Invasive breast carcinoma of no special type with medullary pattern: A case report at a tertiary facility in Tanzania.

Key Clinical Message: Describes a rare form of invasive breast cancer of no special type.Not a distinct morphological subtype.Characterized by dense lymphoid infiltrate, syncytial growth, pushing borders, and cells with high-grade nuclei.Clinically aggressive but carries a better prognosis than other more frequent invasive breast carcinomas. Abstract: Invasive breast carcinoma of no special type with medullary pattern (BCNST-MP) is a rare form of breast tumor, accounting for less than 5% of all invasive breast carcinomas. Its diagnosis is based on histologic criteria. Historically, this tumor was known as medullary carcinoma. Poor morphological reproducibility led to re-classification. Despite having an aggressive biological behavior, these tumors usually carry a better prognosis compared with other more frequent forms of invasive breast carcinomas. Herein, we present a case of BCNST-MP in a 58-year-old African female, successfully treated in our institution through chemo-radiation, hormonal therapy and surgery.

A rare case report of perforated viscerothorax in a traumatic diaphragmatic rupture.

INTRODUCTION: Diaphragmatic injuries are a consequence of penetrating or blunt thoracoabdominal trauma. Minor injuries are often masked. However, they are easily picked in the presence of diaphragmatic herniations. Delayed presentation is associated with the influx of visceral contents into the thoracic cavity, which may cause strangulation and obstruction. Viscerothorax is a rare complication of diaphragmatic injuries. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A case report of a 25-year-old male patient with a history of penetrating chest injury. He presented to our setting with a sharp abdominal pain and episodes of vomiting that were later accompanied by chest pains and difficulty breathing. A CT scan revealed the presence of a left hemidiaphragmatic injury with a viscerothorax and mediastinal shift to the right side. Surgery was immediately done and with a good postoperative outcome. DISCUSSION: Diaphragmatic injuries are still uncommon and are often overlooked in initial presentations. The presence of herniation through the defect prompts early diagnosis. Delayed presentations of these injuries are often affiliated with herniations that may be strangulating or obstructing with more severe complications such as viscerothorax causing tension into the thoracic cavity. CONCLUSION: The approach to diaphragmatic injuries at their initial presentation must be handled with an excellent index of suspicion in the evaluation of trauma victims to reduce management delay and avoid detrimental complications in contrast to the involvement of other associated injuries such as haemothorax, rib fractures, and visceral injuries. Early defect diagnosis followed by definitive surgical repair is the most favoured approach.

Jejunoileal Atresia in a Newborn: Our Experience From Northern Tanzania and Literature Review.

Jenunoileal atresia is a congenital defect that causes small bowel obstruction in newborns. They are classified into 5 types and simple abdominal x-ray can aid in the diagnosis and with prompt resuscitation and surgery provides positive outcome. We present a 5-day-old newborn male baby was presented with features of intestinal obstruction since birth. Diagnosis of atresia of the small bowel was made through plain abdominal x-ray and was successfully operated. During the recovery, the baby developed surgical site infection which was managed promptly.

Clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer patients from Northern Tanzania: common aspects of late stage presentation and triple negative breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer (BC) is the second most common cancer among Tanzanian women. Oestrogen (ER), progesterone and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 play major roles in prognosis and treatment but data for Tanzania are sparse. This study aimed to determine these patterns and histological types, tumour grading and staging of BC patients in northern Tanzania for a better understanding of BC in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) setting. METHODS: A cross-sectional study recorded newly diagnosed BC cases at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre between October 2018 and March 2019. Receptor status, histological types and grade, clinical stage and socio-demographic were recorded and descriptive and bivariate analyses performed. RESULTS: 116 patients were enrolled. Median age was 53 years, 71.6% were ≥45 years. The commonest molecular subtype was triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) (n = 33; 28.4%). One hundred and two (87.9%) patients had invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), poorly differentiated tumours (60; 51.7%) and clinical stage III disease (62; 53.0%). ER negative tumours were associated with poorly differentiated histological grade (relative risk (RR): 1.34 (0.87-2.07)), tumour size > 5 cm (RR: 1.67 (0.33-8.35)) and IDC (RR: 3.35 (0.56-20.23)). Clinical stages III & IV (odds ratio (OR): 1.64 (0.63-4.24)) were associated with hormone receptor (HR) negative tumours and metastasis (OR: 1.60 (0.68-3.74)) with TNBC. 18% of the patients reported about first-degree relatives with BC. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients presented in advanced stages and TNBC in their menopause. HR negative tumours were associated with poor histological differentiation and IDC. The high percentage of positive family history of BC and the differences in receptor patterns compared to other parts of the world should urge further genetic research on BC in SSA.