This study was designed to assess the total anal sphincter-saving technique of ligating the intersphincteric fistula tract for the treatment of fistula-in-ano.
A 48 a year old Malay gentleman, was investigated for recurrent unexplained right pleural effusion. Initial investigations showed exudative pleural effusion with neutrophil predominance. Tuberculosis (TB) workout were negative. Pleuroscopy showed multiple adhesions with granulomatous deposits at the parietal pleural surface. Adhesions were released by forceps. A chest tube was inserted. Intrapleural streptokinase instilled for three consecutive days. TB treatment was initiated. There was clinical and radiological improvement and he was discharged well after one week of hospitalization. He remained well at follow-up two months later.
Nasal polyp is one of the common causes of nasal obstruction. The diagnosis is usually made on clinical ground and rarely needs histological examination. However, when a candidate is selected for the surgical option of polyp removal, there is tendency to send all specimens for routine histological examination. The objective of this study was to assess the necessity of routinely performed histological examination in all nasal polyp specimens. A retrospective review of all nasal polyp histological reports was done from patients who underwent polypectomy or functional endoscopic sinus surgery in Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital between January 2000 to July 2006. It consisted of 95 patients. Majority of the reports came back as inflammatory nasal polyp (93.6%) and other varieties of benign nasal mass (5.3%). However, one specimen was noted to be malignant (1.1%). In conclusion all nasal polyp specimens should be sent for histological examination in order to confirm the diagnosis.
A qualitative ethnomedical survey was carried out among a local Orang Asli tribe to gather information on the use of medicinal plants in the region of Kampung Bawong, Perak of West Malaysia in order to evaluate the potential medicinal uses of local plants used in curing different diseases and illnesses.
Repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm in a renal transplant recipient poses many different problems due to warm ischaemia to the grafted kidney. This is a case of 50-year-old gentleman who had a pervious renal transplant with abdominal aortic aneurysm. To reduce the effects of warm ischaemia on the transplanted kidney, an axillo unifemoral bypass was done prior to aneurysm repair. This ensured continued perfusion to the transplanted kidney. The post operative period was complicated by Methicillin Resistant Staphyloccus Aureus infection of the graft.
A 57 year old man presented with postinfarction ventricular septal infarct (VSD) a week after myocardial infarction and thrombolytic therapy. Coronary angiography confirmed double vessel disease. He underwent surgical repair of the VSD and coronary artery bypass grafting. Two days postoperatively, he deteriorated due to recurrence of VSD. Reoperation was carried out with satisfactory results. The surgical management is described with a review of the relevant literature.
Uterine fibroid or leiomyoma is the commonest benign uterine tumour. Its occurrence in the postmenopausal age group is rare and if enlargement of the fibroid noted during this time, the diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma is provisional until proven otherwise. A case of a postmenopausal woman with a huge uterine fibroid associated with polycythaemia is presented whereby the mass was noted to increase in size within 2 years. The patient was otherwise well except for the growing uterine mass. She had venesection done to treat her polycythaemia and later underwent surgery for total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingoophoorectomy. The histopathology report confirmed leiomyoma of uterus with no evidence of sarcomatous changes. It was suggested that large uterine myoma may cause secondary polycythaemia by three postulated mechanisms, i.e. presence of hypoxia suggesting shunting within the tumour, second, the uterine fibroid was compressing the ureters resulting in inappropriate excessive production of erythropoietin by the kidneys, and third, the tumour itself may have been producing the erythropoietin.
Tubercular tenosynovitis is an uncommon condition and usually affects the upper limb. We report a case of a patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus who presented with wrist swelling. The clinical findings were suggestive of rheumatoid nodules, but the radiographic finding of calcification associated with the nodules and marked erosive changes primarily of the radio-carpal joint with sparing of the metacarpal joints led the radiologist to believe that the nodules may not be rheumatoid nodules. The presence of solid and fluid nature of the nodule and hyperechoic small echogenic foci (matted rice bodies within thickened synovium) on ultrasound suggested the presence of chronic synovitis of tuberculous infection rather than rheumatoid nodule as in our case. We recommend the use of ultrasound to determine the nature of nodular swellings seen clinically in patients with arthropathy.
The femoral nerve usually divides into anterior and posterior branches below the inguinal ligament. In the present case, we report the anomalous higher branching pattern of the femoral nerve on both sides of a 52 year male cadaver. The femoral nerve divided into the anterior and posterior branches above the inguinal ligament. Such a higher division of femoral nerve is a rare finding and it may be important for surgeons, orthopaedicians and anaesthetists in day to day clinical practice.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the use of prescription drugs among elderly patients (> or = 60 years old) admitted to medical wards in Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A total of 204 elderly (101 men and 103 women) were interviewed. Eighty two percent of the elderly were taking at least one prescription drug, with 39.2% taking > or = 5 drugs. Prescription drugs commonly used were antihypertensives (54.4%), antidiabetics (40.2%), drugs used in haemostasis (36.8%), nitrates (33.3%) and diuretics (32.4%). Factors associated with increased use of prescription drugs were: more number of chronic diseases, self-rated health status as poor, low Barthel score, and Chinese women.
The present study deals with the analysis of body composition components of 86 randomly selected patients with confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis aged 16- 70 years collected from the District Tuberculosis Centre and Hospital, Amritsar. An adequate number of controls were also taken for comparison. The findings of the present study showed highly significant differences (p < or = 0.001) in all the twelve kinanthropometric variables except height. When the data was further analyzed between sputum negative and sputum positive patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, highly significant differences (p < or = 0.001) were found only in total body fat and statistically significant differences (p < or = 0.05) were observed in weight, chest circumference in normal position, abdominal circumference, right calf and buttock circumferences. It may be concluded that TB patients were more malnourished than normal people. Thus, special nutritional care should be taken to the TB patients to give them a better quality of life.
An Indian man from Malaysia presented with contracture of his hands. He is 55 years of age and has a history of chronic alcohol consumption. Examination revealed bilateral thickened structure at the palms.
Records of 46 patients who were treated for primary hyperparathyroidism at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh Saudi Arabia from 1st July 2000 to 30th June 2006 were reviewed. Mean age at diagnosis was 44 years (range 13-70 years) and average duration of symptoms was 39 months (1 month to 11 years). There were 35 females and 11 males with a ratio of 3.2:1. Bone pains were the major symptoms at presentation in 45.7% followed by no symptom in 23.9%, renal stones in 15.2%, polyuria in 6.5%, while 4.3% each presented with depression, and constipation. Males had significantly more severe disease with higher serum calcium, higher urinary calcium excretion, and higher serum creatinine. Ninety six percent of patients had successful surgery and 4% (two patients) each had recurrence and hungry bone syndrome. It is concluded that PHPT in Saudi Arabia continues to be a symptomatic disorder with skeletal and renal manifestations occurring at a younger age and males having more severe disease. Further prospective studies are needed to verify our findings.
This study attempted to estimate the lifelong magnetic field (MF) exposures of a particular group of welders. Exposure was quantified via measurements, observations and interviews. It was found that these welders face a vast range of lifelong MF exposures depending on the welding processes and duration of the welding tasks performed. This may explain the inconsistency in the results of studies of MF exposures on human health. The mere assessing of the MF exposure levels through spot measurements does not give an overall picture of the total amount of exposure received by the welders as some of these workers performed the welding task throughout the day, whereas others performed this as a part of their job. The exposure to various chemicals in the fume may complicate the interpretation of the elevated health risk among the welders.
The incidence of wound related complication following total knee arthroplasty is as high as 10%-20%. To perform total knee arthroplasty in a knee with extensive scarring around the knee can be a challenging task. We report a case of 55-year-old diabetic woman, who had total knee arthroplasty, performed two years after she had recovered from necrotizing fasciitis around the right knee. Understanding the vascular anatomy around the knee is of paramount importance in the planning of skin incision to ensure fewer wound related complications.
We report an unusual co-existence of Burkholderia pseudomallei and acid fast bacilli in a young Malay gentleman with liver abscess. He was treated with antibiotics and surgical drainage. This phenomenon has not been reported in previous literature and the dilemma of its management is discussed.
Knowledge of variations of veins of head and neck in relation to external jugular, anterior jugular, internal jugular, and facial veins is important to surgeons doing head and neck surgery as well as to radiologists doing catheterization and to clinicians in general. In the current case, multiple variations in the veins of the left side of neck are reported. The anterior division of retromandibular vein was absent. The facial vein continued as anterior jugular vein. The internal jugular vein was duplicated above the level of hyoid bone. There was a large communicating vein between the anterior jugular vein and anterior division of internal jugular vein. Lingual vein drained into the communicating vein. Jugular venous arch was abnormally large, doubled, and highly placed. The veins of the right side were normal.