scholarly journals Chronic vulval problems: A gynaecologist’s perspective

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akanksha Sharma ◽  
Saritha Shamsunder ◽  
Geetika Khanna ◽  
Neeti Khunger ◽  
Vijay Zutshi

Introduction: Chronic vulval symptoms are common complaints in women seeking health care and can significantly interfere with a woman’s sexual function and sense of well being. Many practitioners feel diagnostically challenged, particularly by chronic or recurrent forms of vulval disease. The aim of this study was to assess the role of various diagnostic modalities in evaluation of chronic vulval symptoms. Methods: Between August 2012 and February 2014, 100 women presenting with chronic vulval symptoms (i.e. ≥ 3 months duration) were evaluated. All of them had a thorough clinical history taken including use of vulval washes and creams, a general and gynaecological examination. Patients having chronic vaginal discharge in addition had urethral, vaginal and cervical smear and culture. All women had a careful examination of the vulva with and without magnification. Vulval scrape cytology was taken after moistening the vulva with normal saline and stained by Pap stain. Colposcopy of the vulva was then carried out after applying 5% acetic acid and 1% toluidine blue dye. Vulval biopsy was taken from suspicious areas on colposcopy and further management was based on histopathology report. Results: The mean age of women in our study was 43.57 years (range 22-80 years.), 70% women were pre-menopausal and 30% were post-menopausal. The mean duration of symptoms was 1.625 years (range 6 months - 15 years) and atypical vulval hygiene practices (excessive washing with soaps) was used in 77% of women. The commonest presenting complaint was pruritus in 92% of women; visible lesions on vulva were seen in 20%, pain in 6% and burning sensation in vulva in 5% of women. The histopathology was abnormal in 77 patients; the most common histopathological finding was non-neoplastic epithelial disorders in 64 women {Squamous cell hyperplasia (n=52), Lichen Sclerosus et atrophicus (n=6), other dermatoses including lichen Planus (n=6)}. Vulvar Intra-epithelial Neoplasia (VIN) was seen in 6 patients, 5 were squamous type VIN and 1 was non-squamous type (Paget’s disease). Squamous cell carcinoma was seen in 3 patients; malignant melanoma, benign appendiceal tumor, angiofibroma and neurofibroma in 1 patient. Examination without magnification had sensitivity of 25.97% and with magnification was 29.87% and specificity was 100% for both of them. Cytology had sensitivity and specificity of 75.32% and 86.95% respectively and sensitivity and specificity of colposcopy was 77.92% and 17.39% respectively. Conclusion: Clinical examination with and without magnification had low sensitivity but were highly specific in diagnosing vulvar lesions. A normal vulval smear and colposcopy have a high negative predictive value and are very reassuring. Colposcopy and biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis, however clinical examination with naked eyes and magnifying glass are invaluable and can diagnose most of the neoplastic lesions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Murat Koken ◽  
Berk Guclu

Background Health-related quality of life (QOL) is defined as a patient's subjective perception of his or her own health. Insufficient data exist on QOL of patients who undergo a hallux valgus (HV) operation. We used a 36-item short form survey (SF-36) to measure QOL of such patients. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of HV on QOL and to identify QOL determinants. Methods Fifty patients who underwent surgery for HV between 2015 and 2017 were included in the study. The SF-36 questionnaire was applied to the patients before and after surgery. Patients' medical records were examined to identify possible factors affecting QOL such as age, gender, body mass index, duration of symptoms, or smoking. Results The mean age of the patients was 55.6 ± 3.8 years, and 42 of the 50 patients were women. The mean duration of disease was 12 ± 3.7 years. The surgery improved QOL scores for general health, emotional well-being, role limitations due to personal or emotional problems, physical functioning and bodily pain. However, the changes in scores for vitality and social functioning were not statistically significant. Lower postoperative QOL scores for emotional well-being and bodily pain were significantly associated with age and duration of the symptoms. Compared to the mean QOL of healthy adult Turkish population, all scores in subdimensions were lower. Conclusions This study shows that HV in adults has a negative impact on general health, bodily pain, physical functioning, physical and emotional well-being rather than social well-being and vitality.


1987 ◽  
Vol 101 (6) ◽  
pp. 579-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Olde Kalter ◽  
H. Lubsen ◽  
J. F. M. Delemarre ◽  
G. B. Snow

AbstractAccording to Kleinsasser's classification 200 patients with squamous cell hyperplasia, seen between 1963–1981, were reviewed histologically. The untreated patients (47 per cent) have been analysed for the incidence of malignant change and the patients with Class III lesions (carcinoma in situ) who were treated, were analysed for response to treatment. The mean follow-up period was 8.4 years. Only two of the 38 initially untreated patients of Class I (simple squamous cell hyperplasia) developed an invasive carcinoma. In Class II (hyperplasia with atypia), of 62 patients who were not treated initially, 17 developed a laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma later. Only six patients of Class III did not receive any treatment initially, and one of these progressed to invasive carcinoma. Almost all other patients with carcinoma in situ (Class III) were irradiated. In these patients no evidence of local recurrence was found.


2003 ◽  
Vol 42 (03) ◽  
pp. 90-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Döbert ◽  
O. Rieker ◽  
W. Kneist ◽  
St. Mose ◽  
A. Teising ◽  
...  

SummaryAim: Evaluation of the influence of histopathologic sub-types and grading of primaries of oesophageal cancer, relative to their size and location, on the uptake of 18F-deoxyglucose (FDG) as measured by positron emission tomography (PET). Methods: 50 consecutive patients were evaluated. There were four drop-outs due to previous surgical and/or chemotherapeutical treatments and thus in 46 patients (28 squamous cell carcinomas and 18 adenocarcinomas) a pretherapeutic PET evalution of the primary including a standard uptake value (SUV) was obtained. In 42 cases data on tumour grading were available also. Results: Squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) were in 7/13/8 cases located in the proximal, medial and distal part of the oesophagus, respectively the grading was Gx in 3, G 2 in 12, G2-3 in 7, and G3 in 6 cases. The SUVmax showed a mean of 6.5 ± 2.8 (range 1.7-13.5). Adenocarcinomas (ACA) were located in the medial oesophagus in two cases and otherwise in its distal parts. Grading was Gx in one, G2 in 4, G2-3 in 3, G3 in 3, G3-4 in 3, and G4 in one case. The mean SUVmax was 5.2 ± 3.2 (range 1-13.6) and this was not significantly different from the SCC. Concerning the tumour grading there was a slight, statistically not relevant trend towards higher SUVmax in more dedifferentiated cancer. Discussion: SCC and ACA of the oesophagus show no relevant differences in the FDG-uptake. While there was a significant variability of tumour uptake in the overall study group, a correlation of SUV and tumour grading was not found.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Banasik ◽  
Dariusz Jemielniak ◽  
Wojciech P?dzich

BACKGROUND There have been mixed results of the studies checking whether prayers do actually extend the life duration of the people prayed for. Most studies on the topic included a small number of prayers and most of them focused on people already struggling with a medical condition. Intercessory prayer’s influence on health is of scholarly interest, yet it is unclear if its effect may be dependent on the number of prayers for a named individual received per annum. OBJECTIVE We sought to examine if there is a noticeable increased longevity effect of intercessory prayer for a named individual’s well-being, if he receives a very high number of prayers per annum for an extended period. METHODS We retrieved and conducted a statistical analysis of the data about the length of life for 857 Roman Catholic bishops, 500 Catholic priests, and 3038 male academics from the US, France, Italy, Poland, Brazil, and Mexico. We obtained information for these individuals who died between 1988 and 2018 from Wikidata, and conducted an observational cohort study. Bishops were chosen for the study, as they receive millions of individual prayers for well being, according to conservative estimates. RESULTS There was a main effect for occupation F(2, 4391) = 4.07, p = .017, ηp 2 = .002, with pairwise comparisons indicating significant differences between the mean life duration of bishops (M=30489) and of priests (M=29894), but none between the academic teachers (M=30147) and either of the other groups. A comparison analysis between bishops from the largest and the smallest dioceses showed no significant difference t(67.31)=1.61, p = .11. Our main outcome measure is covariance of the mean length of life in each of the categories: bishops, priests, academic teachers, controlled for nationality. CONCLUSIONS The first analysis proved that bishops live longer than priests, but due to a marginal effect size this result should be treated with caution. No difference was found between the mean length of life of bishops from the largest and the smallest dioceses. We found no difference between bishops and male academics. These results show that the impact of intercessory prayers on longevity is not observable.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-35
Author(s):  
S Datta ◽  
S Maiti ◽  
G Das ◽  
A Chatterjee ◽  
P Ghosh

Background The diagnosis of classical Kawasaki Disease was based on clinical criteria. The conventional criteria is particularly useful in preventing over diagnosis, but at the same time it may result in failure to recognize the incomplete form of Kawasaki Disease. Objective To suspect incomplete Kawasaki Disease, because early diagnosis and proper treatment may reduce substantial risk of developing coronary artery abnormality which is one of the leading causes of acquired heart disease in children. Method Nine cases of incomplete Kawasaki Disease were diagnosed over a period of one year. The diagnosis of incomplete Kawasaki Disease was based on fever for five days with less than four classical clinical features and cardiac abnormality detected by 2D- echocardiography. A repeat echocardiography was done after 6 weeks of onset of illness. The patients were treated with Intravenous Immunoglobulin and/or aspirin. Result The mean age of the patients was 3.83 years and the mean duration of symptoms before diagnosis was 12.1 days. Apart from other criteria all of our patients had edema and extreme irritability. All the patients had abnormal echocardiographic finding. Five patients received only aspirin due to nonaffordability of Intravenous Immunoglobulin and four patients received both aspirin and Intravenous Immunoglobulin, but the outcome was excellent in all the cases. Conclusion Incomplete Kawasaki Disease can be diagnosed with more awareness and aspirin alone may be used as a second line therapy in case of non affordability of Intravenous Immunoglobulin. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal, 2013, Vol-9, No-4, 30-35 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v9i4.10234


Author(s):  
Vanajakshamma Velam ◽  
Vyshnavi Kancherla ◽  
Latheef Kasala ◽  
Anusha Kancherla ◽  
Mounica Reddy Pillaram

Abstract Background This study was an attempt to assess and compare the gender-wise lifestyle patterns and well-being status among the employees of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Material and Methods This is a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted at a tertiary care hospital between May and August 2019. A total of 777 employees belonging to both genders (male and female) and working at different professional levels were assessed. All the enrolled employees were subjected to a comprehensive study tool consisting of various dimensions of their health, which included physical, mental, social, spiritual and intellectual health dimensions. Results Among the participants, 327 (42.1%) were male and 450 (57.9%) were female. There was no significant difference in the mean age of male (37.91 ± 7.52) and female (36.85 ± 8.16) employees (p = 0.07). A significantly higher proportion of diabetes and hypertension were seen in male employees (9.8% and 14.4%, respectively) than in female (5.6% and 6.2% respectively). The overall well-being was better in male employees than in females and was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). We found that male employees had statistically significant better well-being in terms of physical, mental and social health whereas female employees had intellectual health. Conclusion The overall well-being in healthcare staff was good at our tertiary care hospital, and the outstanding/good well-being rate was higher in male employees than in female employees. Female employees experienced risks with regard to their physical health.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 923.4-924
Author(s):  
H. Hachfi ◽  
D. Khalifa ◽  
M. Brahem ◽  
N. Ben Chekaya ◽  
M. Younes

Background:Knee osteoarthritis and obesity are both major health problems. It is now admitted that the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis gets higher with obesity and that weight loss helps knee function and allows patients to avoid surgery.Objectives:The aim of this study was to study the influence of obesity on knee osteoarthritis features.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in the university hospital Taher Sfar of Tunisia over a period of 6 months. Patients who had knee osteoarthritis confirmed by radiographs were included. Sociodemographic, clinical, radiological and therapeutic data were collected from medical records and visits. Obesity was defined by a body mass index (BMI) ≥30. Functional impairment was assessed by the Womac index and Lequesne index.Results:The study included 186 patients. There were 31 males and 155 femmes. The mean age was 60±10 years. The percentage of obese patients was 53,8%. The mean age was similar in both groups obese and non obese. There were more women in the obese group compared to the non obese group (p=0.0001), more patients who had diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia (p=0.002). Non-obese patients had a shorter duration of symptoms with no statistical significance (p=0.151). Obese patients had more involvement of both knees (p<0.0001). Obesity did not have an impact on pain severity. Severity of radiological images (p=0,0001) were more frequent in obese patients. Functional impairment was similar in both groups. However, the percentage of patients having a very important functional impairment with Lequesne index was higher in obese patients (p<0.029). Obese patients also needed more physical therapy sessions (p=0.035).Conclusion:Knee osteoarthritis in obese patients is characterized with the femlae gender predominance, bilateral knee involvement, and a more severe images on radiographs. Thus the need for better control of weight and the importance of physical activity.References:[1]Coggon D, Reading I, Croft P, et al. Knee osteoarthritis and obesity. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord J Int Assoc Study Obes 2001; 25: 622–627.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


Author(s):  
Ascensión Fumero ◽  
Rosario J. Marrero ◽  
Alicia Pérez-Albéniz ◽  
Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero

Bipolar disorder is usually accompanied by a high suicide risk. The main aim was to identify the risk and protective factors involved in suicide risk in adolescents with bipolar experiences. Of a total of 1506 adolescents, 467 (31%) were included in the group reporting bipolar experiences or symptoms, 214 males (45.8%) and 253 (54.2%) females. The mean age was 16.22 (SD = 1.36), with the age range between 14 and 19. Suicide risk, behavioral and emotional difficulties, prosocial capacities, well-being, and bipolar experiences were assessed through self-report. Mediation analyses, taking gender as a moderator and controlling age as a covariate, were applied to estimate suicide risk. The results indicated that the effect of bipolar experiences on suicide risk is mediated by behavioral and emotional difficulties rather than by prosocial behavior and subjective well-being. Specifically, emotional problems, problems with peers, behavior problems, and difficulties associated with hyperactivity were the most important variables. This relationship was not modulated by gender. However, the indirect effects of some mediators varied according to gender. These results support the development of suicide risk prevention strategies focused on reducing emotional difficulties, behavioral problems, and difficulties in relationships with others.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 508.2-509
Author(s):  
K. Maatallah ◽  
H. Boussaa ◽  
H. Riahi ◽  
H. Ferjani ◽  
M. Habechi ◽  
...  

Background:Foot disease is a common problem in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Therapeutic decisions are often based on clinical examination (CE) alone, which can be adversely affected by factors such as deformity, obesity, and peripheral edema. Ultrasonography (US) has previously been shown to be more sensitive than CE for detecting synovitis and tenosynovitis in RA forefeet, but few data exist for the hindfoot and ankle.Objectives:The aim of this study was to compare CE and US for the detection of hindfoot and ankle synovitis and tenosynovitis in patients with established RA.Methods:We conducted a cross-sectional study including patients with RA (ACR/EULAR 2010). Demographic data and disease parameters were collected. CE was performed by a rheumatologist for the presence or absence of tenderness, swelling, and mobility restriction of both ankles. The following tendons were examined for tenosynovitis: tibialis anterior (TA) and posterior (TP), fibularis longus (FL), and brevis (FB) (assessed together). In a second time, US examination of the tibiotalar, talonavicular, and subtalar joints and the same tendons as CE was performed by a blinded radiologist experienced in musculoskeletal imaging using a Philips HD11 device with a high-frequency linear transducer. The presence or absence of synovitis and tenosynovitis was recorded, and the composite synovitis score (power doppler / grayscale ultrasound (PDUS)) was measured for each joint. The US score of each patient was defined by the sum of the composite scores of the joints studied (0-30). A p-value <0.05 was considered significant.Results:Sixty-two feet were examined in 31 RA patients (25 women and six men) with a mean age of 54.8±10.8 years old [32-70]. The mean disease duration was 8.5±7.2 years [1-37]. Rheumatoid Factor (RF) and Anti-Citrullinated Peptides Antibodies (ACPA) were positive in 61.3% and 83.8% of cases. The mean DAS28 ESR was 3.8±1.5 [0.6-7].Clinical examination of ankles revealed tenderness in 57.4% of cases, swelling in 38.8% of cases, and restriction in the range of motion in 11.1% of cases. TA tenosynovitis was noted in 14.8% of cases, TP tenosynovitis in 22.2% of cases, and FL and FB tenosynovitis in 31.5% of cases.US showed tibiotalar synovitis in 59.3% of cases, talonavicular synovitis in 64.8% of cases, and subtalar synovitis in 46.3% of cases. TA tenosynovitis was noted in 5.6% of cases, TP tenosynovitis in 22.2% of cases, and FB and FL tenosynovitis in 25% and 11.1% of cases respectively.An association was found between clinical tenderness and US synovitis of the tibiotalar joint (p=0.013) and the talonavicular joint (p=0.027). No association was noted between clinical swelling and US synovitis in these joints.No association was noted between clinical and US tenosynovitis of TA (p=0.279), TP (p=0.436), FB (p=0.495) and FL (p=0.315).Conclusion:Clinical examination of RA ankles may be challenging and needs to be coupled with US, which is more sensitive and accurate in the detection of synovitis and tenosynovitis.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


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