Ten years of clinical trial registration in a resource-limited setting: Experience of the Sri Lanka clinical trials registry.

AIM: We describe our experience of the first 10 years at the Sri Lanka Clinical Trials Registry (SLCTR). METHODS: We analyzed all trial records of the SLCTR over the study period. We collected information regarding trial characteristics and completeness of data entry in the SLCTR data set. RESULTS: During the study period, 210 trials (63% of all applications) were registered with the SLCTR. The number of registered trials showed an increasing trend over the years. All trial registrations had complete entries for all the data fields studied. Only 17.6% of the trials were registered retrospectively. All the registered trials were interventional studies, and the majority (87.6%) were randomized controlled trials. A significant proportion of trials (28.6%) were on noncommunicable diseases, and 12.4% were on pregnancy and its outcomes. Several trials (9.5%) were international collaborative studies. A majority of the Principal Investigators (70.9%) were affiliated to a university. Most of the studies (41.9%) were self-funded by the investigators. Details of ethics review committee approval were available for 96.7% of registered trials. Over a third of the registered trials (37.1%) had completed recruitment at the time of analysis. A majority of the trials (72.8%) had updated trial data since registration. CONCLUSIONS: There is a steady increase in the number of trials registered at the SLCTR. Complete entries for all the data fields were seen in all trial registrations. The SLCTR has made a positive contribution to the emergence of a healthy clinical research environment in Sri Lanka.

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome presenting with acanthocytosis and splenic and retroperitoneal lymphangioma: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome is a rare congenital mesodermal abnormality characterized by bone and soft tissue hypertrophy, extensive hemangioma and venous abnormalities. We report the case of a patient with two additional rare clinical manifestations in the background of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, namely, acanthocytosis and splenic and retroperitoneal lymphangioma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 24-year-old Sri Lankan man from North Central Province in Sri Lanka presented to our general medical unit with symptomatic anaemia. He had been diagnosed with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome at the age of six years, with hemihypertrophy of his right lower limb and strawberry naevi over both lower limbs. His blood film results were positive for acanthocytes, which accounted for more than 20% of the red blood cell population. He was also found to have extensive splenic lymphangiomas and a large retroperitoneal lymphangioma encasing the mesentric vessels in the right para-aortic region. An extensive battery of tests to identify a secondary cause for the acanthocytosis failed to show any positive results. CONCLUSIONS: Retroperitoneal lymphangioma has been reported in association with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome once before, but an association with acanthocytosis has never been reported. Given the rarity of all three conditions this is not surprising. The cause of acanthocytosis in this setting is currently unresolved. It is plausible that this may be a primary association with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, as an alternative aetiology was not found.