Acromegaly is a progressive systemic disorder which is common among middle-aged women. A functioning growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma is the most common cause. Anaesthesia for pituitary surgery in patients with acromegaly is challenging. Rarely, these patients may develop thyroid lesions that may compromise the airway. We present the case of a young man with newly diagnosed acromegaly caused by a pituitary macroadenoma complicated by a large multinodular goitre. The aim of this report is to discuss the perianaesthetic approach in patients with acromegaly with a high risk of airway compromise undergoing pituitary surgery.
Polymyxin B (PB) is a polypeptide bactericidal antibiotic that is commonly used for extensively drug-resistant (XDR) microorganisms such as Acinetobacter baumanii and Klebsiella pneumoniae It can be administered intravenously or intrathecally. Common side effects are nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, pruritus and skin hyperpigmentation (SH). The latter is an uncommon adverse reaction of intravenously administered PB. We report a rare occurrence of PB-induced SH secondary to intrathecal administration of PB in a child with A. baumanii XDR ventriculitis. We describe the management of him and a brief review of PB.
Obstetric haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide (27.1%) and more than 66% of its deaths were classified as postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). The most common cause of PPH is uterine atony. Obstetrician should be skillful in managing obstetric emergencies; especially pertaining to PPH. Application of the B-Lynch suture on an atonic uterus is one of the surgical options in PPH patients who wish to conserve the uterus and it has a very high success rate.We present a primigravida patient who developed massive primary PPH followed by disseminated intravascular coagulation, which was successfully managed with B-Lynch suture and bilateral internal iliac artery ligation. We described in detail regarding the management of massive PPH and application of these surgical procedures on the atonic uterus with an attempt to preserve the uterus and future fertility in this young patient.
Placement of a double-lumen tube to achieve one lung ventilation is an aerosol-generating procedure. Performing it on a patient with COVID-19 will put healthcare workers at high risk of contracting the disease. We herein report a case of its use in a patient with traumatic diaphragmatic rupture, who was also suspected to have COVID-19. This article aims to highlight the issues, it presented and ways to address them as well as the perioperative impact of personal protective equipment.
A young man presented to our centre needing an urgent debridement of his postcraniotomy wound due to massive myiasis during the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020. Prior to the surgery, his nasopharyngeal swab real-time PCR test result was unknown. One day later, it returned as SARS-CoV-2 positive. All healthcare workers who were involved in the patient management avoided cross infection as they wore appropriate personal protective equipment. This article depicts the importance of adequate preparations when handling potentially infectious patients and the perioperative issues associated with it.
Primary amyloidosis is a rare systemic disorder often associated with multiple organ dysfunction. The most common form, light chain amyloidosis, has an estimated age-adjusted incidence of 5.1-12.8 cases per million person-years. Spine involvement is extremely uncommon. We present the case of a young Asian man with newly diagnosed amyloidosis involving the lumbar spine among multiple organs with a pathological vertebral fracture that required urgent spine surgery. We believe this is the first reported case to discuss the perianaesthetic challenges in the management of lumbar spine amyloidosis.
We describe the first clinical case of Burkholderia cepacia keratitis registered in Southeast Asia. A man in his mid-70s with underlying poorly controlled diabetes mellitus came with complaints of painful red left eye for 4 days. This was accompanied with photophobia and blurring of vision after being injured by a wooden particle while cutting grass. Slit-lamp examination showed a paracentral anterior corneal stromal infiltrates with overlying epithelial defect. Culture of the corneal smear isolated B. cepacia that was sensitive to ceftazidime, meropenem and bactrim (trimethorprim and sulfomethoxazole). Topical ceftazidime was given intensively to the patient and the infection resolved after 6 weeks of treatment.
A 39-year-old man presented with bilateral nasal obstruction for 4 months and associated with hyposmia and foul-smelling nasal discharge. Nasal endoscopy showed irregular mucosa of the nasal cavity with easily bleeding. Nasal biopsy reported as extranodal Natural Killer/T cell lymphoma, nasal type. In-situ hybridisation for Epstein-Barr encoding region was positive. He was treated with six cycles of gemcitabine, oxaliplatin and L-asparaginase and peripheral blood stem cell transplant. After the treatment, he was asymptomatic until 9 months where he had splenic abscess and undergone splenectomy. He was asymptomatic of the disease for 2 years.
Acute stridor is often an airway emergency. We present a valuable experience handling an elderly woman who was initially treated as COVID-19 positive during the pandemic in November 2020. She needed an urgent tracheostomy due to nasopharyngeal (NP) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma causing acute airway obstruction. Fortunately, 1 hour later, her NP swab real-time PCR test result returned as SARS-CoV-2 negative. This interesting article depicts the importance of adequate preparations when handling potentially infectious patients with anticipated difficult airway and the perioperative issues associated with it.
We report a case of renal cell carcinoma diagnosed after a patient was treated successfully with intravenous cyclophosphamide for her active proliferative lupus nephritis (classes III and V). After the intravenous cyclophosphamide regimen, the patient was asymptomatic with persistent microscopic haematuria, and no proteinuria. The renal cell carcinoma was located on the left kidney; incidentally, this was where the initial renal biopsy was done to diagnose lupus nephritis.
Acoustic neuroma (AN) usually manifests with asymmetric hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness and sense of disequilibrium. About 10% of patients complain of atypical symptoms, which include facial numbness or pain and sudden onset of hearing loss. Patients with atypical symptoms also tend to have larger tumours due to the delay in investigation. We report a particularly interesting case of a patient presented to us with numbness over her right hemifacial region after a dental procedure without significant acoustic and vestibular symptoms. Physical examination and pure tone audiometry revealed no significant findings but further imaging revealed a cerebellopontine angle mass. The changing trends with easier access to further imaging indicate that the presentation of patients with AN are also changing. Atypical symptoms which are persistent should raise clinical suspicion of this pathology among clinicians.
Congenital spinal fusion of an odontoid process to an atlantal hemiarch is very rare. The unfamiliarity of the medical fraternity with this congenital malformation can easily be mistaken for an acute fracture, chronic infection or inflammatory disease. We present our experience of managing an adult who presented with neck pain after a motor vehicle accident. Radiological investigation revealed congenital fusion of the odontoid process to the atlantal hemiarch. The prevalence, embryology and clinical significance of this anomaly are discussed. As the natural progression of this anomaly is not well documented, we suggest periodic follow-up to monitor the progression of degenerative changes and instability of the occipitoatlantal junction.
Non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) may develop due to severe anaemia and hypotension which is seen in acute blood loss. The devastating visual loss is often irreversible. We report a case of NAION in a 20-year-old healthy woman, who presented on the third day of a heavy menstrual cycle with hypovolaemic shock. On day 2 of admission, she had sudden right eye blurring of vision at the superior field on awakening from sleep. Funduscopy revealed a pale and swollen right optic disc. There was a dense right superior altitudinal visual field defect. Her haemoglobin level was low (3.6 g/dL), but she refused blood transfusion due to her religious belief (Jehovah's Witness) and opted for conservative management. She later developed right optic atrophy with persistent visual field defect despite an improved haemoglobin level of 10.5 g/dL.
Orbital involvement in multiple myeloma is unusual. We describe the case of an 85-year-old woman who presented with right eye proptosis, reduced visual acuity and diplopia. Computed tomography showed a lobulated, enhancing soft tissue mass arising from the right greater wing of the sphenoid with intraconal, lacrimal gland and ocular muscle involvement. Histopathology revealed predominantly atypical plasma cells in a background of reactive lymphocytes, with monoclonality towards kappa light chain protein, suggestive of multiple myeloma. This case illustrates the diagnostic imaging challenge of orbital multiple myeloma.
Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare and benign lymphoproliferative disorder that commonly presents as painless, bilateral neck swelling. Extranodal presentations are considered rare, but the most common extranodal locations involved include skin, subcutaneous followed by nasal/paranasal sinuses. Although it is a benign condition, it may be mistaken as a malignant lesion and requires a biopsy for diagnostic confirmation. In this study, we report a rare case of RDD with bilateral neck node and nasal/paranasal sinus involvement which initially presented with bilateral nasal obstruction. And, we reviewed the management in this unusual case and discussed the helpful role imaging studies play in the further workup and subsequent follow-up to treatment response.
A woman in her 70s presented with reduced vision in her left eye, progressive narrowing of right eye opening for 6 months and anosmia. On examination, she had right enophthalmos and pseudoptosis with inferior globe dystopia. Her visual acuity was 6/9 and nil light perception in the right and left eyes, respectively. Extraocular muscle examination showed limited right up gaze. Funduscopy showed a normal right optic disc and left optic disc atrophy. Systemic examination revealed left breast ulceration with skin tethering. CT revealed an infiltrative mass invading the ethmoidal sinuses, frontal sinuses and both orbits. A histological diagnosis of infiltrative ductal breast carcinoma was made after nasal endoscopic and left breast biopsy. She underwent palliative chemoradiotherapy and survived with good disease control after 1 year. Metastatic carcinoma is a differential diagnosis of a sino-orbital mass, and comprehensive clinical assessment is indicated for all patients presenting with non-acute eye injury.
We reported a case of a woman with no past medical illness who presented with a few days' history of fever, myalgia, arthralgia, hypochromic microcytic anaemia and thrombocytopaenia and who was nonstructural protein 1 antigen (NS1Ag)-positive. Haemolytic anaemia including full blood picture work-up revealed high reticulocyte count and haemolysis with positive direct Coombs test. She was started on prednisolone and was discharged well.
We reported a case of a young female patient presented with sepsis and diagnosed with melioidosis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) within the same admission. She presented with 1-week history of productive cough, progressive dyspnoea together with prolonged fever, arthralgia, rashes and oral ulcers. She had septicemic shock, respiratory failure requiring intubation and ventilation in intensive care unit and subsequently developed acute renal failure requiring haemodialysis. Antibiotics and immunosuppressive treatment including low-dose intravenous cyclophosphamide were commenced. She had a remarkable recovery and was discharged after 6 weeks. There was no evidence of active SLE or relapse of melioidosis during clinic follow-ups.
We report a case of a 46-year-old Malay woman with underlying hypothyroidism post thyroidectomy who presented with worsening breathlessness, orthopnoea, productive cough and left-sided pleuritic chest pain of 3 days duration. Chest X-ray on admission showed left-sided massive hydropneumothorax. Pleural tapping revealed empyema. A chest tube was inserted immediately. The culture of pleural fluid grew Streptococcus constellatus The patient was treated with antibiotics for a total of 6 weeks and underwent open thoracotomy and decortication during admission. Subsequently, her lung condition improved and there was no evidence of recurrence during follow-up.