DEFINITION

It is a condition in which an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) occurs within the brain .This causes increased pressure inside the skull

SYMPTOMS

Babies:

• Rapid head growth
• vomiting
• sleepiness
• seizures
• Downward pointing of eyes

Adults

• Headache
• Double vision
• Poor balance
• Urinary incontinence
• Personality changes
• Mental impairment
• Sleepiness

CAUSES

• Too much CSF is produced
• One of the ventricles in brain is blocked or narrowed, stopping or restricting the flow of CSF so that it cannot leave the brain
• CSF cannot filter into the blood stream

Congenital hydrocephalus

• CMV
• German measles
• Mumps
• Syphilis
• Taxoplasmosis

Acquired hydrocephalus

• Brain hemorrhage
• Brain lesions
• Brain tumors
• Meningitis
• Stroke

TYPES

1. Congenital Hydrocephalus: It is one of the most common developmental disabilities , more common than Down’s Syndrome or deafness. It may be caused by an infection in the mother during pregnancy such as rubella, or mumps or a birth defect such as spina bifida
2. Acquired Hydrocephalus: This develops after birth, usually after a stroke , brain tumor , meningitis etc
3. Communicating Hydrocephalus: This type occurs when the CSF becomes blocked after leaving the ventricles. It is called communicating because CSF can still flow between the brain ventricles
4. Non communicating: Also called Obstructive hydrocephalus occurs when the thin connections between the ventricles become blocked

RISK FACTORS

• Premature birth infants born preterm have a higher risk of intraventricular hemorrhage or bleeding within the ventricles of the brain which may result in hydrocephalus
• Problems during pregnancy
• Problems with fetal development, cord or brain
• Infections of the nervous system
• Bleeding in the brain
• Severe head injury

TREATMENT

One of two surgical treatments may be used to treat hydrocephalus

SHUNT:

The most common treatment of hydrocephalus is the surgical insertion of a drainage system , called shunt. It consists of a long flexible tube with a valve that keeps fluid from the brain flowing in the right direction and at the proper rate. One of the tubing is usually placed in one of the brains ventricles. The tubing is then tunneled under the skin to another part of the body where the excess CSF can more easily absorbed

ENDOSCOPIC THIRD VENTRICULOSTOMY:

It is a surgical procedure , in which your surgeon uses a small video camera to have direct vision inside the brain. Your surgeon makes a hole in the bottom of the one of the ventricles  or between the ventricles to enable CSF to flow out of the brain

To get opinion from our network of hospitals visit www.mvtbooking.com or send email to query@gtsmeditour.com

Prepared by :Dr Sajna Hamza

INTRODUCTION

Leukemia is a broad term of cancer of the blood cells . The type of leukemia depends on the type of blood cells that becomes cancer and whether it grows quickly or slowly

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms vary depending on the type of leukemia. Common signs and symptoms include

• Fever and chills
• Persistent fatigue ,weakness
• Frequent or severe infections
• Losing weight without trying
• Swollen lymph nodes enlarged liver or spleen
• Easy bleeding or bruising
• Recurrent nose bleeds
• Tiny red spots in your skin
• Excessive sweating, especially at night
• Bone pain or tenderness

TYPES

Leukemia is broadly categorized as acute or chronic. Acute Leukemia are more aggressive and involve immature blood cells where chronic leukemia tend to develop more slowly and involve mature blood cells. Leukemia is further classified by the type of cells that are affected.

• Acute lymphocytic leukemia
• Acute myelogenous leukemia
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
• Chronic myelogenous leukemia

RISK FACTORS

• A genetic predisposition
• Downs syndrome
• Human lymphotropic virus
• Exposure to petro chemicals
• Extensive exposure to artificial radiations
• Tobacco use
• Use of certain hair dyes

STAGING

• Acute lymphocytic leukemia- staged based  of type of lymphocyte and  the maturity of the cells
• Acute myelogenous leukemia- staged using the French-American -British system ,which takes into account the number of healthy blood cells , the size and number of leukemia cells the changes in the chromosomes of the leukemia cells and other abnormalities
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia-Staged using the Rai system which considers 3 main factors , the number of lymphocytes in the blood, the degree of lymph node ,spleen, or liver enlargement and the presence of anemia or thrombocytopenia
• Chronic myelogenous leukemia- Staged based on the number of diseased cells found in blood and bone marrow tests

TREATMENT

Common treatment to fight leukemia include

• Chemotherapy- it is the major form of treatment for leukemia. Depending on the type of Leukemia you have , you may receive a single drug or a combination of drugs
• Targeted therapy- It focus on specific abnormalities present within cancer cells
• Radiation therapy- You may receive radiation  in one specific area of your body where there is collection of leukemia cells or may receive radiation over your whole body
• Bone marrow transplant- Prior to bone marrow transplant , you receive very high doses of chemo therapy or radiation therapy to destroy your leukemia producing cells
• Immuno therapy – Immuno therapy uses your immune system to fight cancer . Your body’s disease fighting immune system may not attack your cancer cells produce proteins that help them hide from the immune system cells. Immunotherapy works by interfying with that process

 

To get opinion from our network of hospitals visit www.mvtbooking.com or send email to query@gtsmeditour.com

Prepared by: Dr Sajna Hamza

DEFINITION

Lung cancer occurs when cells divide in the lungs uncontrollably .This causes tumors to grow .These can reduce a persons ability to breathe and spread to other parts of the body

TYPES

Main types are

• Non small cell lung cancer – there are three subtypes

1. adenocarcinoma
2. squamous cell cancer
3. large cell carcinoma

• Small cell lung cancer- these type tend to grow more quickly than non small cell lung cancer

SYMPTOMS

Early symptoms

• A cough that wont quit or changes
• Breathing changes or wheezing
• Body pain
• Raspy ,hoarse voice
• Drop in weight

Advanced symptoms

• Fatigue
• Pain
• Breathing
• Persistent coughing
• Loss of appetite
• Coughing blood

CAUSES

90 % are caused by smoking .From the moment you inhale smoke into your lungs it starts damaging your lung tissue .  Once cells get damaged they behave abnormally and eventually cancer may develop

RISK FACTORS

• Smoking
• Exposure to secondary smoke
• Previous radiation therapy
• Exposure to radon gas
• Exposure to asbestos and other carcinogens
• Family history

COMPLICATIONS

• Shortness  of breath
• Coughing up blood
• Pain
• Fluid in chest ( pleural effusion)
• Metastasis

TESTS

• Imaging tests-X ray, CT
• Sputum cytology
• Tissue sample ( biopsy)

TREATMENT 

• SURGERY-During surgery your surgeon works to remove the lung cancer and a margin of healthy tissue. Procedures to remove lung cancer include:

a)Wedge resection – to remove a small section of lung that contains the tumor alone with a margin of                                                                                                     healthy tissue

b)Segmental resection- to remove a larger portion of lung but not an entire lobe

c)Lobectomy- to remove the entire lobe of one lung

d)Pneumonectomy-to remove entire lung

• RADIATION THERAPY – For people with locally advanced lung cancer ,radiation may be used before surgery  before surgery or after surgery. Its often combined with chemotherapy treatment
• CHEMOTHERAPY- Chemotherapy is often used after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may remain .It can be used alone or in combined  with radiation therapy. Chemotherapy may also be used before surgery to shrink cancers and make them easier to  remove
• TARGETED DRUG THERAPY- These treatments focus on specific abnormalities present within cancer cells. By blocking these abnormalities , targeted drug treatments can cause cancer cells to die
• IMMUNO THERAY- Immuno therapy uses your immune system to fight cancer. Your body’s  disease fighting immune system may not attack your cancer because the cancer cells produce proteins that help them hide from the immune system cells
• PALLIATIVE CARE-People with lung cancer often experiences signs and symptoms of the caner as well as side effects of the treatment .Supportive care also known as palliative care is a specialty area of medicine  that involves working with a doctor to minimize your signs and symptoms

 

To get opinion from our network of hospitals visit mvtbooking.com or send email to query@gtsmeditour.com

Prepared by-Dr Sajna Hamza

DEFINITION

A cancer in a mans prostate , a small walnut sized gland that produces seminal fluid . A mans prostate produces the seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sperm. It is one of the most common types of cancer. Many prostate cancers grow slowly and are confined to the prostate gland, where they may not cause serious harm. However while some types  of prostate cancer grow slowly and may need minimal or even no treatment other types are aggressive and can spread quickly.

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms and signs of prostate cancer may include

• Frequent urination
• Weak or interrupted urine flow or the need to strain to empty the bladder.
• The urge to urinate frequently at night
• Blood in the urine
• New onset of erectile dysfunction
• Pain or burning during urination which is much less common
• Discomfort or pain when sitting caused by an enlarged prostate

Other noncancerous conditions of the prostate such as BPH or an enlarged prostate can cause similar symptoms .Or the cause of a symptom may be a different medical condition that is also not related to cancer .Urinary symptoms also can be caused by an infection of the bladder or other conditions

If cancer spread outside of the prostate gland symptoms may include

• Pain in the back , hips ,thigh ,shoulders or other bones
• Swelling or fluid build up in the legs or feet
• Unexplained weight loss
• Fatigue
• Change in bowel habits

CAUSES

Its  not clear what causes prostate cancer. Prostate cancer begins when cells in the prostate develop changes in this DNA. A  cells DNA contains the instruction that tell the cells to grow and divide more rapidly than normal cells do. The abnormal cells continue living , when other cells would die. The accumulating abnormal cells form a tumor that can grow to invade nearby tissue . In time some abnormal cells can break away and spread metastasize to other parts of the body

RISK FACTORS

• Age
• Race
• Family history
• Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer  (HBOC)
• Other genetic changes
• Eating habits

COMPLICATIONS

• Erectile dysfunction
• Incontinences
• Metastasis

STAGES OF PROSTATE CANCER

TNM Staging:

TNM system is a way of staging prostate cancer. TNM stands for Tumor, Node, Metastasis

T1-T1 means the cancer is too small to be seen on a scan , or felt during examination of the prostate. Its  divided into T1a, T1b, T1c.T1ameans that the cancer is in less than 5% of the removed tissue.T1b means that the cancer is in 5 % or more of the removed tissue . T1c cancers are found by biopsy for example after a raised PSA level

T2-T2 means the cancer is completely inside the prostate gland. Its divided into T2a, T2b and T2c.T2a means the cancer is  in only half of one side of the prostate gland.T2b  means the cancer is in more than half of one side of the prostate gland , but not both sides.T2c means the cancer is in both sides but is still inside the prostate gland

T3-T3 means the cancer has broken through the capsule of the prostate gland. Its divided into T3a and T3b.T3a means the cancer has broken through the capsule of the prostate gland.T3b means the cancer has spread into the tubes that carry semen.

T4z-T4 means the cancer has spread into other body organs nearby such as  the back passage ,bladder or the pelvic wall

NODES-N

NODES(N) describes whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes. N is split into N0 and N1 . No means that the nearby lymph nodes does not contain cancer cells.N1 means there are cancer cells in lymph node near the prostate

METASTASIS-M

M describes whether the cancer has spread to different part of the body

There are two stages- M0 and M1.M0 -cancer has not spread to other parts of the body,M1 -cancer has spread to other parts of the body

TREATMENT

Considering the factors like

• The size of your tumor and how far it has spread .This is called the stage of your disease
• How quickly the tumor is likely to grow
• Your age and how healthy you are
• Your personal preferences

1. Surgery-Its an option if you are healthy and your cancer has not spread. There are several types. Your doctor may only remove your prostate gland or they might take it and the tissue around it
2. Radiation- this treatment uses high energy beams to kill the cancer cells. Its often a chance if your cancer is low grade  or  still only in your prostate
3. Proton beam radiation -This special type of radiation therapy uses very small particles to attack and kill cancer cells that have not spread
4. Hormone therapy- Prostate cancer cells need male hormone testosterone to keep growing . This treatment keeps the cancer cells from getting them
5. Chemo therapy- Drugs that you take by mouth or through  IV travel  through your body, attacking and killing cancer cells and shrinking tumors
6. Immuno therapy- This treatment works with your immune system to fight the disease
7. Cryotherapy- If you have early  prostate cancer your doctor may choose to kill cancer cells by freezing them
8. High intensity focused ultra sound- This device produce sound waves that deliver heat energy to kill cancer cells

 

 

To get opinion from our network of hospitals visit mvtbooking.com or send email to query@gtsmeditour.com

Prepared by : Dr Sajna Hamza

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Radiation therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors .Radiation therapy most often uses X-rays but protons or other types of energy also can be used

The term radiation therapy most often refers to external beam radiation therapy. During this type of radiation the high energy beams come from a machine outside of your body that aims the beams at a precise point on your body. Radiation therapy damages cells by destroying the genetic material that controls how cells grow and divide . While both healthy and cancerous cells are damaged by radiation therapy is to destroy as few normal healthy cells as possible .Normal cells can often repair much of the damage caused by radiation

TYPES OF RADIATION THERAPY

There are two broad types of radiation therapy-Internal and external

External beam radiation : It is the most common type of radiation treatment for cancer. External means that the energy beams come from a machine outside of the body. A health care professional precisely aims  the beams to reach the cancer site .Another name for external beam radiation is teletherapy

Internal beam radiation : The second main type of radiation treatment is internal radiation therapy also known as brachy therapy. During this treatment a doctor places an implant containing radiation in or near the cancer site

Systemic radiation therapy : Systemic radiation therapy is another kind of internal radiation therapy . It requires a person to swallow a radioactive substance,  which travels throughout the body to find and kill the cancerous cells. Alternatively a health care professional may inject the radio active substance into a persons vein.

GOALS

Radiation oncologists use radiation therapy to destroy cancer cells and slow tumor growth while limiting the harm to nearby healthy tissue. Sometimes doctors recommend radiation therapy as the first cancer treatment .Other times people receive radiation therapy after surgery or therapies using meditation like chemotherapy .This is called adjuvant therapy. It targets cancer cells remaining after the initial treatment . When it is not possible to destroy all the cancer , the doctors may use radiation therapy to shrink tumors and relieve symptoms. This is called palliative radiation therapy. Palliative radiation therapy may reduce pressure , pain and other symptoms. The goal is to improve a persons quality of life.

SIDE EFFECTS

• Hair loss
• Appetite changes
• Mouth and throat changes
• Trouble swallowing
• Swelling
• Coughing
• Diarrhea
• Nausea and vomiting
• Urinary and bladder changes
• Sexual changes
• Fatigue
• Skin reactions

To get opinion  from our network of hospitals visit mvtbooking.com or send email to query@gtsmeditour.com

Prepared by: Dr Sajna Hamza

INTRODUCTION

Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that uses powerful chemicals to kill fast growing cells in your body.Chemotherapy is most often used to treat cancer  since cancer cells grow and multiply much more quickly than most cells in the body.

Chemotherapy is often used in combination with other therapies, such as surgery, radiation or hormone therapy.The use of combination therapy depends on

• The stage and type of cancer you have
• your overall health
• previous cancer treatments you have had
• the location of the cancer cells
• your personal treatment preferences

Chemotherapy has been proven to effectively attack cancer cells, but it can cause serious side effects that can severely impact your quality of life.

WHY CHEMOTHERAPY IS USED ?

Chemotherapy is primarily used to

• lower the total number of cancer cells in your body
• reduce the likelihood of cancer spread
• shrink tumor size
• reduce current symptoms

SIDE EFFECTS

• Fatigue
• Hair loss
• infection
• anemia
• nausea and vomiting
• appetite changes
• constipation
• diarrhea
• mouth,tongue and throat problems such as sores and with swallowing
• Peripheral neuropathy
• skin and nail changes
• weight changes mood changes
• fertility problems

PROCEDURE

Chemotherapy is typically given in pill form or directly into veins by injection or an IV.In addition to these two  forms, chemotherapy may also be administered in several other ways.

Chemotherapy delivery option include the following

• Chemotherapy can be delivered directly into the tumor ,depending on the tumors location
• Some skin cancers can be treated with chemotherapy creams
• Chemotherapy can be delivered to a specific part of the body through localized treatments such as directly into abdomen ,chest ,CNS or into bladder through urethra
• some types of chemotherapy can be taken by mouth through pills.
• liquid chemotherapy drugs can be delivered in single shots

GOALS

The goal of chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer , its location and persons unique circumstances.Based on the specific goal there are three main categories of chemotherapy treatment

• Curative: the therapy attempts to destroy all cancer cells so that a person is cancer free
• Adjuvant or neoadjuvant :The therapy  targets cancer cells remaining in the body after surgery or attempts to shrink cancerous growths prior to surgery
• Palliative:If the cancer cells cant be eliminated ,treatment can focus on relieving symptoms slowing cancer  growth

Chemotherapy is often just one part of a larger treatment plan.It may be given with other treatments like radiation surgery or other medication

For getting opinion from our network of hospitals visit www.mvtbooking.com or send email to query@gtsmeditour .com

Prepared by: Dr Sajna Hamza

DEFINITION

A Bone marrow transplant is a medical treatment that replaces your bone marrow with healthy cells.The replacement cells can either come from your body or from a donor .

TYPES

• Allogeneic stem cell transplant
• Autologous stem cell transplant

ALLOGENEIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANT

An allogeneic stem cell transplant uses healthy blood stem cells from a donor to replace your diseased or damaged bone marrow.A donor may be a family member, an acquaintance or someone you dont know

AUTOLOGOUS STEM CELL TRANSPLANT

An autologous stem cell transplant uses healthy blood stem cells from your own body to replace your diseased or damaged bone arrow.An autologous stem cell transplant is also called an autologous bone marrow transplant

USES

• Safely allow treatment of your condition with high dose of chemotherapy or radiation by replacing or rescuing the bone marrow damaged by treatment
• Replace diseased or damaged marrow with new cells
• Provide new stem cells which can help kill cancer cells directly

Bone marrow transplants can benefit people with a variety of both cancerous and non cancerous diseases including

• Acute  leukemia
• Aplastic anaemia
• Bone marrow failure syndrome
• Chronic leukemias
• Hemoglobinoplathies
• Hodgkins lymphoma
• Immune deficiencies
• Multiple myeloma
• Neuro blastoma
• Non hodgkins lymphoma
• Plasma cell disorders

COMPLICATIONS

Short complications

• drop in blood pressure
• headache
• nausea
• pain
• shortness of breath
• chills
• fever

Long term complications

• Graft versus host disease (GVHD) which is a condition in which donor cells attack your body
• Graft failure which occurs when transplanted cells dont begin producing new cells as planned
• Bleeding in lungs ,brain and other parts of body
• Cataracts
• Damage of vital organs
• Early menopause
• Anemia
• Infections

PROCEDURE

When your doctor thinks you are ready  you will have the transplant .The procedure is similar to a blood transfusion.If you are having an allogeneic transplant bone marrow cells will be harvested from your donor a day or two before your procedure .If your own cells are being used, they will be retrieved from the stem cell bank

Cell are collected in two ways.During a bone marrow harvest cells are collected from both hipbones through   needle.Your are under anesthesia for this procedure meaning you will be asleep and free of any pain

OUTLOOK

The body’s response to a bone marrow transplant varies greatly from person to person .Factors such as age overall health and the reason for the transplant can all affect a persons long term outlook.If a person receives a bone marrow transplant to treat cancer ,their outlook depends in part on how far the cancer has spread .Cancer  that has spread far from its origin for example respond less to the treatment

For getting opinion from our network of hospitals visit www.mvtbooking.com or send email to query@gtsmeditour.com

Prepared by : Dr Sajna Hamza