Eccrine spiradenoma is a benign tumour of the sweat gland. Eccrine glands can be found almost everywhere but are mostly concentrated on the palms, soles and the axillae. Lesions involving the breast are rare. We present a case of a 13-years-old Malay girl with eccrine spiradenoma of the breast. The clinical presentation and histological features are being described.
We report the case of a rare, benign mesenchymal tumour arising from the cervix. A 53-year-old post-menopausal woman presented with mass per vagina. Examination revealed stage 2 utero-vaginal prolapse and multiple elongated polyps seen at the cervix. She underwent local excision. Histopathological examination findings and the immunohistochemical studies were consistent with Angiomyofibroblastoma.
A 37-year-old Malay woman presented with progressive deterioration in vision and was diagnosed with advanced proliferative diabetic retinopathy with neovascular glaucoma. Intravitreal ranibizumab injection (an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor) was administered prior to vitrectomy. Slit lamp assessment 2 days post-injection revealed significant regression of both iris and retinal neovascularisation. This resulted in adequate reduction of intra-ocular pressure prior to surgery. In addition, the regression of retinal vessels reduced the risk of intra-operative haemorrhage, thus aiding the surgical excision of the fibrovascular membranes. Periodic post-operative assessment in the first 3 weeks showed minimal inflammation and no recurrence of vitreous haemorrhage. This case illustrates that intravitreal ranibizumab has a role as an adjunct therapy prior to diabetic vitrectomy to significantly reduce the risk of intra-ocular haemorrhage.
We compared the analgesic profile between patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) using oxycodone and morphine in post total abdominal hysterectomy patients. Eighty-four ASA I or II patients, aged 18 to 65 years who underwent total abdominal hysterectomy were recruited into this prospective, double blind, randomised controlled study. They were randomised to receive either PCA oxycodone 0.7 mg per bolus or PCA morphine 1 mg per bolus for postoperative pain relief. At the end of surgery, all patients received IV morphine 0.1 mg/kg and skin incision was infiltrated with 20 mls of bupivacaine 0.25%. Post-operative pain scores, opioids consumptions, sedation scores and side effects were assessed upon arrival and at 30 minutes after arrival to recovery area, as well as at 6 hours and 24 hours after the operation in the ward. Patients’ overall satisfaction was also assessed 24 hours postoperatively.No significant differences were observed in terms of postoperative pain scores, opioids consumption, sedation scores, side effects as well as patient’s overall satisfaction between the PCA oxycodone and PCA morphine group. Oxycodone was comparable to morphine as PCA in terms of total opioid consumption, pain scores and satisfaction level for patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy and therefore may be an alternative to morphine in postoperative pain management as PCA.
Congenital peritoneal band is an extremely rare condition, but may induce small bowel obstruction (SBO) at any age, predominantly in childhood and rarely in adults. We report a case of extensive bowel ischaemia following caesarean section, due to trapping of an intestinal loop between a congenital peritoneal band and the mesentery. A 42-year-old, Gravida 2 Para 1, who has no history of prior abdominal surgery or trauma, presented in spontaneous labour and underwent an uncomplicated emergency lower segment caesarean section, for fetal distress. Postoperatively, she had worsening abdominal distension and pain, followed by vomiting. Computed Tomography Scan of the abdomen showed gross fluid retention with marked small bowel dilatation and fluid filled bowel loops. An emergency exploratory laparotomy was performed which revealed a congenital band, extending between the right fimbrial end and the small bowel mesentery, looping over the small bowel, causing extensive small bowel ischemia. Post-operative course was uneventful. In conclusion, congenital peritoneal band causing small bowel obstruction, although rare, should be considered in the differential, especially for patients with virgin abdomen.
Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome is an important infrequent cause of serious disability among young adults and athletes. We hereby describe a case of popliteal artery syndrome and its clinical implications. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of popliteal artery entrapment in young patients presenting with progressive arterial insufficiency.
This is our first experience in providing general anaesthesia for robotic-assisted thyroidectomy (RAT). It is rather a
new experience for our anaesthetic team and few issues should be addressed. The conduct of RAT must be fully
understood and familiarized as it may present with few challenges for the anaesthesiologists. The key point of
success during this learning curve period is the importance of teamwork between the anaesthesiologists and the
operating surgeons. The specific anaesthetic challenges include limited access to the patient post-docking of the
robot, the need of extra precautions of the anaesthetic circuit and IV line connections, a vigilant anaesthesiologists
and options for postoperative pain relief.
We report a case of a 7-year-old girl who initially presented with painless right eyelid swelling with full extra-ocular movement (EOM). She was treated with intravenous broad-spectrum antibiotics for preseptal cellulitis but her condition worsened. An urgent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and orbit showed orbital abscess, subperiosteal abscess in the medial orbital wall and evidence of sinusitis in the anterior ethmoidal air cells. She underwent Endoscopic Orbital Decompression (EOD) surgery on day 4 of presentation and her condition improved remarkably. We report a case of orbital abscess with subperiosteal abscess in the medial orbital wall. This case highlights the possibility of progression of orbital cellulitis despite administration of a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
A pure ovarian choriocarcinoma is a very rare disease which can be either pregnancy related (gestational), may not be related (non-gestational), or commonly correlated with different type of germ cell; teratocarcinoma, dysgerminoma or undifferentiated carcinoma. A pure non-gestational primary ovarian choriocarcinoma is astronomically uncommon and we recorded such condition in 14-year-old teenage girl’s ovary. An abdominal operative procedure with the help of a careful histopathology examination revealed choriocarcinoma in absence of other type of germ cell element. Multiple courses of Etoposide/Methotrexate/Actinomycin-D (EMA) regime of chemotherapy were shown to be effective in this case.
Morbidly adherent placenta with spontaneous rupture of membrane at extreme prematurity poses poor pregnancy outcome. Various issues on different management modalities still remain perplexed and individual consideration is vital. Two cases of morbidly adherent placenta with symptomatic per vaginal bleeding and spontaneous rupture of membrane at severe prematurity were reviewed and discussed. We found that, active intervention by termination of pregnancy and methotrexate therapy at early gestation can prevent the need of hysterectomy following major obstetrics haemorrhage.
A 28-year-old G3P1+1 at 6 weeks period of amenorrhea with a previous Caesarean section presented with per vaginal bleeding. A cervical ectopic pregnancy was confirmed by a transvaginal scan. An intramuscular methotrexate was given followed by intracervical route due to poor decline of the serum βHCG. However, due to persistent increment of serum βHCG, an additional four doses of intramuscular methotrexate with folinic acid rescue were administered and she responded well to the regime. Unfortunately, following the last dose, she developed an episode of excessive per vaginal bleeding which required suction and curettage of the cervical canal. A Foley‘s catheter balloon was placed intracervically as a tamponade and the bleeding was successfully arrested.
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.
Caesarean section has become the most common major surgical procedure which is performed worldwide. Caesarean section is considered as a lifesaving procedure for both mother and baby. It is estimated that 18.5 million caesarean sections are performed yearly, worldwide. In the United States, more than one million caesarean sections are being performed, annually. Overall rates of caesarean section have increased in the last 30 years without significant improvement in perinatal or maternal outcomes.
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.
Hematospermia is a distressing disorder in sexually active men resulting in great concern to the patient. We report an unusual case of hematospermia with an atypical presentation, involving a 54-year-old man presented with acute urinary retention after sexual intercourse. Although the causes are widely known, arteriovenous malformation as the cause of this disorder has not much been reported in the literature. Transcatheter embolization of internal pudendal artery is a promising option for hematospermia caused by arterial fistula or bleeding.
Diabetic retinopathy is a disease involving microangiopathic changes in response to chronic hyperglycaemia and pan retinal photocoagulation (PRP) is currently the mainstay of treatment for proliferative retinopathy. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of pan retinal photocoagulation (PRP) on retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with diabetic retinopathy using optical coherence tomography (OCT). This was a prospective longitudinal study. Patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) or very severe non-(N)PDR requiring laser treatment were included in the study. PRP was performed by a single trained personnel. Peripapillary RNFL located 3.4 mm around the optic disc was evaluated using time-domain OCT. Examination was performed before treatment, and 2 and 4 months after laser treatment. In total, 39 subjects (39 eyes) were recruited into this study. Twenty-nine patients had PDR and 10 had very severe NPDR. Mean age was 54.97 ± 8.38 years. Male and female genders were almost equally distributed with 18 males and 21 females. Median thickness of average RNFL at baseline was 108.8 um (interquartile range [IQR] 35.3). At two months post-procedure, average RNFL thickness significantly increased to 117.4 (IQR 28.6; P = 0.006). Although, other quadrants revealed a similar trend of increasing thickness at two months but it was not significant. At 4 months post-laser treatment, RNFL thickness in all quadrants reduced to baseline levels with insignificant changes of thickness compared to prior to laser treatment. There was also no significant association between changes in RNFL thickness and HbA1c levels (P = 0.77). In conclusion, PRP causes transient thickening of the RNFL which recovers within 4 months post-laser treatment. At the same time, poor sugar control has no direct influence on the RNFL changes after PRP.
Phacoemulsification (PEA) is currently the procedure of choice for most cataract extraction. However, intra-operative complications may require the procedure to be converted to extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE). We have evaluated the indications for conversion and visual outcomes in cases converted from phacoemulsification to ECCE. A retrospective review was performed on 33 eyes in which phacoemulsification was initiated and then converted to ECCE. The main parameters evaluated were indications for conversion and visual outcomes at 3 months. Thirty-three cases out of 1448 operations were identified from January 2013 to February 2014.The incidence of PEA converted to ECCE was 2.2%. The indications for ECCE conversion were posterior capsular rupture (PCR) in twenty-two cases, combined capsulorhexis extension with PCR in three cases, capsulorhexis extension and zonular dialysis in two cases respectively. Combined zonular dialysis with PCR, corneal toxicity, Descemet’s tear and obscured edge of capsulorhexis had one case each. Twenty-six (78%) cases had gain in vision, one (3%) case had unchanged vision and six (18%) cases had worsening of vision. The incidence of complicated phacoemulsification surgery requiring intra-operative conversion to ECCE was low in our study (2.2%). Seventy-eight percent of cases achieved final VA of 6/12 or better. Therefore, early recognition of complications and timely intra-operative conversion of PEA to ECCE may result in good visual outcome.
A 42-year-old Chinese man, known case of renal cell carcinoma with lung metastasis, was referred to Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre for left eye blurring of vision for one month duration, which was worse upon
waking up in the morning and cleared up after 1-2 hours. On examination, visual acuities were 6/6 in both eyes. No
relative afferent pupillary defect. Left fundus showed inferonasal retinal detachment without macular involvement.
No retina break, no retinitis and no choroidal lesion seen. Right eye examination was normal. Optical coherence
tomography (OCT) of left eye showed subretinal fluid temporal and inferior to optic disc. Fundus fluorescein
angiography (FFA) left eye showed hypofluoresence in early phase but hyperfluorescence with pin point leakage in
late phase over inferonasal quadrant. Indocyanine green (ICG) showed early hypofluoresence with late pin point
hyperfluoresence in the same quadrant. A clinical diagnosis of exudative retinal detachment due to choroidal
metastasis secondary to renal cell carcinoma was made. The patient was planned for cyber-knife radiotherapy of his
left eye but unfortunately we lost the follow up. High index of suspicion and relevant investigation are needed for
patients with visual complaints and history of renal cell carcinoma to diagnose choroidal metastasis.
Retinal detachment is one of the common complications of pathological myopia due to presence of retinal break.
However, retinal break commonly occurs in the peripheral retina. This case report illustrates the rare incidence of
retinal break adjacent to the optic disc, highlights the possible causes of poor visual outcome following surgical
repair as well as the possible measures to treat the complications.