Screening for Cervical Cancer by Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) in Nabil Choucair Health Center—Dakar (Senegal)

OBJECTIVES: 1) To draw up the epidemiological profile of patients who have benefited from cervical cancer screening by visual inspection after application of acetic acid (VIA) and then describe the results of the test, the colposcopy, histological and therapeutic aspects in case of dysplasia. 2) To evaluate the performance of IVA in cervical cancer screening and its feasibility in low-resource countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective and descriptive study carried out from 06 June 2015 to 31 January 2016 (7 months) at the Maternity Center at Nabil Choucair health center in Dakar. The patients had been screened for cervical cancer by visual inspection, which consisted of applying 3% acetic acid after setting up a vaginal speculum. The test was considered positive if there were intense white areas in the cervix. Colposcopy was performed in case of a positive VIA result. This colposcopy included an unprepared examination, an examination after application of 3% acetic acid and an examination after application of Lugol solution. The colposcopic report is made according to the terminology of the French Society of Colposcopy and Cervico-Vaginal Pathology. Patients with major changes or unsatisfactory colposcopy had undergone diathermic loop resection. Surgical specimens were sent to pathologic anatomy and follow-up was performed according to the results of the histology. The studied parameters concerned the socio-demographic aspects, the results of the VIA test, the results of the colposcopy after a positive test, the therapeutic aspects in case atypical transformation zone grade 2 or of unsatisfactory colposcopy, the results of the histology after the conization and the followed. The collection of data was done thanks to a file and the statistical analysis thanks to the software Epi-info version 7. RESULTS: 899 patients were involved in the study. The epidemiologic profile of our patient was a multipara in a period of genital activity, aged 42.2 years with a mean gestational weight of 4.5, and a parity of 4. In our series, the patients had their first sexual intercourse with 20.8 years old. In our study, 84 patients (10.2%) had positive results after visual inspection after acetic acid applications. All patients with positive results after application of 3% acetic acid had colposcopy. In our study, 27 patients had major changes and/or unsatisfactory colposcopy and underwent diathermic loop resection for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Anatomo-pathological examination of the cone room revealed cervicitis in 22.2% of cases, flat condyloma in 7.4% of cases, CIN2 in 22.2% of cases, and CIN3 in 18.5% of cases. All the conizations were in sano. The postoperative course was simple. CONCLUSION: Cervical cancer is a real public health problem in developing countries. To do to human resources, developing countries like Senegal must put in place simple, inexpensive, effective strategies that must globally respond to “screen and treat”.

Comparison of diathermic high-frequency capsulorhexis and continuous curvilinear capsulorrhexis in white cataract surgery

AIM： To compare the corneal endothelial cell counts pre-and post-operation, ultrastructure of anterior lens capsule and surgical completion after diathermic highfrequency capsulorhexis（DHC） and continuous curvilinear capsulorrhexis（CCC） applied in phacoemulsification（PHACO） of white cataract surgery.METHODS： Sixty-six eyes of 66 patients（33 males and 33 females） with cataract aged between 60 and 80 y（mean 72.5±5.5） were recruited and undergone the surgery from June 2014 to November 2016. Anterior lens capsule, derived from two kinds of capsulorhexis, were randomly divided into two groups according to random number table. The ultrastructure of the capsule edge and its closer tissue were observed by transmission electron microscopy（TEM） and optical microscopy respectively. The surgical completion conditions and corneal endothelial cell counts were analyzed pre-and post-operation after two capsulorhexis.RESULTS： The capsule derived from CCC had smooth edge, well-organized cellular structure and the cells filling into the cutting edge under TEM and optical microscopy. The capsule derived from DHC had an approximate 60 banded area of cell degeneration and necrosis, with dentiform prominences at the edge of the capsule, and no cell structure was observed at this area. The corneal endothelial cell counts of both groups were slightly declined 1 wk post-operation compared with that of preoperation. There was no statistical difference between the two groups（t=1.63, P〉0.05）.CONCLUSION： DHC shows good clinical value in white mature and hypermature cataract surgery.

Sarcomatoid malignant pleural mesothelioma confirmed by full-thickness biopsy

Diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma （DMPM） is a rare thoracic malignancy, but its incidence isdramatically increasing worldwide as a result ot widespread use of asbestos. The World Health Organization classifies DMPM into three types： epithelioid, sarcomatoid, and biphasic types. DMPM remains suffering poor prognosis and the diagnosis should always be based on adequate, representative tissue samples. There still remains a considerable number of patients with DMPM who are misdiagnosed after a complete investigation including thoracoscopic biopsies.