Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study. Thirty-four (34) Turner patients were examined for Turner-specific clinical features. The karyotype, clinical features at presentation, age at diagnosis and physiologic features were retrieved from their medical records.
Results: Patients with 45,X presented at a median age of 1 month old with predominantly lymphoedema and webbed neck. Patients with chromosome mosaicism or structural X abnormalities presented at a median age of 11 years old with a broader clinical spectrum, short stature being the most common presenting clinical feature. Cubitus valgus deformity, nail dysplasia and short 4th/5th metacarpals or metatarsals were common clinical features occurring in 85.3%-94.1% of all Turner patients. Almost all patients aged ≥2 years were short irrespective of karyotype.
Conclusion: Although short stature is a universal finding in Turner patients, it is usually unrecognised till late. Unlike the 45,X karyotype, non-classic Turner syndrome has clinical features which may be subtle and difficult to discern. Our findings underscore the importance of proper serial anthropometric measurements in children. Awareness for the wide spectrum of presenting features and careful examination for Turner specific clinical features is crucial in all short girls to prevent a delay in diagnosis.
Methodology: IO HAT was a non-interventional, multicentre, 6-month retrospective and 4-week prospective study of hypoglycaemic events among insulin-treated adults with T1D or T2D, including four countries in Southeast Asia (Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh). Data were collected using a two-part self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ1 for retrospective and SAQ2 for prospective). The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients experiencing at least one hypoglycaemic event during the 4-week prospective observational period (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02306681).
Results: A total of 2594 patients completed SAQ1. Nearly all patients reported experiencing any hypoglycaemic event in the 4-week prospective period (T1D, 100%; T2D, 97.3%), with all patients reporting higher rates in the prospective versus retrospective period. Severe hypoglycaemia was also reported higher prospectively (57.2% and 76.9%) than retrospectively (33.9% and 12.2%) in both T1D and T2D, respectively. Nocturnal hypoglycaemia was reported higher retrospectively than prospectively.
Conclusion: Incidence of any and severe hypoglycaemia in the Southeast Asian cohort of IO HAT was higher prospectively versus retrospectively, suggesting hypoglycaemia has previously been under-reported in this region.
Methodology: A 12-week prospective, non-controlled, interventional study in suboptimal-controlled T2DM patients with DFU was conducted. Antidiabetic medications were adjusted with the aim of at least 1% in relation to patient's individualised HbA1c target. The wound area was determined by using specific wound tracing. The daily wound area healing rate in cm2 per day was calculated as the difference between wound area at first visit and the subsequent visit divided by the number of days between the two visits.
Results: 19 patients were included in the study. There was a significant HbA1c reduction from 10.33 %+1.83% to 6.89%+1.4% (p<0.001) with no severe hypoglycaemia. The median daily wound area healing rate was 0.234 (0.025,0.453) cm2/day. There was a strong positive correlation between these two variables (r=0.752, p=0.01). After dividing the patients into four quartiles based on final HbA1c and comparing the first quartile vs fourth quartile, there was a significant difference in daily wound area healing rates (0.597 vs 0.044 cm2/day, p=0.012).
Conclusion: There was a positive correlation between HbA1c reduction and wound healing rate in patients with DFU. Although this is an association study, the study postulated the benefits of achieving lower HbA1c on wound healing rate in DFU which require evidence from future randomised controlled studies.
Methodology: This sub-analysis included Filipino patients with T1DM or T2DM, aged 18 years and older, treated with insulin for more than 12 months, who completed the two-part self-assessment questionnaires (SAQ1 and SAQ2) and patient diaries that recorded hypoglycemia during retrospective (6 months/4 weeks before baseline) and prospective period (4 weeks after baseline) (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT02306681).
Results: A total of 671 patients were enrolled and completed the SAQ1 (62 patients with T1DM and 609 patients with T2DM). Almost all patients (100% in T1DM and 99.3% in T2DM) experienced at least 1 hypoglycemic event prospectively. The incidence of any hypoglycemia was also high in the prospective period compared to retrospective period (72.6 [95% CI: 64.8, 80.9] events PPY and 43.6 [95% CI: 37.8, 49.9] events PPY; p=0.001, respectively) in T1DM patients.
Conclusion: Among insulin-treated patients, higher rates of hypoglycemia were reported prospectively than retrospectively. This indicates that the patients in real-life setting often under-report hypoglycemia. Patient education can help in accurate reporting and appropriate management of hypoglycemia and diabetes.
METHODOLOGY: We conducted a bibliographic search of PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar using the following keywords: "medication adherence," "drug compliance," "DMTAC" and "Malaysia." The search covered all publications up to 31 December 2021. Eligible articles were original studies conducted in Malaysia that measured or quantified medication adherence among persons with T2DM.
RESULTS: We identified 64 eligible studies published between 2008 to 2021. Most studies included patients with T2DM in ambulatory facilities. Five studies were qualitative research. The quantitative research publications included clinical trials, and cross-sectional, validation, retrospective and prospective cohort studies. Thirty-eight studies used medication adherence scales. The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8, used in 20 studies) and Malaysian Medication Adherence Scale (MALMAS, used in 6 studies) were the most commonly used tools. There were 6 validation studies with 4 medication adherence scales. A meta-analysis of 10 studies using MMAS-8 or MALMAS revealed that the pooled prevalence of low medication adherence is 34.2% (95% CI: 27.4 to 41.2, random effects model). Eighteen publications evaluated various aspects of the Diabetes Medication Therapy Adherence Clinics (DMTAC).
CONCLUSION: This scoping review documented extensive research on medication adherence among persons with diabetes in Malaysia. The quantitative meta-analysis showed a pooled low medication adherence rate.
METHODOLOGY: We recruited 175 subjects, aged 7 to 18 years old, referred for obesity. We studied their demography (age, gender, ethnicity, family background), performed clinical/auxological examinations [weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP)], and analyzed their biochemical risks associated with metabolic syndrome [fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting lipid profile (FLP), fasting insulin, liver function tests (LFT)]. MetS was identified according to the criteria proposed by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) for pediatric obesity. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between risk variables and MetS.
RESULTS: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among children with obesity was 56% (95% CI: 48.6 to 63.4%), with a mean age of 11.3 ± 2.73 years. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed age [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.27, 95% CI: 1.15 to 1.45] and sedentary lifestyle (adjusted OR 3.57, 95% CI: 1.48 to 8.59) were the significant factors associated with metabolic syndrome among obese children.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among obese children referred to our centers was 56%. Older age group, male gender, birth weight, sedentary lifestyle, puberty and maternal history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were found to be associated with MetS. However, older age group and sedentary lifestyle were the only significant predictors for metabolic syndrome.
Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study looking at data over a period of 16 years (2000-2016). Confirmed cases had thyroid scan at the age of 3-years-old and repeated TFT (after 6 weeks off medications). Relevant data was collected retrospectively.
Results: Forty (60% female) children with CHT were included in the study. Thirty (75%) children presented with high cord TSH. Nine (23%) presented after 2 weeks of life. Majority were diagnosed with TDH (42.5%) with TD and TH of 40% and 17.5% respectively. Median cord TSH of children with TD was significantly higher compared to TDH and TH (p=0.028 and p=0.001 respectively). L-thyroxine doses were not significantly different between TD, TDH and TH at diagnosis or at 3 years.
Conclusions: TDH is highly prevalent in our population. TD may present after 2 weeks of life. One in five children treated for CHT had TH. Differentiating TD, TDH and TH before initiating treatment remains a challenge in Malaysia. This study provides clinicians practical information needed to understand the possible aetiologies from a patient's clinical presentation, biochemical markers and treatment regime. Reassessing TH cases may be warranted to prevent unnecessary treatment.
Methodology: The AFES ASEAN Survey Of Needs in Endocrinology (AFES A.S.-O.N.E.) was an open-ended questionnaire that was sent to the presidents and representatives of the AFES member countries by email. Responses from Societies were collated and synthesized to obtain perspectives on the emergent issues in endocrinology in the Southeast Asian region during this pandemic.
Results: The burden of COVID-19 cases varied widely across the AFES member countries, with the least number of cases in Vietnam and Myanmar, and the greatest number of cases in either the most populous countries (Indonesia and the Philippines), or a country with the highest capability for testing (Singapore). The case fatality rate was also the highest for Indonesia and the Philippines at around 6%, and lowest for Vietnam at no fatalities. The percentage with diabetes among patients with COVID-19 ranged from 5% in Indonesia to 20% in Singapore, approximating the reported percentages in China and the United States. The major challenges in managing patients with endocrine diseases involved inaccessibility of health care providers, clinics and hospitals due to the implementation of lockdowns, community quarantines or movement control among the member countries. This led to disruptions in the continuity of care, testing and monitoring, and for some, provision of both preventive care and active management including surgery for thyroid cancer or pituitary and adrenal tumors, and radioactive iodine therapy. Major disruptions in the endocrine fellowship training programs were also noted across the region, so that some countries have had to freeze hiring of new trainees or to revise both program requirements and approaches to training due to the closure of outpatient endocrine clinics. The same observations are seen for endocrine-related researches, as most research papers have focused on the pandemic. Finally, the report ends by describing innovative approaches to fill in the gap in training and in improving patient access to endocrine services by Telemedicine.
Conclusion: The burden of COVID-19 cases and its case fatality rate varies across the AFES member countries but its impact is almost uniform: it has disrupted the provision of care for patients with endocrine diseases, and has also disrupted endocrine fellowship training and endocrine-related research across the region. Telemedicine and innovations in training have been operationalized across the AFES countries in an attempt to cope with the disruptions from COVID-19, but its over-all impact on the practice of endocrinology across the region will only become apparent once we conquer this pandemic.