21 research outputs found
Synchronous phyllodes tumor and invasive breast carcinoma in contralateral breasts- a rare case report
Phyllodes tumours are rare breast tumours, accounting for 0.3-1% of all breast cancers and 2.5% of fibroepithelial tumours. They occur in younger age women in Asian countries. These can be classified into benign, borderline and malignant based on stromal hypercellularity, mitotic figures, cellular pleomorphism, stromal overgrowth and nature of the tumour borders. Synchronous coexistence of phyllodes tumour and invasive breast carcinoma in the contralateral breast is very rare, and probably the second one reported in the literature. Hereby, we report a case of a middle-aged woman presenting with a lump in the bilateral breast, diagnosed to have benign phyllodes of one breast and Invasive carcinoma of the contralateral breast
Item analysis of multiple choice questions: Assessing an assessment tool in medical students
Aim: Assessment is a very important component of the medical course curriculum. Item analysis is the process of collecting, summarizing, and using information from student's responses to assess the quality of multiple-choice questions (MCQs). Difficulty index (P) and discrimination index (D) are the parameters used to evaluate the standard of MCQs. The aim of the study was to assess quality of MCQs. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Pathology. One hundred and twenty, 2nd year MBBS students took the MCQs test comprising 40 questions. There was no negative marking and evaluation was done out of 40 marks, and 50% score was the passing mark. Postvalidation of the paper was done by item analysis. Each item was analyzed for difficulty index, discrimination index, and distractor effectiveness. The relationship between them for each item was determined by Pearson correlation analysis using SPSS 20.0. Results: Difficulty index of 34 (85%) items was in the acceptable range (P = 30–70%), 2 (5%) item was too easy (P >70%), and 4 (10%) items were too difficult (P 0.4), 4 (10%) items were good (D =0.3–0.39), 6 (15%) items were acceptable (D =0.2–0.29), and 6 (15%) items were poor (D < 0–0.19). A total 40 items had 120 distractors. Amongst these, 6 (5%) were nonfunctional distracters, 114 (95%) were functional distracters. The discrimination index exhibited positive correlation with difficulty index (r = 0.563, P = 0.010, significant at 0.01 level [two-tailed]). The maximum discrimination (D = 0.5–0.6) was observed in acceptable range (P = 30–70%). Conclusion: In this study, the majority of items fulfilled the criteria of acceptable difficulty and good discrimination. Moderately easy/difficult had the maximal discriminative ability. Very difficult item displayed poor discrimination, but the very easy item had high discrimination index, indicating a faulty item, or incorrect keys. The results of this study would initiate a change in the way MCQ test items are selected for any examination, and there should be proper assessment strategy as part of the curriculum development
Study of histopathological patterns of endometrium in abnormal uterine bleeding
Background: Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is a common gynecological complaint associated with considerable morbidity and significantly affects the patient′s family, personal and social life. The aim of the study was to analyze the histomorphological patterns of endometrium in patients presenting with AUB and also to determine the incidence of AUB in various age groups. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study, conducted in the Department of Pathology, in a tertiary care teaching hospital, Mangalore from October 2011 till date. All cases of AUB with a probable endometrial cause were included in the study. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel and managed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. Analysis was done in the form of percentages and proportions and represented as tables where necessary. Results: A total of 156 cases were analyzed. Patients′ age ranged from 23-78 years. AUB was most prevalent in the perimenopausal age group. The most common presenting complaint was menorrhagia (47%). Endometrial hyperplasia was the most common histopathological finding and was seen in 25% patients, followed by secretory endometrium in 16.7% patients, and proliferative phase pattern and disordered proliferative endometrium were seen in 12.2% patients each. Malignancy was detected in 6.4% of cases and endometrial carcinoma was the most common lesion (4.5%). Conclusions: Histopathological evaluation of endometrial samples is especially indicated in women over the age of 35 years to rule out malignancy and preneoplasia. Among the patients with no organic pathology, normal physiological patterns with proliferative, secretory, and menstrual changes were observed. The most common endometrial pathology in this series was endometrial hyperplasia
Fibrocartilagenous dysplasia: A rare variant of fibrous dysplasia
Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is a benign disorder affecting one or more bones seen in all age groups and shows no geographical, racial and sex predilection. Fibrocartilaginous dysplasia (FCD) is a type of fibrous dysplasia where there is extensive cartilaginous differentiation. Our patient was a young girl with a 2 year history of pain in the right forearm and hip. Imaging studies showed multiple lucent lesions in the femur, humerus and radius. Microscopic examination of the curetted fragments from the lesion showed predominant cartilaginous components with focal fibro-osseous areas and areas of enchondral ossification. We present this case due to its rarity and the importance of distinguishing FCD from other benign and malignant cartilaginous tumors as it mimics these in clinical and histological features
Hypersensitive response of <i style="">Sesamum prostratum</i> Retz.<i style=""> </i>elicitated by <i style="">Fusarium oxysporum f. sesame</i> (Schelt) Jacz Butler.
834-838Aim of this study was to investigate the intensity and timing of the ROS formation, lipid peroxidation and expression of antioxidant enzymes as initial responses of calli of Sesamum prostratum (SP) against Fusarium oxysporum f. sesame crude toxin metabolite of varying concentrations. 2,4 dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) / coconut milk combinations were found to be more efficient among different hormonal regimes (2,4 -D, 2,4-D/casein hydrosylate and 2,4-D/ coconut milk). The concentration of hydrogen peroxide and lipid peroxidation were higher (13.2 and 5.7-folds, respectively) after 6 h in the treated callus confirmed the oxidative stress. An increase in total phenolics was also detected in inoculated callus. Increased activity of antioxidative enzymes viz., NADPH oxidase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) corroborate with the high level of ROSs, such as O2.- and H2O2. The poor activity of catalase confirmed the oxidative burst in the callus leading to necrosis. Activity of peroxidase was at par with total phenolics. Similarly, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) also showed high activity revealing the active phase in the synthesis of secondary metabolites in the plant. The oxidative burst generated in the interaction between Sesamum and F. oxysporum f. sesame toxin might be the first line of defense by the host mounted against the invading necrotrophic pathogen. The results suggested that the rapid production of reactive oxygen species in the callus in response to fungal toxin had been proposed to orchestrate the establishment of different defensive barriers against the pathogens.</i