We report the case of a 34-year-old Malay, admitted for constipation and abdominal pain at 35 weeks of gestation. Initially, she was diagnosed to have paralytic ileus and was managed conservatively. As her condition did not improve, emergency laparotomy was performed for suspected intestinal obstruction. She delivered a baby boy weighing 2.84kg with good Apgar score through a caesarean section. Intra-operatively, she was noted to have sigmoid volvulus and sigmoidopexy was performed. Post-partum, colonoscopy and bowel decompression was performed. She recovered well and was discharged on day 5. This case illustrates the need to diagnose or suspect volvulus in pregnant woman presenting with severe constipation as early surgical intervention can reduce morbidity to both mother and fetus.
Cancers of the ovary and corpus uteri afflict 5% and 3.6% Malaysian women respectively. Ovarian cancer (OC) remained the deadliest gynaecological malignancy in perimenopausal women mainly due to the lack of symptoms until the disease had spread. Ultrasonography could provide a preliminary screening allowing the clinician to tailor subsequent management and counselling for these women. To support the basis for selective screening, a study on 517 urban disease free women aged 45 years and above, uterus-intact, non-users of HRT was undertaken. This study presented normograms of ovary, uterus and endometrium derived from entry ultrasound assessment. The sample comprised of 58.0% premenopaused and 42.0% postmenopaused women with an average age of 51.27±5.35 years old. Over two thirds were Chinese followed by Malays and Indians. The findings indicated that the average uterine size and endometrial thickness (ET) was 7.21±1.67x4.36±1.30cm and 6.36±3.73mm respectively. Premenopausal women had larger uterus compared to those postmenopaused (p
Cancers of the breast and cervix made up 30.4% and 12% of all cancer cases in Malaysia. Thus screening for reproductive organ cancers as women approached menopause becomes exceedingly important. The study reports the baseline assessment tests of 495 disease free urban Malaysian women aged 45 years and above who volunteered in a healthy lifestyle intervention study. The sample comprised of 58.0% premenopaused and 42.0% postmenopaused women with an average age of 51.27±5.35 years old. Over two thirds were Chinese followed by Malays and Indians. Overall, abnormal Pap smears were seen in 7.6% comprising of 1.3% cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), 6.1% human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and 0.2% atypical squmous cells of undetermined significances (ASCUS). Yeast and other infections were found in 6.9% and 1.9% respectively. Comparatively, postmenopausal women had a 2.8 fold higher cancerous changes whereas premenopausal women had a higher infection rate, 11.8% vs. 4.7% respectively (p=0.024) with comparable HPV infection rates in both. This study found 1.3% had breast cancer (BC) with 3.6% requiring a biopsy while 3.4% needed regular follow up. Postmenopaused women had more abnormal mammograms (p
Objectives: The objectives of our study were to determine the mean age of onset of thelarche and menarche,
to determine the ages of each stage of puberty and to investigate if there are any ethnic differences in these
ages amongst female adolescents in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving three secondary schools in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. A total of
730 students were recruited via stratified random sampling. Self-administered survey forms on menstruation
and puberty were used.
Results: Out of 730 recruited respondents, 385 (52.74%) completed the survey and informed consents were
obtained from their parents/legal guardians. Our respondents’ ages ranged between 13 to 17 years old with
the median (IQR) age of 14.00(2.00) years. With regards to ethnicity, 329 (85.50%) were Malay, 46 (11.90%)
were Chinese, 9 (2.30%) were Indian and 1(0.30%) was a Bajau. The mean age for breast development
(thelarche) and menarche were 11.72 ±1.10 and 11.97±1.11 years respectively. The majority, 363 (94.30%),
out of 385 respondents had attained menarche. There appeared to be a later onset of puberty amongst
Malays comparatively.
Conclusion: The mean ages of pubertal onset and menarche amongst female adolescents in the Cheras area
are similar to those reported worldwide.