Charuwan Tantipalakorn

Erythrocyte osmotic fragility test for screening of alpha-thalassemia-1 and beta-thalassemia trait in pregnancy

Objectives: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of osmotic fragility test (OFT) as a screening test in predicting the severe thalassemia trait (α‐thalassemia‐1 & β‐thalassemia). Methods: A descriptive analysis and diagnostic test of non‐anemic pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic, Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai, during April, and July 2002 was made. Blood samples were collected from 446 singleton pregnancies with no obvious medical complication such as iron deficiency anemia. OFT was performed in the same day, using 0.45% glycerin saline solution and the cut‐off value of less than 60% was used for an abnormal test. Quantitative HbA2 test and PCR (SEA type) were done as a gold standard to confirm the diagnosis of β‐thalassemia trait and α‐thalassemia‐1 trait, respectively. Results: The main outcome measures were sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of OFT. If the OFT cut‐off value of less than 60% was considered positive, the test had a sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of 97.6%, 72.9%, 33.6%, and 99.5%, respectively. Conclusion: OFT has high sensitivity in detection of α‐thalassemia‐1 trait or β‐thalassemia trait and due to its simplicity with very low cost it may, therefore, be considered as a screening test in a wide population.

Underlying pathology of women with “atypical squamous cells, cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion” smears, in a region with a high incidence of cervical cancer

Aim:  To evaluate the histopathology of women who had “atypical squamous cells, cannot exclude high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions” (ASC‐H) on cervical cytology in a region with high incidence of cervical cancer.

IOTA Simple Rules in Differentiating between Benign and Malignant Ovarian Tumors

BACKGROUND To evaluate the diagnostic performance of IOTA simple rules in differentiating between benign and malignant ovarian tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS A study of diagnostic performance was conducted on women scheduled for elective surgery due to ovarian masses between March 2007 and March 2012. All patients underwent ultrasound examination for IOTA simple rules within 24 hours of surgery. All examinations were performed by the authors, who had no any clinical information of the patients, to differentiate between benign and malignant adnexal masses using IOTA simple rules. Gold standard diagnosis was based on pathological or operative findings. RESULTS A total of 398 adnexal masses, in 376 women, were available for analysis. Of them, the IOTA simple rules could be applied in 319 (80.1%) including 212 (66.5%) benign tumors and 107 (33.6%) malignant tumors. The simple rules yielded inconclusive results in 79 (19.9%) masses. In the 319 masses for which the IOTA simple rules could be applied, sensitivity was 82.9% and specificity 95.3%. CONCLUSIONS The IOTA simple rules have high diagnostic performance in differentiating between benign and malignant adnexal masses. Nevertheless, inconclusive results are relatively common.

Locoregional Spread and Survival of Stage IIA1 versus Stage IIA2 Cervical Cancer

This study was undertaken to compare surgical outcomes and survival rates of patients with the 2009 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIA1 versus IIA2 cervical cancer treated with radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy (RHPL). Patients with stage IIA cervical cancer undergoing primary RHPL between January 2003 and December 2012 at Chiang Mai University Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The analysis included clinicopathologic variables, i.e. nodal metastasis, parametrial involvement, positive surgical margins, deep stromal invasion (DSI)), lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI), adjuvant treatment, and 5-year survival. The chi square test, Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used for statistical analysis. During the study period, 133 women with stage IIA cervical cancer, 101 (75.9 %) stage IIA1, and 32 (24.1 %) stage IIA2 underwent RHPL. The clinicopathologic variables of stage IIA1 compared with stage IIA2 were as follows: nodal metastasis (38.6% vs 40.6%, p=0.84), parametrial involvement (10.9% vs 15.6%, p=0.47), positive surgical margins (31.7% vs 31.3%, p=1.0), DSI (39.6% vs 53.1%, p=0.18), LVSI (52.5% vs 71.9%, p=0.05) and adjuvant radiation (72.3% vs 84.4%, p=0.33). With a median follow-up of 60 months, the 5-year disease-free survival (84.6% vs 88.7%, p=0.67) and the 5-year overall survival (83.4% vs 90.0%, P=0.49) did not significantly differ between stage IIA1 and stage IIA2 cervical cancer. In conclusion, patients with stage IIA1 and stage IIA2 cervical cancer have comparable rates of locoregional spread and survival. The need for receiving adjuvant radiation was very high in both substages. The revised 2009 FIGO system did not demonstrate significant survival differences in stage IIA cervical cancer treated with radical hysterectomy. Concurrent chemoradiation should be considered a more suitable treatment for patients with stage IIA cervical cancer.

A Case of Ovarian Paragonimiasis Mimicking Ovarian Carcinoma

Background: The purpose of this report is to describe ovarian paragonimiasis, a rare form of lung fluke infestation, mimicking ovarian cancer. Case: A 47-year-old Thai woman presented with a pelvic mass. Imaging suggested ovarian cancer with pulmonary and hepatic metastases. She was scheduled for complete surgical staging. However, a frozen section revealed Paragonimus eggs in the enlarged ovarian mass. A total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed instead of complete staging. All other lesions were also proven later to be Paragonimus infestation. Postoperative treatment with antiparasitic drugs resulted in dramatic improvement, with nearly complete resolution of all lesions at 4 months of follow-up. Conclusion: This is an unusual case of ovarian paragonimiasis mimicking ovarian cancer, which is instructive and informative for differential diagnoses of pelvic masses.

Rapid recovery from catastrophic paraneoplastic anti-NMDAR encephalitis secondary to an ovarian teratoma following ovarian cystectomy.

This report is aimed to describe a life-threatening case of anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis secondary to ovarian teratoma with rapid recovery in 1 day after the removal of the tumour. A 23-year-old woman presented with sudden headache, personality changes and seizure. After neurological assessment, limbic or herpes encephalitis was provisionally diagnosed and treated with intravenous immunoglobulin, acyclovir and steroids. The patient had progressive severe neurological symptoms, requiring prolonged intubation and mechanical ventilation. An anti-NMDAR antibody test revealed positive in serum and cerebrospinal fluid at 3 weeks of admission. Pelvic ultrasound examination and CT scan revealed bilateral small ovarian teratomas. Bilateral ovarian cystectomy was performed by open surgery. The patient showed rapid improvement and no longer needed intubation 2 days after the operation. In conclusion, we described a catastrophic case of ovarian teratoma-associated encephalitis with delayed diagnosis but rapid recovery after ovarian cystectomy. This information can probably be helpful to neurologists and gynaecologists.

Application of HPV DNA Testing in Follow-up after Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedures in Northern Thailand.

BACKGROUND HPV DNA testing has been recently introduced as an adjunct test to cytology in the follow-up of patients after treatment for cervical lesions using the loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of HPV testing in the detection of persistent or recurrent disease after LEEP in patients with cervical epithelial lesions in northern Thailand. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients who underwent LEEP as a treatment for histological low-grade (LSIL) or high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) or worse at Chiang Mai University Hospital between June 2010 and May 2012 were included. Follow-ups were scheduled at 6-month intervals and continued for 2 years using co-testing (liquid-based cytology and Hybrid Capture 2 [HC2]) at 6 months and 24 months and liquid-based cytology alone at 12 and 18 months. RESULTS Of 98 patients included, the histological diagnoses for LEEP included LSIL in 16 patients, and HSIL or worse in 82 patients. The LEEP margin status was negative in 84 patients (85.7%). At follow-up, 10 patients (10.2%) had persistent/recurrent lesions; 4 among LSIL patients (25.0%) and 6 in the group with HSIL or worse (7.3%). Only 2 of 82 patients (2.4%) with HSIL or worse diagnoses had histological HSIL in the persistent/recurrent lesions. Using histologically confirmed LSIL as the threshold for the detection of persistent/recurrent disease, cytology had a higher sensitivity than HC2 (90.0% versus 70.0%). At the 6-month follow-up appointment, combined cytology and HC2 (co-testing) had a higher sensitivity in predicting persistent/recurrent disease (80.0%) compared with that of cytology alone (70.0%) and HC2 (50.0%). CONCLUSIONS After LEEP with a negative surgical margin, the rate of persistent/recurrent lesions is low. The addition of HPV testing at the 6-month visit to the usual cytology schedule may be an effective approach in the follow-up after LEEP.

Effect of lidocaine spray during colposcopy‐directed cervical biopsy: A randomized controlled trial

We aimed to examine the effect of lidocaine spray in reducing pain during colposcopy‐directed cervical biopsy (CDB).

Sonographic Diagnosis of Tubal Cancer with IOTA Simple Rules Plus Pattern Recognition

Objective: To evaluate diagnostic performance of IOTA simple rules plus pattern recognition in predicting tubal cancer. Methods: Secondary analysis was performed on prospective database of our IOTA project. The patients recruited in the project were those who were scheduled for pelvic surgery due to adnexal masses. The patients underwent ultrasound examinations within 24 hours before surgery. On ultrasound examination, the masses were evaluated using the well-established IOTA simple rules plus pattern recognition (sausage-shaped appearance, incomplete septum, visible ipsilateral ovaries) to predict tubal cancer. The gold standard diagnosis was based on histological findings or operative findings. Results: A total of 482 patients, including 15 cases of tubal cancer, were evaluated by ultrasound preoperatively. The IOTA simple rules plus pattern recognition gave a sensitivity of 86.7% (13 in 15) and specificity of 97.4%. Sausage-shaped appearance was identified in nearly all cases (14 in 15). Incomplete septa and normal ovaries could be identified in 33.3% and 40%, respectively. Conclusion: IOTA simple rules plus pattern recognition is relatively effective in predicting tubal cancer. Thus, we propose the simple scheme in diagnosis of tubal cancer as follows. First of all, the adnexal masses are evaluated with IOTA simple rules. If the B-rules could be applied, tubal cancer is reliably excluded. If the M-rules could be applied or the result is inconclusive, careful delineation of the mass with pattern recognition should be performed.

Treatment of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions in an area of Thailand with a high incidence of cervical cancer.

To audit the treatment of high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) at Chiang Mai University Hospital based on 12 standard requirements of the National Health Service Cervical Screening Programme.