A continuing challenge

Thymomas: a continuing challenge.

Thymic epithelial tumors usually are broadly classified into two main categories: thymoma and thymic carcinoma. In adults, thymomas are the most common primary tumor in the anterior mediastinum.[2] A large variety of paraneoplastic or parathymic syndromes may suggest the presence of a thymoma.[3] Myasthenia gravis coexists in approximately 30% to 40% of patients with thymoma.[4] It is still unc...

Appendicitis: a continuing challenge.

Acute appendicitis is a common surgical emergency in urban setting, of a developing country. The computerised hospital patient database at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, was utilised to obtain records of all adults with a histologically proven diagnosis of acute appendicitis. A review of patients treated over a 18 month period was undertaken. One hundred and three appendicectomies were ...

Leprosaria – a continuing social challenge

In the early days of leprosy care, with very little in the way of chemical treatment, the recognised way of treating leprosy was to remove people from their homes and put them into leprosaria. The 1897 Leprosy Congress recommended that leprosy could be prevented by isolation. They took as their model for leprosy control the model Hansen had set up in Norway consisting of compulsory registration...

Glioma: a continuing challenge and a mystery?

Extracorporeal liver support: a continuing challenge

Given that liver failure continues to pose an enormous clinical challenge, the concept of hepatic dialysis has enjoyed significant interest. In particular, many investigations have examined the therapeutic mechanisms and efficacy of artificial albumin dialysis based systems in acute on chronic liver failure, the results of which have been conflicting. Albumin dialysis systems do not appear to s...