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Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
Timely publication of journal: Publication of manuscripts and bringing out the issue in time is one of the positive aspects of JCDR and is possible with strong support team in terms of peer reviewers, proof reading, language check, computer operators, etc. This is one of the great reasons for authors to submit their work with JCDR. Another best part of JCDR is "Online first Publications" facilities available for the authors. This facility not only provides the prompt publications of the manuscripts but at the same time also early availability of the manuscripts for the readers.
Indexation and online availability: Indexation transforms the journal in some sense from its local ownership to the worldwide professional community and to the public.JCDR is indexed with Embase & EMbiology, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Chemical Abstracts Service, Journal seek Database, Indian Science Abstracts, to name few of them. Manuscriptspublished in JCDR are available on major search engines ie; google, yahoo, msn.
In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
It is well said that "happy beginning is half done" and it fits perfectly with JCDR. It has grown considerably and I feel it has already grown up from its infancy to adolescence, achieving the status of standard online e-journal form Indian continent since its inception in Feb 2007. This had been made possible due to the efforts and the hard work put in it. The way the JCDR is improving with every new volume, with good quality original manuscripts, makes it a quality journal for readers. I must thank and congratulate Dr Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief JCDR and his team for their sincere efforts, dedication, and determination for making JCDR a fast growing journal.
Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."
Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011
Dr. Shankar P.R.
"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."
Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011 Anuradha
Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.
Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020
Case report
Full Version
Neck Schwannoma Masquerading As A Carotid Body Tumour
Correspondence Address :
Assistant Professor , dept of ENT, K S Hegde medical college ,
Deralakatte, Mangalore , Karnataka
Ph 9341920984
Email : drvinayvrao@gmail.com
Schwannomas, are uncommon nerve sheath neoplasms that may originate from any nerve of the body. These benign tumours often present as diagnostic and managementchallenges. A classical case of neck schwannoma was mimicking as a vascular tumour both clinically and radiologically which was surgically resected and later proved to be a scwannoma on histopathology.
Schwannoma, Carotid Body Tumor
Schwannomas which are also known as neurilemmomas, neuromas or neurinomas, are uncommon nerve sheath neoplasms that may originate from any peripheral, cranial or autonomic nerves of the body except the olfactory and the optic nerves. These are benign nerve sheath tumours which are composed of Schwann cells which normally produce myelin sheath around the nerves. Approximately 25% to 45% (1) of the schwannomas are located in the head and these often pose diagnostic and management challenges. Though a large proportion of the head and neck schwannoma studies are devoted to intracranial acoustic neuromas, the majority of head and neck schwannomas are non-vestibular and extracranial.
CASE HISTORY
A 50 yrs old female presented with the complaint of a painless swelling on the left side of the neck since 8 years, which progressively increased in size. There was no history of dizziness, tinnitus, dysphagia, dyspnoea, hoarseness or weight loss.
On examination, a 6x4 cm vertically ovoid swelling was found over the left side of the neck, extending vertically from the mastoid tip to the midpoint of the sternocliedomastoid muscle (SCM) and horizontally from 1 cm below the angle of the mandible to the posterior border of the SCM. A vessel was seen running superficially across the swelling, with visible pulsations (Table/Fig 1). It was firm in consistency, non tender and mobile horizontally. Expansile pulsations were felt in the swelling in sync with the radial pulse.
INVESTIGATIONS
FNAC – Bloody aspirate 24 hrs VMA < 7 mg/dl Blood routine, Clotting profile, Urine routine, RFT, LFT, Serum electrolytes – Normal
CT scan of the neck with contrast – A well defined encapsulated mass deep in the SCM, which was present at the bifurcation of the two carotids. It was a heterogeneous, contrast enhancing lesion. The internal jugular vein was compressed (Table/Fig 2).
Angiography – A vascular lesion was seen at the carotid bifurcation. The internal carotid artery was found to be winding around and running superficial to the swelling. The vascular supply was from the branches of the external carotid artery (ECA) (Table/Fig 3).
CLINICAL COURSE
With a provisional diagnosis of Carotid body tumour, the patient underwent the exploration of the neck. Per operatively, a well encapsulated mass was found at the bifurcation of the carotids with a few vascular feeders from the ECA. The upper cervical roots were attached to the swelling (Table/Fig 4). There was no extracapsular spread or invasion of the mass into the adjacent structures. The post operative period of the patient was uneventful.
HPE was suggestive of Schwannoma. Both the Antoni A and B cell patterns were seen (Table/Fig 5).
Schwannomas are uncommon nerve sheath neoplasms that may originate from any peripheral, cranial or autonomic nerves of the body with the exception of the olfactory and the optic nerves (2).
The parapharyngeal space is the most common non-vestibular head and neck schwannoma location. The most common nerves of origin were the vagus and the cervical sympathetic chain (3). Schwannomas are almost always diagnostic problems because their history and clinical examination are nonspecific and deceptive. The compression of the adjacent neurovascular structures (the hypoglossal and the vagus nerves) can further complicate the presentation. Vascular schwannomas can take up contrast on CT and MRI, thus making it difficult to differentiate it from carotid body tumour, which would classically show a salt and pepper appearance (4). Both the Antoni A and B cell patterns were seen on HPE. The predominance of the Antoni B cell pattern can cause an increased contrast uptake on CT scan (5).
Swellings arising in the neck at the bifurcation of the carotidartery are often mistaken to be carotid body tumours. Carotid body tumours are usually asymptomatic, slow growing tumours and they show splaying of the carotids on angiography which is known as the ‘lyre sign’.
With this case presentation and the review of literature, we could conclude that the location and the vascular and the histopathological pattern of the tumour causes a shwannoma to present as a carotid body tumour, thus posing a diagnostic challenge. Very few cases have been reported so far, where a neck schwannoma masquerades as a carotid body tumour.
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