunisian patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), despite its good prognosis, affects the quality of life (QOL) of patients by its physical and psychological repercussions and by the toxicity of treatment. A study of the quality of life as well as the potentially associated factors is necessary in order to carry out targeted actions. AIM: This work was conducted to assess the quality of life of patients treated for thyroid cancer. METHODS: 89 patients treated surgically and by iratherapy for DTC responded from January 2018 to December 2019 to the SF36 questionnaire in its validated version in Tunisian dialect. A descriptive and bivariate analysis between the scores of the different domains and the variables of interest was performed. RESULTS: The overall mean score (SMG) of the QOL of our patients ranged from 12.8 to 94.25 with a mean of 58±22%. The factors that proved to have a positive impact on the QOL of patients followed for CDT assessed by the SMG and/or the mental summary score (MSS) and/or the physical summary score (PSS) were: male gender (p=0.034), higher educational level (p=0.037), early TNM stage (p=0.041) and low cumulative iodine-131 dose (≤ 5550 MBq) (p=0.031). CONCLUSION: QOL is strongly influenced by many sociodemographic and clinical factors. More attention should be paid to patients followed for DTC to improve quality of life.