Outcomes of transarterial chemoembolization in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: A tertiary center experience.

Objective: To assess the overall survival in patients with intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma following transarterial chemoembolization. Methods: It is a retrospective descriptive study carried out in the Department of Radiology of Liaquat National Hospital Karachi, Pakistan. Seventy-two patients were enrolled from July 2014 to December 2021 and had chemoembolization therapy. Patients were followed till their demise. Mean and Median survivals were calculated. Results: A total of 72 patients had a median survival of 15 months with 95% confidence interval (11 months was lower bound and 18 months was upper bound), 19 months was the mean survival time with 95% confidence interval (14.7 months was lower limit and 22.6 months the upper limit). The factors which had a significant impact on the median survival time were Child-Pugh classification, average size of tumor and embolization pattern. Conclusion: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) increases the median survival time effectively and safely in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. However complete resolution of disease is not possible with TACE, with most patient eventually succumbing to the disease. The overall survival for TACE in this study correlates well with other studies. Child Pugh Class, tumor size and embolization pattern have significant effect on survival of patients.

Single-Center Experiences of Preoperative Juvenile Nasal Angiofibroma Embolization With Gelfoam, Reducing Financial Burden on Patients in Developing Country.

Introduction Juvenile nasal angiofibroma (JNA) is a highly vascular tumor of the nasopharynx. Endovascular embolization followed by surgery is the treatment of choice. This study aimed to determine that single catheter technique with Gelfoam is an effective and safe technique for embolization to reduce the financial burden on patients in a developing country. Materials and methods We retrospectively reviewed the imaging, surgical, and histopathological records of 108 patients who underwent preoperative endovascular tumor embolization followed by surgical resection between March 2017 and March 2021. Results After embolization no major complication was observed in any patient. Complete devascularization of tumor was done in 87.8%. Intraoperative blood loss resulting in transfusion was almost the same as with other embolization techniques. Conclusion Single catheter with Gelfoam is a cost-effective and safe technique for JNA embolization.

Personal and social factors regarding medical non-compliance in cardiac failure patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency and association of various personal and social factors with medical non-compliance in cardiac failure patients. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi from January to August 2010. METHODOLOGY: Patients admitted in the medical wards of NICVD, who were being treated for cardiac failure, were included. Information regarding basic demographics, education level, self engagement in therapy and status of compliance was obtained by questionnaire. Statistical analysis was carried out by using Fisher's exact test and chi-square. Level of significance was < 0.05. Data was analyzed using SPSS V-15. RESULTS: Out of 267 patients, 73 (27.3%) were compliant while 194 (72.7%) were non-compliant. Educated, self caring patient, and those who knew names of their medications were more compliant than the rest. CONCLUSION: Medical non-compliance is very common in heart failure patients. Illiteracy and no self engagement in therapy are associated with non-compliance.