The Variation in Outcomes of Septic Patients: A Dual-Centre Comparative Study.

Introduction Despite significant advances in the field of medicine, sepsis is constantly growing as a major public health concern. The global epidemic of sepsis imposes a significant economic burden on healthcare systems world-over. Furthermore, its high prevalence in society is inevitably paralleled by an excessive mortality rate, with approximately six million deaths reported every year. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and compare, the management of acutely septic patients against outcomes in a tertiary teaching institution in Pakistan versus a similar one in the United Kingdom. Methods This study was a dual-centred, retrospective comparative analysis comparing all patients admitted through the emergency department at the respective tertiary centres. Patient details were collected and compared across the two sites to evaluate the effect of individual characteristics on prognosis. The outcomes of these presentations were analysed by comparing rates of in-hospital mortality, admission to the ICU or discharge. Results The total number of patients identified as having sepsis was 60 in the Pakistan cohort, and 92 in the Aberdeen cohort. No significant difference was found when comparing genders, and the results of basic observations were largely similar at presentation. Twenty-five per cent (25%) (n=38) of the total study population were deemed to have a poor outcome at 3 days, but 50% of the Pakistan cohort was deemed to have a poor outcome. Conclusion Managing sepsis has developed significantly in recent years, but most of this development was implemented in high-income countries. There was a significant delay in time to resuscitate septic patients in Pakistan, with significantly raised three-day morbidity and mortality. There is a need for further comparative studies of the management of sepsis in Pakistan and other low-income countries to identify the problems and tackle obstacles on every level of the healthcare system.

Stumped by rapid symptomatic prostatic regrowth: A case report on a STUMP tumour of the prostate resected with HoLEP.

INTRODUCTION: Stromal Tumour of Undetermined malignant potential (STUMP) is a rare category of the prostate benign tumours, which has a variable clinical presentation, behavior and different approaches to manage it. CASE PRESENTATION: A 57 year-old male presented with voiding symptoms of the urinary tract and an increased PSA (14.7 ng/ml). Ultrasound and multiparametric MRI showed an enlarged prostate of 41 ml. Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) was performed with 11 g benign tissue removed. The patient presented one year later with the same symptoms; further ultrasound and parametric MRI demonstrated huge recurrence in the transition zone with a new prostate size of 131 ml. DISCUSSION: Despite no malignancy being identified in the initial TURP histology, the transition zone prostatic tumour behaved aggressively and recurred in just one year. For the first time in literature, the tumour recurred rapidly to three times the initial size and was removed using Holmium Laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP), after which no recurrence was seen in 11 months period. CONCLUSION: HoLEP can be used to successfully enucleate STUMP tumours but the clinical behavior of the STUMP in prostate is still not understood well because of its rareness.