Introduction: Osteoarthritis of knee is more common among all types of arthritic conditions. High tibial osteotomy is an accepted surgical technique for treatment of medial compartment arthrosis of knee in younger patients. Selection of the appropriate patients, extensive pre-operative planning and accurate surgical technique are essential for successful outcome. The methods of high tibial osteotomy include open wedge osteotomy and closed wedge osteotomy, the later procedure being more popular. Aims and Objectives: To assess the functional outcome among patients undergoing high tibial osteotomy. Methodology: A hospital based prospective interventional study was done on 30 patients of osteoarthritis with varus deformity. For all the 30 patients after a proper preoperative assessment the surgical intervention in the form of high tibial osteotomy was done and the outcome was evaluated using knee society scoring system. Results: Among the study population 73.3% of the patients had grade III type of osteoarthritis and only 26.6% had grade IV type of osteoarthritis based on Kellgren and Lawrence type of classification. The mean knee score and the mean functional score of the patients before surgery were 54.6 and 53.9 respectively and post operatively at the end of 12 months the knee score and functional score was 83.1 and 82 respectively. A statistically significant improvement was seen in both the knee society score and the functional score. Conclusion:The main improvements seen in this study was the increase in the knee score and functional score after high tibial osteotomy for the patients of osteoarthritis with varus deformity. Appropriate patient selection, proper osteotomy types and precise surgical techniques are essential for the success of high tibial osteotomy.

Cervical screening programs involve a combination of cervical smear cytology, high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV) testing, colposcopy and histology from either targeted biopsies or excisional treatment biopsies. [1][2][3] Error can occur at both the collection and analysis stages, 3,4 and therefore, an integrated approach to treatment and surveillance is required. High-risk HPV testing has become the preferred primary testing method in Australia, UK and USA, 2,3,5 and is planned for implementation in New Zealand in the coming years. 6 Due to the subjective nature of pathological interpretation, as well as the inherent heterogeneity in sampling by smear takers and colposcopists, discordance between cytology and histology arises in around one in four cases. 7,8 International guidelines therefore recommend cytopathological review as part of the

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Optimal cytoreduction (OCR) remains the gold standard treatment of ovarian cancer. Current radiological imaging has limited sensitivity and specificity in prediction of achieving OCR prior to surgery. This prospective pilot study included 50 patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma. Prior to the main laparotomy, a mini-laparotomy-just large enough to allow a hand in-was performed. A decision was then made as to whether achieving OCR is "possible", "not possible" or lastly "unsure". Formal laparotomy then followed. At the end of the formal laparotomy, cytoreduction was regarded as either "optimal" or "suboptimal" based on residual disease. Out of 45 cases where results were deemed suitable for analysis, 27 were regarded as "OCR possible", out of which OCR was achieved in 24 cases following full laparotomy. Ten were commented upon as "unsure" and only in three cases OCR was feasible. Eight were classed as "OCR not possible" and in none of these OCR was obtained. The only noted complication associated with minilaparotomy was bleeding in just three cases (6%). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of mini-laparotomy were 100%, 73%, 89% and 100%, respectively. However, when "unsure", only in 30% OCR was achieved. We concluded that mini-laparotomy is a safe, simple and effective technique for predicting feasibility of OCR. This simple technique could obviate the need for full laparotomy in patients who may benefit from neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.

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