BACKGROUND: Osteogenesis imperfecta is a heritable disorder due to a collagen gene mutation causing a structural abnormality leading to brittle bones and osteopenia. To address the osteopenia, intravenous bisphosphonates (pamidronate) act by temporarily halting the action of osteoclasts giving time for osteoblasts to build bone. To date, there has been no local data regarding the improvement in bone mineral density of filipino patients with osteogenesis imperfecta following treatment.

METHODS: This study is a retrospective review that included six patients aged 1 year and 10months-9 years and 9 months old at the Philippines General Hospital with moderate to severe osteogenesis imperfecta who have undergone six months of pamidronate infusions at 1mg/kg/dose monthly or a total dose of 6mg/kg. Chart review was done. Hand radiographs taken at baseline and after six months of therapy were reviewed by radiologist who was blinded, to determine metacarpal indices.

RESULT: There was an increasing trend in the metacarpal index from baseline to six months post-treatment with a mean difference of 0.053mm (CI -0.0112 to 0.117). However, the increase was not stastically significant (p value 0.0874) when analyzed using the paired t-test at a 95% confidence interval. No adverse events were noted and only one patient reported a fracture after starting therapy.

CONCLUSION: Bisphosphonate infusions among the six pediatric patients with moderate to severe osteogenesis imperfecta are well tolerate and although the increase in the metacarpal index from baseline after six months of treatment is not statistically significant, the trend shows improvement of the osteopenia from baseline.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Child ; Child Preschool ; Osteogenesis Imperfecta ; Bone Density ; Patients ; Osteoblasts

Objective: This study aimed to develop a patient-safety checklist for use during fluoroscopic- or image-guided minimally-invasive procedures in the Department of Radiology, Philippine General Hospital. Methodology: A comparison of the Radiological Patient Safety System (RADPASS) and the Cardiovascular and Interventional Society of Europe (CIRSE) checklists was done. Together with the knowledge of the workflow and through observation of the different procedures in the department, a checklist was developed to suit the appropriate hospital setting. This developed checklist was tested in several procedures, and was evaluated and modified during trial testing. Result: A patient safety checklist for minimally-invasive and fluoroscopic procedures in the Department of Radiology, Philippine General Hospital was developed through the analysis of the workflow of the department, and observation during the data gathering and trial testing phases. Conclusion This simple tool was developed to ensure that all the necessary details before a procedure have been addressed. It has been made as simple as possible, to make it user-friendly. The developed checklist is a step forward in promoting and ensuring the safety of patients undergoing fluoroscopic and minimally-invasive procedures in the Department of Radiology, PGH.
Patient Safety ; Checklist ; Radiology

OBJECTIVES: 1) To determine if there is an association between physical examination by cervical palpation, pre-operative contrast-enhanced multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT), and intraoperative lymph node assessment, with final histopathology in the evaluation of cervical lymph node metastasis in Filipino patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. 2) To determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), accuracy, and likelihood ratios of cervical palpation, contrast enhanced MDCT, and intra-operative lymph node assessment compared with final histopathology in the evaluation of cervical lymph node metastasis in Filipino patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

METHODS: Study Design. Retrospective; Cross-sectional. Setting. Tertiary Government Hospital Charity Section, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Radiology, Department of Pathology. Participants, Patients or Population. Retrospective chart review of all biopsy proven head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients admitted at the charity ward of a Otorhinolaryngology Department from 2008-2010 who had documented admission physical examination, a pre-operative contrast enhanced multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scan of the neck done in the same institution within 20 days or less from date of surgery, and underwent neck dissection with appropriate cervical lymph node level specimen labeling with subsequent post-operative histopathologic evaluation of submitted specimens for neck node metastasis by the Pathology Department of the same institution. After set of exclusion criteria was applied, the analyzed sample included 82 lymph node level samples from 9 patients with head and neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCCA).

RESULTS: Pre-operative contrast enhanced MDCT, and intraoperative nodal assessment, were both significantly correlated with the final histopathologic evaluation of neck node metastasis as evaluated with Fisher's Exact test (p = 0.00). Cervical palpation however was not able to show a significant association (p=0.099).Cervical palpation had a sensitivity of 25.00% (8.33-52.59%), specificity of 90.91% (80.61-96.25%), NPV of 83.33 (72.30-90.73%), PPV of 40.00 (13.69-72.63%), accuracy of 78.05%, and a likelihood ratio of 3.33. Pre-operative contrast enhanced MDCT had a sensitivity of 43.75% (20.75-69.45%), specificity of 93.94% (84.44-98.04%), NPV of 87.32 (76.80-93.69%), , PPV of 63.64 (31.61-87.63%), accuracy of 84.15%, and a likelihood ratio of 12.06. Intraoperative surgical evaluation had a sensitivity of 68.75% (41.48-87.87%), specificity of 93.94% (84.44-98.04%), NPV of 92.54 (82.74-97.22%), PPV of 73.33 (44.83-91.09%), accuracy of 89.02%, and a likelihood ratio of 34.10. Further analysis with McNemar's Test comparing MDCT and Intraoperative assessment showed no significant difference (p = 0.387).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: In the evaluation of cervical lymph node metastasis for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in the local setting, the extent of neck dissection, clinical staging and prognosis, as well as adjuvant therapy can be guided by pre-operative contrast enhanced MDCT and intra-operative nodal assessment. Contrast-enhanced MDCT can aid treatment planning in preoperative or non-operative cases; but intraoperative evaluation can be used to guide final extent of surgery. Evaluation solely by physical examination by cervical palpation unfortunately in this study was not able to show a significant association with final histopathology.

Human ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Palpation ; General Surgery ; Sensitivity And Specificity