Medicine
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/12
This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty
Browse
5 results
Search Results
Item Predictive ability of rule of 3's in parathyroid cancer : outcomes from a South Asia cohort(Karger, 2024) Pinto, D.; Dhanda, M.; Agarwal, A.; He, G.H.; Chia, J.L.L.; Parameswaran, R.BACKGROUND Preoperative diagnosis of parathyroid cancer (PC) where possible allows for en-bloc resection of the tumour, which is associated with excellent prognosis. The rule of >3 (size of tumour larger than 3 cm; corrected calcium more than 3 mmol/L) as proposed by Schulte and Talat has a specificity of 95% in predicting malignancy in parathyroid neoplasms. We looked at the impact of rule of 3 in predicting malignancy and outcomes on intervention in a South Asian cohort.METHODS Patients who underwent parathyroid surgery between 2010 and 2023 at two tertiary referral centres were assessed. Patients with PC were selected and their clinicopathological parameters, treatment modalities, and outcomes were analysed.RESULTS Thirteen of 336 (3.8%) patients with a mean age of 61.8 (±17.5) years were diagnosed with PC during the study period. The highest mean preoperative values were PTH (92.4 ± 66.27 pmol/L), highest corrected calcium (3.21 ± 0.28 mmol/L), and alkaline phosphatase (419 IU/mL). Nine patients underwent en-bloc excision while the other had focussed parathyroidectomy. Recurrences were recorded in 2 (28.5%) patients over a mean follow-up period of 69 (±48.6) months. One patient with lung metastasis underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery. There was no disease specific mortality in this cohort during the study period.CONCLUSIONS In our experience, the predictive rule of 3 has low sensitivity to suspect PC preoperatively, resulting in limited usefulness in clinical practice. Outcomes appear to be less favourable with higher recurrence rates in cases where less than en-bloc resection is performed.Item Nearly half of patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer may be amenable to immunotherapy.(MDPI AG, 2024) Chern, B.; Pinto, D.; Lum, J.H.; Parameswaran, R.IMPORTANCE Poorly differentiated cancer (PDC) and anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) have an aggressive course of disease with limited treatment options. The expression of programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) has been used to determine the responses of many cancers to immunotherapy. The aim of the study was to investigate the expression of PD-L1 in a cohort of patients with PDC and ATC to assess their suitability for immunotherapy. Data, settings, and participants: This study is a retrospective cohort review of patients treated for PDC and ATC treated at a tertiary referral institution during the period 2000-2020. PD-L1 22C3 pharmDx qualitative immunohistochemistry was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens of tumours to detect the presence of the PD-L1 protein.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The percentage of tumours that were positive for PD-L1 immunohistochemistry and the PD-L1 protein expression as measured by using the Tumour Proportion Score (TPS). Secondary outcomes studied were the associations between demographic, clinicopathological, treatment and disease outcomes and PD-L1 expression.RESULTS Nineteen patients (12F:7M) with a mean age of 65.4 (±14.3 SD) years were diagnosed with PDC in 4 (21%) and fifteen were diagnosed with ATC (79%) during the study period. Fifteen (79%) patients underwent some form of surgery, with R0 resection achieved in only three of the fifteen (20%) patients. Overall, PD-L1 expression was seen in seven of the fifteen (47%) of the patients with ATC, with no positivity seen in the patients with PDC. PD-L1 expression had no impact on treatment modality and positive expression was not significantly associated with stage of disease, metastasis, or survival.CONCLUSION Nearly half of patients with ATC express PD-L1 and may be amenable to immunotherapy with pembrolizumab.Item Upper gastro intestinal endoscopy in pregnancy: A single centre experience(Sri Lanka college of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, 2023) Abeysuriya, V.; Dodampahala, H.S.; Chandrasena, L.INTRODCTION: Upper gastro intestinal (GI) endoscopy is advisable to perform when strongly indicated during pregnancy. This study was to evaluate the outcomes of upper GI endoscopy during pregnancy. METHODS: A single centre retrospective study was carried out. Randomly selected 500 medical records of the pregnant mothers who were referred as out patients and hospitalized from 2012 to 2022 were retrieved. Inclusion criteria for retrieving data of the patients who underwent upper GI endoscopy were; Major or continued bleeding, severe or refractory nausea and vomiting or abdominal pain, dysphagia or odynophagia. Endoscopic findings were recorded in a computer based database. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Review Committee of Nawaloka Hospitals of Sri Lanka. No conflict of interest. RESULTS: A total of 16 records of patients underwent upper GI endoscopy were retrieved during 2012 to 2022. The mean age of the patients was 25.48 ± 6.5 years. Ten patients (62.5%:10/16) were primigravida. During the first, second and third trimester of pregnancy, number of patients who underwent upper GI endoscopy were 8 (50%), 4 (25%), and 4 (25%) respectively. The major indication was persistence epigastric pain (75%: 12/16) followed by dysphagia (18.7%:3/16) and hematemesis in one patient. All patients had undergone conservative treatment without any therapeutic upper GI endoscopy. There were no records that were found to have ERCP, capsular endoscopy or enteroscopy during pregnancy among our patients. No records were found of having endoscopy related adverse effects on mothers or foetuses. CONCLUSION: The upper GI endoscopy especially oesophago-gastro-dudenoscopy (OGD) may be performed without a major risk to the mother and the baby. However, further prospective multicentre research studies are strongly recommended.Item The usefulness of flexible sigmoidoscopy in bleeding per rectum during pregnancy: an observational study(Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, 2023) Abeysuriya, V.; Dodampahala, S.H.; Chandrasena, L.INTRODUCTION: Bleeding per rectum is not an infrequent complaint during pregnancy, which may require endoscopic evaluation and treatment. Flexible sigmoidoscopy is a relatively simple, quick procedure. The current study was aimed to assess the usefulness of flexible sigmoidoscopy in bleeding per rectum during pregnancy from a single tertiary care centre. METHODS: A single centre retrospective study was carried out. Randomly selected 1000 medical records of the pregnant mothers who were referred as out patients and hospitalized from 2012 to 2022 were retrieved. All patients had the passage of fresh blood as their chief complaint. All of them had not undergone any prior diagnostic workup for their presentation. All had undergone flexible sigmoidoscopies and patients with significant additional bowel symptoms underwent colonoscopy following sigmoidoscopy. Endoscopic findings were recorded in a computer based database. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Review Committee of Nawaloka Hospitals of Sri Lanka. No conflict of interest. RESULTS: A total of 48 pregnant women had undergone lower GI endoscopies. The mean age of the patients was 25.3 ± 6.5 years. Twenty-four patients (50%) were primigravida. Majority was in the second trimester of pregnancy 89.5% (43/48). The mean (±SD) gestational age at the time of procedure was 18(±2) weeks. All had undergone sigmoidoscopy, and an additional colonoscopy were done in 2 patients. Bleeding per rectum was the main indication. All flexible sigmoidoscopies were done without sedation. Wiliest, the colonoscopies were performed under conscious sedation. Majority of the pregnant mothers found to have haemorrhoids followed by anal fissures (46/48; 95.8%). Ulcerative colitis and a sigmoidal cancer were found in two patients (4.2%). None had an immediate post procedure-related complication. CONCLUSION: Flexible sigmoidoscopy is useful and safe to be performed in pregnancy with clinically significant bleeding per rectum. It has a good diagnostic yield. Further prospective multicentre research studies are strongly recommended.Item Clinicopathological characteristics and oncological outcomes of patients with renal cell carcinoma(The Sri Lanka Medical Association., 2020) Ambegoda, M.; Paranamanna, R.; Kumara, S.; Balagobi, B.; Sosai, C.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Abeygunasekera, A.ABSTRACT: Although certain characteristics of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) seen in Sri lanka are different to the developed world and incidence is rising, no data on oncological outcome and patient survival are avaialble. A hospitalbased cohort study was done in a tertiary referral centre over a period of eight years (2012-2019). A total of 285 newly diagnosed RCC had a mean follow-up period of 28.3 months. Radical nephrectomy was performed in 189 patients while 91 patients had partial nephrectomy. Clear cell RCC which was seen in 231 (81.1%) patients while papillary RCC was seen in 43 (15.1%). There were 54 deaths during the follow-up. The 30-day postoperative mortality was 2.1%. Thirty (10.5%) patients developed metastases while three patients developed local recurrences. The overall five-year survival rate was 72.8%(95% CI=65.9-80.5). Five-year survival of papillary RCC (60.5%) was lower than clear cell RCC (74.1%). Tumour stage, presence of metastases and histological grade of the tumour influenced the survival. Gender (p=0.3), histological type (p=0.5) or type of surgery (p=0.2) had no statistically significant effect on survival. KEYWORDS: Renal cancer, Prognosis, South Asia, Sri Lanka, Survival data, Renal cell carcinoma