BackgroundIn the PORTEC-3 trial, women with high-risk endometrial cancer (HR-EC) were randomised to receive pelvic radiotherapy (RT) with or without concurrent and adjuvant chemotherapy (two cycles of cisplatin 50 mg/m2 in weeks 1 and 4 of RT, followed by four cycles of carboplatin AUC5 and paclitaxel 175 mg/m2). Pathology review was required before patient enrolment. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the role of central pathology review before randomisation.Patients and methodsA total of 1295 cases underwent pathology review to confirm HR-EC in the Netherlands (n = 395) and the UK (n = 900), and for 1226/1295 (95%) matching review and original reports were available. In total, 329 of these patients were enrolled in the PORTEC-3 trial: 145 in the Netherlands and 184 in the UK, comprising 48% of the total PORTEC-3 cohort of 686 participants. Areas of discrepancies were evaluated, and inter-observer agreement between original and review opinion was evaluated by calculating the kappa value (κ).ResultsIn the 1226 pathology reviews, 6356 selected items were evaluable for both original and review pathology. In 43% of cases at least one pathology item changed after review. For 102 patients (8%), this discrepancy led to ineligibility for the PORTEC-3 trial, most frequently due to differences in the assessment of histological type (34%), endocervical stromal involvement (27%) and histological grade (19%). Lowest inter-observer agreement was found for histological type (κ = 0.72), lymph-vascular space invasion (κ = 0.72) and histological grade (κ = 0.70).ConclusionCentral pathology review by expert gynaeco-pathologists changed histological type, grade or other items in 43% of women with HR-EC, leading to ineligibility for the PORTEC-3 trial in 8%. Upfront pathology review is essential to ensure enrolment of the target trial-population, and to avoid over- or undertreatment, especially when treatment modalities with substantial toxicity are involved.This study is registered with ISRCTN (ISRCTN14387080, www.controlled-trials.com) and with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00411138).

Recirculation is an important issue in haemodialysis (HD) patients as increased percent recirculation causes decreased dialysis delivery of the patients. The purpose of the study was to determine the amount and factors of recirculation in those patients. The study was a cross sectional one carried in the department of Nephrology, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital during October 2010 to September 2011. A total of 118 end stage renal disease patients with arterio-venous fistula who were on HD for more than 3 months were purposively selected. The degree of recirculation was measured with urea based two needle technique method. For each patient distances between arterial and venous and distances of needles from fistula and its directions were recorded. Echocardiography and A-V fistula Colour Doppler Ultrasound were also performed. The mean A-V fistula recirculation was 8.1±5.5% with a range 0-66%. The most common factors were close proximity and improper arterial and venous needles placement. No difference was observed between diabetic and non diabetic also between hypertensive and normotensive. A-V fistula recirculation is common occurrence in HD patients and the most common factors of recirculation are misplacement and close proximity of needles therefore emphasis should be given on education and training of HD staffs.

To ensure that potential kidney donors in Bangladesh have no renal impairment, it is extremely important to have accurate methods for evaluating the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). We evaluated the performance of serum creatinine based GFR in healthy adult potential kidney donors in Bangladesh to compare GFR determined by DTPA with that determined by various prediction equations. In this study GFR in 61 healthy adult potential kidney donors were measured with 99 m Tc-diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (DTPA) renogram. We also estimated GFR using a four variable equation modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD), Cockcroft-Gault creatinine clearance (CG CrCl), Cockcroft-Gault glomerular filtration rate (CG-GFR). The mean age of study population was 34.31±9.46 years and out of them 65.6% was male. In this study mean mGFR was 85.4±14.8. Correlation of estimated GFR calculated by CG-CrCl, CG-GFR and MDRD were done with measured GFR DTPA using quartile. Kappa values were also estimated which was found to be 0.104 for (p=0.151), 0.336 for (p=0.001) and 0.125 for (p=0.091) respectively. This indicates there is no association between estimated GFR calculated by CG-CrCl, CG-GFR, MDRD with measured GFR DTPA. These results show poor performance of these equations in evaluation of renal function among healthy population and also raise question regarding validity of these equations for assessment of renal function in chronic kidney disease in our population.

Background: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a significant manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that affects the kidneys. Differentiating between active and inactive LN is essential for determining disease activity, tailoring treatment strategies, and monitoring patient outcomes. The clinical and laboratory status of LN patients provides valuable insights into the severity of renal involvement, response to treatment, and the potential for disease progression. Objective: To asses clinical and laboratory status of active and inactive LN patients. Method: This cross sectional study was conducted in the Department of Nephrology, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka from January, 2017 to June, 2018. This cross sectional study was performed on 60 biopsy proven lupus nephritis patients and 30 age and sex matched apparently healthy control subjects. All the patients were recruited as per inclusion and exclusion criteria. Diagnosed SLE patients who had renal involvement and undergone renal biopsy for standard clinical indications were recruited by purposive sampling and divided into two groups of active and inactive LN as per operational definition. Results: During the study, Mean age of the lupus nephritis patients in active and inactive LN was 26.60 ± 8.36 years and 28.80 ± 9.18 years respectively. Most of the patients in both groups were female. Anaemia and edema was observed significantly higher in active than that of inactive lupus nephritis. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher in active lupus nephritis than that of inactive lupus nephritis patients. Hb, serum C3 and eGFR were significantly lower in active LN than that of inactive LN. RBC, WBC, platelet count were also lower in active LN than that of inactive LN but no significant difference was observed between two groups. ESR, serum creatinine, proteinuria, Anti ds DNA Ab titre and uMCP-1 were significantly higher in active LN than that of inactive LN. There was no difference between active and inactive LN patients with regards the use of medications. There was no difference in renal biopsy classes in between two groups. Conclusion: According to our study findings, active lupus nephritis (LN) patients exhibited elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to those with inactive LN. Additionally, active LN patients displayed lower levels of hemoglobin, serum C3, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) compared to inactive LN patients. While red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), and platelet counts were also lower in active LN patients, the difference between the two groups did not reach statistical significance. Furthermore, there were no notable differences in medication usage between active and inactive LN patients, and the distribution of renal biopsy classes was similar in both groups.