Histomorphology of germ cell tumors at various anatomic sites: a 5 years study at a tertiary care centre

Background: Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms, which occur in the gonads, and at extra gonadal sites of the body. The aim of the study was to observe the different histopathological patterns of various GCTs in the body at all possible sites and to know their IHC staining patterns.Methods: The study was conducted for a period of 5 years from 2015 to 2019 and was an observational study. The recorded data was compiled and entered in a spreadsheet and then exported to data editor of SPSS Version 20.0. Continuous variables were expressed as mean SD and categorical variables were summarized as frequencies and percentages. Graphically the data was presented by bar and pie diagrams Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was applied for comparing categorical values. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. All p values were 2 tailed.Results: A total of 93 cases were analyzed and the mean age of the patients was 27.8 years. Mature cystic teratoma was the most common histopathological variant and was mostly seen in the ovaries. There was a difference in age predilection of benign and malignant tumors. Most of the malignant GCTs were gonadal while EGCTs were likely to be benign. MGCTs (mixed GCTs) were mostly testicular in origin with only one MGCT being extragonadal.Conclusions: Mature cystic teratomas were the most frequent GCTs with frequent site being in ovaries. Out 0f 18 EGCTs only 2 were malignant, rest all were mature cystic teratomas.

Comparative study between proximal femoral nailing versus dynamic hip screw in unstable inter-trochanteric fractures of the femur in adults

Background: Hip fractures are more common in elderly among them intertrochanteric fractures are most common, more than 50% fractures are unstable. The proximal femoral nailing (PFN) and dynamic hip screw (DHS) are frequently used modalities from last two decades in both stable and unstable fractures. The DHS has been shown to produce good results but complications are frequent, particularly in unstable inter-trochanteric fracture. The advantage of PFN fixation is that it provides a more biomechanically stable construct with good collapse control. The goal of this study was to compare the clinical and radiographical results of the DHS and PFN for the treatment of inter-trochanteric hip fractures as one is load bearing another is load shearing.Methods: In our study we included 70 inter-trochanteric fractures, out of which 40 were treated with DHS fixation and 30 were treated with PFN, and were followed up at regular intervals of 2 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months and annually thereafter.Results: The functional results were assessed with Harris hip score and observed 35% excellent results in DHS group and 63.3% excellent results in PFN group. We observed no statistically significant difference between two groups in view of late and early complications and time to union. We observed significantly better outcomes in PFN group for unstable inter-trochanteric fractures and in unstable fractures reduction loss was significantly lower in PFN group. We observed total duration of surgery was significantly lower in PFN group.Conclusions: We concluded that PFN may be the better fixation device for most unstable inter-trochanteric fractures.

Characterizing Ebola Transmission Patterns based on Internet News Reports.

BACKGROUND:  Detailed information on patient exposure, contact patterns, and discharge status, is rarely available in real time from traditional surveillance systems in the context of an emerging infectious disease outbreak. Here we validate the systematic collection of Internet news reports to characterize epidemiological patterns of Ebola virus disease (EVD) infections during the West African 2014-2015 outbreak. METHODS:  Based on 58 news reports, we analyzed a total of 79 EVD clusters (286 cases) of size ranging from 1 to 33 cases between January 2014 and February 2015 in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:  The great majority of reported exposures stemmed from contact with family members (57.3%) followed by hospitals (18.2%) and funerals (12.7%). Our data indicated that funeral exposure was significantly more frequent in Sierra Leone (27.3%) followed by Guinea (18.2%) and Liberia (1.8%) (Chi-square test;

Case Reports: Peritoneal hydatidosis in a young girl

We report a case of peritoneal hydatidosis that occurred post laparotomy. Patient was diagnosed nine months after she had laparotomy for suspected acute appendicitis. The whole peritoneal cavity was studded with cysts. In view of diffuse involvement, patient was managed conservatively and showed response to medical therapy