Comparison of flexible endoscopy and magnetic resonance imaging in determining the tumor height in rectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Several modalities are available for the diagnosis of rectal cancer, including conventional gold standard rigid endoscopy and recent flexible endoscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Each modality affects the management of these patients. AIM: To compare the accuracy of flexible endoscopy and MRI in the measurement of tumor height in patients with rectal cancer. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study included 174 patients with rectal cancer who underwent flexible endoscopy and MRI for the measurement of tumor height. Data on patient demographics, comorbidities, treatment, and histopathology were identified and collected. We evaluate intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plot to test the agreement between the measurements. ICC were excellent with an ICC of 89% (95%CI 48%-99%). The mean ± standard deviation of the distance from the anal verge to the distal part of the tumor was 7.73 ± .47 for flexible endoscopy and 6.21 ± 0.39 for MRI, with mean difference of 1.52 (p Ë‚ .001). The accordance between the two modalities was not affected by sex, age, body mass index, histopathology, or metastasis. CONCLUSION: Excellent agreement between flexible endoscopy and MRI was noted, and no factor was found to affect such concordance.

Quality of Life After Umbilical Hernia Repair.

BACKGROUND: Mesh is beneficial in the repair of umbilical hernias. But it may cause chronic pain due to inflammatory reactions, which may impair the patient's quality of life. OBJECTIVES: To assess and compare the quality of life of patients following umbilical hernia repair with and without mesh. METHODS:  During the study period, 45 patients underwent umbilical hernia repair. The study was conducted at King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital (KAUH), KSA. Data were collected using medical records, and each patient was contacted by telephone, to fill the "Carolina Comfort Scale (CCS)" survey. The survey assesses the grade of pain, sensation of mesh, and movement limitation in different situations. RESULTS: A non-significant difference was found between mean quality of life (QOL) scores of mesh and non-mesh groups. The relationship between CCS and gender was not significant in both groups. However, males had significantly higher CCS scores in mesh-treated cases. There was no statistically significant relationship between CCS and comorbidity, nationality, or symptoms. The overall CCS score did not differ statistically between mesh-treated and non-mesh-treated cases.  Conclusion: The CCS score did not differ between mesh-treated and non-mesh-treated cases. It is suggested that future multicentric studies with a larger sample size be conducted.

Positron Emission Tomography With Fluorodeoxyglucose Incidental Detection of Colon Cancer in a Patient's Follow-Up for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Report.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a type of widespread, deadly malignancy that took thousands of lives around the globe. In the last two decades, CRC represented the most common cancer among men and ranked third among women in Saudi Arabia. Positron emission tomography with fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET), can incidentally detect malignancy, as in our case, FDG-PET disclosed high abnormal FDG far away from the first primary malignancy. The current case is of a 65-year-old female who was following up on her nasopharyngeal carcinoma (first primary). During her last management, FDG-PET was requested to find any FDG uptake in the nasopharyngeal region; stunning FDG uptake was incidentally found at the ascending colon diagnosed as early-stage (pT2N0) colon cancer. Colonoscopy was done and India Ink was injected to facilitate localizing the mass during the laparoscopic removal of the tumor, which was delayed due to the pandemic of COVID-19. This took place in March 2020 at King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital in Jeddah.