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.
ObjectiveThyroid cancer (TC) is one of the most common endocrine malignancies with a rapidly increasing worldwide presence. In Pakistan, it is more prevalent in females than males and has an incidence rate of 2.1%. Obesity and excess body mass index (BMI) has been linked to several cancers and is thought to be a risk factor for TC. We aim to investigate the incidence of TC in our population and understand it’s correlation with obesity.SubjectsThe study was a retrospective case series conducted in the years 2000 to 2014, at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi, Pakistan where 156 patients who had been diagnosed and treated for TC were analyzed. Clinicopathological data was collected from medical records of these patients and weight and height were measured, pre-surgery, post-surgery, and at follow up. The BMI was correlated with patient variables for any significant associations.ResultsThe patient set comprised of 38.5% males and 61.5% females with a mean age of 47.77 (SD ± 14.35). The BMI was significantly associated with age as 72.8% of participants were obese and >45 years old as compared to 27.2% who were under 45 years and obese (p-value <0.001). Upon comparison of the pre-surgery, post-surgery, and current mean BMI, Bonferroni pairwise comparisons showed no significant difference (p>0.999).Conclusion The majority of-of TC patients among the Pakistani population were obese and female. Age was significantly associated with the risk of having a higher BMI. Moreover, differences in BMI pre and post-surgery could not be statistically proven.
Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours of thyroid are rare entities that can present a diagnostic dilemma. We present the case of a patient who presented with neck mass with a history of multiple neck surgeries and airway compression. The patient’s previous histopathology was mistaken for Riedel’s thyroiditis in an outside hospital, which delayed appropriate treatment leading to suffering on part of the patient and frustration on part of the physician. We emphasise that rare malignancies should be considered in rapidly growing neck masses that are causing airway compression, and histopathology of such tumours should be reported by expert pathologists.
Introduction Otosclerosis is a disorder in which the footplate of the stapes is replaced by an abnormal bone, thereby affecting sound transmission to the inner ear at the level of the oval window. The solution to this condition is to reestablish this mechanism back to normal via the ossicular chain to the inner ear. The aim of stapes surgery is to improve the hearing level to thresholds appropriate enough to obviate the need for hearing aid. The hearing improvement achieved after surgery often lasts for many years. The purpose of the current study was to review our experience and find out the rate of success related to hearing outcomes after stapedotomy.
Sclerosing mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thyroid was first reported in 1991. This tumour type may develop as associated to Hashimoto thyroiditis. There are two variants of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of thyroid. The conventional and the sclerosing variants. Sclerosing mucoepidermoid carcinoma with eosinophilia of thyroid (SCME) has recently been recognised as a separate disease entity by the WHO. We report a case of SCME in a 62-year-old male patient who presented with a painless anterior neck swelling. Total thyroidectomy was performed, and no adjuvant treatment administered. The patient remained disease free up until 10 months of follow-up. Approximately 40 cases are reported in literature. We report the second case of SCME in Asian men. Sclerosing mucoepidermoid carcinoma with eosinophilia of thyroid should be differentiated from the conventional mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Patients should also be advised of long-term follow-up for surveillance.
IntroductionVestibular schwannomas (VS) are the most common benign neoplasms of a cerebellopontine angle (CPA), which arise from the Schwann cells of the vestibulocochlear nerve. Eighty percent of CPA tumors are VS followed by meningioma as the second common mass lesion in this critical potential space. Treatment options range from watchful waiting with serial imaging studies to radiosurgery or a microsurgical excision or a combination of surgery and radiation therapy. The primary objective of the study was to assess hearing and facial nerve status before and after the surgery via the retrosigmoid approach.MethodsThe database of Aga Khan University Hospital was searched for diagnoses of vestibular schwannomas between 2000 and 2007. A total of 35 patients were identified; among them, 27 were selected for the study who met the inclusion criteria. The variables of the study were age, gender, presenting symptoms, size of the tumor, surgical approach, hearing levels, and facial nerve function. Hearing loss was categorized according to the Gardener-Robertson hearing classification and the House-Brackmann Scale was used for facial nerve assessment.ResultsOut of the 27 patients, 18 were male and nine were female. The mean age was 43 years. The most common presenting complaint was hearing loss and tinnitus, seen in 21 patients. Headache was present in six patients, ataxia in five, and vertigo in three. Facial nerve weakness was noticed in six patients. Two patients had Grade-III paralysis, three had Grade-IV paralysis, and one had Grade-V paralysis. The audiogram confirmed the presence of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in all patients. Twelve patients out of 27 had Class II hearing with the threshold between 31 and 50 decibels and a Speech Discrimination Score (SDS) of 50% to 69%. Ten patients had non-serviceable hearing and the remaining five had poor hearing. The audiogram was repeated after surgery for those 12 patients who had Class II hearing and showed that seven out of 12 patients maintained a hearing threshold within the range of Class II at the one-year follow-up (hearing preservation 58%). The facial nerve preservation rate was 56% considering House-Brackmann Grade III or less as acceptable facial nerve function.ConclusionThe optimal treatment for small vestibular schwannomas is a matter of controversy; however, the choice of treatment for large vestibular schwannomas in patients without significant comorbidity is generally microsurgical excision. The surgical excision of a large VS with the retrosigmoid approach is found to be safe consistently. The hearing and facial nerve preservation in our study were found comparable with the literature.
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,
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