Introduction: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is regarded as an important first line investigation for evaluation of thyroid swellings. It has a diagnostic accuracy of over 90% in terms of specificity, sensitivity and predictive values. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the validity (specificity, sensitivity positive/negative predictive values) of FNAC in the diagnosis of thyroid diseases. Methods: FNAC reports and histopathology reports of patients with thyroid diseases, who have undergone surgery, were retrospectively retrieved from data banks in the Department of Pathology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, from August 2004 to August 2006. In addition a prospective study in patients with thyroid diseases who came to this unit for FNAC from June to September 2006 was carried out. In all the cases the histological diagnosis was compared with the cytological diagnosis and the results were documented and analyzed by using standard statistical methods. Results: FNAC has an acceptable validity in the diagnosis of thyroid diseases with high specificity (86.74%), sensitivity (84.05%), positive predictive value (84.05%) and negative predictive value (86.74%).
During anterior and/or posterior clinoidectomies the knowledge on presence of pneumatization is useful for the neurosurgeon in order to prevent a cerebrospinal fistulae formation as a complication.
BackgroundCSF rhinorrhoea is an important condition that can lead to morbidity and mortality. The endoscopic method has become the gold standard today for the treatment of nasal CSF fistulae. Many authors have shared their experience in endoscopic CSF leak repair but Sri Lankan data are not available. Hence, it is important to retrospectively audit the Sri Lankan practice. The study aimed at analysing the demographic data and success rates of endoscopic CSF leak repair.
MethodologyIt is a retrospective study. Clinical records of all the patients who have undergone endoscopic CSF leak repair at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka during the past 7 years were included in the study.
Results29 patients were included in the study. Whilst 20(69%) patients were having spontaneous CSF rhinorrhoea 9(31%) patients had a traumatic aetiology. Out of the patients with spontaneous CSF leak repair 16(80%) were females. The overall success rate of the surgery was 93% which was keeping the international published data.
ConclusionEndoscopic CSF repair is a method which is globally accepted and has a very low morbidity and mortality.
Existing methods for dye removal have their limitations and can be expensive and not very effective. Therefore, the search for efficient, effective, less expensive, and environmentally-friendly ways to remove industrial dyes from water remains open. Methylene blue (MB) removal from aqueous solutions is studied using raw laterite soil as a low-cost adsorbent. The physico-chemical properties and surface area were determined. Effects of parameters such as contact time, laterite dosage, pH, and ionic salts on MB adsorption by raw laterite were examined. The results showed that the maximum removal efficiency of MB adsorption was observed at pH values above 10, after 60 min of contact time, and with an adsorbent (raw Laterite) dose of 1.00 g in 100mL of dye solution. Increasing the salt concentration decreased the absorption of dye from solution. Ionic salt media containing, CaCl2 and KCl have shown maximum and minimum influence, respectively, on the adsorption of MB by raw laterite soil. At the optimum conditions, the experimental adsorption capacity of raw laterite was 2.930 mg/g. The experimental data fitted the pseudo-second order kinetic model (R 2 = 0.99). The Freundlich adsorption isotherm model (R 2 = 0.99) showed the best fit to the experimental adsorption data. According to the Freundlich isotherm model, the calculated adsorption capacity of raw laterite was 2.949 mg/g. Desorption studies with several solvents revealed that the adsorbent could successfully retain MB, up to 33.89%. Therefore, it can be considered that raw laterite soil is effective in removing MB from aqueous solutions.
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