Browsing by Author "Abraham, Zephania"

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    Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the nasal cavity—the great mimicker of chronic rhinitis: A rare case report with literature review
    (Edorium Journals, 2019) Yahaya, James; Abraham, Zephania
    Introduction: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the nasal cavity is one of the rarest malignant entities reported in the literature with the known incidence of up to 5%. It commonly poses a diagnostic challenge due to lack of diagnostic suspicion index because of its rarity and especially when it is associated with a long history of benignity. Adenoid cystic carcinoma is a tumor of salivary glands even though it is not frequent. Moreover, it can rarely occur in other body parts, such as nose, paranasal sinuses, lungs, uterine cervix, and many others. Case Report: We present a case of an 18-year-old boy with a diagnosis of ACC of the nasal cavity. The patient had a 10-year history of long-standing chronic inflammatory condition presenting as rhinitis. However, after a period of two years later following the initial diagnosis, the tumor became aggressive and it presented with ulceration, causing erosion of the nasal bone as well as auto-exenteration of the right eye. Conclusion: Adenoid cystic carcinoma involving the nose and other paranasal sites ought to be deemed as a tumor with sometimes long-standing history of benignity which needs high index of suspicion for being able to detect it in order to improve outcome of the patients.
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    The role of a minimum immunohistochemical antibody panel in confirming undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A cross-sectional study at the Muhimbili national hospital, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
    (Wolters Kluwer ‑ Medknow, 2019) Mremi, Alex; Yahaya, James; Abraham, Zephania; Mwakigonja, Amos
    Introduction: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant epithelial neoplasm arising in the nasopharyngeal mucosa that shows light microscopic and/or ultrastructural evidence of squamous differentiation. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) can be used to reliably distinguish undifferentiated NPC from other malignant tumors, and the technique may be a necessary tool toward the arrival of a definitive diagnosis, particularly when dealing with challenging cases. Materials and Methods: This was a cross‑sectional hospital‑based study which was conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital. The study involved 120 patients with NPC who were diagnosed on histopathological basis between 2009 and 2013. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) stain in diagnosing NPC were 99% and 30.4%, respectively. The accuracy of H and E stain to diagnose NPC and lymphoma was 94.2% and 30.4%, respectively. CD45 antibody helped to confirm 16 cases which were diagnosed as NPC on H and E stain to be lymphoma. Further, AE1/AE3 antibody helped to confirm one case who was diagnosed as rhabdomyosarcoma on H and E stain to be NPC. Conclusions: The sensitivity and accuracy of H and E stains to diagnose NPC were very high whereas the specificity was very low. A significant proportion of previously diagnosed NPC cases by routine H and E stains were confirmed not to be so by a minimal IHC antibody panel of pan‑cytokeratin cocktail (AE1/AE3) and leukocyte common antigen (CD45). This highlights the paramount importance of a minimum IHC panel in assisting to obtain a definitive diagnosis in challenging cases of NPC.