Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 23 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Abd Wahab F, Abdullah S, Abdullah JM, Jaafar H, Md Noor SS, Wan Mohammad WMZ, et al.
    Malays J Med Sci, 2016 Nov;23(6):25-34.
    PMID: 28090176 MyJurnal DOI: 10.21315/mjms2016.23.6.3
    Ranking as the most communicable disease killer worldwide, tuberculosis, has accounted with a total of 9.6 million new tuberculosis cases with 1.5 million tuberculosis-related deaths reported globally in 2014. Tuberculosis has remain as an occupational hazard for healthcare workers since 1920s and due to several tuberculosis outbreaks in healthcare settings in the early 1990s, the concern about the transmission to both patients and healthcare workers has been raised. Healthcare workers have two to three folds greater the risk of active tuberculosis than the general population. Several studies on knowledge, attitude and practices on tuberculosis among healthcare workers worldwide have revealed that majority of the participated healthcare workers had good knowledge on tuberculosis. Most of the healthcare workers from South India and South Africa also reported to have positive attitude whereas a study in Thailand reported that most of the healthcare providers have negative attitude towards tuberculosis patients. Nevertheless, majority of the healthcare workers have low level of practice on tuberculosis prevention. An improved communication between healthcare workers and the patients as well as their families is the key to better therapeutic outcomes with good knowledge, attitude and preventive practice towards tuberculosis.
  2. Matthew TJH, Tharakan J, Tai E, Hussein A
    Cureus, 2019 Apr 27;11(4):e4553.
    PMID: 31275777 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.4553
    Objective Epilepsy is a debilitating disease. Visual function changes have been reported and may be attributed to the epileptic changes or as a result of medication side effect. Sodium valproate and carbamazepine are both first line anti-epileptic medications used in Malaysian health care. Sodium valproate inhibits glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transaminase while carbamazepine acts on the sodium channel - both are an important part of the retina. This study aimed to compare the visual functions of epilepsy patients on carbamazepine or sodium valproate monotherapy. Design A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary hospital between June 2016 and November 2018. Methods Patients with idiopathic epilepsy that fulfill the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited from the neurology clinic. They were divided into two groups and underwent complete eye examinations. Visual functions such as color vision testing, contrast sensitivity, visual field and retinal nerve fiber layer measurement were subsequently performed. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Science, version 24 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA). Results A total of 100 patients (sodium valproate: 50 patients; carbamazepine: 50 patients) were recruited for the study. There were no statistically significant changes in anatomical or visual function between the sodium valproate and carbamazepine group. However, patients from both groups displayed color vision defect in the blue and green axes. Changes in color vision could indicate early retina toxicity secondary to the medication. Although there were no visual field changes, patients recorded a slight reduction of mean deviation. Changes of mean deviation could be attributed to the side effect of medication or the disease process. Conclusions Epileptic patients taking sodium valproate or carbamazepine did not demonstrate statistically significant change in visual function.
  3. Othman K, Liza-Sharmini AT, Ibrahim M, Tharakan J, Yanai R, Zunaina E
    Int Med Case Rep J, 2017;10:35-40.
    PMID: 28223848 DOI: 10.2147/IMCRJ.S121863
    Behçet's disease (BD) is a multisystemic disease that is very rare in Malaysia. About 5% of patients develop central nervous system involvement, termed neuro-Behçet's. Neuro-Behçet's is one of the most serious causes of long-term morbidity and mortality. We report two cases of neuro-Behçet's associated with uveitis (ocular BD) highlighting the clinical presentation, diagnostic measurement, and therapeutic management of these cases.
  4. Chan KH, Tharakan J, Pal HK, Khan N, Tan YC
    Malays J Med Sci, 2010 Oct;17(4):36-43.
    PMID: 22135559
    Post-traumatic seizure is a well-known and serious complication of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The incidence and risk factors vary among study populations. Very little data have been published concerning this in the Malaysian population. The aim of this study was to ascertain the risk factors for the development of early post-traumatic seizures among patients with TBI.
  5. Mohamed Y, Alias NN, Shuaib IL, Tharakan J, Abdullah J, Munawir AH, et al.
    PMID: 17333778
    Advances in neuroimaging techniques, particularly Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), have proved invaluable in detecting structural brain lesions in patients with epilepsy in developed countries. In Malaysia, a few electroencephalography facilities available in rural district hospitals run by trained physician assistants have Internet connections to a government neurological center in Kuala Lumpur. These facilities are more commonly available than MRI machines, which require radiological expertise and helium replacement, which may problematic in Southeast Asian countries where radiologists are found in mainly big cities or towns. We conducted a cross-sectional study over a two year period begining January 2001 on rural patients, correlating EEG reports and MRI images with a clinical diagnosis of epilepsy to set guidelines for which rural patients need to be referred to a hospital with MRI facilities. The patients referred by different hospitals without neurological services were classified as having generalized, partial or unclassified seizures based on the International Classification of Epileptic Seizures proposed by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). The clinical parameters studied were seizure type, seizure frequency, status epilepticus and duration of seizure. EEG reports were reviewed for localized and generalized abnormalities and epileptiform changes. Statistical analysis was performed using logistic regression and area under the curve. The association between clinical and radiological abnormalities was evaluated for sensitivity and specificity. Twenty-six males and 18 females were evaluated. The mean age was 20.7 +/- 13.3 years. Nineteen (43.2%) had generalized seizures, 22 (50.0%) had partial seizures and 3 (6.8%) presented with unclassified seizures. The EEG was abnormal in 30 patients (20 with generalized abnormalities and 10 localized abnormalities). The MRI was abnormal in 17 patients (38.6%); the abnormalities observed were cerebral atrophy (5), hippocampal sclerosis (4), infarct/gliosis (3), cortical dysgenesis (2) and tumors (2). One patient had an arachnoid cyst in the right occipital region. Of the 17 patients with an abnormal MRI, 14 had an abnormal EEG, this difference was not statistically significant. There was no significant associaton between epileptographic changes and MRI findings (p = 0.078). EEG findings were associated with MRI findings (p = 0.004). The association between an abnormal EEG and an abnormal MRI had a specificity of 82.4%, while epileptogenic changes had a specificity of 64.7% in relation to abnormal MRI findings. This meants that those patients in rural hospitals with abnormal EEGs should be referred to a neurology center for further workup and an MRI to detect causes with an epileptic focus.
  6. Kwong Yew K, Abdul Halim S, Liza-Sharmini AT, Tharakan J
    Case Rep Ophthalmol Med, 2014;2014:795837.
    PMID: 24744933 DOI: 10.1155/2014/795837
    Bilateral cortical blindness and Anton syndrome, are most commonly caused by ischaemic stroke. In this condition, patients have loss of vision but deny their blindness despite objective evidence of visual loss. We report a case of a patient with multiple cardiovascular risk factors who developed recurrent bilateral occipital lobe infarct with Anton syndrome. A suspicion of this condition should be raised when the patient has denial of blindness in the presence of clinical and radiological evidence of occipital lobe injury. Management of this condition should focus on the underlying cause, in which our patient requires secondary stroke prevention and rehabilitation.
  7. Sayuthi S, Tharakan J, Pieter MS, Salmah WM, Madhavan M, Tahir A, et al.
    Malays J Med Sci, 2009 Jan;16(1):39-43.
    PMID: 22589647 MyJurnal
    We present our preliminary experience in neuropsychological testing in epilepsy surgery patients to demonstrate how these tests contributed to decide the laterality of epileptic focus, and to assess the effect of surgery on patient's cognitive function and quality of life. Preoperative neuropsychological tests consisting of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS) for IQ, Wechsler Memory Scale-III (WMS) for memory and patients' quality of life (QOLIE 31) were administered to refractory epilepsy patients under evaluation for surgical treatment. These tests were repeated one year after surgery and we studied any changes in trends. A total of seven patients were recruited in this study between July 2004 and July 2006. The aetiologies of refractory epilepsy were pure mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) in five patients, dysembryogenic neuroepithelial tumour (DNET) in one and dual lesion of cavernous angioma with ipsilateral MTS in one. The preoperative neuropsychological tests were all in concordance to MRI finding, and showed good contralateral function; five lateralises to the right and two to the left. The post-operative Engel seizure count (median 8.00, IQR 7.00-8.75), general IQ (88 vs. 79), performance IQ (94 vs. 79), verbal memory (89 vs. 71), non-verbal memory (88 vs. 75) and QOLIE (53.14 vs. 44.71) were better compared to preoperative values. The verbal IQ (84 vs. 84) was unchanged. Neuropsychological tests are useful as ancillary investigations to determine the laterality of seizure focus and integrity of function in the contralateral temporal lobe. Following successful surgical treatment, there is a trend towards improvement in memory, IQ and quality of life scores in this small group of patients.
  8. Awang MS, Abdullah JM, Abdullah MR, Tahir A, Tharakan J, Prasad A, et al.
    Med Sci Monit, 2007 Jul;13(7):CR330-2.
    PMID: 17599028
    Nerve conduction study is essential in the diagnosis of focal neuropathies and diffuse polyneuropathies. There are many factors that can affect nerve conduction velocity, and age is one of them. Most of the many studies of this effect, and the values from them, were on Caucasian subjects. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effect of age on conduction velocity among healthy Asian Malay subjects by analyzing its influence on the median, ulnar, and sural nerves.
  9. Abdullah JM, Hussin AM, Tharakan J, Abdullah MR, Saad R, Kamari Z, et al.
    PMID: 17121309
    The number of cases of neurological disease is expected to rise in the next 10 years, making this the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality after heart disease in Malaysia. The lack of human resources in the neurological field currently serving the Malaysian population may cause a deficiency in specialized care, especially in rural areas where neurological and neurosurgical care may be lacking. Thus, a resolve was made to increase the numbers of specialists by the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) with the help of the Ministry of Health of Malaysia. A study was made to evaluate the number of referral centers needed in strategic parts of Malaysia. Our calculation was based on service demands and operative procedures following the guidelines of the Association of British Neurologists (ABN) where 15 minutes of service time was equivalent to 1 unit. Based on 2 million population covered in the state of Kelantan by this University Hospital, 4.27 neurologists are needed to meet service demands with a consultant to population ratio (CPR) of 1:468,384, compared to 7.46 neurosurgeons, with a CPR of 1:268,097. According to the current service demands, one neurologist has to work more than 407 hours per year and one neurosurgeon 1,219 hours per year in our hospital. Hospitals with a larger catchment area would need to have more neurologists and neurosurgeons for optimal care in their area. Thus, more neurologists and neurosurgeons are needed to be produced, since the existing numbers are too small for quality care in Malaysia.
  10. Tengku-Fatishah A, Besari AM, Tharakan J, Shatriah I
    Cureus, 2018 Jun 14;10(6):e2807.
    PMID: 30123729 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.2807
    Intracranial tuberculoma is a rare manifestation of tuberculosis involving the central nervous system. The involvement of the ventricular system is extremely uncommon. We describe a young woman with bilateral papilledema secondary to intraventricular tuberculoma with hydrocephalus. She was treated with anti-tuberculosis therapy and intravenous dexamethasone. Her visual acuity deteriorated after one month of treatment. We provide a literature review of this uncommon ocular sequelae.
  11. Kandasamy R, Tharakan J, Idris Z, Abdullah JM
    Surg Neurol Int, 2013;4:124.
    PMID: 24232072 DOI: 10.4103/2152-7806.119006
    BACKGROUND: A patient with refractory epilepsy due to underlying mesial temporal sclerosis underwent general anesthesia for an elective anterior temporal lobectomy and amgydalo-hippocampectomy. He was a known hypertensive and his blood pressure was well controlled on medication.

    CASE DESCRIPTION: Following induction of general anesthesia and subsequent opening of the craniotomy flap it was noted that the patient had a very swollen brain that herniated out of the dural defect. There was an underlying spontaneous intraparenchymal bleed encountered in the region of the left temporal lobe with associated subarachnoid hemorrhage within the sylvian fissure. The clot was evacuated and subsequently brain swelling reduced allowing us to proceed with the intended surgery. Despite the intracranial findings there was no overt abnormality in the hemodynamic status from the time of induction of anesthesia to the craniotomy opening excepting a mild nonsustained elevation of blood pressure at the outset.

    CONCLUSION: This case is of interest due to the fact that spontaneous intraparenchymal bleeding after induction of anesthesia has not been reported before in literature and should be considered in any patient in which brain swelling occurs in a setting of elective neurosurgery in which the primary lesion does not cause elevated intracranial pressure.

  12. Idris Z, Ghani AR, Mar W, Bhaskar S, Wan Hassan WN, Tharakan J, et al.
    J Clin Neurosci, 2010 Oct;17(10):1343-4.
    PMID: 20620064 DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2010.01.054
    A 24-year-old male patient with refractory Tourette syndrome was treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS) and developed subsequent bilateral subcortical haematomas. Additional blood tests revealed abnormalities of plasma factor XIIIA and tryptophan levels, which may be associated with Tourette syndrome. Neurosurgeons who perform DBS surgery on patients with Tourette syndrome must be aware of possible disastrous complications resulting from factor XIIIA disorders of blood haemostasis. Routine screening for this condition is not typically performed prior to surgery in these patients.
  13. Othman FN, Muthuraju S, Noor SSM, Abdullah S, Mohd Yusoff AA, Tharakan J, et al.
    Tuberculosis (Edinb), 2018 09;112:45-51.
    PMID: 30205968 DOI: 10.1016/j.tube.2018.07.007
    The present study aimed to investigate the involvement of the angiogenic marker vascular endothelia growth factor (VEGF) and apoptotic markers of Bcl-2 and Bax in the neurons and astrocytes in the brain infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The immunohistochemistry staining was performed to analyze the expression of the VEGF, Bcl-2 and Bax in the astrocytes and neurons. The expression of VEGF was high in neurons and astrocytes in both the infected brain and control tissues with no difference of angiogenic activity (p = 0.40). Higher Bcl-2 expression was seen in astrocytes of infected brain tissues compared to the control tissues (p = 0.004) promoted a higher anti-apoptotic activity in astrocytes. The neurons expressed strong Bax expression in the infected brain tissues compared to the control tissues (p 
  14. Sayuthi S, Tharakan J, George J, Pieter MS, Salmah WM, Madhavan M, et al.
    Med J Malaysia, 2006 Aug;61(3):374-6.
    PMID: 17240596 MyJurnal
    Two rare cases of intractable epilepsy caused by Dysembryoplastic Neuroepithelial Tumours (DNET) are reported and their different management discussed. The first case required vagal nerve stimulation and radiosurgery while the later was operated with the help of neuronavigation. Both had good outcome according to Engel classification after a one year follow up.
  15. Yee AS, Tharakan J, Idris Z, Bhaskar S, Halim SA, Razak SA, et al.
    Malays J Med Sci, 2017 Dec;24(6):97-102.
    PMID: 29379392 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2017.24.6.12
    Epilepsy surgery has been performed by a few centres in Malaysia, including Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). To date, a total of 15 patients have undergone epilepsy surgery in HUSM. The epilepsy surgery included anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) with amygdalohippocampectomy (AH) and Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS). The surgical outcomes of the patients were assessed using the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) outcome scale. The ILAE scores for patients who underwent ATL with AH were comparatively better than those who underwent VNS. One of the patient who underwent ATL with AH and frontal lesionectomy was found to have psychosis during follow up. Epilepsy surgery has proven to be an important treatment for medically resistant epilepsy. Thus it is important to raise public awareness regarding epilepsy and its treatment.
  16. Goh CH, Abdullah JY, Idris Z, Ghani ARI, Abdullah JM, Wong ASH, et al.
    Malays J Med Sci, 2020 May;27(3):53-60.
    PMID: 32684806 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2020.27.3.6
    Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) was pioneered by Neuroscience team of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) nearly a decade ago to treat advanced medically refractory idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) patients.

    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.

  17. Hooi LL, Fitzrol DN, Rajapathy SK, Chin TY, Halim SA, Kandasamy R, et al.
    Malays J Med Sci, 2017 Mar;24(2):87-93.
    PMID: 28894408 MyJurnal DOI: 10.21315/mjms2017.24.2.11
    Deep brain stimulation (DBS) was first introduced in 1987 to the developed world. As a developing country Malaysia begun its movement disorder program by doing ablation therapy using the Radionics system. Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia a rural based teaching hospital had to take into consideration both health economics and outcomes in the area that it was providing neurosurgical care for when it initiated its Deep Brain Stimulation program. Most of the patients were from the low to medium social economic groups and could not afford payment for a DBS implant. We concentrated our DBS services to Parkinson's disease, Tourette's Syndrome and dystonia patients who had exhausted medical therapy. The case series of these patients and their follow-up are presented in this brief communication.
  18. Othman K, Evelyn-Tai LM, Raja-Azmi MN, Julieana M, Liza-Sharmini AT, Tharakan J, et al.
    Int J Surg Case Rep, 2017;30:197-200.
    PMID: 28061417 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2016.12.010
    Hyphema and orbital apex syndrome occurring concurrently in a patient with herpes zoster ophthalmicus have not been reported previously. We present a case with these unique findings and discuss the pathogenesis of these conditions and their management.
  19. Man K, Kareem AM, Ahmad Alias NA, Shuaib IL, Tharakan J, Abdullah JM, et al.
    Singapore Med J, 2006 Mar;47(3):194-7.
    PMID: 16518552
    Computed tomography (CT) perfusion is a new method to diagnose ischaemic stroke especially in developing countries. It identifies the area and is useful to predict the size of final infarction. The aim of this study was to assess cerebral ischaemia with CT perfusion (CTP) among patients with acute ischaemic stroke in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, a tertiary referral centre in a rural setting.
Related Terms
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links