METHODS: The patients (n = 54) were divided into mild and moderate TBI. Both groups were assessed at 3 months and 6 months post-trauma for the same measures. Diagnosis of CI was done using the Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) questionnaire while NM screening was performed using the 12-items General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) followed by MINI International Neuropsychiatry Interview (MINI).
RESULTS: We found five patients (19.2%) with mild TBI had CI and five patients (19.2%) had NM at 3 months. Only one patient (3.8%) persistently has CI at 6 months while the rest recovered. As for moderate TBI, 11 patients (39.3%) had CI and seven patients (25%) had NM at 3 months but none had persistent CI or NM at 6 months. Age (P < 0.05) and blood pressure were significant risks (P < 0.05) for CI and NM at 3 months.
CONCLUSION: This study highlighted the importance of screening following mild and moderate TBI at 3 months and 6 months. Early recognition facilitates effective rehabilitation programmes planning hence improve prognosis in the future.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty fresh frozen tumor tissues along with blood samples of brain tumor patients were analyzed for mtMSI by PCR amplification of genomic DNAs, and the amplicons were directly sequenced in both directions using Sanger sequencing.
RESULTS: Microsatellite analysis revealed that 20% (8 out of 40) of the tumors were mtMSI positive with a total of 8 mtMSI changes. All mtMSI markers were detected in D310 and D16184 of the D-loop region. Additionally, no significant association was observed between mtMSI status and clinicopathological features.
CONCLUSION: The variations, specifically the mtMSI, suggest that the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can be targeted for genomic alteration in brain tumors. Therefore, the specific role of mtDNA alteration in brain tumor development and prognosis requires further investigation.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to test the accuracy of the AW frame by a direct head to head comparison with CRW® frame (Integra Life Sciences, Plainsboro, NJ) on a phantom.
METHODS: This is a prospective pilot cross-sectional phantom study with a total of 42 (21 for AW and 21 for CRW®) laboratory testings performed in 2017 at our institute to compare the accuracies of both frames in a consecutive manner. A phantom (BL phantom) was newly created, where targets can be placed at different heights and positions on a platform attached under the frame for accuracy testing comparing between the AW and CRW® frames.
RESULTS: A comparable accuracy testing results were observed between the AW and CRW® frames of 0.64 mm versus 1.07 mm respectively. Approval from the local ethics committee for a clinical trial was obtained. We report on three case illustrations who had the AW frame-based biopsies with definitive diagnoses and without any post-biopsy related complication.
CONCLUSION: AW frame successfully demonstrated a good accuracy of 0.64 mm in phantom testing using the BL phantom by a linear algorithmic calculation. The clinical trial with three patients demonstrated definitive diagnoses and safety with its use.
Objectives: Brain volume reduction occurs with age, especially in Parkinson plus syndrome or psychiatric disorders. We searched to define the degree of volume discrepancy in advanced IPD patients and correlate the anatomical volumetric changes to motor symptoms and cognitive function.
Methods: We determined the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based volumetry of deep brain nuclei and brain structures of DBS-IPD group and matched controls.
Results: DBS-IPD group had significant deep nuclei atrophy and volume discrepancy, yet none had cognitive or psychobehavioural disturbances. Globus pallidus volume showed positive correlation to higher mental function.
Conclusion: The morphometric changes and clinical severity discrepancy in IPD may imply a more complex degenerative mechanism involving multiple neural pathways. Such alteration could be early changes before clinical manifestation.
METHODS: A total of 74 patients with histologically proven HGGs treated between January 2008 and December 2014, who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, were enrolled. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates and Cox proportional hazard regression were used.
RESULTS: Significant longer survival time (months) was observed in the FG group compared with the conventional group (12 months versus 8 months, P < 0.020). Even without adjuvant therapy, HGG patients from FG group survived longer than those from the conventional group (8 months versus 3 months, P = 0.006). No significant differences were seen in postoperative Karnofsky performance scale (KPS) between the groups at 6 weeks and 6 months after surgery compared to pre-operative KPS. Cox proportional hazard regression identified four independent predictors of survival: KPS > 80 (P = 0.010), histology (P < 0.001), surgical method (P < 0.001) and adjuvant therapy (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: This study showed a significant clinical benefit for HGG patients in terms of overall survival using FG surgery as it did not result in worsening of post-operative function outcome when compared with the conventional surgical method. We advocate a further multicentered, randomised controlled trial to support these findings before FG surgery can be implemented as a standard surgical adjunct in local practice for the benefit of HGG patients.
Material and Method: A single center retrospective study with a review of medical records was performed involving 105 patients, who were surgically treated for ruptured intracranial aneurysms in the Sultanah Aminah Hospital, in Johor Bahru, from July 2011 to January 2016. Information collected was the patient demographic data, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) prior to surgery, World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Scale (WFNS), subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) grading system, and timing between SAH ictus and surgery. A good clinical grade was defined as WFNS grade I-III, whereas, WFNS grades IV and V were considered to be poor grades. The outcomes at discharge and six months post surgery were assessed using the modified Rankin's Scale (mRS). The mRS scores of 0 to 2 were grouped into the "favourable" category and mRS scores of 3 to 6 were grouped into the "unfavourable" category. Only cases of proven ruptured aneurysmal SAH involving anterior circulation that underwent surgical clipping were included in the study. The data collected was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed and aP-value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Result: A total of 105 patients were included. The group was comprised of 42.9% male and 57.1% female patients. The mean GCS of the patients subjected to surgical clipping was 13, with the majority falling into the good clinical grade (78.1%). The mean timing of the surgery after SAH was 5.3 days and this was further categorised into early (day one to day three, 45.3%), intermediate (day four to day ten, 56.2%), and late (after day ten, 9.5%). The total favourable outcome achieved at discharge was 59.0% as compared to 41.0% of the unfavourable outcome, with an overall mortality rate of 10.5%. At the six-month post surgery review (n= 94), the patients with a favourable outcome constituted 71.3% as compared to 28.7% with an unfavourable outcome. The mortality, six months post surgery was 3.2%. On a univariate analysis of early surgical clipping, patients with a better GCS and good clinical grade had a significantly better outcome at discharge. Based on the univariate study, six months post surgery, the timing of the surgery and the clinical grade remained significant predictors of the outcome. On the basis of the multivariate analysis, male patients of younger age, with a good clinical grade, were associated with favourable outcomes, both at discharge and six months post surgery.
Conclusion: In this study, we concluded that younger male patients with a good clinical grade were associated with a favourable outcome both at discharge and six months post surgery. We did not find the timing of the surgery, size of the aneurysm or duration of surgery to be associated with a patient's surgical outcome. Increasing age was not associated with the surgical outcome in a longer term of patient's follow up.
Methods: This study was conducted to compare the outcomes of early and late tracheostomies in severe TBI. Only severe TBI patients who were admitted to the Neurosurgery High Dependency Unit (NHDU), Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA), Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia and who had underwent a tracheostomy were recruited. Three main outcomes noted: duration on ventilation, length of NHDU stay and rate of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP).
Results: Out of 155 patients, 72 (46.5%) were in early tracheostomy group (ETG) and 83 (53.5%) were in late tracheostomy group (LTG). The majority of the participants, 95 (61.3%) were ethnic Malays. The mean duration on ventilator use was 2.65 days (1.57) for ETG and 5.63 days (2.35) for LTG. While, mean NHDU stay was 4.75 days (1.98) for ETG and 9.77 days (2.70) for LTG. Upon independent t-test, early duration of tracheostomies had shown significant outcome in reducing length of NHDU stay, (P < 0.001) and had shortening participants' time on mechanical ventilator (P < 0.001). Then, based on forward multiple logistic regression test, there were significant association between comorbid (P = 0.003) and tracheostomy (P = 0.020) towards presence of VAP when adjusted for other variables.
Conclusion: In this study it was found that early tracheostomy was significant in shortening the duration on ventilator, reducing the length of NHDU stay and reducing the rate of VAP.
METHODS: A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the outcome of a new reconstruction technique that produces patient-specific hybrid polymethyl methacrylate-autologous cranial implant. Computer-assisted 3D modeling and printing was utilized to produce patient-specific molds, which allowed real-time reconstruction of bone flap with partial defect intra-operatively.
RESULTS: Outcome assessment for 11 patients at 6 weeks and 3 months post-operatively revealed satisfactory implant alignment with favorable cosmesis. The mean visual analog scale for cosmesis was 91. Mean implant size was 50cm, and the mean duration of intra-operative reconstruction was 30 minutes. All of them revealed improvement in quality of life following surgery as measured by the SF-36 score. Cost analysis revealed that this technique is more cost-effective compared to customized cranial prosthesis.
CONCLUSION: This new technique and approach produce hybrid autologous-alloplastic bone flap that resulted in satisfactory implant alignment and favorable cosmetic outcome with relatively low costs.
METHODS: All patients with traumatic brain injury (mild, moderate, and severe) who were admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital from November 1, 2017, to January 31, 2019, were prospectively analyzed through a data collection sheet. The discriminatory power of the models was assessed as area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration was assessed using the Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) goodness-of-fit test and Cox calibration regression analysis.
RESULTS: We analyzed 281 patients with significant TBI treated in a single neurosurgical center in Malaysia over a 2-year period. The overall observed 14-day mortality was 9.6%, a 6-month unfavorable outcome of 23.5%, and a 6-month mortality of 13.2%. Overall, both the CRASH and IMPACT models showed good discrimination with AUCs ranging from 0.88 to 0.94 and both models calibrating satisfactorily H-L GoF P>0.05 and calibration slopes >1.0 although IMPACT seemed to be slightly more superior compared to the CRASH model.
CONCLUSIONS: The CRASH and IMPACT prognostic models displayed satisfactory overall performance in our cohort of TBI patients, but further investigations on factors contributing to TBI outcomes and continuous updating on both models remain crucial.
METHODS: A total of 50 patients with pathologically confirmed brain tumors (13 LGGs, 20 HGGs, and 17 meningiomas) were enrolled in this study. mtDNA was detected by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique and later confirmed via Sanger DNA sequencing.
RESULTS: Overall, mtDNA was observed in 16 (32%) patients and it was significantly correlated with the type of tumor group and sex, being more common in the HGG group and in male patients.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of mtDNA in Malaysian glioma and meningioma cases has been described for the first time and it was, indeed, comparable with previously published studies. This study provides initial insights into mtDNA in brain tumor and these findings can serve as new data for the global mitochondrial DNA mutations database.
Objectives: This pilot study compared the motor evoked potential (MEP) changes using different settings of rTMS in the post-ischemic stroke patient. The goal of the study is to identify effect sizes for a further trial and evaluate safety aspects.
Methods: Eight post-stroke patients with upper limb hemiparesis for at least six months duration were studied in a tertiary hospital in Northeast Malaysia. Quasi experimental design was applied and the participants were randomised into two groups using software generated random numbers. One of the two settings: i) inhibitory setting, or ii) facilitatory setting have been applied randomly during the first meeting. The motor evoked potential (MEP) were recorded before and after application of the rTMS setting. A week later, a similar procedure will be repeated but using different setting than the first intervention. Each patient will serve as their own control. Repeated measures ANOVA test was applied to determine the effect sizes for both intervention through the options of partial eta-squared (η2p).
Result: The study observed large effect sizes (η2p > 0.14) for both rTMS settings in the lesion and non-lesion sides. For safety aspects, no minor or major side effects associated with the rTMS was reported by the participants.
Conclusions: The partial eta square of MEP value for both rTMS settings (fascilitatory and inhibitory) in both lesion and non-lesion sides represents large effect sizes. We recommend further trial to increase number of sample in order to study the effectiveness of both settings in ischemic stroke patient. Our preliminary data showed both settings may improve the MEP of the upper extremity in the ischemic stroke patient. No significant improvement noted when comparing both settings.