A 53-year-old Malay man was admitted with intestinal obstruction, fever and lower limb weakness. Initial clinical impression was myelitis causing paralytic ilues and paraperesis. Blood culture showed Burkholderia pseudomallei infection and subsequent MRI showed paravertebral abscess. This case highlights a rare manifestation of melioidosis involving the spine and difficulties in establishing the diagnosis.
Melioidosis is an infectious disease which is associated with high rate of mortality. We reviewed 33 patients treated in our hospital over a period of 14 months. About half (55%) of these patient presented with one focus of infection while the rest had multifocal infections. 81% require drainage of abscess or arthrotomy. Four patients (12%) died as a result of septicaemia and the rate is lower than those reported in literature. We conclude that mortality of melioidosis can reduce with early diagnosis followed by appropriate and prolonged antibiotic therapy.
Intramuscular myxomas are rare, benign mesenchymal tumors. Tumor location in the forearm is very rare among all the intramuscular myxomas. To the best of our knowledge, there were two cases of supinator intramuscular myxoma reported in the literature, and we intend to report the third case of supinator myxoma with encasement of the posterior interosseous nerve (PIN). A 67-year-old lady presented with history of left proximal forearm swelling for the past 5 years. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a lobulated multiseptated lesion seen within left supinator muscle, which was hyperintense on T2-weighted images (T2WI) and hypointense on T1-weighted images (T1WI), with peripheral enhancement post contrast. The tissue diagnosis of myxoma was confirmed via an open biopsy. She underwent en bloc resection of the tumor. The PIN was encased by the tumor; it was preserved and carefully released from the tumor. The nerve sheath served as an excision margin. In conclusion, we present a rare case of an intramuscular myxoma in the supinator muscle. In view of the location, extra attention should be paid during excision surgery to locate the PIN and to avoid damaging the surrounding structures.
Calcium phosphate-based bone substitutes have not been used to repair load-bearing bone defects due to their weak mechanical property. In this study, we reevaluated the functional outcomes of combining ceramic block with osteogenic-induced mesenchymal stem cells and platelet-rich plasma (TEB) to repair critical-sized segmental tibial defect. Comparisons were made with fresh marrow-impregnated ceramic block (MIC) and partially demineralized allogeneic bone block (ALLO). Six New Zealand White female rabbits were used in each study group and three rabbits with no implants were used as negative controls. By Day 90, 4/6 rabbits in TEB group and 2/6 in ALLO and MIC groups resumed normal gait pattern. Union was achieved significantly faster in TEB group with a radiological score of 4.50 ± 0.78 versus ALLO (1.06 ± 0.32), MIC (1.28 ± 0.24), and negative controls (0). Histologically, TEB group scored the highest percentage of new bone (82% ± 5.1%) compared to ALLO (5% ± 2.5%) and MIC (26% ± 5.2%). Biomechanically, TEB-treated tibiae achieved the highest compressive strength (43.50 ± 12.72 MPa) compared to those treated with ALLO (15.15 ± 3.57 MPa) and MIC (23.28 ± 6.14 MPa). In conclusion, TEB can repair critical-sized segmental load-bearing bone defects and restore limb function.