Australasian radiology
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Australasian radiology · Dec 2004
Comparative StudyClinical verification of the superiority of the current International Union Against Cancer staging criteria in an Australian population of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
The purpose of this study is to assess the prognostic abilities of the fourth and fifth edition International Union Against Cancer (UICC) staging systems for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in Australian patients. All patients planned for curative treatment at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre from April 1985 to December 1999 were included in this study. There were 181 patients eligible for this study. ⋯ Stage 4 patients by the fourth edition were reclassified as stages 2, 3 and 4 by the fifth edition with hazard ratios of 0.77, 1.01 and 1.79, respectively. In multifactor analysis, the fifth edition staging system was significantly related to FFS and OS after allowing for the fourth edition (FFS: P = 0.002; OS: P = 0.005), but the fourth edition was not significantly related to FFS or OS after allowing for the fifth edition (FFS: P = 0.96; OS: P = 0.96). This study confirms the prognostic superiority of the fifth edition UICC staging system over the fourth edition staging system in an Australian NPC population.
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Australasian radiology · Dec 2004
Comparative StudyComparison of face-to-face and videoconferenced multidisciplinary clinical meetings.
A trial of videoconferencing of multidisciplinary breast cancer clinical meetings between three public hospitals was conducted in an attempt to increase attendance by medical staff at the meetings, and thus facilitate multidisciplinary care for breast cancer patients. The videoconferences were compared with the previously existing face-to-face clinical meetings through questionnaires, attendance, number of cases discussed and anthropological analysis. Although more people attended the videoconferences than the face-to-face meetings, most of the participants in the trial preferred the face-to-face meetings to the videoconferences. ⋯ Multidisciplinary case discussion can be facilitated by videoconferencing. Some of the negative experiences we encountered could be overcome with changes in meeting format. Our experience may help others in setting up a successful multidisciplinary team via videoconference.
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Australasian radiology · Sep 2004
Case ReportsConcurrent emphysematous pyelonephritis and emphysematous cholecystitis in type 2 diabetes.
Concurrence of emphysematous pyelonephritis and emphysematous cholecystitis in a patient with type 2 diabetes has not been reported in the published literature, to the authors' knowledge. A patient who had both at the time of presentation is reported. The mechanism of gas formation and the management strategies are discussed.
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Australasian radiology · Jun 2004
Case ReportsFatal paradoxical pulmonary air embolism complicating percutaneous computed tomography-guided needle biopsy of the lung.
A 63-year-old man with left upper zone haziness on chest X-ray and an infiltrative lesion with a pleural mass in the left upper lobe on CT scan was scheduled for CT-guided percutaneous trans-thoracic needle biopsy. During the procedure, the patient had massive haemoptysis and cardiorespiratory arrest and could not be revived. Post-mortem CT showed air in the right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary artery and also in the left atrium and aorta. A discussion on paradoxical air embolism following percutaneous trans-thoracic needle biopsy is presented.