METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 22 cases of glioma diagnosed intraoperatively from January 2013 until August 2019 in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. The selected tissues were processed for cytology smear and frozen section. The remaining tissues were proceeded for paraffin section. The diagnosis was categorized as either low-grade or high-grade glioma based on cellularity, nuclear pleomorphism, mitotic count, microvascular proliferation and necrosis. The sensitivity and specificity of frozen section and cytology smears were determined based on paraffin section being as the gold standard. The accuracy of both techniques was compared using statistical analysis.
RESULTS: The overall sensitivity and specificity of cytology smear were 100% and 76.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, the sensitivity and specificity of frozen section were 100% and 84.6%. There was no significant difference in diagnostic accuracy between cytology smear and frozen section in glioma (p>0.05).
CONCLUSION: Cytology smears provides an alternative method for frozen section due to good cellularity and morphology on smear. Cytology smear is rapid, inexpensive, small amount of tissue requirement and less technical demand. This finding may benefit to the hospital or treatment centres where frozen section facility is unavailable.
METHODS: In this prospective real-world study, we recruited and followed up patients diagnosed with CAT treated with rivaroxaban or standard of care as a control for 12 months or until death. Baseline characteristics were collected at the study entry. The primary outcomes were recurrent DVT or PE and death within 12 months after treatment initiation. Safety outcomes were composite outcomes of major and minor bleeding. Results: A total of 80 patients confirm CAT with radiological imaging were recruited; 39 patients were evaluated in the control arm and 41 patients in the rivaroxaban arm. The 12 months cumulative CAT recurrence rate was 46.2% in control and 39% in rivaroxaban (p=0.519). The 12-month death was not a statistically significant difference between both arms (20.5% vs. 31.7%, p=0.255). The cumulative rate of composite safety outcomes was similar in both groups (17.9% vs. 12.2%, p=0.471).
CONCLUSION: The result of this small but important real-world evidence proofs that rivaroxaban is an effective and safe alternative to the standard of care for CAT in Malaysia's cancer population.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 95 breast and gynaecology cancer survivor subjects. The Malay International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to assess physical activity and sitting time. Quality of life was assessed using the Malay EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Sociodemographic, clinical characteristics and anthropometric measurements were also obtained in this study.
RESULTS: The mean age of the subject was 51.8 ± 7.7 years old and the duration of survivorship was 4.3 ± 3.4 years. A total of 76.8% of subjects were categorized as having low physical activity level with a mean MET 403.5 ± 332.7 minutes/week and sitting time of 416.9 ± 151.0 minutes/day. Overall, subjects aged 50 years and above (p=0.006), widowed (p=0.032), retired (p=0.029) and had other non-communicable diseases (p=0.005) showed lower levels of physical activity. Increased physical activity had a positive effect on physical function (r=0.2, p=0.038), reduced insomnia (r=-0.3, p <0.001) and constipation symptoms (r=-0.3, p=0.012) domains of quality of life. The longer the sitting period showed more severe insomnia symptoms (r=0.2, p=0.03) but improved social function (r=0.2, p=0.012).
CONCLUSIONS: Increasing physical activity and reducing sitting time have a positive effect on the quality of life of cancer survivors. The focus of health education should be prioritized to older adults (50 years and above), widows, retirees, and those with other comorbidities as they are at risk of being not physically active.
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OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of the M2PK Quick Stool Test (ScheBo®) in detecting colorectal adenoma and adenocarcinoma in high-risk Malaysian populations using colonoscopy as the comparison.
METHODS: A prospective, cross-sectional, multicenter study was conducted from December 2017 to December 2019 in four hospitals in Malaysia. Participants were eligible if they met any of the following criteria: personal or family history of colorectal polyps or cancer, inherited syndromes, altered bowel habits, rectal bleeding, unintended weight loss, loss of appetite, abdominal pain or cramps, or unexplained iron deficiency, or an Asia-Pacific Colorectal Screening score of 4-7. Participants provided a stool sample that was tested for M2PK using the M2PK Quick Test. Participants then underwent a colonoscopy, and any lesions found were biopsied and sent for histopathological examination.
RESULTS: A total of 562 participants were included in the study, of whom 89 had a positive M2PK test. Presence of adenoma and/or dysplastic lesions were confirmed in 14.4% and adenocarcinoma in 3.0% of the participants. The M2PK Quick Stool Test showed a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 58.8%, 85.5%, 11.2% and 98.5%, respectively in detecting colorectal adenocarcinoma. For detection of colorectal adenoma, this test yielded a sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 27.3%, 86.3%, 27.0% and 86.5%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The M2PK Quick Stool Test showed a moderate accuracy in detecting colorectal adenocarcinoma and adenomas in the studied population.
METHODS: This study enrolled 100 patients in a single-center tertiary teaching hospital. Patients presented for screening colonoscopy, and those with suspicious colorectal lesions were included in this study. During colonoscopy, the most suspicious lesion in each patient was analyzed using the NBI system based on Sano's classification. Each lesion was biopsied for histopathological analysis, the gold standard. Endoscopic images were captured electronically. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of NBI colonoscopy were assessed. Other associated factors related to neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions were analyzed accordingly.
RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of the NBI were 88.2% and 71.9%, respectively. The area under the receiver-operator curve was 0.801, indicating that NBI has a good ability to differentiate between disease and non-disease. There are significant associations between histopathological examination outcomes and both presenting symptoms, especially weight loss, and lesion site, even after other variables were controlled (P
METHODS: This prospective study enrolled patients aged 18 years or older who underwent elective laparoscopic TEP hernia repair for unilateral inguinal hernia from April 2020 to March 2022. Data collected include demographic details, hernia characteristics, postoperative complications, and postoperative QOL assessment. The Short Form 36 Health Survey Version 2 (SF-36v2), a validated general QoL questionnaire, was administered preoperatively and at 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Statistical analysis utilized paired t-tests for comparisons, with significance set at a p-value
METHODS: This was a prospective study carried out in normal subjects at the Vascular Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, from March 2006 to September 2006. The study compared the popliteal artery blood flow during change of posture from the horizontal (supine) to the sitting position and the effect of intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) of the foot and calf on popliteal artery blood flow immediately and 10 minutes after cessation of compression.
RESULTS: A total of 15 subjects involving 30 limbs were examined in this study. On comparing flows between the horizontal and sitting position, there was a mean reduction in blood flow of 23% (p < 0.005). Immediately after compression of the foot and calf, there was an increase in blood flow of between 4% and 35% with a mean of 15% (p < 0.05). Peak systolic flows at 10 minutes postcompression were 536 +/- 95 mL/min, which was still significantly higher than precompression measurements.
CONCLUSION: There is a significant reduction in popliteal artery blood flow on changing from the supine to the sitting position. Popliteal artery blood flow is higher than baseline after 15 minutes of intermittent pneumatic foot and calf compression. The increase in popliteal artery blood flow is still present 10 minutes after cessation of IPC.