The following factors influencing vocational success or failure were selected and studied for their predictive value in a Rehabilitation Centre, age, family background, educational level, work history and work level, motivation, mental ability and physical disability. Graded numerical scores from 1 to 3 were assigned to these factors according to Lane et al. A cut-off score was tested and found to distinguish the successful from the unsuccessful groups. The individual factors found to differ significantly in the two groups were work history and skill, motivation, and physical disability. Mental ability, however, could not be tested adequately.
We describe a patient with acute compression of the spinal cord by a spontaneous extra-dural haematoma. This rare condition is often misdiagnosed. We believe that an urgent MRI scan is indicated in patients presenting with progressive neurological deficit following spinal trauma. This allows the diagnosis of extra-dural haematoma to be made rapidly and for prompt decompression of the cord.
To explore the possibility that environmental and/or genetic factors may yield clues to the etiology of osteogenic sarcoma, an epidemiologic retrospective study of all cases of osteogenic sarcoma in a country with clear geographic and racial variables (Malaysia) was conducted covering a 4-year period. Sixty-eight cases were identified (+85% of the predicted total). The incidence (cases per 100,000 population per year) was 0.11 in Malay, 0.23 in the Chinese, and 0.23 in the Indian. The urban versus rural incidence in the Malay was 0.22 versus 0.09, and in the Chinese 0.31 versus 0.18. The Indian population was too small when dividied into urban and rural segments to be significant.