Department of Pathology

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Browsing Department of Pathology by Author "Abdullah, Ibtisam"

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    Adult T-cell leukaemia / lymphoma in an adolescent patient : expect the unexpected
    (AOSIS, 2020-05-25) Abdullah, Ibtisam; Nell, Erica-Mari; Chapanduka, Zivanai C.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This case study explores a clinicopathological presentation of Adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL) at Tygerberg Hospital; a disease associated with adulthood noted in an adolescent patient. Adult T-cell leukaemia–lymphoma oncogenesis develops through a multistep process with an accumulation of mutations. Infection through human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the first step of a multistep process resulting in eventual clonal proliferation of mature T-cells. There is a long latency period of 20–50 years from the time of infection with HTLV-1 to the development of symptoms of ATLL; thus, ATLL is a malignancy associated with adulthood. The median age of diagnosis is 58, ranging from the third to ninth decade of life. This is an ideal learning case as it highlights the importance of recognising ATLL in children and young adults in our population.
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    The impact of physician education regarding the importance of providing complete clinical information on the request forms of thrombophilia-screen tests at Tygerberg hospital in South Africa
    (Public Library of Science, 2020-08-06) Abdullah, Ibtisam; Jafta, Andrea D.; Chapanduka, Zivanai C.
    Background: Thrombophilia-screen tests are specialised haemostasis tests that are affected by numerous unique patient variables including the presence of acute thrombosis, the concomitant use of medication and patient demographics. Complete information on the request form is therefore crucial for the haematological pathologist to make patient-specific interpretation of patients’ results. Objectives: To assess the completeness of thrombophilia-screen test request forms and determine the impact of provision of incomplete information, on the interpretive comments generated by reporting haematological pathologists. To assess the impact of an educational session given to clinicians on the importance of providing all the relevant information on the request forms. Method: Two retrospective audits, each covering 3 months, were performed to evaluate the completeness of demographic and clinical information on thrombophilia-screen request forms and its impact on the quality of the interpretive comments before and after an educational intervention. Results: One hundred and seventy-one request forms were included in the first audit and 146 in the second audit. The first audit revealed that all 171 thrombophilia-screen request forms had complete patient demographic information but none had clinical information. Haematological pathologists only made generic comments which could not be applied to a specific patient. The second audit, conducted after a physician educational session, did not reveal any improvement in the clinical information provision by the test-ordering physicians. This was reportedly due to the lack of space on the request form. The interpretive comments therefore remained generic and not patient-specific. Conclusion: Physicians’ failure to provide relevant clinical information made it impossible for pathologists to make patient-specific interpretation of the results. A single physician education session did not change the practice, reportedly due to the inappropriate design of the test request form. Further studies are required to investigate the impact of an improved request form and the planned electronic test requesting.