Introduction Dysphagia is highly prevalent in patients with a history of recurrent acid peptic disease. Endoscopy is the mainstay of diagnostic workup of these patients to reach underlying cause and appropriate subsequent treatment. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency of various types of endoscopic findings in patients with dysphagia and the association of these findings with gender, age and duration of symptoms. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Gastroenterology of a tertiary care hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A total of 137 patients who presented with a history of dysphagia for at least two weeks were enrolled in the study. Duration of symptoms was noted, and all patients underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to find out the cause of dysphagia. Tissue biopsies were obtained, and further histopathological examination was performed to correlate the findings with symptoms of dysphagia. Results A total of 137 patients were enrolled for six months. The mean age of the patients was 56.9 ± 17.44 years, and the mean duration of symptoms was 15.96 ± 12.31 weeks. There were 65 (47.4%) males and 72 (52.6%) females in the study. Majority of them, 123 (89.8%), presented with a short duration of symptoms that varied between 2-24 weeks and were mainly middle-aged (31-60 years) and old-aged (61-80 years). The most commonly observed endoscopic findings were esophageal stricture in 25 (18.2%), achalasia cardia in 20 (14.6%), esophageal mass in 12 (8.8%) and reflux esophagitis in 7 (5%) patients. No association was seen between age, gender and duration of symptoms and findings on the endoscopy. Conclusion Dysphagia is associated with many endoscopic findings that are not related to demographic variables and must be evaluated earlier to reduce further morbidity and mortality.

Objective: Demographics of HCC in Pakistan. Correlation of HCC with its possible etiology. Correlation of tumoraggressiveness with PCR status and anti-viral treatment. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from Jul 2017 to Jun 2018. Methodology: Patients with age >18 years presenting with space occupying lesion(s) of liver were confirmed to be HCC according to standard guidelines. The variables such as age, gender, presence of cirrhosis, etiology of cirrhosis, tumor staging, viral status through PCR study and the treatment offered were documented. Baseline descriptive data was reported as mean with SD for continuous variables. Chi square test was used to compare qualitative data. Results: A total of 195 patients were enrolled for one year. Male population with HCC was in predominance (75.9%). Sixty one percent of the afflicted population was having liver cirrhosis, 34.9% had decompensated cirrhosis and 3.8% had no cirrhosis. HCV accounted for the bulk of patients with cirrhosis (82%) followed by HBV (9.2%), HBV and HCV co-infection (3.1%), NASH and cryptogenic cirrhosis (1.5% each). Majority got diagnosed with triphasic CECT scan Abdomen, only 3.6% needed liver biopsy for diagnosis. Majority (43.6%) belonged to BCLC B. Viral PCR was positive for 58.5% and 73.8% of the patients were treatment naïve. Conclusion: HCC shows highest rates seen in male patients presenting in old age. Gender, classes of cirrhosis, number of lesions, portal vein thrombosis and extrahepatic metastasis correlated with possible risk factors of HCC. Tumor aggressiveness correlated with PCR status..............