Malignant renal tumours in adults in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Malignant renal tumour is the third commonest urological tumour after prostate and bladder cancer. It is however the urological tumour with the highest mortality/incidence ratio. OBJECTIVE: To review the frequency, mode of presentation and histological pattern of patients with malignant renal tumours in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital. METHOD: A 7 year retrospective review of all our renal tumour folders in theinstitution. RESULTS: 19 patients qualified for the study with a male/female ratio of 1:2.8 and a mean age of 52.6 +/- 15.8 years. The peak age was in the seventh decade. Most patient present late (78.9%). Renal cell cancer was the commonest tumour type with the commonest mode of presentation being abdominal mass and pain. CONCLUSION: Malignant renal tumours present very ate in our environment and patients hesitate in accepting available treatment option which is surgery. There is need for increased patient awareness and high index of suspicion by the clinician, particularly during imaging procedures, as this would significantly enhance the early detection of these patients.

Malignant renal tumours in adults in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Malignant renal tumour is the third commonest urological tumour after prostate and bladder cancer. It is however the urological tumour with the highest mortality/incidence ratio. OBJECTIVE: To review the frequency, mode of presentation and histological pattern of patients with malignant renal tumours in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital. METHOD: A 7 year retrospective review of all our renal tumour folders in the institution. RESULTS: 19 patients qualified for the study with a male/female ratio of 1:2.8 and a mean age of 52.6 +/- 15.8 years. The peak age was in the seventh decade. Most patient present late (78.9%).Renal cell cancer was the commonest tumour type with the commonest mode of presentation being abdominal mass and pain. CONCLUSION: Malignant renal tumours present very late in our environment and patients hesitate in accepting available treatment option which is surgery. There is need for increased patient awareness and high index of suspicion by the clinician, particularly during imaging procedures, as this would significantly enhance the early detection of these patients.

Default from neoadjuvant chemotherapy in premenopausal female breast cancer patients: what is to blame?

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer among women in most parts of the world including Nigeria. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been demonstrated to be a helpful strategy in the context of locally advanced breast cancer. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to investigate some factors that may contribute to low rate of acceptance and adherence to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 1-year prospective study of premenopausal women with locally advanced breast cancer recommended for neoadjuvant chemotherapy from June 2009 to May 2010. RESULTS: Forty-four patients gave consent to be part of the study. The ages ranged from 26 to 51 years with a mean age of 42.1 years ± 7.7 years. Only 31 patients completed the four courses of NAC. Seventeen (38.6%) patients dropped out of treatment, before, during or after completing NAC. Ten of these defaulted due to inadequate funds to procure chemotherapy, three patients because they insisted on immediate mastectomy, and four of these patients refused surgery when they achieved complete clinical response, probably due to fear of mastectomy which is common among women in our environment. Twenty patients had dose deferment. CONCLUSION: Lack of funds to procure chemotherapy and refusal of additional modality of treatment are the two major factors responsible for default of NAC and its goal in patients with LABC.

Success of nephron-sparing surgery in the treatment of localized renal cell carcinoma.

Advancement in imaging techniques has now made it possible for small renal tumors to be detected incidentally. This has led to the use of minimally invasive techniques for treatment of these cases. A 33-year-old woman was diagnosed to have a small renal mass after routine abdominal ultrasonography for epigastric discomfort. Computed tomography scan was used to characterize the mass, and an elective partial nephrectomy was successfully carried out. The procedure is safe, less morbid, and has good oncological outcome.

Tube thoracostomy in the management of pleural fluid collections.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the demographic pattern, indications and complications associated with tube thoracostomy in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) Nnewi. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 5-year review of case records of patients who underwent tube thoracostomy at NAUTH Nnewi between January 1999 and December 2003. Demographic data, clinical features, duration of drainage, complications and outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 65 cases were studied, male: female ratio was 2.4:1. Eighteen patients (27.7%) were below 10 years of age. Infective cases accounted for 63.1% (41) of the cases that had tube thoracostomy. Forty-one patients (63.1%) had tube drainage for 10 days or less. Complication rate was 41.5% (27), mostly mild, with dislodgement of the tube accounting for about half. Failure rate of 13.7% (9) was recorded for the procedure. A mortality of 6.2% (4) was recorded but there was no procedure related death. Seven patients (10.8%) required further surgery. CONCLUSION: Tube thoracostomy is a simple and efficacious procedure for the treatment of pleural space collections. The safety of the procedure can be improved upon by adequate training in the insertion procedure, while proper selection of cases will reduce failure rate and unnecessary morbidity. Early resort to thoracoscopic or open surgery when tube thoracostomy is considered inappropriate or has failed will improve the success rate in the overall management of pleural fluid collections.

Duodeno-pleural fistula: a rare complication of peptic ulcer perforation.

Duodenopleural fistula is a very uncommon complication of peptic ulcer perforation and usually follows empyema after a subdiaphragmatic abscess rupture. We present a rare case of duodenopleural fistula following subdiaphragmatic abscess, which resulted in thoracic empyema after gastric perforation.

Comparability, diagnostic validity and completeness of Nigerian cancer registries.

BACKGROUND: Like many countries in Africa, Nigeria is improving the quality and coverage of its cancer surveillance. This work is essential to address this growing category of chronic diseases, but is made difficult by economic, geographic and other challenges. PURPOSE: To evaluate the completeness, comparability and diagnostic validity of Nigeria's cancer registries. METHODS: Completeness was measured using children's age-specific incidence (ASI) and an established metric based on a modified Poisson distribution with regional comparisons. We used a registry questionnaire as well as percentages of death-certificate-only cases, morphologically verified cases, and case registration errors to examine comparability and diagnostic validity. RESULTS: Among the children's results, we found that over half of all cancers were non-Hodgkin lymphoma. There was also evidence of incompleteness. Considering the regional completeness comparisons, we found potential evidence of cancer-specific general incompleteness as well as what appears to be incompleteness due to inability to diagnose specific cancers. We found that registration was generally comparable, with some exceptions. Since autopsies are not common across Nigeria, coding for both them and death-certificate-only cases was also rare. With one exception, registries in our study had high rates of morphological verification of female breast, cervical and prostate cancers. CONCLUSIONS: Nigeria's registration procedures were generally comparable to each other and to international standards, and we found high rates of morphological verification, suggesting high diagnostic validity. There was, however, evidence of incompleteness.

Primary jejuno-ileal neoplasms in eastern Nigeria.

Small intestinal neoplasms are uncommon with reported incidences of less than 1% of GI neoplasms. A retrospective review of cases of small intestinal neoplasms seen by the authors in a ten-year period is presented. Ten cases were seen during the period (8 females and 2 males). Seven patients were aged less than 20 years while the rest were aged above 2 years. Six patients presented with intestinal obstruction, 3 with features of chronic ill-health while 1 was an incidental finding. The ileum was involved in 5 patients, the jejunum in 4 while 1 showed multiple gut involvement. One patient had a benign lesion (Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome). The rest consisted of lymphosarcoma [5],adenocarcinoma [3] while 1 patient had leiomyo-sarcoma. Treatment offered included resection of small gut in 7 patients and ileo-colectomy in 3 patients. Three patients with lymphosarcoma had a full course of cytotoxic chemotherapy. The outcome was poor; 2 patients were alive after 3 years, 3 died within 6 months of surgery while the rest were lost to follow-up at variable periods after surgery. Neoplasms of the small gut presents late in our environment. Lymphosarcoma seems commoner in childhood and carries a better prognosis.