Fulminant haemorrhage in cervical cancer leads to severe anaemia and haemodynamic instability. Palliative management includes vaginal packing as temporary measure, radiotherapy and other invasive surgical procedures. High dose emergency chemotherapy is not commonly implemented particularly when complicated with anaemia and renal impairment. We discuss three case series on the usefulness of high dose chemotherapy to combat bleeding from cervical cancer as an emergency treatment. The first case was clinically staged as operable 2A disease with severe anaemia due to bleeding from the tumour mass. The haemoglobin was corrected by blood transfusion while the bleeding was being arrested by high dose chemotherapy. The second case was inoperable with invasion to the bladder mucosa. She had frank haematuria and bleeding from the tumour with severe anaemia. A course of chemotherapy and blood transfusion controlled the bleeding and anaemia was corrected. The third case presented late with obstructive uropathy and anaemia. She required dialysis, blood transfusion and high dose emergency chemotherapy to stop the bleeding before undergoing urinary diversion after an unsuccessful ureteric stenting. High dose chemotherapy consisting cisplatin, vincristine, bleomycin and mitomycin-C has a clinical value in arresting fulminant haemorrhage in cervical cancer.
This was a case of a young lady presenting with 10 year history of a mass in the right eye. It was found to be an adenocarcinoma of the lacrimal gland from histopathological biopsy. She underwent wide excision, orbital exenteration and reconstruction with a free rectus abdominis flap. Unfortunately, she had a tumour recurrence which was not controlled by radiotherapy and a second excision. The behavior of the tumour was aggressive, resulting in widespread metastases. She passed away within a year of her presentation. Of note, the histopathology report from the second excision turned out to be sarcomatoid carcinoma. This is described in the literature as dedifferentiation, or high grade transformation (HGT). Occurrence of dedifferentiation in salivary gland tumours is well-established, but not as well-described in lacrimal gland tumours. In this case, there was a severely delayed presentation of a lacrimal gland adenocarcinoma in a young person, which underwent dedifferentiation into a sarcomatoid carcinoma. This phenomena is associated with aggressive tumour biology behavior and poor prognosis, despite surgery and radiotherapy.
This study aimed to review the risk factors and clinical outcomes of patients undergoing pars planar vitrectomy (PPV) for breakthrough bleeding (BTB) from age related macular degeneration (AMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). We performed a retrospective review of medical records of 346 patients operated by the vitreoretinal unit at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from January 2008 - June 2011. We found eight eyes of 8 patients with AMD/IPCV-related BTB who underwent PPV. Mean age of patients was 64.4 years (range 41-80 years) with 5 males. Five were Chinese. Duration of symptoms ranged from days to months. Four patients were on anti-coagulants. Two had history of prior photodynamic therapy. There were five cases of PCV, of which three were macular in location. All three cases of AMD were macular. Intraoperative intravitreal ranibizumab injection was given in three cases and two had combined vitrectomy and cataract extraction. All cases reported improvement in visual acuity with four cases achieving 6/60 or better post operatively including two cases of extramacular PCV achieving 6/9 vision. Mean follow-up was 60 weeks. Postoperative complications included retinal tear and detachment in one case, reattached on reoperation. Six patients had a history of hypertension including one individual with stroke. Our small series indicates a predominance of Chinese individuals with BTB. Usage of anticoagulants and hypertension may be a predisposing factor. Better visual prognosis occurs with extramacular lesions which tend to be of PCV type.
We here describe a videolaryngoscope assisted fibreoptic tracheal intubation in a 17-year-old patient with Hunter Syndrome (Mucopolysaccharidosis Type II) and known difficult intubation who required posterior cervical fusion surgery for cervical canal stenosis. The patient had a history of failed nasal and oral fibreoptic intubation. The use of a videolaryngoscope enabled continuous visualization of the tracheal inlet and allowed a straightforward nasal fibreoptic intubation attempt without complications. This report suggests a viable alternative for the management of a known difficult airway in children with mucopolysaccharidosis.
Ectopic pregnancy in the interstitial part of the fallopian tube (cornual pregnancy) is a rare condition but can be fatal. Traditionally, the treatment had been cornual resection or hysterectomy. More conservative approaches had been advocated recently. There is no consensus on the dose or number of methotrexate injections that should be used in the treatment of interstitial pregnancies. Single dose intramuscular methotrexate is one of the treatment options. However, the failure rate is higher if the serum beta-hCG (beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin) level is more than 5000 IU/L. We report a case of cornual ectopic pregnancy with high initial serum beta-hCG level being successfully treated with multiple doses of systemic methotrexate. MRI was used to assess clinical resolution of cornual ectopic pregnancy.
The tranversus abdominis plane (TAP) block for postoperative analgesia after caesarean section may confer potential benefits comparable to that of intrathecal opioids. We compared postoperative analgesia, and the incidence of nausea, vomiting, pruritus and sedation between the TAP block and intrathecal morphine (ITM) in patients undergoing Caesarean section. This was a prospective, randomised clinical study. Fifty American Society of Anaesthesiologists physical status I or II patients, planned for elective caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia, were randomly allocated to the TAP group (patients receiving spinal anaesthesia with bilateral TAP block without ITM) or ITM group (patients receiving spinal anaesthesia with ITM without a TAP block). Assessment for pain, postoperative nausea and vomiting, pruritus and sedation was done upon arrival and discharge from recovery, and at 6, 12 and 24 hours, postoperatively in the post natal ward. Results were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). There was no pain at rest in either groups. Both groups experienced pain on movement at the 12th (p = 0.6) and 24th hour (p = 0.4). None of the patients in the TAP group experienced nausea, vomiting, pruritus or sedation. However, these incidences were found to be significantly higher in the ITM group. Ultrasound guided TAP block provided comparable postoperative analgesia to ITM without the side effects of the latter.
Pseudohyperkalemia is a spuriously high serum potassium measurement in a patient with no clinical evidence of hyperkalemia. It has been reported to occur in patients with leukocytosis and thrombocytosis. Only a few cases of pseudohyperkalemia have been reported in patients after splenectomy. Two cases of pseudohyperkalemia occurring after emergency splenectomy for abdominal trauma are presented to highlight their clinical presentation and sequalae. Consecutive patients who underwent emergency splenectomy for trauma and subsequently developed pseudohyperkalemia were monitored in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre for their clinical sequalae. Both the patients developed leukocytosis, thrombocytosis and high serum potassium level within 2-weeks of their splenectomies. They did not demonstrate any symptoms and signs of hyperkalemia. Their conditions resolved spontaneously without any specific treatment. Pseudohyperkalemia should be suspected in a similar clinical scenario to avoid unnecessary treatment that could lead to severe hypokalemia.
This was a 28-year-old mentally-challenged girl with underlying congenital Rubella syndrome. She was bilaterally aphakic after congenital cataract surgery. She then developed bilateral aphakic glaucoma and had to undergo multiple glaucoma filtering surgeries. The most recent procedure she had undergone for her left eye was a second Ahmed valve implantation with an overlying sclera patch. Postoperatively, intraocular pressure was well controlled. However, nine months later, slit lamp examination revealed the tube was adherent to the overlying cornea with surrounding deep and superficial cornea vascularization. Siedel test was negative and intraocular pressure was normal. Subsequently the tube was removed but the plate was left in situ.
Surgical training worldwide has been reformed from
the since 19th century until the present era. It started as
a trade which eventually was transformed into a
profession that acquires skills and knowledge. The
apprenticeship model was introduced amongst the
Western surgeons as the standard approached for
surgical training. The surgery was learned through
direct observation without any formal and structured
education. William S Halstead had introduced the new
approach of training the surgeons in America
following his landmark lecture at Yale University in
1904 (1). His principle was based on direct the
German Surgical training which emphasized on basic
sciences in the curriculum and Sir William Ossler
concepts of bedside rounds. This has lead to the
development of Halsted principals of surgical training
which included intense and repetitive exposure in
managing surgical patients under the supervision of
skilled surgeons, acquiring the knowledge of scientific
basis of surgical diseases and as the surgical trainee
received enhanced responsibility and independence
with each advancing year (2). Since then, Halsted
principle of surgical training has become the
foundation of most established surgical training
worldwide. The principles have been expanded and
upgraded and since then six cores competencies have
been identified for the surgical residents to achieve
and master during the training course (3). There were
medical knowledge, patient care, interpersonal and
communication skills, professionalism, practice-based
learning and improvement and system based practice.
From the Malaysia perspective, surgical training was
done through the overseas Royal colleges after the
independence in 1957. The local programme started in
1982 through the initiative of local universities that
initially offered surgical training programme in
General surgery, Orthopedics and otorhinolaryngology
(4). Since then through the collaborations of Ministry
of Health and other professional bodies various
surgical training programme has been established to
provide training opportunities which will eventually
serving the nation. The subcommittee of the National
Conjoint Board for General Surgery was the
consultative body to oversee and manage the
implementation of the surgical training. Since the
establishment, the subcommittee was responsible in
streamlined the training curriculum for all the
universities that offered the course, centralized and
standardized the intake of the trainees, coordinating
the national exit examination and advising new
application for graduate training in general surgery.
The important milestone of the subcommittee was the
task given to develop the national surgical
postgraduate curriculum for the doctors who are
interested in becoming a surgeon in the country. The
curriculum is being developed to create a pathway for
surgical training from the internship until subspecialty
training. The development encompasses the
governance, the curriculum development, the training
process and learning outcome according to the latest
evidence based on post graduate training. The
programme should be the foundation in producing well
trained surgeons towards 2050 through TN50.
The decision for median sternotomy for retrosternal goiter is complex and proper consensus are lacking. Generally, it is based on clinical, radiological and intraoperative assessment. Among the few known features include primary mediastinal goiter, posterior mediastinal goiter and recurrent retrosternal goiter. We present a patient with posterior mediastinal, secondary goiter that extended until the tracheal bifurcation. The goiter was removed successfully via a low cervical incision and this was achieved by dissecting along the anatomical plane close to the thyroid capsule using blunt dissection with fingers. It is possible for these kinds of high risk retrosternal goitres to be safely removed without the need for thoracotomy when the surgery was performed along the proper plane.
A 64-year-old lady presented with a brief history of abdominal pain associated with obstructive jaundice. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP) revealed a short segment stricture with contact bleeding and the brush cytology confirmed presence atypical cells. Ca 19.9 levels were markedly elevated. She was planned for a Whipple’s procedure but was instead subjected to a total pancreatectomy based on intraoperative findings of a diffusely hard and nodular pancreas. Histopathological examination confirmed our diagnosis of diffuse pancreatic adenocarcinoma. This rare presentation of a locally contained and fully resectable diffuse pancreatic adenocarcinoma is being discussed.
A middle-aged gentleman with history of left penetrating keratoplatsy presented with left eye perforated corneal graft secondary to infective keratitis. The affected eye was blind from absolute steroid-induced glaucoma. In view of expected poor graft survival in a blind eye, globe removal was offered. However, the patient refused the treatment and request for another corneal graft. This case highlights both the possibility of good outcome of cornea graft in such a case, and also illustrates that patient’s autonomy to refuse treatment option outweighs beneficence.
This retrospective study is aimed at evaluating the role of CT scan in predicting parametrium involvement in early stage of cervical carcinoma. It was conducted in a Gynaecologic Oncology Centre, Hospital Alor Star from January 2004 till December 2008. All patients with operable stage I and II cervical cancer had pelvic CT scan for evaluation of parametrium involvement before undergoing radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Parametrial streakiness or presence of infiltration suggested local invasion. Following radical hysterectomy, the specimens sent for histological confirmation and the correlation between the CT scan finding and the histopathology result was studied. The result revealed a total of 104 patients with operable stage cervical carcinoma had pelvic CT scan. The sensitivity and the specificity of CT scan in assessing parametrial involvement was 33.3% and 84.8%, respectively. In conclusion, CT scan had high specificity but low sensitivity in determining parametrial involvement in early stage of cervical cancer. Hence, routine preoperative pelvic CT scan has a limited role in assessing parametrial involvement in early stage cervical carcinoma.
Acute appendicitis is one of the most common differential diagnoses for acute abdominal pain made by emergency doctors. Suspected cases require surgical referral for observation or definitive intervention to prevent complications. A high index of suspicion and good clinical skills with the aid of scoring systems allows early decision making, which includes optimal pain control. The objective of this study was to identify the pain score and is relationship to the cut-off points of the Alvarado scoring system so that justifies early surgical referral or discharge for suspected acute appendicitis from the Emergency Department of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). This was a cross sectional study of acute abdominal pain from June 2007 to September 2008. All patients who fulfilled the criteria and consented to the study were assessed for Alvarado score, verbal numerical pain score (VNRS) and their subsequent management. Patients with an Alvarado score of ≥7 were likely to have acute appendicitis (80.1% sensitivity and 52.63% specificity) and those with the score of ≤3 were unlikely to have acute appendicitis. The median pain score was 7.00 (IQR: 5.00-8.50) but 72.5% did not receive any analgesia. There was no direct relationship between the pain score with Alvarado score. Oligoanalgesia in patients with acute appendicitis still exist in Emergency Department of UKMMC.
Ambulatory surgery has now becoming increasingly popular and it is generally well accepted. Major complications following ambulatory surgery are very rare but certain postoperative symptoms can be very unpleasant and distressing to the patients. Follow-up phone calls regarding their well being at home following the surgery may give us the clue and allow us to identify certain problems that can be sorted out immediately or as a reference for a better service in future. The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of common postoperative symptoms and their subsequent effects within 24 hours after ambulatory surgery by follow-up phone calls. We prospectively studied 199 ASA I and II patients, but only 187 patients were analyzed. Patients had undergone general surgery, orthopaedic, urology, gynaecology or ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery. Pain was scored based on Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). Majority of patients (70.8%) had only mild pain prior to discharge home. At 24 hours postoperatively, pain was the commonest symptom reported (92.5%) followed by sleepiness (72.2%), dizziness (49.7%), sore throat (17.1%), nausea and vomiting (7.5%) and headache (7%). Sleep was mildly affected in nearly 50% of the patients. Fifty seven percent of patients did not need assistance in performing daily activities during the 24 hours, post surgery. Majority of patients were satisfied (81.3%) with ambulatory surgery. In conclusion, pain was the commonest postoperative symptom encountered following the surgery. Sleep was mildly affected by the postoperative symptoms. Most of the patients did not need assistance in performing their daily activities following surgery. All patients were able to return to at least more than 50% of their normal daily activities at 24 hours after the surgery. Overall satisfaction towards ambulatory surgery was good.
De novo stress urinary incontinence (SUI) may occur in up to 80% of clinically continent women following genitourinary prolapse surgery. This had resulted in an increase in the rate of concurrent continence surgery during prolapse repair from 38% in 2001 to 47% in 2009 in the United States. To date, there is no local data available to estimate the prevalence of occult SUI (OSUI) among Malaysian women awaiting surgery. Therefore, this study was conducted to elicit the prevalence of occult SUI and its associated risks factors in patients awaiting prolapse surgery. We retrospectively studied the records of 296 consecutive women with significant pelvic organ prolapse awaiting reconstructive repair. All patients attended the Urogynaecology Unit in Hospital Kuala Lumpur Malaysia between October 2007 and September 2011. They had undergone standardized interviews, clinical examinations and urodynamic studies. During the urodynamic testings, all prolapses were reduced using ring pessaries to elicit OSUI. Primary outcome was the prevalence of OSUI with prolapse reduction to predict possibility of developing de novo SUI following prolapse surgery. Secondary outcome was the assessment of potential risk factors for OSUI. Among the 296 women studied, 121 (40.9%) were found to have OSUI. The risk factors associated with OSUI included age, BMI, numbers of SVD, recurrent UTI, reduction of urinary flow symptoms and grade 2 to 4 central compartment prolapses. We concluded that preoperative urodynamic testing with reduction of prolapse is useful to identify women with OSUI. This is important for preoperative counselling as well as planning for one step approach of prophylactic concomitant anti-incontinence procedures during prolapse surgery in order to avoid postoperative de novo SUI.
Neck pain presents as a symptom of dull pain or discomfort mainly along the trapezius muscle. Dry needling is an invasive procedure which uses acupuncture needle directed at myofascial trigger points. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of dry needling in managing patients with neck pain. A pre-test-post-test interventional study design was used. Patient education package was provided to 32 respondents who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. A 13-item Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) questionnaire was used to assess Rumination, Magnification and Helplessness. Subjective pain intensity was measured by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). These questionnaires were given before and after the dry needling intervention. The findings reported that respondents scored high in pre-test total PCS score (27.41±13.652). Post-test result revealed a significant improvement in total PCS score (23.06±13.938) (p = 0.000). Post-test VAS score (4.78±1.237) was also significantly better than pre-test (6.47±1.414) (p = 0.000). There was no significant difference in pre-test PCS in terms of marital status (p > 0.05) whereas there was significant difference between marital status and rumination in post-test (Z = -2.303, p = 0.021). There was significant difference between pre-test magnification in terms of respondents’ occupation (p = 0.008) and race (p = 0.035) but no significant difference in post-test. Respondents’ age group showed no significant differences between pre-test and post-test PCS and VAS (p > 0.05). In conclusion, patients who received dry needling showed improvement in pain intensity and catastrophizing towards neck pain.
Ocular inflammation from various causes may have similar clinical presentation thus careful clinical evaluations are mandatory particularly when the disease appear to be resistant to treatment. This paper reports a case of ocular lymphoma which was initially treated as Vogt Koyanagi Harada disease at a different centre. A 65-year-old Sudanese man complained of gradual worsening left eye vision. Careful ocular and slit lamp examination revealed a conjunctival lesion with choroidal infiltration as well as exudative retinal detachment. Computed tomography scan (CT scan) showed left eye axial proptosis, and a homogenous enhancing mass at the posterior coat of the globe. Tissue biopsy of the conjunctival lesion revealed marginal Zone B cell (MALT type), low grade, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. AS the ocular signs and symptoms progressed, chemotherapy was initiated. The proptosis, exudative retinal detachment, disc hyperemia and swelling improved after chemotherapy. The post treatment CT scan showed reduction of the posterior ocular coat mass. The possibility of malignant lymphoma should be considered in patients with resistant uveitis despite administration of corticosteroid. Ocular lymphoma is an indolent tumour with good prognosis. Careful ocular examination, adequate imaging studies followed by early surgical biopsy will contribute to early diagnosis.
The pathophysiology of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) had been described to involve various strong oxidative reactions affecting the status and progress of the patients. Antioxidant therapy had been suggested in many studies involving SIRS management. The objective of this study was to compare the role of vitamin E Tocotrienol and vitamin E Tocopherol combined with vitamin C as antioxidant therapy in the management of critically ill patients diagnosed with SIRS, admitted to the intensive care unit and high dependency wards of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). It was a single blind randomized clinical trial with a total of 72 patients in which 44.4% Malays, 34.7% Chinese, 19.4% Indians and 1.4% others with 59.7% males and 40.3% females were recruited. Patients in TRI E group received Tocotrienol with Vitamin C while TOCO group received Tocopherol with Vitamin C and a control group did not receive any antioxidant. The clinical parameters (heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure) showed improvements with significant difference at the end of study (post-intervention) as compared to admission (pre-intervention).Whereas, the sepsis (temperature, PCT, CRP and WBC) and oxidative stress (8-OHdG/Creatinine) parameters showed improvements with significant difference at the end of study (post-intervention) as compared to admission (pre-intervention). The TRI E group showed obvious improvement in clinical, sepsis and oxidative stress parameters, as compared to TOCO and control groups. This study showed that Vitamin E Tocotrienol and Vitamin E Tocopherol in combination with Vitamin C demonstrated significant improvement in the clinical and laboratory parameters during the management of SIRS. Therefore, Vitamin E in combination with Vitamin C had therapeutic benefits in the treatment of critically ill patients with SIRS.
In this article, we speculate the reasons behind the death of Achilles during the Trojan war. Roots of Medicine can be traced to ancient Greek history. From the Hippocrates Oath to the Achilles tendon, it all has a long story to tell. In the history of ancient Greece, Gods played an important role in their lives and the immortals existed.