Collapsed membranes within pelvic cyst: What is the diagnosis?

Collapsed membranes and daughter cysts are pathognomonic for hydatid cysts on imaging. The comma-shaped lesions, visible within the hydatid cyst in sagittal view of MRI, are collapsed membranes. Although primary hydatid cyst of pelvic cavity is rare, clinicians should remember to include hydatid cysts in differential diagnosis of pelvic cysts.

Comparison of the Accuracy of Thermography and Mammography in the Detection of Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Benefits and harms of screening mammography have been disputed in recent years. This fact, along with the limitations of mammography as well as its unavailability in all our medical centers, tempted us to evaluate the accuracy of thermography in detecting breast abnormalities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients who were candidates for breast biopsy were examined by both mammography and thermography before tissue sampling in a referral center between January 2013 and January 2014. We defined sensitivities and specificities, and positive predictive values (PPVs) and negative predictive values (NPVs), of the 2 modalities in comparison with histologic results as the gold standard. RESULTS: 132 patients were included. The median age of all patients was 49.5 ± 10.3 years (range 24-75 years). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy for mammography were 80.5%, 73.3%, 85.4%, 66.0%, and 76.9%, respectively, whereas for thermography the figures were 81.6%, 57.8%, 78.9%, 61.9%, and 69.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that, at the present time, thermography cannot substitute for mammography for the early diagnosis of breast cancer.

Postoperative pain relief after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: intraperitoneal sodium bicarbonate versus normal saline.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of sodium bicarbonate irrigation versus normal saline irrigation in patients undergoing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. BACKGROUND: Pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the most common complaint, especially in the abdomen, back, and shoulder region. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a double blind randomized clinical trial, 150 patients were assigned to the three groups (50 patients in each group). Group A received intraperitoneal irrigation normal saline (NS). Groups B and C received irrigation sodium bicarbonate and none irrigation, respectively. Pain was assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS) for 6, 18 and 24 hours postoperatively, as well as one week after the surgery. Data analysis was performed using SPSS ver18 and chi-square, Fisher's Exact Test, on-way ANOVA and repeated measure ANOVA tests. RESULTS: Patients in groups showed no significant difference in terms of age, gender, past medical history and smoking history (p>0.05). Left shoulder tip pain was significantly lower only between the sodium bicarbonate group and non-washing group at 6, 18, and 24 hours postoperatively (P=0.04, P=0.02 and P=0.009 respectively). There was no significant difference between the three treatment groups in right shoulder tip pain, back pain and port site incisional pain. CONCLUSION: In laparoscopic cholecystectomy, peritoneal irrigation with sodium bicarbonate may reduce the intensity of postoperative shoulder tip pain and is an effective method for improving the quality of life within the early recovery period.

Triple-negative breast cancer survival in Iranian patients.

This study focused on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that is characterized by the lack of expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2). The primary goal of this study was to describe the relation between triple-negative receptor status and survival. This is the first study about triple-negative breast cancer in our community of the 1541 patients diagnosed with breast cancer between 2002 and 2007 at the Cancer Institute (Tehran, Iran). 107 patients were identified as TNBC and 107 patients were randomly selected as non-TNB. HER-2, ER and PR status were assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Analyses of their collected data were performed retrospectively and then clinical and pathologic parameters were compared between two groups. In multivariate analysis, a significantly decreased overall survival was observed for patients with TNBC compared with non-TNBC (55.7 months versus 60.7 mounts; 95%CI: 51.1-60.3 and 57.9-63.5 for TNBC and non-TNBC respectively, P=0.0008). The 2- and 5-year estimates for overall survival were 69.8% and 62.3% for TNBC, and 90% and 83% for non-TNBC, respectively. During the study period, 36 (33.6%) patient of TNBC and 14 (13.1%) of non-TNBC presented local recurrence. Significantly decreased disease-free survival was also observed for patients with TNBC compared with non-TNBC (P=0.0004). The 2- and 5-year estimates for disease-free survival were 68% and 63% for TNBC; and 89% and 82% for non-TNBC, respectively. Significantly decreased distant metastasis free survival was also observed for patients with TNBC compared with non-TNBC (54.4 mounts versus 61.7 mounts; 95%CI: 49.8-59.0 and 59.1-64.4 for TNBC and non-TNBC respectively, P=0.0004). Triple negative breast cancer has a biologic aggressive behavior and poor prognosis. Therefore aggressive treatment and regular follow-up in early stage of diagnosis can be a significant impact on their prognosis.

Clinical and pathological evaluation of patients with early and late recurrence of colorectal cancer.

AIM: To compare the characteristics of primary cancer between patients with early recurrence and those with late recurrence of colorectal cancer. METHODS: Overall 535 patients with primary colorectal cancer were reviewed and of these 130 patients with demonstrated recurrence were evaluated. Of the 130 patients, 91 had early recurrence (less than 2 years after surgery) and 39 had late recurrence (2 years or more after surgery). The clinical and pathological characteristics of primary cancer in these two groups were compared. RESULTS: The rate of late recurrence was 30% of total recurrences (39/130). On average, patients with early recurrence were younger than patients with late recurrence (mean age 48 vs 54 years, p = 0.027). Adjacent organ involvement and Dukes stage C was more prevalent in the early recurrence group than in the late group. The liver was the main site of distant recurrence in the early recurrence group (64% of distant recurrences), whereas bone and peritoneum were the most frequent sites of metastases in the late recurrence group (58%). In Dukes C colon cancer patients the disease-free interval was significantly longer in those who received both adjuvant therapies than in those who received either radiotherapy or chemotherapy or neither of them. CONCLUSION: This study showed that factors such as primary clinical signs, stage of primary tumor, and adjacent organ involvement are significant with respect to the time for recurrence of colorectal cancer. It is important to take these characteristics into account in patient care management after curative resection for colorectal cancer.