METHODS: Ethnic Malay and Indian IRD patients were consecutively enrolled from retina clinics in Singapore and Malaysia. Phenotypic and genetic data were reviewed.
RESULTS: A total of 100 unrelated individuals (Malay: n = 46, Indian: n = 54) were enrolled. Sixteen distinct IRD phenotypes were identified, with nonsyndromic retinitis pigmentosa (RP) comprising 46% of all cases. Stargardt disease and cone-rod dystrophy accounted for 20% and 11% of cases, respectively. Exome sequencing yielded genotypes in 64.3% of Malay and 68.9% of Indian cases. Variants in ABCA4 were the most common cause of IRD overall. Recurrent variants were identified in ABCA4, GUCY2D, PRPH2, and TULP1 for Malays, and in ABCA4 and MFSD8 (CLN7) for Indians. Homozygosity was more frequent among Indians than Malays (58.1% vs. 19.2%; p = 0.003).
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated diverse phenotypic and genotypic outcomes in Malay and Indian populations of Singapore and Malaysia, with distinct differences between them. Homozygosity was common among ethnic Indian IRD cases, explaining phenotypic diversity. These findings inform the identification of regionally relevant IRDs for developing targeted therapies in Malay and Indian patients from Southeast Asia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey using questionnaires was conducted among the representatives of ASEAN countries from October 2023 to March 2024.
RESULTS: Neurology training programs are available in 9 of the 11 ASEAN countries except Timor Leste and Cambodia. Despite the growing number of neurologists, with a doubling of the neurologist-to-patient ratio in most countries in the past 2 decades, the neurologist density per 100,000 population remained low. Thailand, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam have more than 1 neurologist per 100,000 population compared with 2007 when only Singapore and Brunei Darussalam had more than this ratio. In Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), Myanmar, and Timur Leste, although the number of neurologists has increased substantially, the ratio of neurologists remains low, with less than 1 in a million population in Myanmar, 1:625,000 population in Lao PDR, 1:526,000 population in Cambodia, and 1:430,000 in Timur Leste. The total duration of training from undergraduate to certified neurologist varies greatly because of compulsory internal medicine (IM) training and postinternship services. To enroll in neurology training, candidates in 4 countries (Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, and Myanmar) must have completed IM as a prerequisite. Candidates from Thailand and Indonesia must fulfill their 2-year compulsory government or general practice service requirement before they are eligible for neurology training. After fulfilling the eligibility criteria to enter neurology training, the overall training duration ranges from 3 to 13 years. Malaysia and Myanmar are countries where candidates spend more than 10 years becoming certified neurologists.
DISCUSSION: The number of neurologists and the neurologist-to-patient ratio have improved since 2007 in ASEAN countries. Diverse neurology curricula and the variable duration to complete neurology training and subspecialty practice are the main challenges in improving neurology training in ASEAN countries.
METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study and data collection took place from May 2022 to May 2023. Information regarding healthy participants was gathered from healthcare workers without any comorbidities. Data for non-healthy participants were collected from individuals diagnosed with various conditions across four specialist clinics: nephrology, oncology, psychiatry, and cardiology. All participants completed the Significant Quality of Life Measures (SigQOLM), a comprehensive assessment tool consisting of 69 items that evaluate 18 domains of QOL and well-being.
RESULTS: The study included a total of 452 participants, with 284 (62.8%) classified as healthy. Among the non-healthy participants, 41 (9.1%) had end-stage renal diseases (ESRD), 48 (10.6%) were diagnosed with cancer, 40 (8.8%) had depressive disorder, and the remaining had heart disease (8.6%). Statistical analysis revealed significant differences (p
OBJECTIVES: This scoping review aimed to gather information from herbal medicine anti-obesity randomised controlled trials (RCTs), analyse the methodologies and assess their alignment with international guidelines.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: This review included RCTs of participants of all ages with obesity utilising herbal medicine with any comparators and focusing on various outcome measures.Sources of evidence: Only published journal articles were included.
CHARTING METHODS: Articles were extracted from MEDLINE, CENTRAL and EMBASE using predetermined keywords. Relevant data, such as the study characteristics, types of herbal interventions and controls, treatment durations, outcome measures and safety monitoring methods were recorded in a table format for comparative analysis.
RESULTS: We included 99 RCTs that showed participant sample sizes ranging from 8 to 182, ages 18 to 80 years and body mass indexes (BMIs) between 25 and 49.9 kg/m2. Herbal interventions used single herbs (n = 57) and mixtures (n = 42), given for 14 days to 56 weeks. Studies implementing diet modifications include restricted calorie diets (n = 35), food-portion controlled diets (n = 7) and fixed calorie diets (n = 7). Of the 28 studies implementing exercise, most were of moderate intensity (n = 22). All studies collected BMI and weight as primary outcomes. Body fat composition was measured in over 50% of studies using a body analyser (n = 57). Waist, hip and abdominal circumferences were infrequently measured. Radiological tools used include dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (n = 16), computed tomography scans (n = 10) and ultrasound (n = 2). Safety monitoring methods were reported in most studies (n = 76).
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, almost 50% of the studies adhered to international pharmaceutical clinical trial guidelines, addressing dietary, lifestyle, physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors. Nonetheless, more herbal anti-obesity studies need to consider the assessment of weight maintenance.
METHODS: Aiming to develop recommendations on return of research results (RoR) practice within the Global Parkinson's Genetics Program (GP2), we conducted a global survey to gain insight on GP2 members' perceptions, practice, readiness, and needs surrounding RoR.
RESULTS: GP2 members (n = 191), representing 147 institutions and 60 countries across 6 continents, completed the survey. Access to clinical genetic testing services was significantly higher in high-income countries compared with low- and middle-income countries (96.6% vs 58.4%), where funding was predominantly covered by patients themselves. While 92.7% of the respondents agreed that genetic research results should be returned, levels of agreement were higher for clinically relevant results relating to pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in genes known to cause PD or other neurodegenerative diseases. Less than 10% offered separate clinically accredited genetic testing before returning genetic research results. A total of 48.7% reported having a specific statement on RoR policy in their ethics consent form, while 53.9% collected data on participants' preferences on RoR prospectively. 24.1% had formal genetic counselling training. Notably, the comfort level in returning incidental genetic findings or returning results to unaffected individuals remains low.
DISCUSSION: Given the differences in resources and training for RoR, as well as ethical and regulatory considerations, tailored approaches are required to ensure equitable access to RoR. Several identified strategies to enhance RoR practices include improving informed consent processes, increasing capacity for genetic counselling including providing counselling toolkits for common genetic variants, broadening access to sustainable clinically accredited testing, building logistical infrastructure for RoR processes, and continuing public and health care education efforts on the important role of genetics in PD.
METHODS: We conducted a qualitative systematic review on published literature using AI on retina images to detect systemic diabetes complications. We searched three main databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science (January 1, 2000, to October 1, 2024). Research that used AI to evaluate the associations between retinal images and diabetes-associated complications, or research involving diabetes patients with retinal imaging and AI systems were included. Our primary focus was on articles related to AI, retinal images, and diabetes-associated complications. We evaluated each study for the robustness of the studies by development of the AI algorithm, size and quality of the training dataset, internal validation and external testing, and the performance. Quality assessments were employed to ensure the inclusion of high-quality studies, and data extraction was conducted systematically to gather pertinent information for analysis. This study has been registered on PROSPERO under the registration ID CRD42023493512.
FINDINGS: From a total of 337 abstracts, 38 studies were included. These studies covered a range of topics related to prediction of diabetes from pre-diabetes or non-diabeticindividuals (n = 4), diabetes related systemic risk factors (n = 10), detection of microvascular complications (n = 8) and detection of macrovascular complications (n = 17). Most studies (n = 32) utilized color fundus photographs (CFP) as retinal image modality, while others employed optical coherence tomography (OCT) (n = 6). The performance of the AI systems varied, with an AUC ranging from 0.676 to 0.971 in prediction or identification of different complications. Study designs included cross-sectional and cohort studies with sample sizes ranging from 100 to over 100,000 participants. Risk of bias was evaluated by using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and AXIS, with most studies scoring as low to moderate risk.
INTERPRETATION: Our review highlights the potential for the use of AI algorithms applied to retina images, particularly CFP, to screen, predict, or diagnose the various microvascular and macrovascular complications of diabetes. However, we identified few studies with longitudinal data and a paucity of randomized control trials, reflecting a gap between the development of AI algorithms and real-world implementation and translational studies.
FUNDING: Dr. Gavin Siew Wei TAN is supported by: 1. DYNAMO: Diabetes studY on Nephropathy And other Microvascular cOmplications II supported by National Medical Research Council (MOH-001327-03): data collection, analysis, trial design 2. Prognositc significance of novel multimodal imaging markers for diabetic retinopathy: towards improving the staging for diabetic retinopathy supported by NMRC Clinician Scientist Award (CSA)-Investigator (INV) (MOH-001047-00).
METHODS: The source questionnaire in English was translated into Bahasa Melayu. Linguistic validation guidelines by the MAPI Research Institute were followed. The already validated Bahasa Melayu PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales was used for comparison. Sociodemographic data were collected during the interview. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25.0.
RESULTS: Sixty-nine children aged 8 to 18 with CKD stages 4 and 5, with or without dialysis, and their caregivers were recruited. Mean age was 12.62 ± 2.77 (SD). Evaluation of the PedsQL 3.0 ESRD Module Bahasa Melayu version demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach alpha 0.82). There was good agreement between child self-report and parent proxy report in all domains; average intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were 0.78, 95% CI (0.71, 0.84). Scores obtained from Generic 4.0 scales correlated with the disease-specific ESRD 3.0 scale, Spearman's rho = 0.32, p = 0.007. The Kruskal-Wallis H test indicated that there were no significant differences between stages of CKD and their respective mean HRQoL score, χ2(2) = 2.88, p = 0.236.
CONCLUSIONS: The PedsQL 3.0 ESRD Module Bahasa Melayu version is a reliable and feasible tool for cross-cultural adaptation. A longer prospective study may help better illustrate the quality of life in this group of children.
Summary: The first Asia Pacific consensus meeting on laparoscopic liver resection for HCC was held in July 2016 in Hong Kong. A group of expert liver surgeons with experience in both open and laparoscopic hepatectomy for HCC convened to formulate recommendations on the role and perspective of laparoscopic liver resection for primary liver cancer. The recommendations consolidate the most recent evidence pertaining to laparoscopic hepatectomy together with the latest thinking of practicing clinicians involved in laparoscopic hepatectomy, and give detailed guidance on how to deploy the treatment effectively for patients in need.
Key Message: The panel of experts gathered evidence and produced recommendations providing guidance on the safe practice of laparoscopic hepatectomy for patients with HCC and cirrhosis. The inherent advantage of the laparoscopic approach may result in less blood loss if the procedure is performed in experienced centers. The laparoscopic approach to minor hepatectomy, particularly left lateral sectionectomy, is a preferred practice for HCC at experienced centers. Laparoscopic major liver resection for HCC remains a technically challenging operation, and it should be carried out in centers of excellence. There is emerging evidence that laparoscopic liver resection produces a better oncological outcome for HCC when compared with radiofrequency ablation, particularly when the lesions are peripherally located. Augmented features in laparoscopic liver resection, including indocyanine green fluorescence, 3D laparoscopy, and robot, will become important tools of surgical treatment in the near future. A combination of all of these features will enhance the experience of the surgeons, which may translate into better surgical outcomes. This is the first consensus workforce on laparoscopic liver resection for HCC, which is a unique condition that occurs in the Asia Pacific region.