Search

BACKGROUND፡ The thyroid, along with the breast, lung, and bone marrow, is among the most radiosensitive organs. This study aims to assess the rate of unnecessary radiation exposure to the thyroid gland in patients who had chest Computed Tomography (CT) at a large teaching hospital. METHOD: Hospital-based retrospective cross-sectional study on 1,306 patients who underwent chest CT from July 2018 to January 2019. Thyroid gland inclusion along with the CT dose of the studies was evaluated. Data was collected by evaluating chest CT scans from Picture Archive and Communication System (MedWeb). RESULT: Out of 1306 patients, who had Chest CT scans intravenous iodinated contrast media was used in 95.4% of the CT scans. The thyroid was included in 99.8% of the scans, out of which 76.9% included the whole thyroid gland. Among the patients who had previous CT scans, 75.3% had one previous scan and 24.7% had two previous scans. DLP (Dose Length Product) in mGycm was lower in females (360.33±32) compared to males (426.45±378.4). The lowest DLP value was observed in the pediatric patients in the age range of 1-5 years which was 146.83, while the highest was observed among those above 18 years of age with mean DLP of 418.31. CONCLUSION: The majority of chest CT scans unnecessarily include the whole thyroid gland, which is one of the most sensitive organs for radiation-induced effects. Authors recommend optimized technique for chest scans to avoid future impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Typhlitis, (neutropenic enterocolitis), is a necrotizing enteropathy of the right colon, and is characterized by the clinical triad of fever, abdominal pain, neutropenia and imaging findings of right-side colonic inflammation. It is seen in the setting of severe neutropenia in immune suppressed patients who undergo treatment for malignancies, in those who have organ transplant(s) or congenital or other acquired immunosuppression. We report the clinical and imaging findings of typhlitis in pediatric cancer patients who had received chemotherapy in the largest tertiary center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia over a period of 20 months. METHODS: The medical records of hospitalized cancer patients on treatment and with suspected typhlitis and with ultrasound reports were screened (November 2018-July 2020). Retrospective analysis of the clinical and sonographic data of those with typhlitis was done. RESULTS: Typhlitis was identified in 4.2% (12/286) of the patients on chemotherapy. 11 (91.7%) had hematologic malignancies (leukemia, lymphoma), one had a solid tumor (Head and neck embryonal RMS). Most (83.3%) had abdominal pain, diarrhea and neutropenia. Fever was identified in 67.7%. All had ultrasound evidence of typhlitis. and treated with IV antibiotics. Neither complications requiring surgical intervention nor death were seen. CONCLUSION: The magnitude of disease was comparable to what had previously been reported in other studies. While the presence of clinical a triad should prompt suspicion for the diagnosis, sonography can be used for confirmation and follow up obviating radiation, with good access in a resource limited setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]