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Background: Advanced‐staging radiography is used inconsistently for patients with early‐stage (stage I + II) breast cancer. However, accurate and appropriate staging of newly diagnosed breast cancer may significantly impact treatment decisions. Methods: Four hundred and ninety‐nine patients with stages II and III breast cancer were seen in the breast service at Waitemata DHB, New Zealand from 2013 to 2018 were enrolled in the study and audited for radiological staging. Results: One hundred and two stage II patients had computed tomography (CT) at baseline; 88 of 102 (86%) of stage II patients were node‐positive (≥N1) with six patients (6.8%) having distant metastatic disease, and were upstaged to stage IV. Fifty‐two stage III patients out of 72 (72%) had baseline staging CTs. Nine out of 52 patients (17%) of stage III patients were upstaged to stage IV. Despite guideline recommendations, baseline staging for T4 disease (stage IIIB) was poor, with only 7 out of 13 patients with stage IIIB disease radiologically staged. Conclusion: Consideration for baseline radiological staging should be given to stages II and III, cN1 breast cancer patients, in which diagnosis of distant metastatic disease would change the treatment plan. Regional guidelines for baseline radiological staging for breast cancer patients may have an impact on patient management in breast cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Quality performance indicators (QPI) are objective measurements of aspects of patient care that affect clinical outcome. This study investigates the compliance rate to published QPIs of gastric adenocarcinoma (GA) management, in a single institution, to determine areas of strong performance and those requiring improvement. Methods: All patients with GA treated from 2010 to 2015, and 2020 to 2021 were included. Electronic data in the form of clinic letters, operation notes, and histology and radiology reports were reviewed with ethics approval. QPI adherence was collected in binary form. Results: QPIs with high compliance rate include preoperative radiological staging and histological diagnosis, subspecialty surgeon training and pathology report documentation. QPIs with low compliance include perioperative chemotherapy (31.6%), postoperative radiological surveillance (32.5%) and minimally invasive approaches to surgical resection (12.5%). Conclusions: QPIs from the systematic review are variably implemented in clinical practice, thus informing on their relevance to real world clinical practice whilst also identifying the areas requiring focus for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most common site of infection is the lung.[1] New Zealand is classified as a low TB incidence country with ~300 new cases diagnosed per year.[2] Intra-abdominal TB is notorious for non-specific presentation without the classic B-symptoms of fevers, night sweats and weight loss. We present a 59 years-old female patient with a 5 days history of generalized abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, anorexia and fevers. Gastroduodenal TB is uncommon, accounting for ~1-6% of all abdominal TB.[[3]] Common presenting symptoms are abdominal pain, distension, nausea and vomiting and diarrhoea. [Extracted from the article]