Introduction Atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) or follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS) is one of the six diagnostic categories of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. The prevalence of malignancy among Bethesda category III cytology is variable, ranging from 5% to 37% in the literature. Objective To determine the rate of malignancy in thyroid nodules reported as Bethesda category III. Methods A total of 495 patients underwent surgical intervention for thyroid nodules from January 2015 to December 2017. The present study included 81 cases reported as Bethesda category III, and their medical records were reviewed. Results Out of 495 fine-needle aspiration cytology samples, 81 (16.4%) samples were labeled as AUS/FLUS. Among these 81 patients, the mean age was 43.0 years (± 13.9), with only 11 (14%) patients older than 55 years of age. Most of our patients were female (n = 69; 85.2%), and the rest were male. The rate of malignancy based on the final histology was of 33.3% (n = 27). The majority were 17 cases (21%) of papillary carcinoma, followed by follicular carcinoma (n = 6) (7.4%). Conclusion The risk of malignancy can be higher than it is commonly believed, and guidelines should be based on the data from the institutions themselves for a better assessment of the outcomes.

Background and objectiveHead and neck cancers are prevalent in Pakistan. Oral squamous cell carcinomas are primarily treated via surgical removal, and complete surgical resection is the paramount prognostic factor. A resection margin of 5 mm on the final histopathology report has been accepted as adequate in the existing literature. Negative margins on the frozen section do not guarantee adequate disease-free resections on the final histopathology report. In this study, we aimed to ascertain how accurately tumor-free margins can be detected on frozen sections, which are reported intraoperatively compared to permanent sections of the same tissues reported after proper staining in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan; 94 patients presenting between January and October 2016 were included in this study and a total of 432 tumor margins were assessed. ResultsAmong the total 94 patients included in the study, 79% were male and 21% were female. Buccal mucosa was the most commonly involved subsite (57%), followed by the tongue (25%). The most common T stage was T4 (33%), followed by T2 and T3 at 28% and 21% respectively, while the most common N stage was N0 (55%) followed by N1 at 16% and N2 at 22%. The sensitivity of the frozen section in comparison to the permanent section was found to be 50%, while specificity was calculated to be 99.8%. The positive predictive value was 75% and the negative predictive value was 99.3%. ConclusionThe frozen section is a highly useful tool for the evaluation of tumor margins. However, while it has high diagnostic accuracy rates, it can produce altered results and therefore requires high clinical correlation.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSNHL) is described as a hearing loss of at least 30db in three frequencies in pure tone audiogram over 3 days or less. The cause may be infectious, vascular, systemic immune-mediated or idiopathic. Multiple viral infections have been associated with SSNL. However, dengue fever, which is an RNA viral disease that is directly transmitted by a mosquito of genus Aedes, has been reported to present with SSNHL only thrice in existing literature to the best of our knowledge. There are multiple different proposed mechanisms of SSNHL in viral infections and multiple viruses have been proven to cause hearing loss. However, dengue virus is not one of them. In majority of cases of SSNHL, the exact cause is very difficult to determine. We report the case of a gentleman who had unilateral SSNHL after dengue fever. Keywords: Dengue; Hearing Loss; Virus

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Abstract Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast enhanced CT scan to detect cervical nodal metastasis in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma keeping final histopathology as gold standard. Methods: Cross sectional study conducted from 1st January 2015 - 31st October 2016. All patients undergoing surgery who had their CT scans done at our centre were included in the study. Diagnostic accuracy of CT scans was calculated using final histopathology as gold standard. All CT scan were reviewed by consultant radiologist. Results: Total 100 patients were reviewed, 70% were female, 55% had buccal and 32% had tongue cancer. 11 cases of T1, 20 cases of T2 , 4 cases of T3 and 21 cases of T4 stages were staged similarly by CT scan and histopathology, the kappa value of38.8%, p value <0.01. 6 cases of N1, 1 case of N2a , 9 cases of N2b, 3 cases of N2c, 1 case of N3 and 29 cases of N0 stages were staged similarly by CT scan and histopathology, with kappa value of 28.1%, p value of  <0.01. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and overall diagnostic accuracy were 83%,61%,70.9%,76.3% and 73% respectively. Conclusion: CT scan is useful for preoperative staging of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma with an overall diagnostic accuracy of 73%, currently there are no superior diagnostic modalities. However, Due to low specificity and negative predictive value elective neck dissection should still be done in a negative CT scan for cervical lymph node metastases. Keywords: Oral Cavity,

Introduction Thyroid nodules are common globally in almost one fifth of the adult population. The gold standard treatment for thyroid nodule is thyroid lobectomy or total thyroidectomy depending upon the diagnosis. Thyroidectomy has a few known complications but, as per the ATA consensus statement, it is a safe surgery to be done as a day care procedure. Objective To access the feasibility and safety of thyroid lobectomy as a day care surgery and its effect on decreasing overall financial burdens. Methods This retrospective chart review was done from 2006 to 2022. A total of 736 patients underwent thyroid lobectomy among which only 56 were done as day care surgery. Data analysis was done using the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results A total of 40% of the population was male. The mean age of the study population was 42 years. Bethesda II was the most encountered diagnosis, with a rate of 69%. The majority of patients were discharged after 6 hours of postoperative observation. The only complication encountered was seroma, which was seen in two patients. Conclusion Thyroid lobectomy appears to be a safe procedure with a drastic difference in overall cost as a day care procedure. We recommend switching the practice of inpatient thyroid lobectomy to a day care procedure in carefully selected candidates. The major hurdle in day care lobectomy can be approval from insurance.

Managing osteoradionecrosis is an integral part of complication management in head and neck cancer patients. While essentially an infection, the management of this complication has a considerable task for head and neck surgeons. While various measures have been discussed for the management, stem cells injection therapy is a potential management option. Mesenchymal stem cell therapy provides the local tissue with growth factors and proliferative cells that can aid a radiated tissue in the healing process.  The article intends to review the bedrock of the pathology, ranging from pathophysiological and the epidemiological concerns to sparking a potential discussion on the use of mesenchymal stem cell therapy in osteoradionecrosis of mandible in head and neck cancer surgery and thus the ensuing future of the regenerative medicine. Continued...

Residents are the backbone of every large medical center that aims to strengthen and nourish the upcoming crop of medical personal. The professional prospect of a resident is largely based on their core subject knowledge, the tenacity to practice these core principles and their ability to add to it by academic activities and didactic thinking. Academic and research activities bear the brunt of spillover from clinical and surgical responsibilities of a residents, and this must be curtailed to maximize the involvement of residents in research activities. A possible con of these activities can be the deduction of these academic hours from the surgical training and eventual compromise. Some would argue that research activities can be a double edged sword, but in order to cultivate progressive thinking amongst the newer generation and to improve the quality of care of our patients, these didactic activities should be made a priority rather than a privilege. Moreover, it should be encouraged and controlled at a national level to ensure the availability of resources and curriculum to strengthen this practice.