BACKGROUND: Educating physicians on the proper utilization of mammography is vital to effective implementation of the breast cancer control program.
OBJECTIVE: The general objective of this study was to determine the patterns of mammogram utilization and clinical profile of patients who underwent mammography at Cebu (Velez) General Hospital from January 1997 to February 2001.
METHODS: Checklists embodying important breast health information, clinical data (age, sex, address, menstrual and obstetrical history, personal and family history of breast cancer, presenting breast signs and symptoms), referring physicians, and mammography reports over the last four years were reviewed.
RESULTS: There were 468 mammograms done of which 279 (60 percent) were for diagnostics purposes and 189 (40 percent) for screening. The highest number of women who underwent screening mammography belonged to the 50-59 year age group. Gynecologists were the most frequent referring physicians for mammographic examination at 186 (40 percent) followed by 134 (29 percent) referrals from the general surgeons. There was an increasing trend of mammogram utilization noted over the past four years. Palpable mass in 172 (53 percent) patients was followed by mastodynia in 104 (33 percent) patients accounting for the most common indications for diagnostic mammography. Three hundred seventy-three (80 percent) mammogram results were negative and only 23 (5 percent) showed suspicious abnormalities warranting biopsy. Three hundred twenty-five (69.4 percent) of the mammograms showed extremely dense breasts which lowered sensitivity. There was a trend towards decreasing Grade IV radiographic density of the breast as the patients were older. Proper mammogram utilization at Cebu Velez General Hospital has increased over the last 4 years.

Human ; Female ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Adolescent ; Child ; Mastodynia ; Checklist ; Mammography ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms

Purpose: Determination of oxygen concentration in tissues affected by chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) has shown inconsistent results over the years and has confounded the pathophysiology of venous diseases. This study measured transcutaneous partial oxygen pressure (TcPO2 ) levels in patients with CVI to assess oxygenation and variation in oxygenation according to CVI stage. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was performed on consecutive patients with unilateral CVI. TcPO2 of diseased and unaffected limbs was measured in the supine and dependent positions. A single TcPO2 value was measured at the site of greatest skin change or at the edge of the ulcer. The TcPO2 values were analyzed and compared according to stage. Results: A total of 96 patients were included in the study with C4 (24.0%), C5 (19.8%), and C6 (56.3%) disease. The mean age was 44.7 years, and 85 (88.5%) were male. There was a statistically significant (P<0.01) difference in mean TcPO2 levels between the unaffected limb (supine, 32.1 mmHg; dependent, 50.7 mmHg), C5 diseased limb (supine, 16.6 mmHg; dependent, 35.5 mmHg), and C6 diseased limb (supine, 24.2 mmHg; dependent, 40.4 mmHg). In the supine and dependent positions, the mean TcPO2 in the affected limb was significantly lower (P<0.01) than that in the unaffected limb. Conclusion TcPO2 in advanced CVI can be used as a marker of oxygenation status. This is the first study in an Indian population looking at the relevance of TcPO2in the prognostication of advanced CVI.

Purpose: Determination of oxygen concentration in tissues affected by chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) has shown inconsistent results over the years and has confounded the pathophysiology of venous diseases. This study measured transcutaneous partial oxygen pressure (TcPO2 ) levels in patients with CVI to assess oxygenation and variation in oxygenation according to CVI stage. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was performed on consecutive patients with unilateral CVI. TcPO2 of diseased and unaffected limbs was measured in the supine and dependent positions. A single TcPO2 value was measured at the site of greatest skin change or at the edge of the ulcer. The TcPO2 values were analyzed and compared according to stage. Results: A total of 96 patients were included in the study with C4 (24.0%), C5 (19.8%), and C6 (56.3%) disease. The mean age was 44.7 years, and 85 (88.5%) were male. There was a statistically significant (P<0.01) difference in mean TcPO2 levels between the unaffected limb (supine, 32.1 mmHg; dependent, 50.7 mmHg), C5 diseased limb (supine, 16.6 mmHg; dependent, 35.5 mmHg), and C6 diseased limb (supine, 24.2 mmHg; dependent, 40.4 mmHg). In the supine and dependent positions, the mean TcPO2 in the affected limb was significantly lower (P<0.01) than that in the unaffected limb. Conclusion TcPO2 in advanced CVI can be used as a marker of oxygenation status. This is the first study in an Indian population looking at the relevance of TcPO2in the prognostication of advanced CVI.

The morphological characteristics of the humeral bone has been investigated in recent times with studies showing varying degrees of sexual dimorphism. Osteologists and forensic scientists have shown that sex determination methods based on skeletal measurements are population specific, and these population-specific variations are present in many body dimensions. The present study aims to establish sex identification using osteometric standards for the humerus in a contemporary KwaZulu-Natal population. A total of 11 parameters were measured in a sample of n=211 humeri (males, 113; females, 98) from the osteological collection in the Discipline of Clinical Anatomy, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. The difference in means for nearly all variables were found to be significantly higher in males compared to females (P<0.01) with the most effective single parameter for predicting sex being the vertical head diameter having an accuracy of 82.5%. Stepwise discriminant analysis increased the overall accuracy rate to 87.7% when all measurements were jointly applied. We conclude that the humerus is an important bone which can be reliably used for sex determination based on standard metric methods despite minor tribal or ancestral differences amongst an otherwise homogenous population.
Female ; Head ; Humans ; Humerus ; Male ; South Africa