An Incidental Chorda Tympani Schwannoma Identified During Middle Ear Surgery

Chorda tympani schwannomas are rare benign tumors of the middle ear cleft. This is a case of incidental chorda tympani schwannoma identified intraoperatively. The patient was a 50-year-old male with chronic active otitis media complicated by left-sided facial paralysis. During closed mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty approach, a well-demarcated swelling on the left chorda tympani nerve was identified and sectioned for pathologic evaluation. The histopathologic evaluation established the diagnosis of schwannoma. Although the tumor was unlikely the cause of the disease process in this patient, his facial paralysis and middle ear disease were resolved after surgery

Oncological and functional outcomes of patients who underwent open partial nephrectomy for kidney tumor

Objective: To report long-term functional and oncological outcomes of OPN Methods: We enrolled 182 patients who underwent consecutive OPN with a diagnosis of kidney tumor in our clinic between April 2002 and February 2020 and were selected from our prospective OPN database. Preoperative demographic and clinical characteristics, intraoperative and pathological results, and patients' postoperative functional and oncological follow-up data were retrospectively analyzed. Overall survival (OS) and disease- free survival (DFS) were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. The time-dependent variation between preoperative and postoperative functional results was statistically analyzed and presented in a graph. Results and limitations: The mean age was 54.4 ± 10.8 yr, and the median age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (ACCI) was 1 (interquartile range [IQR] 0-1). The mean tumor size was 3.1 ± 1.2 cm, and the median RENAL score was 6 (IQR 5-8). The most common malign histopathological subtype was clear cell carcinoma with 76.6%, and five cases (3.4%) had positive surgical margins (PSMs). The most common surgical techniques were the retroperitoneal approach (98.9%) and cold ischemia (88.5%). Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) preservation was 92% (80.8-99.3, IQR), which translates to 32% chronic kidney disease (CKD) upstaging. Acute kidney injury (AKI) was detected in 27 (14.8%) patients according to RIFLE criteria. The intraoperative complication rate was 5.5%, and the postoperative overall complication rate (Clavien-Dindo 1-5) was 30.2%. Major complications (Clavien-Dindo 3-5) were observed in 13 (7.1%) patients. The median oncological follow-up was 42 mo (21.3- 84.6, IQR), and the 5- and 10-yr OS were 90.1% and 78.6%, 5 and 10-yr DFS were 99.4% and 92.1%, respectively. No local recurrence was observed in 5 (3.4%) patients with PSMs; only one had distant metastasis in the 8th postoperative month. The retrospective design, the small number of patients who underwent PN based on mandatory indication, and one type of surgical approach may limit the generalizability of our findings. Conclusions: This study confirms excellent long-term oncologic and functional outcomes after OPN in a cohort of patients selected from a single institution. In light of the information provided by the literature and our study, our recommendation is to push the limits of PN under every technically feasible condition in the treatment of kidney tumors to protect the kidney reserve and achieve near-perfect oncological results

Metastatic and synchronous ovarian involvement in low-risk endometrial cancer; clinicopathological analysis with detection of DNA mismatch repair deficiency

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate ovarian involvement in low-risk endometrial cancer, the associated risk factors, and impact on overall survival. We attempted to explore the differences in mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency between metastatic and synchronous ovarian tumoral involvement.Material and methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with low-risk endometrial cancer who were treated at a tertiary center between January 2006 and December 2019. The primary outcome measures were the incidence and risk factors associated with metastatic and synchronous tumoral involvement of the ovary. Overall, survival data were also analyzed. Metastatic and synchronous tumors were compared with each other in terms of MMR deficiency with IHC staining.Results: From a total of 360 low-risk endometrial cancer patients, 10 (2.8%) had ovarian metastasis and 12 (3.3%) had synchronous ovarian involvement. The median age of patients with metastasis was significantly lower than that of patients without ovarian involvement (49 vs 57 years, p = 0.004). Most patients in the metastatic group were in the < 50 age group (p < 0.001) and premenopausal period (p = 0.001). As a result of IHC staining performed on patients with ovarian involvement, MMR deficiency was found in six (60%) patients in the metastatic group and six (50%) patients in the synchronous group. No significant difference was found in overall survival between groups.Conclusions: Younger age and premenopausal status were risk factors associated with ovarian metastasis. Overall survival did not show differences between all groups, and MMR deficiency was similar between metastatic and synchronous groups

Non-random adenomatoid tumours of the female genital system: A comparative clinicopathologic analysis of 14 cases

The aim of this study was to evaluate adenomatoid tumours (AT) clinicopathologically in the female genital tract and compare the histomorphological features of ATs according to their uterine or tuba-ovarian location.Cases of AT were excised and collected from female genital tracts between the years of 2010-2017. Cases were evaluated depending on their clinical findings, localisation and pathological properties.There were 14 cases of AT. Ten cases were uterine, and 4 cases were adnexal tumours. The diagnostic ratio of uterine ATs was 64.3%, and of tuba-ovarian ATs was 21.4% (P > 0.05). The size of the largest tumour was 6 cm. Two of the uterine and one of the ovarian cases had a macrocyst; 2 uterine and one ovarian case had a microcyst; and 6 uterine had a combined microcystic/trabecular pattern. Uterine cases showed a higher number of smooth muscle component, signet-ring cells and infiltrative nature compared with other cases (P < 0.05). All uterine cases were infiltrative.Most of ATs of the female genital system were small in size and incidentally diagnosed in our cases but rarely detected as an adnexal mass forming lesion which mimics a malignancy. A comparative clinicopathologic analysis of these cases should be considered with the histomorphological and immunohistochemical features for an accurate differential diagnosis

Local Steroid Treatment: An Effective Procedure for Idiopathic Granulomatous Mastitis, Including Complicated Cases

Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of treatment with topical and intralesional steroids for idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) and to compare with surgical methods. Methods Data were retrospectively collected from records. Intralesional steroid injection and topical steroid administration, hereafter referred to as local steroid treatment (LST) were applied in Group 1. Surgery (local excision, wide excision, and mastectomy) was performed in Group 2. In Group 1, changes in lesion sizes were recorded and factors complicating treatment were identified. The Numeric Pain Rating Scale was used to determine subjective pain. LST and surgery were compared with regard to: pain before and after the treatment; complication rate; recurrence rate; and treatment cost. Results There were 38 and 48 patients in Group 1 and Group 2, respectively. In the LST group, 72 lesions were present and 70 of 72 (97%) responded completely to treatment. Pretreatment median maximum diameter was 23.50 (15.25–35.25) mm, which regressed to 16 (12–25) mm after the first session. While the pretreatment pain scores of Group 1 and Group 2 were similar (p = 0.756), there was a significant difference in the post-treatment pain scores (p < 0.001). No recurrence occurred in any patients in Group 1, while recurrence developed in 15 (31.2%) patients in Group 2 (p < 0.001). Conclusion LST is a treatment for IGM that is cheap, with high efficiency, negligible recurrence, and has good esthetic outcome. Our results suggest that LST should be the first-line treatment option for all IGM patients, including complicated cases

Lung cancer from suspicion to treatment: An indicator of healthcare access in Turkey

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Before beginning lung cancer treatment, it is necessary to complete procedures such as suspecting lung cancer, obtaining a pathologic diagnosis, and staging. This study aimed to investigate the processes from suspicion of lung cancer to diagnosis, staging, and treatment initiation. Methods: The study was designed as a multicenter and cross-sectional study. Patients with lung cancer from various health institutions located in all geographic regions of Turkey were included in the study. The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, the characteristics of the health institutions and geographic regions, and other variables of the lung cancer process were recorded. The time from suspicion of lung cancer to pathologic diagnosis, radiologic staging, and treatment initiation, as well as influencing factors, were investigated. Results: The study included 1410 patients from 29 different medical centers. The mean time from the initial suspicion of lung cancer to the pathologic diagnosis was 48.0 ± 52.6 days, 39.0 ± 52.7 days for radiologic staging, and 74.9 ± 65.5 days for treatment initiation. The residential areas with the most suspected lung cancer cases were highly developed socioeconomic zones. Primary healthcare services accounted for only 0.4% of patients with suspected lung cancer. The time to pathologic diagnosis was longer in the Marmara region, and the wait time for staging and treatment initiation was longer in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia. Patients who presented to chest disease referral hospitals with peripheral lesions, those with early-stage disease, and those who were diagnosed surgically had significantly longer wait times. Conclusion: The time between pathologic diagnosis, staging, and treatment initiation in lung cancer was longer than expected. Increasing the role of primary healthcare services and distributing socioeconomic resources more equally will contribute to shortening the time to diagnosis and improve treatment processes for lung cancer