RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer related mortality globally. Though Asia has traditionally been considered a relatively low incidence area for colorectal cancer, the incidence is reportedly increasing. The Asia Pacific Working Group for Colorectal Cancer has recommended screening of individuals at average risk starting from 50 years of age. Based on these recommendations we conducted a pilot study to assess the need and feasibility of a colorectal cancer screening program in the state of Qatar. METHODS AND RESULTS: We screened 1385 individuals by fecal immunochemical testing for occult blood, at the primary health center level and positive cases were referred for colonoscopy. Among those who tested positive for fecal occult blood, we picked up five patients with cancers and seven with neoplastic polyps. CONCLUSION: Our results compare with the yield of screening programs in western countries thus suggesting an emerging role for colorectal cancer screening in Asian countries.
Assuntos
Povo Asiático , Neoplasias Colorretais/diagnóstico , Necessidades e Demandas de Serviços de Saúde , Programas de Rastreamento , Adulto , Idoso , Colonoscopia , Neoplasias Colorretais/etnologia , Estudos de Viabilidade , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Projetos Piloto , CatarAssuntos
Colo , Doenças do Colo/diagnóstico , Histiocitose de Células de Langerhans/diagnóstico , Adulto , Biomarcadores/análise , Biópsia , Colo/química , Colo/efeitos dos fármacos , Colo/patologia , Doenças do Colo/tratamento farmacológico , Doenças do Colo/metabolismo , Colonoscopia , Quimioterapia Combinada , Feminino , Fármacos Gastrointestinais/administração & dosagem , Histiocitose de Células de Langerhans/tratamento farmacológico , Histiocitose de Células de Langerhans/metabolismo , Humanos , Imuno-Histoquímica , Mercaptopurina/administração & dosagem , Valor Preditivo dos Testes , Prednisolona/administração & dosagem , Fatores de Tempo , Resultado do Tratamento , Vimblastina/administração & dosagemRESUMO
Myositis during interferon therapy is a known but rare adverse event. However the clinician may overlook the symptom-complex of proximal muscle weakness and myalgia, seen in myositis, since myalgia is a commonly reported side effect of therapy. In this context then, is there a role for monitoring muscle enzymes to detect subclinical myositis in patients on interferon therapy? We prospectively monitored the creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) levels in all our patients who reported myalgia during treatment and noted that muscle enzymes remained within normal range throughout the duration of treatment. This excluded the possibility of subclinical myositis in myalgic patients and thus led us to conclude that routine monitoring of muscles enzymes is neither necessary nor beneficial.
Assuntos
Antivirais/efeitos adversos , Creatina Quinase/sangue , Monitoramento de Medicamentos , Hepatite C Crônica/tratamento farmacológico , Interferon-alfa/efeitos adversos , L-Lactato Desidrogenase/sangue , Miosite/prevenção & controle , Polietilenoglicóis/efeitos adversos , Adulto , Biomarcadores/sangue , Feminino , Humanos , Interferon alfa-2 , Masculino , Miosite/induzido quimicamente , Estudos Prospectivos , Proteínas RecombinantesRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical characteristics of Crohn's disease (CD) in Qatar. METHODS: This is a retrospective descriptive study. We studied 50 CD patients admitted to Hamad General Hospital over a period of 8 years from January 1995 to December 2002. We retrospectively collected and analyzed the demographic and clinical data. We made the diagnostic classification of definite CD in accordance with the criteria based on the International Classification of Disease ninth revision [ICD-9]. We based the obtained information on the following parameters: the age at the time of admission, gender and Crohn's risk factor profiles. RESULTS: Of the studied population, 60% were males and 40% females. Sixty-two percent were Qataris and 38% expatriates. Most of the subjects were <40 years of age (80%). Fifty-two percent had ileo-colonic disease, 24% colonic and 24% ileal disease. The majority of the Crohn's patients had the symptom of abdominal pain (84%), followed by weight loss (80%) and diarrhea (70%). Pallor sign was most frequent in patients with inflammatory CD (76.9%) and obstructive CD (66.7%), whereas we found the anal signs in patients with fistulas (84.2%). CONCLUSION: The study showed a relatively high frequency of ileo-colonic Crohn's disease compared to colonic and ileal diseases. We observed that the most frequent symptom is abdominal pain.
Assuntos
Doença de Crohn/diagnóstico , Doença de Crohn/epidemiologia , Obstrução Intestinal/diagnóstico , Adolescente , Adulto , Distribuição por Idade , Biópsia por Agulha , Colo/fisiopatologia , Países em Desenvolvimento , Feminino , Hospitais Gerais , Humanos , Íleo/fisiopatologia , Imuno-Histoquímica , Incidência , Doenças Inflamatórias Intestinais/diagnóstico , Doenças Inflamatórias Intestinais/epidemiologia , Obstrução Intestinal/epidemiologia , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Prognóstico , Catar/epidemiologia , Estudos Retrospectivos , Índice de Gravidade de Doença , Distribuição por SexoRESUMO
Liver biopsy even today remains the standard of care for grading and staging chronic hepatitis despite advances in noninvasive markers of liver fibrosis. Literature suggests an expanding role for real-time image guided liver biopsy and declining trend for blind liver biopsies. In our center, where we perform around 400 liver biopsies per year, we performed a prospective clinical audit of our practice of blind outpatient percutaneous liver biopsies. Patients requiring histological grading and staging of chronic hepatitis routinely undergo blind outpatient percutaneous liver biopsies in our endoscopy unit unless there is a definite indication for real-time image guidance. All procedures were assessed for safety, and all specimens were evaluated by a specimen quality grading score for adequacy for grading and staging of chronic hepatitis. Of the 446 patients referred for histological grading and staging of chronic hepatitis C by liver biopsy, only 42 patients (9.5 %) required real-time ultrasound for liver biopsy. The remaining 404 patients underwent blind outpatient percutaneous liver biopsies which were found to be extremely safe with no major complications, yielding adequate liver tissue with high specimen quality score allowing optimal grading and staging of chronic hepatitis.