Background: Lipomas are the most frequent neoplasm of mesenchymal origin in the head-and-neck region. Around 15% of lipomas are found in the head-and-neck region. The usual site where lipomas can be found in the head-and-neck region is in the posterior triangle of the neck but they can also be found in the anterior neck, infratemporal fossa, submandibular space, larynx, pharynx, and parotid gland. The incidence of parotid lipoma ranges from 0.6% to 4.4% of all parotid neoplasms. There are two histological variants, focal lipoma and diffuse infiltrating variant. We describe two cases of rare focal lipoma of the parotid gland, therefore, must be reported. As rare as it may appear, existing relevant literature suggest management to includes definitive radiological investigations such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and complete removal of lipoma with or without a cuff of parotid tissue. Case Report: Two cases were identified with a parotid lipoma on final histology. Case 1 is a 57-year-old male with a history of painless left parotid swelling for 2 years, reported to be 5 cm × 4 cm size on ultrasound, therefore, underwent superficial parotidectomy. Case 2 is a 67-year-old male who presented with right parotid swelling for 15 years, reported on ultrasound to be 5 cm × 5 cm, and underwent excision of intraparotid tumor. He later went on to develop breast carcinoma. The facial nerve was intact of both patients. Conclusion: Parotid lipomas are rare entities that should be a differential for clinically soft parotid swellings. Management includes definitive radiological investigations such as MRI and complete removal of lipoma with or without a cuff of parotid tissue instead of regular ultrasound followed by fine-needle aspiration cytology. Although our cases were managed on the same regular outlines, but reporting these cases would suffice the potential role of MRI and computed tomography scan for parotid swelling as per existing literature.
Thyroid hemiagenesis is defined as a failure of one thyroid lobe development. This condition predominantly manifests as an incidental finding during radiological investigation. This paper reports the case of a 53-year-old female, a known case of hypertension, who visited the ENT clinic at AKU, a tertiary care centre in Karachi, Pakistan. The patient presented with hemiagenesis of the right thyroid lobe with enlargement of the contralateral lobe resulting in airway compression. She was subjected to excision of the thyroid gland without any intra-operative or postoperative complications. There were no complaints of dyspnoea, stridor or hoarseness during the hospital stay. The patient was discharged and was found to be well on subsequent follow-ups. Keywords: Unilateral Thyroid Agenesis, Thyroidectomy, Case Report.
Colorectal cancer ideally spreads via the haematogenous or lymphatic route with the most common metastasis to the liver or lungs. Metastasis of this cancer to the parotid gland has not been previously reported. This paper presents a case of rectal adenocarcinoma in a 34-year-old Pakistani male, who presented with histopathological evidence of metastasis in the parotid gland within one year of treatment. He had previously undergone neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy with surgical resection of rectal adenocarcinoma. Metastasis to the parotid gland is an uncommon occurrence in our setting and to our knowledge, this is the first instance of its kind. Careful surveillance of colorectal cancer patients after primary treatment may result in the early recognition of metastases, possibly providing patients with better treatment options and prognosis. This case undoubtedly provides a valuable contribution to the existing literature on colorectal cancer metastasis and points towards the need for additional assessment of these patients posttreatment.
Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most prevalent endocrine malignancy of the head and neck region. It makes up to 80% of all thyroid cancers, and has a 10-year survival rate of up to 95%. Differentiated thyroid carcinomas have good prognosis after a complete surgical extirpation as long as it is not associated with invasion of the surrounding structures. The advanced papillary thyroid carcinoma can invade the neighbouring structures of the thyroid gland, such as strap muscles, recurrent laryngeal nerve, trachea, oesophagus, larynx, pharynx, and carotids. Whenever papillary thyroid carcinoma is associated with invasion of aerodigestive tract it is difficult to excise the tumour. We report a patient with stage IV invasive papillary thyroid carcinomas as per Shin Staging system. The surgery was deferred from several hospitals considering the advanced stage of the disease with tracheal extension making it a problematic airway for both the anaesthesiologist and the operating surgeon. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy, modified radical neck dissection, tracheal resection, and primary anastomosis. Successful intubation was done with video laryngoscopy. Intermittent apnoea technique was used for ventilation during the repair of posterior tracheal wall. The patient was extubated on the table and shifted to the recovery room. The histopathologic diagnosis was reported as papillary thyroid carcinoma classic variant with tracheal invasion.
Objective: The importance and potential of the use of stem cells as therapeutic tools is enormous and therefore, health professionals should be expected to have thorough knowledge and a positive attitude towards their utilization in medical practice. Hence this study was carried out to report and assess the knowledge and attitude regarding stem cell in our region. Methodology: The study was conducted amongst the residents employed at the Aga Khan University hospital, Karachi Pakistan from September-October 2022 with a sample size of 57. Results: Amongst our survey participants, 33 (54.2%) responded with a score of 48 and above (i.e., 60% or above); 25 (40.9%) of the study participants scored between 50-60% only 3 (4.9%) had a score 40-50% Conclusion: Our survey shows a reasonable level of knowledge of the generic principles and implications Stem cell therapy amongst the residents Keywords: Stem cell, Head and Neck, Risk, Cell, Tissue, Therapy
Background Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is one of the most common types of cutaneous malignancies and the most frequently occurring form of cancer worldwide. The incidence of basal cell carcinoma is difficult to determine due to its wide geographic variations; however, it has been increasing worldwide with an annual increase of 7% in the number of reported cases. Although BCC is more prevalent in the aging population, diagnosis in younger individuals is steadily increasing. BCC has overall low mortality, however, it leads to significant economic and physical impact on patients and their families along with adding burden to the healthcare system. The primary risk factor for the development of BCC is increased cumulative sun exposure, particularly to UV radiation. The UV index of Karachi averages around 12 (extremely high) during summer months, putting the population at a significantly higher risk of developing BCC in the long term.Objectives This audit was undertaken with the following primary objectives: to use the data collected to determine possible prognostic factors for BCC, to measure the rate of recurrence and the number of new primary tumors detected, to study the completeness of follow-up by patients, and to co-relate histopathological findings with the recurrence rate of basal cell carcinoma.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for all patients with BCC who had undergone surgical resection over a six-year time period. Patient charts were reviewed for demographic information, tumor size, onset-to -diagnosis, anatomic location, clinical subtype, histologic differentiation, method of surgical treatment, and recurrence. Data were entered and analyzed in SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).Results The review identified cases of BCC in 99 patients. Of the 99 patients, 60.39% were men and 38.38% were women. The most frequent age group was 65-85-year-olds (42 patients, 42.85%) for BCC. Based on the aesthetic units of the face, the most common location was the nasal unit (30 cases, 30.30%) for BCC. Most of the lesions were closed primarily; however; local flaps were used in the case of surgical defects. The recurrence rate was 19.19% for BCC in this study. Our study included 1.0% of patients who were classified as Clark classification level 2 of BCC, 6.1% as Clark level 3, 23.4% as Clark level 4, and 0.16% as Clark level 5. Recurrence rates were seen to increase with increasing Clark classification level in this study.Conclusion In our study, many characteristics of BCC were compared to previously published reports and the results were seen to be generally similar. This study correlates the recurrence of BCC with Clark's classification, showing that depth of invasion is a significant factor in predicting recurrence. There is a paucity of literature regarding the depth of invasion of BCC along with its' Clarks classification and recurrence. Further studies can help explore and establish the characteristics of BCC.
Introduction Thyroid nodules are common globally in almost one fifth of the adult population. The gold standard treatment for thyroid nodule is thyroid lobectomy or total thyroidectomy depending upon the diagnosis. Thyroidectomy has a few known complications but, as per the ATA consensus statement, it is a safe surgery to be done as a day care procedure. Objective To access the feasibility and safety of thyroid lobectomy as a day care surgery and its effect on decreasing overall financial burdens. Methods This retrospective chart review was done from 2006 to 2022. A total of 736 patients underwent thyroid lobectomy among which only 56 were done as day care surgery. Data analysis was done using the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results A total of 40% of the population was male. The mean age of the study population was 42 years. Bethesda II was the most encountered diagnosis, with a rate of 69%. The majority of patients were discharged after 6 hours of postoperative observation. The only complication encountered was seroma, which was seen in two patients. Conclusion Thyroid lobectomy appears to be a safe procedure with a drastic difference in overall cost as a day care procedure. We recommend switching the practice of inpatient thyroid lobectomy to a day care procedure in carefully selected candidates. The major hurdle in day care lobectomy can be approval from insurance.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis can occur on any exposed area of the body; however, the pinna is an exceptionally rare site for the disease. Caused by the parasiteLeishmania, cutaneous leishmaniasis has a wide range of presentations and thus is very easy to misdiagnose or mistake for a neoplastic lesion. Here, we report the case of a middle-aged male patient presenting with a painful, ulcerated lesion on the left auricle initially suspected to be a malignancy with histopathology eventually revealing a diagnosis of auricular leishmaniasis. The patient received appropriate therapy and was found to be disease free at follow-up. These isolated lesions of the pinna often resemble neoplastic lesions and thus may escape diagnosis for months at a time, increasing patient stress as well as expenditure. In addition, prompt recognition may also help mitigate recurrence of the disease, making it worthwhile to include cutaneous leishmaniasis as part of the differential, especially in endemic areas.
OBJECTIVE:To determine all types and severity of Otolaryngology consultation requests at our tertiary care center and spectral records of problems related to otorhinolaryngology come across initially by residents which will help in re-shaping residency programmes and enhance patient related care.METHODOLOGY:All otorhinolaryngology consultation received over a three-month period were recorded prospectively. Information collected for each encounter included the time, date, reason for consult at primary service and admission with final ENT diagnosis, any surgical or non-surgical intervention, and basic patient demographics.RESULTS:A total of 127 consults for inpatients were reviewed from April 2020 to June 2020. Out of total, 84 (66.1%) patients were male and 43 (33.8%) were females. Adult patient consultations amounted to 87(68.5%) while 18(14.1%) were in the age range of 6-18 years. Only 4(3.1%) consultations were raised for neonatal patients. Routine consultation were had for 64(50.3%) while 45(35.4%) patients were reviewed as an emergency. Operative interventions were required by 43(33.8%) among which tracheostomy was the most common operative procedure performed in 26(20.7%) patients. If we broadly classified ENT consultations, 40 (31.4%) were of problems related to head and neck region while 38 (29.9%) were related to the laryngology sub-specialty. Most common consultation was for airway assessment in 26(20.7%) patients followed by otorrhoea, in 15 (11.8%) patients.CONCLUSIONS:In inpatients, upper airway assessment, aural discharge and epistaxis were the most frequent complaints for seeking ENT review. This study should prove to be beneficial in forming a curriculum of educational programme for junior residents.
Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common type of all thyroid carcinomas and accounts for up to 90% of all thyroid malignancies. It is the most indolent form of the disease and has an excellent prognosis. On the other hand, Primary thyroid lymphoma (PTL) is a rare entity accounting for only about 1% to 5% of all thyroid malignancies and only 2% of extranodal lymphomas. Synchronous PTC and PTL is a very rare condition and only a few cases have been reported in the literature up till now. We report one such case in a 52-year-old lady who was referred to us with goiter and progressively increasing difficulty in breathing.