Role of Surgeons in Determining Outcome of Histopathology Specimens

Background: In the changing world of clinicopathologic practice where surgeons and pathologists are faced with increasing therapeutic demands, precise demands of each group from the other have often been reduced to blames and counter.blames. This study is thus aimed at auditing the current practice of specimen handling as a means of highlighting areas where mutual best practice is required.Materials and Methods: A total of 200 specimens and 100 separate request cards received over the 3 months were audited for: Use of fixative, adequacy of fixative used, types of specimen containers and appropriatelabeling of containers. The request cards were audited for: Documentation of patientsf hospital numbers, ages, histories of disease, sites of biopsy, examination findings, investigations done, provisional diagnosis and concordance of clinical diagnosis with histopathological diagnosis.Results: About 20% of specimens were unfixed, 23.5% had inadequate fixative, 16.5% were in inappropriate containers and 32.5% were incompletely labeled respectively. In 25%, 50% and 53% of forms the age, clinical history and examination findings respectively were notdocumented. Provisional diagnosis was in concordance with eventual histological diagnosis in 69% of cases. Conclusion: To ensure the quality of histopathological diagnosis with minimal turnaround time, the surgeon plays a vital role by ensuringadequate and prompt fixation of tissue biopsies, put in the right container and accompanied by well labeled request cards.Keywords: Formalin, fixative, outcome, pathologist, surgeo

Nephrotic syndrome among children in Kano: A clinicopathological study

Objective: To evaluate the clinicopathological features of children with nephrotic syndrome seen in a pediatric nephrology unit in northern Nigeria.Materials and Methods: All children less than 15 years of age who had nephrotic syndrome and who had been subjected to renal biopsy at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, were studied. Their histologic diagnoses were evaluated alongside clinical and other laboratory parameters.Results: Twenty children, 17 males and three females, were studied. These represented 55% of all children with nephrotic syndrome seen in the pediatric nephrology unit during the study period, the rest of which have never had renal biopsies. Peak age was 7-8 years (range 2.5-13 years). Fourteen of the 20 children (70%) had previously been on steroid treatment. Of these, 11 (55%) were classified to be steroid resistant and three (15%) were frequent relapsers. Six (30%) children were newly diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome and had not commenced steroid  treatment. Hypertension was found in seven (35%) children. Sixteen  children (80%) had microscopic hematuria on presentation. The most common histopathological diagnosis was focal glomerulosclerosis in nine (45%) children (segmental = 8; global = 1). Minimal change disease was found in four children (20%), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis inthree children (15%), membranous nephropathy in three children (15%), and diffuse mesangial hypercellularity in one child (5%). Of the six children who had renal biopsy before commencement of steroid treatment, three (50%) were found to have glomerulosclerosis.Conclusion: Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis was the most common histological subtype diagnosed in Kano among children with nephrotic syndrome in this study.Key words: Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, Kano, nephrotic  syndrome, pediatric

Prevalence and Risk Factors of High Risk Human Papillomavirus Infections among Women Attending Gynaecology Clinics in Kano, Northern Nigeria

Cervical cancer is the most common female cancer in northern Nigeria, yet the pattern of infection with human papillomavirus, the principal aetiologic agent is unknown. This was a preliminary study conducted in two referral hospitals in order to establish base-line data on the prevalence and risk factors for the infection in Kano state, Nigeria. Fifty (50) randomly selected women aged 18 years and above were recruited from gynaecology clinics in Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital and Aminu Kano teaching Hospital. Relevant sexual and socio-demographic information were obtained from each subject using a questionnaire. Exfoliated cervical cells were harvested and processed using Polymerase Chain Reaction to identify the DNAs of high-risk HPV types 16 and 18. The prevalence rate of HPV infection was 76% [(38/50) at 95% CI=61.8-86.9] with 60.5% (23/38) having co-infections with both HPV type 16 and 18. Risk factors of the infection include low literacy level; living in rural settlements; low parity; early menarche (<15 years of age); early onset of first sexual intercourse (≤16 years of age) and multiple sexual partners. There was however, no statistically significant association between oral contraceptive usage and acquisition of the infections. Findings of this study suggest a high prevalence of HPV types 16 and 18 among women attending gynaecology clinic in Kano and thus called for more elaborate community based study in order to establish the magnitude of the problem from wider perspective.Keywords: Human Papillomavirus; Prevalence; Risk Factors, Northern Nigeri

Seven-Year Histopathological Review of Malignant Ovarian Tumours Seen in Kano

Background: Ovarian malignancies are important causes of morbidity and mortality and understanding their pathology go a long way in proffering adequate clinical management.Objective: To determine the pattern, frequency and age distribution of malignant ovarian tumours received in the Pathology department of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, (AKTH), Kano over a 7 year period (2001 2007).Methods: A retrospective analysis of all malignant ovarian tumours received and processed at the Pathology Department of AKTH, Kano between 1st January 2001 and 31st December 2007.Results: The ovarian tumours included 212 (66.2%) benign and 108 (33.8%) malignant cases. Serous cystadenocarcinoma was the most common malignant tumour representing 31.5% of all cases. Twentyeight cases of granulosa cell tumours accounting for 25.9% of the malignant tumours were next in frequency while dysgerminoma and Burkitt's lymphoma were the most common tumours seen in children in the first decade of life and constituted 5.5 and 2.8% of all malignant tumours respectively.Conclusion: The study has shown that malignant tumours constitute about a third of all ovarian tumours seen in this North-Wesrtern part of Nigeria covered by Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital with serous cystadenocarcinoma being overall the most common malignant ovarian tumour and peak age range of occurrence being in the fifth decade.Key Words: Ovarian Cancer; Histology, Epithelial Tumou

Seminoma complicating ectopic abdominal testis

No Abstract. African Journal of Urology Vol. 12(1) 2006: 31-3