Related Articles

Pregnancy-associated breast cancer: Management of the mother, fetus and tumour

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer affecting females worldwide, accounting for more than 50% of cancers in young females.1 It occurs in 1 in 3000–10,000 pregnancies, with reported incidence rising with delayed childbearing.2 The age standardised incidence rate in Singapore increased by 24.2% from 1993 to 2002.3...

vNOTES hysterectomy with a homemade glove port: Initial experience in Singapore

Dear Editor, Vaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (vNOTES) is an established surgical method of performing hysterectomy via the vaginal route and is one of the latest editions to the realm of minimally invasive surgery. Since the first vNOTES performed by Su et al. in Taiwan in 2012, vNOTES has...

Perioperative emergency laparotomy pathway for patients undergoing emergency laparotomy: A propensity score matched study

Patients requiring emergency laparotomy (EL) are a vulnerable subset within general surgery, with reported 30-day mortality rates ranging from 9% to 18%, which is 3 times higher than similar elective operations.1-3 Unlike elective surgeries, the care for EL patients is time-sensitive as they move from the emergency department, radiology...

Automated Cobb angle measurement in scoliosis radiographs: A deep learning approach for screening

Dear Editor, Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is the most common paediatric spinal deformity, impacting 1 in 300 children.1 In Singapore and other countries, national screening programmes have been established to detect scoliosis early, with the aim of using bracing to prevent progression to moderate or severe scoliosis, which may require surgical...

The emergence of otter attacks in Singapore: A case series and strategies for management

Dear Editor, Singapore is experiencing an unprecedented increase in the number of smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata). Since 2017, the local otter population has more than doubled to at least 170. This has led to an increase in the number of otter-human attacks since 2021.1,2 While common animal attacks like dog...

Impact of family and caregiver factors on development and behaviours in maltreated young children

Child maltreatment is defined as the neglect and abuse of children under 18 years old. It encompasses physical/emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, negligence and/or exploitation that causes harm to the child.1 Evidence has shown that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), such as maltreatment experienced during childhood, have a significant impact on...

Assessing the impact of frailty in elderly patients undergoing emergency laparotomies in Singapore

The ageing population is a growing global phenomenon. In 2019, 14.4% of the population in Singapore, equivalent to 3.9 million people, were aged 65 years or older.1 This percentage is expected to increase to 25% by 2030, primarily due to increased life expectancy and lower fertility rates.1 Consequently, older...

The value of frailty assessments in older surgical patients undergoing emergency laparotomies in Singapore

Mortality in emergency laparotomy (EL) far exceeds that of elective bowel surgery, and standards for the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA) in the UK were introduced due to the high mortality within 1 month of EL.1 In Singapore, 30-day mortality varies between 5.4% and 14.7% after EL.2,3 However, 30-day...

Challenges in genetic screening for inherited endocrinopathy affecting the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands in Singapore

In the current landscape of medicine, it is well known that most diseases incorporate a genetic component to some degree. Genetic testing of human diseases originated in the 1950s, and screening for genetic disorders followed a decade after.1 It is worthwhile noting that the Human Genome Project (1990–2003), which...

HLA-B*5801 testing: Is it time to consider mandatory testing prior to prescribing allopurinol in Singapore?

Dear Editor, Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) are severe, life- threatening mucocutaneous reactions that most commonly occur as drug-related reactions.1 In recent years, several risk factors for the develop- ment of SJS/TEN, such as genetic factors, have been  identified. Notably,  carriers  of  the HLA-B*5801  and  HLA-B*1502  alleles ...

Frailty-aware surgical care: Validation of Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) in older surgical patients

Frailty is a clinically recognisable state of vulnerability in older people, resulting from age-associated decline in physiological reserves and function across multiple organ systems, such that the ability to cope with acute stressors is compromised.1 Frailty is prevalent among older people2 and is associated with higher rates of utilisation...

Defining breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) prevalence and risk factors: A pragmatic approach to lymphedema surveillance

Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a chronic progressive pathological condition of the lymphatic system that can lead to significant impact on the quality of life after breast cancer treatment.1 It is characterised by swelling and accumulation of protein-rich fluid in body tissues, leading to pain, tightness, skin changes such...

Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL): Should we be doing more or less for the axilla?

Breast cancer mortality has declined steadily over the years with breast cancer screening, and improvement in diagnostic and therapeutic regimens. Despite cancer survivors living longer, breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a significant complication after major breast surgery that can impact quality of life adversely. The incidence of BCRL reported...

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of doctors on constipation management in Singapore

Dear Editor, Constipation is a common gastrointestinal disorder, affecting about 15% of the global population and severely impacting patients’ quality of life.1 The global constipation treatment market is estimated to worth USD22.93 billion in 2025. Patients with functional constipation had the highest treatment dissatisfaction at 63.4%. Poor satisfaction was reported...

Value the patient as a person: Answering the call for a person-centred model of care

There has been a change in patients’ attitudes towards healthcare professionals in recent decades, coupled with an increasingly evident shift in the care paradigm. In 2015, the World Health Organization released a framework of care that recommends healthcare professionals consciously consider the perspectives of individuals, carers, families and communities....

Shock index: Easy to use, but can it predict outcomes following major abdominal emergency surgery?

Major abdominal emergency surgery (MAES) is commonly performed for various potentially life-threatening intra-abdominal surgical conditions with high perioperative mortality of up to 45%.1 Certain patient factors (e.g. advanced age, frailty, and presence of multiple comorbidities) and disease factors (e.g. perforated viscus and intra-abdominal sepsis) have been shown to predict...

Managing and preventing severe hand injuries among sugarcane juicer operators

Dear Editor, Of all hand injuries encountered at an emergency department, 54% are sustained in the workplace,1 in part contributed by occupational injuries among food and beverage operators that caused a loss of 16,197 man-hours in 2021 alone.2 Commonplace in Singapore and in parts of South and Southeast Asia is...

Script concordance test to assess diagnostic and management reasoning in acute medicine

Dear Editor,  Clinical reasoning, an essential skill for patient care, can be difficult to assess. We created and validated a script concordance test (SCT) to assess clinical reasoning in acute medicine. This tool was used to provide feedback and targeted remediation for Postgraduate-Year-1 (PGY1) doctors, guide teaching and learning, and...

Surgical margins assessment reduces re-excision rates in breast-conserving surgery

Dear Editor, Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by radiation therapy for breast cancer offers improved cosmetic results and comparable long-term survival rates as mastectomy.1 However, BCS is associated with a higher risk for local recurrence, and published literature has reported re-excision rates as high as 20–70% due to positive resection...

TB or not TB? The axillary lump question

An 81-year-old woman of healthy weight presented with a 2-week history of a painless right axillary lump. Physical examination revealed a 2cm firm nodule with a central keratinous plug in the right axilla (Fig. 1). The surrounding skin was pigmented, non-tender and indurated. Sonography of the nodule demonstrated an...

Treating acutely ill patients at home: Data from Singapore

Inpatient hospitalisation is the conventional strategy to care for acutely ill patients. However, demand for hospital beds and clinical manpower is escalating as populations age, and hospitals are expensive to build and run.1 There is increasing recognition of the risk of hospitalisation from potent nosocomial infections2,3 (exacerbated by the...

Cause of vaginal spotting in an older woman

A 77-year-old Chinese woman with a past medical history of Sjogren’s syndrome, nodular goitre and right-sided neck lymphadenopathy, presented to the gynaecological service for per-vaginal spotting. On clinical examination, she was noted to have a cervical polyp. A polypectomy was performed and the specimen was sent for histological examination. The...

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection: Advocating for screening and education

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the leading non-genetic cause of congenital neurosensory hearing loss in children, accounting for 21% of cases of hearing loss at birth and 25% of deafness at age 4 years.1 It can also give rise to other serious sequelae such as cerebral palsy, cognitive impairment, seizures...

Optimum follow-up period of arthroscopic and mini-open rotator cuff repairs

Dear Editor, Rotator cuff disorders are the most common cause of disability related to the shoulder,1 and rotator cuff repairs—via mini-open or arthroscopic techniques—are considered in patients with refractory symptoms.2 While there are multiple studies analysing short- and long-term follow-ups, there are no clear consensus regarding the minimum follow-up...

An initial experience with laser haemorrhoidoplasty in addition to mucopexy for symptomatic haemorrhoids

Dear Editor, Symptomatic haemorrhoids is the most common anorectal disorder, where up to 75% of people experience symptoms sometime in their lives.1 The current gold standard for the surgical management of haemorrhoids is the Milligan-Morgan haemorrhoidectomy,2 with unrivalled long-term results.3 However, the technique is associated with significant postoperative pain,4,5 leading to...

Mesothelial Splenic Cyst—A Case Report

Non-parasitic cystic lesions of the spleen are unusual. They are classified essentially as primary (true, epithelial) and secondary (pseudo, non-epithelial) based on the presence or absence of lining epithelium. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Risk Factors for Predicting Mortality in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit

Following the rapid advances in medical therapy and critical care technology over the past 30 years, coupled with the spiralling cost of medical care, outcome analysis including mortality risk prediction has become a challenge for the modern day intensivists. During the early 90s, the focus has shifted from the...

Anthropometry of Anterior Cruciate Ligament in Singaporean Chinese

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is a technically precise and demanding operation. Attention to factors such as the tunnel position, graft selection, fixation and rehabilitation play an important role in determining the final outcome. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Surgical Results of Open Reduction and Plating of Humeral Shaft Fractures

Management of humeral shaft fractures has been the subject of controversy (Böhler, Ekkernkamp and Muhr, Nast-Kolb and Schweiberer). The problem of non-union, wound infection and most important of all iatrogenic radial nerve palsy led many to favour a conservative approach. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Operative Treatment of Displaced Talar Neck Fractures

Talus is a weight bearing bone with peculiar anatomy and blood supply. It forms the ankle joint with the medial and lateral malleoli, subtalar joint with the calcaneum and talonavicular joint with the navicular bone. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Abdominal Surgery in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infected Patients—Early Local Experience

The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is rising at an exponential rate in Singapore. The surgical experience with this disease remains limited. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Academic Medicine in Singapore

Academic medicine is currently grappling with the problem of whether the triple-threat academician is a species threatened with extinction in the 21st century, given the extraordinary growth of knowledge during the past decades. Academicians, by this definition, were expected to be original and productive investigators, inspiring teachers and outstanding...

Experience with a Nine-step Policy Dealing with Requests for Medically Inappropriate Interventions for Cancer

Although great strides have been made in treating cancers, a significant number of patients still reach the point at which no curative treatment is available. Physicians then face the difficult task of informing patients that, although palliation is always possible, cure is not. This article is available only as a...

Invasive Cancer after Treatment of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia

The objective of a cervical screening programme is to prevent invasive cancer of the cervix by detecting and treating pre-invasive disease of the cervix. The impact of the programme depends both on the detection of women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and upon their being treated effectively. This article is...

The Polarprobe—Emerging Technology for Cervical Cancer Screening

Cervical cancer is a preventable disease that affects nearly half a million women worldwide. The Papanicolaou smear has been used for screening for over fifty years and the test has the advantage of fast and relatively easy sample collection. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

Occult Virilizing Ovarian Tumours in Postmenopausal Women: Problems in Evaluation with Reference to a Case

A remarkable variety of endocrinologic disorders may cause virilization syndromes. This can pose a diagnostic dilemma to even the most experienced clinicians. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Occult Virilizing Ovarian Tumours in Postmenopausal Women: Problems in Evaluation with Reference to a Case

A remarkable variety of endocrinologic disorders may cause virilization syndromes. This can pose a diagnostic dilemma to even the most experienced clinicians. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Pelvic Spleen Masquerading as an Ovarian Neoplasm

A 53-year-old Caucasian woman, a receptionist in a general practice, was referred to the gynaecology outpatient clinic with an 18-month history of heavy, irregular menses and a pelvic mass on an abdominal ultrasound arranged by her General Practitioner (GP). She was otherwise asymptomatic. This article is available only as a...

Repair of Complex Ureterovaginal and Vesicovaginal Fistulas with Ileal Cystoplasty and Ureteric Reimplantation into an Antireflux Ileal Nipple Valve—A Case Report

Urogenital fistulas are a known but uncommon complication of gynaecological surgery, especially those involving a malignant process. Its incidence does not exceed 2%. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

A Case Report—Delayed Vesicocutaneous Fistula After Radiation Therapy for Advanced Vulvar Cancer

To our knowledge this is the first reported case of an isolated vesicocutaneous fistula related to previous radiation therapy for recurrent vulvar cancer. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Optimal Treatment in Gestational Trophoblastic Disease

Gestational trophoblastic diseases (GTD) encompass a spectrum of interrelated conditions: Hydatidiform mole (HM) Invasive mole (IM) Choriocarcinoma (CC) Placental site trophoblastic tumour (PSTT) This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Fallopian Tube Carcinoma—A Review

Fallopian tube cancer is the least common of gynaecological malignancies. It was first described by Renaud in 1847. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Current Management of Early Vulvar Cancer

Carcinoma of the vulva is an uncommon malignancy, but one that is amenable to early diagnosis if symptoms and signs are appropriately investigated. Although patient and physician delay remains common, an increasing number of patients are being diagnosed with early stage disease. This article is available only as a PDF....

Topoisomerase-I Inhibitors in Gynaecologic Tumours

Topoisomerases are essential nuclear enzymes with a multiplicity of cellular functions involving DNA replication, RNA transcription, mitosis, and chromosome condensation. Two classes have been identified: the class I topoisomerases, named “I” because they induce single-strand breaks and reunions of the DNA double helix, and the class II topoisomerases, named...

Screening for Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the most common gynaecological malignancy with over 5000 new cases diagnosed every year in the UK and 22 000 in the United States. Four thousand women die each year of ovarian cancer in England and Wales, and 13 000 die in the USA. This article is available...

Biomarkers in Carcinoma of the Cervix: Emphasis on Tissue-related Factors and Their Potential Prognostic Factors

Accurate staging is of utmost importance in determining the prognosis of carcinoma of the cervix. Demographic features such as race and socio-economic status have been demonstrated as not having significant influence. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

The Management Dilemma of the Mildly Abnormal Smear: Fact or Fiction?

Carcinoma of the cervix is still a relatively common gynaecological malignancy. However, despite being potentially preventable it still claims the lives of many women even in those countries where organised screening programmes exist. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Adenocarcinoma of the Cervix

It is clear from studies in Canada, Scandinavia, and more recently the United Kingdom, that routine Pap smear screening has not only reduced the incidence of squamous carcinoma of the cervix but indeed in the last 10 to 15 years has halved the mortality rate from this disease. In...

Malignant Ovarian Germ Cell Tumours: Experience in the National University Hospital of Singapore

One of the most remarkable advances in the management of gynaecological cancers is in malignant ovarian germ cell tumours. Before the early 70s, some of the malignant ovarian germ cell tumours had a notoriously bad reputation in terms of aggressiveness and poor prognosis. This article is available only as a...

A Phase II Study of Combined CPT-11 and Mitomycin-C in Platinum Refractory Clear Cell and Mucinous Ovarian Carcinoma

Platinum resistance, either de novo or acquired, is a major obstacle in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. Platinum-resistance has been classified into the following three categories; (1) primarily (intrinsically) platinum-resistant disease: tumours showing no change (NC) or progressive disease (PD) while on initial platinum-based chemotherapy; (2) secondarily platinum-resistant...

Single Agent Paclitaxel in Resistant and Relapsed Epithelial Ovarian Cancer After First-line Platinum-based Chemotherapy—Experience in an Asian Population

Ovarian carcinoma ranks fourth among causes of death in women and is the leading cause of death from gynaecological malignancies in Western countries. In Singapore, the incidence of this cancer has been rising for the last 25 years. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Uterine Papillary Serous Carcinoma—The KK Hospital Experience

Endometrial carcinoma comprises a morphologically heterogeneous group of tumours. Several authors during the 1960s and 1970s described an unusual variant of endometrial cancer containing psammoma bodies. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Radiotherapy as Local Adjuvant Treatment for Endometrial Carcinoma—A Review of 45 Patients

Radiotherapy as an adjunct to surgery has long been used in the management of endometrial carcinoma with the intent to improve local tumour control as well as to achieve excellent survival rates. Over the years, however, the specific role and relative benefit of postoperative radiotherapy for this particular cancer...

Outcome of Obstructive Uropathy After Pelvic Irradiation in Patients with Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix

Radiotherapy is the mainstay treatment for locally advanced carcinoma of the cervix. It is also administered as an adjuvant therapy to patients deemed at high risk for local recurrence after radical hysterectomy. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the...

The Surgical Management of Colorectal Complications from Irradiation for Carcinoma of the Cervix

Radiation bowel injury is a significant clinical problem because of the technical difficulties of surgery. Among the more common causes is radiation of carcinoma of the cervix, because radiotherapy is the principle mode of treatment for this fourth most common malignancy in women in Singapore (after carcinoma of the...

Adjuvant Chemotherapy in “High Risk” Patients after Wertheim Hysterectomy—10-year Survivals

Wertheim radical hysterectomy has today become an accepted method of management of stage IB and early stage IIA cervical carcinoma, particularly in young patients in whom preservation of ovarian and coital function cannot be achieved if they were subjected to radiotherapy instead. However, a group of patients undergoing radical...

A Review of Patients with High-risk Carcinoma of the Cervix Treated with Combined Surgery and Postoperative Radiotherapy

It is generally accepted that early stage invasive carcinoma of the cervix, stage I to stage IIA disease, can be treated with equal effectiveness with either radical hysterectomy or radical radiotherapy. However a proportion of patients treated with surgery may be classified as having a significant risk of relapse...

Outcome of Early Cervical Carcinoma Treated by Wertheim Hysterectomy with Selective Postoperative Radiotherapy

Cancer of the cervix is the fourth most common cancer in females in Singapore after breast, colorectal and lung cancers. It forms 7.8% of all cancers in females for the period 1988 to 1992. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Gynaecologic Oncology—The Next Lap

Cancer of the pelvic reproductive organs and external genitalia accounts for one in six cancers in women. It can occur in women of all age groups: rhabdomyosarcoma in young girls, germ cell tumours in teenage girls and young women, cervical cancer in the middle age women, and epithelial ovarian...

A Case Report of Atasoy Antenna Procedure

The hook nail deformity is a relatively common problem after fingertip amputations. It is usually ignored but can be quite disabling. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Urinary Deoxypyridinoline is a Useful Biochemical Bone Marker for the Management of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is the most common cause of osteoporosis. It is heralded by the cessation of oestrogen production by the ovaries resulting in at least 10% to 15% bone loss over the next 10 to 15 years from menopause. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

Ambulatory Anorectal Surgery—Is it Feasible Locally?

Economic and social pressures are compelling surgeons to modify their practice. An increasing number of procedures are being done in an outpatient setting. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Infections in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia

Children undergoing chemotherapy for cancer are especially vulnerable to infection because of immunosuppression related to their underlying illness, the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Empiric antimicrobial chemotherapy is the mainstay of therapy for febrile neutropenic episodes pending the culture results. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Childhood Leukaemia: Towards an Integrated Psychosocial Intervention Programme in Singapore

In the last two decades there has been a surge of interest concerning the psychosocial correlates of life-threatening illnesses. Research in this area has focused especially on cancer and the possible link between immunology and psychological factors. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF”...

Foregoing Life Support in Medically Futile Patients

The origins of withholding medical support are found in ancient times. More than two millennia ago, Hippocrates (460 to 361 BC) stated that the role of medicine was “to do away with the suffering of the sick, to lessen the violence of their diseases, and to refuse to treat...

Nitric Oxide in Septic Shock: Directions for Future Therapy?

In 1980, Furchgott and Zawadzki demonstrated that the relaxation of isolated arteries to acetylcholine required the presence of endothelial cells. This response was mediated by a labile humoral substance termed endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF). This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Critical Care Medicine in the Western Pacific Region

The Western Pacific region includes a very diverse group of countries varying in their culture, economic development and per capita income, disease prevalence and medical traditions. The Western Pacific Association of Critical Care Medicine (WAPCCM) includes countries from Japan in the north to Australia and New Zealand in the...

Critical Care—The Worldwide Perspective

Although special areas for postoperative patients existed 50 years ago, the modern specialty of Critical Care began during the polio epidemic of the 1950s. Prolonged hand ventilation, and positive or negative pressure ventilation, enabled maintenance of oxygenation until some patients developed sufficient recovery or compensatory processes to enable separation...

Caudal Morphine in Paediatric Patients: A Comparison of Two Different Doses in Children after Major Urogenital Surgery

The use of caudal preservative-free morphine for postoperative analgesia in children has gained popularity since it was first described by Jensen. Several studies have reviewed its use for inguinal and genital surgery in children. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

A Retrospective Study of Infants with Severe Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension (PPHN) Managed without Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)

Persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) is an important cause of neonatal mortality amongst infants who are of term or post-term gestation. The most severely ill of these infants would meet the criteria for the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

Five Paediatric Case Reports of the Use of Adenosine in Supraventricular Tachycardia

Adenosine has been shown to be effective in terminating supraventricular tachycardia in adults and children. However, the use of adenosine has not been previously studied in Singapore children; hence we report our experience with the use of adenosine for the treatment and diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia in children over...

Use of Central Venous Lines in Paediatrics—A Local Experience

Peripheral access by venous cut down, once popular in the 1950s and 1960s, has almost become obsolete with the introduction of the Seldinger technique for percutaneous insertion of central venous lines. In 1973, Shaw invented a technique of cannulating peripheral veins with silastic catheters, as an alternative approach to...

Malaria Requiring Intensive Care

Malaria is an important and common infectious parasitic disease globally. It is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, especially in endemic areas. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

A Retrospective Study of Near-drowning Victims Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit

Drowning victims suffocate from submersion. This may lead to immediate death or, if they survive, brain damage if significant cerebral hypoxia is present. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Ergotism and Vascular Insufficiency: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Toxicity from ergot and its derivative is well known. Great epidemics occurred during the middle ages due to consumption of rye contaminated with the fungus, Claviceps purpurea, which elaborates the ergot alkaloids. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the...

A Case of Accelerated Development of Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy in a Woman with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus after Pregnancy

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in persons between the age of 24 and 64 years both in the US and the UK. Peak fertility and childbearing years correspond to the first half of this period. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Survey of Aerobic Bacterial Infections in Paediatric Surgical Intensive Care Unit Patients

Data on infections in paediatric surgical patients are few in the literature. Although there are many studies on infection in adult surgical and paediatric medical patients, paediatric surgical patients are a special group in their spectrum of diseases and treatment requirements. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Phyllodes Tumour: An Update of 40 Cases

First described by Johannes Muller in 1838 as a large, benign tumour of the breast. Phyllodes tumour is a rare pathological entity, accounting for no more that 1% to 3% of all breast lumps. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

The Investigation and Management of Thyroid Nodules—A Retrospective Review of 183 Cases

Thyroid nodule is a common problem in surgical practice. In 1994, more than 350 thyroid operations were performed in our department, of which 183 were for thyroid nodules. Conventional preoperative assessment of a patient with a thyroid nodule, including history and physical examination, radionuclide scan and ultrasonography, has been...

The Role for Preoperative Localisation Techniques in Surgery for Hyperparathyroidism

Hyperparathyroidism is well recognised as a clinical problem that has a myriad of presentation. The classical presenting symptoms of hypercalcaemia have been well documented but there is an even greater awareness that many non-specific symptoms like fatigue, depression and constipation are related to hypercalcaemia. This article is available only as...

Double Level Fractures of the Femur Treated with Closed Intramedullary Nailing

Closed locked intramedullary nailing of the femur has become the accepted means of treating fractures of the femur. The use of locking nails has extended the technique from stable diaphyseal fracture patterns to nearly all fractures of the femur except for fractures at the very end of the bone...

Plasma Vitamins A, C and E in the General Population of Singapore, 1993 to 1995

The current disease pattern in Singapore (an island state of 3.3 million people composed of 76% Chinese, 14% Malays, 7% Asian Indians and 3% Others) is dominated by non-communicable diseases. There have been increasing trends, though with recent declines, for coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease. This article is...

Medicine and Surgery—History, Change and Challenge

Mr Koh Yong Guan, guest-of-honour; Dr Tan Ser Kiat, Master, Academy of Medicine; Dr K C Tan, Chairman, Chapter of Surgeons; Dr Robert Jalleh from Malaysia; Dr Idral Darwis from Indonesia; Dr P B Chacha, my esteemed partner; Dr John Isaac, Master of Ceremonies; fellow academicians, practitioners and friends,...

Osteoid Osteoma after a Stress Fracture of the Tibia: A Case Report

A 24-year-old man complained of left leg pain following 3 months of infantry training 6 years ago. There was no previous complaint of pain over his left leg and there was no trauma. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Reconstruction of a Supinated Hypoplastic Thumb with Combined Huber Transfer and Derotation Osteotomy: A Case Report

A 6-year-old Chinese girl presented with a deformity of the left thumb since birth. Her father has a similar deformity. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Haemorrhage into Non-functioning Adrenal Cysts—Report of Two Cases and Review of the Literature

Doran, in 1903, reported the first case of adrenal cyst described by Greiselius in 1670. It was not until 1966 that Foster reported the 220th case. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Video-assisted Thoracoscopy: Role in the Management of Intrathoracic Pathology

Thoracoscopy was first introduced by Jacobaeus nearly a century ago. With the development of endoscopic equipment and the recent surge of interest in minimally invasive surgery, video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) has found many uses, both diagnostic and therapeutic, in the management of intrathoracic pathology. This article is available only as a...

Focused Abdominal Sonography for Trauma (FAST)

The multiply injured patient presents a challenge to even the most experienced surgeon. These patients often present in shock and require a rapid diagnostic work-up to determine the presence of ongoing haemorrhage. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the...

Extraarticular Villonodular Synovitis of the Tendoachilles: A Case Report

Pigmented villonodular synovitis is a progressive synovial lesion of uncertain aetiology associated with synovial-lined tissues of the joints, tendon sheaths and bursae. The incidence was 1.8 patients per million population. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Embolisation of a Leaking Pseudoaneurysm of the Main Artery Supplying a Replanted Arm: A Case Report

Pseudoaneurysms are conventionally treated by surgery. In recent years, non-surgical methods are being considered, including embolisation with wires, coils or gelfoam and anticoagulation. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Life-threatening Perineal Gangrene from Rectal Perforation Following Colonic Hydrotherapy: A Case Report

Alternative medicine has become widely publicised throughout the world. Alternative medicine practitioners (AMPS), which include Oriental medicine doctors, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, naturopaths and Ayurvedic medicine practitioners, tout the ability to heal many diseases using treatments which are unconventional and of questionable scientific basis. This article is available only as...

Intravital Microscopy for the Study of the Microcirculation in Various Disease States

It is more than 150 years ago when the first detailed description of intravital microscopy was given by Waller, demonstrating in the frog tongue the passage of leukocytes (at that time interpreted as “mucous and pus globules”) through microvessels. Later, the mesentery was acknowledged as the most suitable object...

Rapid One-day Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation in Prenatal Diagnosis Using Uncultured Amniocytes and Chorionic Villi

The most common chromosomal abnormalities in newborns are trisomy 21, trisomy 18, trisomy 13, and monosomy X, with incidences of 1/800, 1/8,000, 1/20,000, and 1/10,000, respectively. Conventional cytogenetic approaches traditionally employ foetal cells from amniotic fluid (AF) or chorionic villus (CV) grown in vitro and metaphase banding for chromosome...

Parainfluenza Type 3 Viral Outbreak in a Neonatal Nursery

Parainfluenza viruses are relatively large RNA paramyxoviruses. Four serologic types cause disease in humans. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

T Wave Alternans and Acute Rheumatic Myocarditis: A Case Report

T wave alternans, an electrical cardiac alternans in which there is a beat-to-beat variation in the amplitude, shape or the polarity of the T wave during sinus rhythm without any changes in the QRS complex, is an uncommonly recorded rhythm. We report here an unusual case of T wave...

Comparison of First Carpometacarpal Joint Arthrodesis with Contralateral Excision Arthroplasty in a Patient with Bilateral Saddle Joint Arthritis: A Case Report

The carpometacarpal joint (CMCJ) of the thumb is commonly afflicted with degenerative arthritis. Of the patients seeking surgical treatment, post-menopausal women outnumber men by a ratio of 15 to 1. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Diagnosing and Managing Faecal Incontinence

Faecal incontinence is the inability to control the passage of gas, liquid or solid through the anus. Its severity varies from infrequent passage of gas to persistent lack of control of solid stools. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

A Preliminary Study of the Immunohistochemical Detection of a Novel Tumour Marker, 22-1-1 Antigen, in Gynaecological Cancer Specimens

Monoclonal antibodies expressed against specific tumour cells can play a useful role in the study and management of such cancers. Such antibodies have been useful in diagnosis and treatment of certain cancers (as tumour markers) and many such antibodies have now been described. This article is available only as a...

9th Chapter of Surgeons’ Lecture: The Orthopaedic Surgeon: Historical Perspective, Ethical Considerations and the Future

The legacy of caring and humanitarianism has been the mission of the medical profession since the founding of Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. To this small fishing village in the Riau Archipelago on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula came traders and entrepreneurs from China, India...

1998 Distinguished Academician Lecture: Hepatic Resection— A Western Perspective

Although debridement of portions of liver that prolapsed through war wounds was recorded from distant times, attempts at resection of a solid liver tumour were first reported in the latter part of the 19th century. When one considers the enormous challenges faced by surgeons of the time, without the...

The Future of Medicine from the Standpoint of the Practising Paediatrician

From the time of recorded history of medicine, the doctor whether he be the ancient healer or the modern medical practitioner, the doctor had practised the art and science, on the basis of curing the patient when he has an illness. The doctor is sought out when the patient...

Hepatopulmonary Syndrome: A Rare Complication of Chronic Liver Disease in Children

Children with chronic liver disorders may present with dysfunction of other organ systems. Encephalopathy, gastrointestinal bleeding, failure to thrive and impaired renal function are some such findings in these children1 Mild to moderate hypoxaemia is also well described in children with chronic liver disease. This article is available only as...

Prognostic Factors in Endometrial Carcinoma

In the United States of America, endometrial carcinoma is the most common cancer of the female genital tract and has an annual incidence of 72 per 100,000 women. In Singapore it is the third most common female genital tract cancer after cancer of the cervix and ovary. This article is...

Factors Affecting Success in an Embryo Cryopreservation Programme

The first pregnancy resulting from the thaw and transfer of cryopreserved pre-embryos was reported in 1983 by Trounson and his team, in Melbourne, Australia. This technological breakthrough in infertility treatment has been successfully repeated since then and cryopreservation of excess embryos now forms an integral part of any assisted...

Bidirectional Cavopulmonary Anastomosis

Children with complex congenital heart disease and a functional single ventricle may not be ideal candidates for a Fontan procedure. A staged approach to Fontan’s operation has been undertaken in an effort to reduce the volume load of a single ventricle as early as possible and to minimise the...

A Study of Joint Mobility in a Normal Population

Joint mobility varies between individuals and factors such as age, sex, race and heredity influence the range of motion of a joint. Excessive mobility of a joint(s) or hypermobility is a feature found in normal individuals as well as in patients with connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome,...

Delayed Amputation in Lower Limb Trauma: An Analysis of Factors Leading to Delayed Amputation

The decision whether to amputate or to attempt a limb salvage procedure in a mangled extremity is a difficult one. Numerous protocols have been published in the literature to help surgeons in the decision making. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Hyperlipidaemia during Normal Pregnancy, Parturition and Lactation

Increase in the plasma lipid fractions in normal pregnancy have been described but irregularity of sampling, difference in materials studied (whole blood, serum, and plasma) and the variations in the method of reporting precluded any comparison of results. In Western populations normal pregnancy leads to an increase in cholesterol...

Retinopathy of Prematurity in Very Low Birth Weight Infants

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), which could lead to visual impairment and blindness, is a recognised serious morbidity amongst surviving premature infants. The inverse relationship between the risk of this disease with birth weight and gestational age had been well-documented, in particular, in infants with birth weight ≤1500 g (very...

A Practical Technique of Colour Image Analysis: Applications in Experimental Research

Colour image analysers have been extensively used in medical research since 1970 for histomorphometric studies. Image analysis gives more information and a better understanding of relative morphological changes in histological tissue sections. This is especially pertinent when different morphological areas are immunohistologically stained and present in contrasting colours or...

Immunological Consequences of Trauma and Shock

Despite intensive research and intervention, trauma continues to be the leading cause of death during the first three decades of life in the USA, and currently ranks as the fourth leading cause of mortality with over 160,000 deaths each year. Mortality following trauma occurs in three distinct periods. This article...

Establishment of Animal Models Using Experimental Rats for Allogeneic Tissue Transplantation and Quantitative Flow Cytometric Detection of Immunochimera

Allogeneic tissue and organ transplantation has long been an important medical issue, as it provides an effective treatment alternative for a broad spectrum of medical problems. It is essential to establish the animal models used for a specific type of allogeneic tissue or organ transplantation prior to its clinical...

The Effect of Storage at -70°C and -150°C on the Torsion Properties of the Canine Femur

Allograft transplantation of bone has been established as a viable and useful reconstructive procedure when limb salvage is the option of choice. For bone allografts, this is thought to be due to the relatively avascular structure and that low-freezing or freeze-drying for periods beyond three months reduces cellular immunogenicity. This...

The Viability of Liver Graft for Transplantation After Prolonged Warm Ischaemia

Liver transplantation (LTx) is the treatment of choice for many patients with end stage liver disease. However liver allograft availability prevents its widespread application. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Use of Titanium Prosthesis to Bridge a Vertebral Gap in the Spine—A Preliminary Experimental Study

Bridging a vertebral gap in the spine is one of the commonest problems facing the spine surgeon after dealing with a tumour, infection or a fracture. The gold standard today is still the autogenous graft, though other solutions are the allograft, bone cement fashioned as a block, ceramics and...

The Results of Autogenous Tibial Periosteal Transplants for Full Thickness Cartilage Defects in the Knee Joints of Pigs

Articular cartilage injuries to the knee are commonly seen by team doctors, sports physicians and orthopaedic surgeons. Despite many clinical as well as experimental studies on the healing of such defects, the ability to regenerate mature hyaline cartilage capable of withstanding daily functional stresses in the knee remains a...

Echocardiographic Features and Management of Neonatal Ductal Aneurysm

Previously thought to be a rare condition, aneurysms of the ductus arteriosus have been increasingly reported in the medical literature over the past few years. It has been noted as an incidental finding in autopsy, echocardiography and angiography, but can present with symptoms of cough, dyspnoea, hoarseness of voice...

An Unusual Tumour Metastasis to the Cervix

A 55-year-old Chinese lady had a left mastectomy in April 1995 for an invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast. Axillary lymph node metastases were present. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Extended Resection of Locally Advanced (T4) Stomach Cancer

Cancer is the most common cause of death in Singapore. Although there is a gradual decline in incidence of stomach cancer over the years, it is the third (10.1%) most common cancer in males and the fifth (6.5%) most common cancer in females in Singapore. This article is available only...

Transaminitis in Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy

Raised aminotransferase levels, especially that of alanine transaminase (ALT), have been traditionally attributed to liver pathology rather than to muscle disorders. However, raised alanine and aspartate transaminase (AST) levels have been found in patients with muscle diseases such as Duchenne’s and Becker’s muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy and the inflammatory...

Twenty-four hour, Non-invasive, Neonatal Chromosome Analysis—Application in a Case of Mixed Gonadal Dysgenesis

Chromosome analysis in neonates requires venisection and this is sometimes both difficult and distressing. In addition, results can at best take 3 days but longer if the initial 48-h culturing period proves unsuccessful. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Laparoscopic Totally Extraperitoneal Inguinal Hernioplasty: An Audit of the Early Postoperative Results of 100 Consecutive Repairs

Inguinal hernia is one of the commonest surgical pathologies in the world. Laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal repair has been gaining popularity in recent years. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Sandhoff Disease—A Case Report of 3 Siblings and a Review of Potential Therapies

Sandhoff disease is a rare inborn error of metabolism characterised by the absence of both β-hexosaminidase A and B, resulting in an accumulation of G<sub>M2</sub> gangliosides, particularly in the neuronal cells. The infantile form, similar to Tay Sach’s disease, may present in the first year of life with an...

A Case Report on the Perinatal Management of a 30-week Preterm Baby with Congenital Complete Heart Block

The association between congenital complete heart block (CHB) and maternal autoimmune disorders has been described for many years. Maternal systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the commonest of these disorders, and a leading cause of heart block in newborns. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Perioperative Deaths: A Further Comparative Review of Coroner’s Autopsies with Particular Reference to the Occurrence of Fatal Iatrogenic Injury

Beginning in 1991, the Department of Forensic Medicine (DFM), which undertakes all Coroner’s casework locally, embarked on an on-going review of Coroner’s perioperative autopsies on a triennial basis. The aim is to document significant clinico-pathological and medico-legal trends arising from perioperative deaths in anticipation of the increasing importance of...

Use of Low Molecular Weight Heparin for Prevention of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Total Knee Arthroplasty—A Study of its Efficacy in an Asian Population

The role of thromboprophylaxis in total knee replacement (TKR) remains controversial. In several reports, the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has been significant. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Deep Vein Thrombosis after Total Knee Replacement

Western literature reports a very high incidence of deep vein thrombosis in its population especially after orthopaedic surgery. In total knee replacement without prophylaxis, its incidence is quoted between 46% and 84% in various studies. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Genetics of Male Infertility: Role of Androgen Receptor Mutations and Y-Microdeletions

Three to four per cent of men have severe defects in sperm production that result in infertility. Most of these men are healthy and the causes of depressed spermatogenesis are rarely identified with certainty. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Minimal Change Nephrotic Syndrome—A Complex Genetic Disorder

Minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) is the most common cause of childhood nephrotic syndrome. It is characterised by the presence of gross proteinuria, hypoalbuminaemia, oedema and hyperlipidaemia. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Management of Growth Arrest with Tissue-engineered Cells

Before I go on to the scientific aspects of my talk, I would like to pay tribute to Dr Yahya Cohen. Dr Cohen was born in Singapore of Jewish parents. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Association or Agreement

Association and agreement between two factors are very different concepts, although the methods used to describe them appear similar. For example, the association between levels of aflatoxin serum albumin adducts and dietary aflatoxin intake can be demonstrated in a bivariate scattergram; the agreement between two methods of measuring aflatoxin...

Candida Arthritis in a Premature Infant Treated Successfully with Oral Fluconazole for Six Months

Candida arthritis in premature infants is regarded as a rare condition. The largest published series of 8 cases from one institution was from Bombay, India. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

DNA Testing for Fragile X Syndrome in 255 Males from Special Schools in Singapore

Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited cause of mental retardation, affecting approximately 1 in 1250 males and 1 in 2500 females. It is associated with a cytogenetically visible fragile site in Xq27.3, termed FRAXA, which results from the unstable expansion of a trinucleotide (CGG)n repeat sequence in...

Microdochectomy for Single-duct Nipple Discharge

Nipple discharge is a common disturbing symptom for many women and often leads to a surgical referral. It accounts for 3% to 5% of all breast symptoms. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Initial Experience of Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation of Supraventricular Tachycardia in Paediatric Patients

Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is well-recognised as one of the commonest rhythm disorders in children. There may be few symptoms, but many experience palpitations, or some other less specific complaints such as nausea, pallor and sweatiness. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

Surgical Results of Intercondylar Fractures of the Adult Femur

Fractures of the intercondylar region of the femur often resulted from high velocity accidents. This would lead to increased comminution and involvement of the articular surfaces, making them a complex group of injuries to treat. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Perioperative and Rehabilitative Outcomes after Amputation for Ischaemic Leg Gangrene

In the last century, Sir William Ferguson said: “amputation—one of the meanest and yet one of the greatest operations in surgery: mean, where resorted to where better may be done, great as the only step to give comfort and prolong life.” Progress in peripheral vascular surgery over the past...

Adverse Operative Risk Factors for Perforated Peptic Ulcer

Although there has been a significant decline in elective surgery for peptic ulcer disease with the introduction of H-2 blocker, the incidence of peptic ulcer perforation has remained relatively unchanged over the years. The mortality rate from perforated peptic ulcer remains high as more perforations occur in the elderly...

10th Chapter of Surgeons’ Lecture: The Challenges in Surgery—Past, Present and Future, and in Search of the 4Cs

Firstly may I thank the Academy of Medicine and the Chapter of Surgeons for giving me this great privilege and honour to deliver the final lecture of the century for our series of Chapter of Surgeons lectures to close the 20th century and begin a new dawn in the...

A Case Report of Total Finger Joint Replacement Arthroplasty After Traumatic Amputation

A 41-year-old Chinese man had his dominant thumb, index and middle fingers caught by a wood-cutting machine while at work. He sustained a near-amputation of his middle finger through the proximal interphalangeal joint (PIPJ), with an intra-articular comminuted fracture of the head of the proximal phalanx (Fig. 1a) and...

Results of Surgical Resection of Oesophageal Carcinoma in Singapore

Although the incidence of oesophageal carcinoma is declining, it still remains a common cancer in Singapore. From 1988 to 1992, it was the ninth most common cancer in males (age-standardised rate, 8.9 per 100,000). This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Re: Rikhraj I S, Tan C T, Tan S K, Teoh S H, Hastings G W. Use of Titanium Prosthesis to Bridge a Vertebral Gap in the Spine–A Preliminary Experimental Study. Ann Acad Med Singapore 1999; 28:20-4

In a recent issue of the Annals, Academy of Medicine, Singapore the above-mentioned paper was published. Figures 6 and 7 of the paper plot the displacement of bovine lumbar motion segments under torsion. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Case Report: Follicular Adenoma in a Thyroglossal Duct Remnant Arising Entirely within the Hyoid Bone

Thyroglossal duct remnant is one of the most common lesions of the anterior midline neck. It occurs in 7% of adults1 and carcinoma is found in less than 1%. The majorities are papillary and mixed papillary-follicular carcinomas, with follicular and squamous cell carcinomas occurring far less frequently. This article is...

Biomechanical Study of C2 (Axis) Fracture: Effect of Restraint

In human, the occipito-atlanto-axial (C0-C1-C2) joint complex is an important region of the spine and often susceptible to impact injury in trauma. Traffic accidents frequently produce a distinct variety of fracture (or fracture-dislocation) of the upper cervical spine, characterised by a bilateral avulsion-fracture through the neural arch of C2...

Digital Hand-held Sonography Utilised for the Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma: A Pilot Study

On a global basis, the use of ultrasonography to assist clinicians in obtaining timely diagnoses in abdominal trauma is not particularly new. The first reported case of sonography to evaluate patients with splenic haematomas was in 1971, and by 1976, series of up to 70 victims of blunt trauma...

Results of Distal Radial Fractures Treated by Intra-focal Pin Fixation

Unstable fractures of the distal radius remain a challenge to orthopaedic surgeons. Unsatisfactory results are often associated with significant malunion. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The Alvarado Score and Acute Appendicitis

Acute appendicitis is a common surgical emergency. However, it is often difficult to make an accurate preoperative diagnosis, especially during the early stage of the disease. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Diagnosing and Prognosticating Acute Meningitis in Young Infants within 24 Hours of Admission

Meningitis is an important cause of fever in young infants (infants 90 days old or younger). Most cases of meningitis are acute meningitis which present with a short history of symptoms and are caused by either bacteria (acute bacterial meningitis, ABM) or viruses (acute aseptic meningitis, AAM). This article is...

Prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Transmission from Mother to Child—A Cohort Study in Singapore

Since the onset of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in the mid-1980s, the number of HIV-infected cases has risen sharply throughout the world. Globally, 5.8 million new HIV infections have been diagnosed in 1998 with 1.2 million being diagnosed in Southeast Asia. This article is available only as a...

Book Review

The above is a textbook of medicine written by Singapore doctors and published in Singapore. It is difficult not to be over-enthusiastic about it as there are so few books of medicine written and published in Singapore. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF”...

Intra-abdominal Hypertension—Implications for the Intensive Care Physician

Although the detrimental effects of raised intra-abdominal pressure have been known for over 100 years, it is only in the last two decades that the clinical importance of these changes are being recognised.1-7 This coincides with the increasing availability of intensive care, which allows many more patients to survive...

Obstetric Admissions to the Intensive Therapy Unit of a Tertiary Care Institution

Pregnancy is associated with physiological changes in various organ systems and complications arising from the interaction between these changes and disease processes may be severe enough to require admission to the intensive therapy unit (ITU) for management. The purpose of this study was to review all obstetric patients admitted...

Perioperative Treatment with Bactericidal/Permeability-Increasing Protein (rBPI21) in Major Liver Surgery: A Concise Summary

Primary and secondary hepatic malignancies constitute a major health problem. Hepatocellular carcinoma accounts for 90% of all primary hepatic malignancies in the world. While relatively uncommon in Western countries, it is the most prevalent malignant neoplasm in Southeast Asia, South Africa, and many other regions. This article is available only...

Mucinous Cystadenoma of the Appendix—An Unusual Cause of Intestinal Obstruction

Mucinous cystadenoma of the vermiform appendix is an uncommon entity. It is a benign lesion but may disseminate and lead to the development of pseudomyxoma peritonei. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

An Introduction to Biodegradable Materials for Tissue Engineering Applications

The concept of tissue engineering arises from the need to develop an alternative method of treating patients suffering from tissue loss or organ failure. Current therapies in use today are not only expensive but often do not adequately fulfil their intended purpose. This article is available only as a PDF....

Enteral Nutrition of the Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) Infant

Optimal nutrition is critical in the management of the preterm infant. The fetus in utero receives continuous intravenous nutrition that is interrupted when prematurely delivered. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

A Case Series of Six Children with Primary Pulmonary Hypertension

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an uncommon but serious and debilitating disorder seen in children and adults. By definition, it is an elevation of the pressure in the pulmonary artery to above a mean of 25 mmHg at rest, or 30 mmHg during exercise. This article is available only as...

2nd Chapter of Paediatricians Lecture: The Future of Paediatrics in Singapore

When I was first invited to give this 2nd Chapter of Paediatricians Lecture by the Chapter, my obvious answer was no. I could think of quite a few other paediatricians more qualified and appropriate as speakers and hoped that my emphatic no would work. This article is available only as...

Galeazzi-Equivalent Fracture in Children Associated with Tendon Entrapment—Report of Two Cases

A 12-year-old boy fell whilst running. On examination, there was swelling and deformity of the wrist and there was local tenderness of the distal third of the radius and the distal end of the distal ulna. Movement of all the fingers and thumb were limited by pain. This article is...

Liver Transplantation in a Child With Severe Hypercholesterolaemia in Alagille Syndrome

Alagille syndrome (AS) or arteriohepatic dysplasia is a genetic disorder transmitted in an autosomal dominant inheritance. The chromosomal abnormality has been identified to the short arm of chromosome 20. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The Use of Vigabatrin in Infantile Spasms in Asian Children

Infantile spasms are a form of age-dependent myoclonic epilepsy that is difficult to control. Agents such as adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and prednisolone have been used as first-line therapy, but are associated with major side effects. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

A Prospective Evaluation of Surgeon Performed Sonography as a Screening Test in Blunt Abdominal Trauma

Over the past decade, sonography as a screening tool in the evaluation of abdominal trauma has been thoroughly investigated. This modality was first used by the Japanese and German surgeons. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Stapled Haemorrhoidectomy—The Evidence For and the Facts Against

Surgeons as well as patients have recently shown much interest in stapled haemorrhoidectomy. This is a new technique, which is claimed to result in less pain than traditional operations for haemorrhoids. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

12th Chapter of Surgeons Lecture: Shifting Paradigms in the Management of Breast Cancer—A Surgical Perspective

The recorded history of breast cancer management spans four millennia. This story about breast cancer management is also one about change, about resistance to and acceptance of change. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Gemella Empyema Cured without Antibiotics: A Case Report

Gemella are gram-positive anaerobic bacteria that rarely produce serious human infections. We describe a case of thoracic empyema that occurred in an elderly Chinese male which, to our knowledge, is the first reported case out of Southeast Asia. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Double Omental Hernia—Case Report on a Very Rare Cause of Intestinal Obstruction

Internal hernia is defined as the protrusion of a viscus through a normal or abnormal opening within the confines of the abdominal cavity. This unusual cause of intestinal obstruction occurs in 4% of all cases of acute intestinal obstruction. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

The Clinician Meets the Computer—Uneasy Bedfellows

Information technology has become a cornerstone of civilization as we know it. In its broadest definition, information technology encompasses all forms of technology required to create, archive, exchange and manipulate data. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Leveraging on Information Technology to Enhance Patient Care: A Doctor’s Perspective of Implementation in a Singapore Academic Hospital

Information technology (IT) has become truly pervasive in everyday life; however, in the field of medicine, we have yet to fully harness its full potential in the care of our patients. Most restructured hospitals in Singapore have been wired up with fast local area networks (LAN) and desktop personal...

Internal Medicine

It has taken a long time to plan for this November issue in Internal Medicine. The topic is so wide and often neglected as the specialties take prominence. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The Posterior Cruciate Ligament: An Anthropometric Study in Asians and Evaluation of Safe Limits for Bony Tunnel Creation During Reconstruction

The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) provides the main restraint to posterior translation of the tibia on the femur and is stronger than its anterior counterpart. Indeed, it has been regarded by some authors as the primary stabiliser of the knee. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Advances in Surgical Treatment of Osteoporotic Fractures of the Spine

Osteoporosis is an important cause of fractures in the elderly. In the USA alone, at least 1.3 million fractures are attributed to osteoporosis a year. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010

With the ageing population, degeneration of joints and osteoporosis and the resultant disability pose big public health problems in many countries of the world. These, together with the more disabling infective and inflammatory diseases of joints and the all-pervasive trauma damage joints in hundreds of millions of people in...

Magnetic Resonance Arthrography of the Labral-Ligamentous Complex of the Shoulder: An Update

Shoulder instability is a frequently encountered clinical problem in young active people following injury, particularly in athletes. The labral-ligamentous complex is increasingly recognised as being an important structural component that contributes to shoulder instability. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

A Deceptive Cervical Lymph Node: A Solitary Spinal Osteochondroma

Osteochondromas are cartilage-capped bony exostoses that arise mainly from the metaphyses of long bones from a lateral displacement of the epiphyseal growth cartilage, but any bone formed by endochondral ossification (bones that develop from cartilage) may give rise to osteochondromas. Osteochondromas may arise in a solitary form or in...

Limited Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and the Occult Hip Fracture

Worldwide, in the past decade, the application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has increased tremendously in the management of musculoskeletal trauma. Not least is its application as a valuable diagnostic tool in occult hip fracture evaluation. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

Extremity Osteosarcoma—A Southeast Asian Experience

Osteosarcoma is a highly malignant bone cancer occurring primarily in young patients. Although rare, it is still the commonest primary bone cancer seen in Southeast Asia. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Towards a Splint-free Repair for Flexor Tendon Injuries

The most problematic area in flexor tendon injuries is zone two. This zone is prone to injury as it is in the grasping part of the hand. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Biomechanics of the Shoulder

The shoulder is a complex of 5 articulating surfaces that together form the shoulder girdle. The glenohumeral joint together with the scapulothoracic articulation form the main components of the girdle. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Instrumentation in Spinal Surgery

Spinal instrumentation is defined as the use of mechanical devices that enhance or restore the segmental stability of the spine. Internal fixation of the spine began more than a hundred years ago and initially consisted of wires, and/or rods attached to the spine. This article is available only as a...

The Growth and Development of Orthopaedic Sports Medicine in Singapore

Orthopaedic sports medicine in Singapore took form as a subspecialty of orthopaedic surgery over a number of years. Several individuals contributed to it being set up as an orthopaedic subspecialty. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Paediatric Orthopaedics in Singapore

The name “Orthopaedic Surgery” is derived from the words “orthos” (meaning straight or to straighten) and “paido” (meaning child). Thus, it is not unexpected that paediatric orthopaedics was the first discipline within Orthopaedics to develop as a subspecialty. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Addresses at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National University of Singapore on 5 April 2002

Over 200 guests were gathered at the Fullerton Hotel Ballroom on the 5th of April 2002 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National University of Singapore. The event was dedicated to the teachers, past and present, for their commitment to education. This article is available...

History of the Singapore Orthopaedic Association

The University of Malaya in Singapore was established in 1949. With this, the King Edward VII College of Medicine became the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

History of the Orthopaedic Specialty in Singapore

When the practice of orthopaedic surgery first began in Singapore, it was not a specialty in itself. There are no records as to when the first orthopaedic cases were managed, but it must have been when modern medicine was introduced into Singapore, at the beginning of the twentieth century...

50th Anniversary Celebrations—Golden ……. but all is not gold

On an occasion such as this—the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of orthopaedic surgery as a specialty service in Singapore—acclaim, commendations, praise and endorsement of our achievements will be the order of the day. This issue of the Annals carries 13 articles representing the different facets of our achievement. This...

General Medicine—Revisited, Rejuvenated, Revitalised and Reemphasised

“The irresistible swing towards medical specialisation has brought advantages for patients but arguably this has gone too far.” It is time to review the role of general medicine and general physicians in Singapore; with its own unique system of healthcare where patients can see any specialist and subspecialists without...

A Countrywide Approach to the Control of Non-communicable Diseases—The Singapore Experience

In the area of health, the last two decades has seen a decline or eradication of deadly diseases, such as smallpox and polio, the introduction of the fatal disease, such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and a marked rise in chronic diseases, making them the leading worldwide public health...

Causes for the Evolution of Case Management and the Development of a Working Model in an Acute Care Hospital in Singapore

In 1999, significant changes to the healthcare funding structure were introduced to public sector hospitals in Singapore. This was the advent of casemix-based funding for acute inpatient and day surgery episodes. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Evidence-based Medicine: The Key to Guidelines, Disease and Care Management Programmes

Health care in America and the rest of the industrialised world continues to reinvent itself at an ever-accelerating rate. The societal pressures for high quality, high value care that produces measurable improvement in quality processes and outcomes is increasing from the government and private sectors. This article is available only...

National Disease Management Plans for Key Chronic Non-communicable Diseases in Singapore

Like most other newly industrialised economies, Singapore has undergone a rapid epidemiological transition over the last 50 years. Chronic, non-communicable diseases have replaced infectious diseases as the dominant public health problems in Singapore today. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Chronic Disease Management: Challenges for Clinicians and the Way Forward

The healthcare, financial and social burden of chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, asthma, chronic obstructive airway disease, hypertension, chronic depression, osteoporosis, end stage renal failure and stroke, are steadily on the rise. In the US alone, some 125 million people now suffer from at least...

Measuring Health-related Quality of Life in Singapore: Normal Values for the English and Chinese SF-36 Health Survey

Advances in diagnosis and therapy in the second half of the 20th century have lead to impressive improvements in survival for patients with many chronic illnesses. With improvements in survival, patients’ perceptions of health are increasingly being recognised as an important outcome in clinical medicine, especially in illnesses where...

Management of Premalignant Lesions of the Cervix

Cervical cancer is one of the most common female cancers worldwide. It is ranked second only to breast cancer and in many underdeveloped countries, it is the most common female cancer. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Four Pregnancies in Two Patients with Essential Thrombocythaemia—A Case Report

Essential thrombocythaemia (ET) is a rare myeloproliferative disease which manifests with an elevated platelet count. It presents predominantly in the middle-aged population, occurring slightly more frequently in women than men. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The Course of Pregnancy in a Patient with Nail-Patella Syndrome

The nail-patella syndrome (NPS) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder defined by the association of nail dysplasia, bone abnormalities and, frequently, renal disease. We report the course of pregnancy in a patient with such a condition. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

Rheumatic Heart Diseases in Pregnancy

Rheumatic heart disease comprises acute rheumatic fever following group A beta-haemolytic streptococcal infection of the tonsillopharynx, and its long-term sequelae of heart valve fibrosis causing chronic valvular lesions. Severe myocardial and pericardial involvements are much less common. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF”...

Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia in Pregnancy

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder in which platelets are sensitised with an antiplatelet autoantibody and then destroyed by the reticuloendothelial system.1 Hence, it is also known as primary autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura. There are two forms of ITP—acute and chronic. This article is available only as a PDF....

Thrombophilia in Pregnancy

A clear understanding of thrombophilia is becoming increasingly important in the practice of high-risk obstetrics. In addition to their role in thromboembolic disease, there is increasing evidence linking thrombophilia and adverse pregnancy outcomes such as pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, placental abruption and recurrent pregnancy loss. This article is available only...

Current Understanding of Pre-eclampsia

Pre-eclampsia is a major cause of adverse obstetric outcome. It remains one of the leading causes of maternal mortality1 and continues to contribute significantly to perinatal morbidity and mortality. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Management of Thromboembolic Disease in Pregnancy

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) refers specifically to 2 related entities: deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism. The management of arterial thrombo-embolism, in particular that of women with artificial heart valves, is beyond the scope of this paper. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF”...

Management of Haematologic Malignancies in Pregnancy

Malignancy complicates the course of about 1 in 1000 pregnancies and is the second leading cause of death in women of reproductive age. The most commonly diagnosed malignancies during pregnancy are breast cancer, cervical carcinoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and melanoma. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

Thyroid Diseases in Pregnancy

Abnormalities of thyroid function associated with pregnancy encompass both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. These may have been present before the onset of pregnancy, or occurred only during or after pregnancy. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Outcome of Pregnancy in Asian Women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Experience of a Single Perinatal Centre in Singapore

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic systemic connective tissue disease with a reported prevalence of 5 to 100/100,000. Women are affected much more commonly than men (ratio 9:1), particularly those in the child-bearing age (15:1). This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

Pregnancy after Renal Transplantation: Experience in Singapore General Hospital

Successful renal transplantation significantly improves the sexual and reproductive functions of women with end-stage renal disease and offers the best hope for those who wish to have children. Conception rate has been reported to improve dramatically from 1 in 200 dialysis patients to 1 in 50 women with a...

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Call for Systematic Tracing

The prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. In Singapore, the prevalence of diabetes has increased dramatically from 4.7% in 1984 to 8.6% in 1998. Diabetic complications lead to a significant number of patients with blindness, amputations and end-stage renal failure annually. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Pregnancy in Women with Idiopathic Thrombocytopaenic Purpura

Idiopathic thrombocytopaenic purpura (ITP) is the most common autoimmune haematological disorder in pregnancy. The pathophysiology of the disease is peripheral destruction of platelets mediated by antiplatelet antibodies. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Are Maternal Deaths on the Ascent in Singapore? A Review of Maternal Mortality as Reflected by Coronial Casework from 1990 to 1999

It is said that, worldwide, over half a million maternal deaths occur annually. This might well be a conservative estimate, given the difficulties inherent in collecting the relevant data, compounded by the under-reporting and misclassification of such deaths. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Medical Disorders in Pregnancy—The Challenges Ahead

Nowhere is the fate of two individuals more closely intertwined than that of the mother and her fetus. Pregnancy is a unique state where the physiology of the mother is greatly altered to accommodate the newly developing “organ”—the fetus. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

Paediatric Extracranial Germ Cell Tumours: A Retrospective Review

Germ cell tumours (GCTs) in children account for 2% to 3% of childhood malignancies. They arise from primordial germ cells and constitute a heterogeneous group of tumours. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Two-year Outcome of Normal-birth-weight Infants Admitted to a Singapore Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

With the rapid advances in the field of neonatal intensive care, the focus of interest has been on the very-low-birthweight (VLBW) infant in recent years. The outcome of these infants has been extensively studied and widely reported. On the other hand, data on the incidence, risk prediction and outcome...

Emergency Laparoscopic Surgery—The Changi General Hospital Experience

Today, laparoscopic surgery has achieved widespread acceptance among surgeons as well as the general public. Emergency laparoscopic procedures (ELPs) have been performed since the 1960s and with increasing experience, the benefits of laparoscopic surgery are being applied to non-elective situations. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Surgical Management and Outcome of Carotid Body Tumours

The carotid body was first described by von Haller in 1743. It is often a small ovoid or irregular mass composed of compact pinkish tan tissue and has an average size of 6 x 4 x 2 mm. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Should Ethical Issues in Biotechnology Research be Decided by Physicians-Scientists or by Lawyers?

As with clinical practice, the practice of biomedical research is a moral activity. We have to think about what we should do, not just about what we can do, to modify life. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the...

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and Chronic Lung Disease of Infancy: Strategies for Prevention and Management

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and chronic lung disease of infancy (CLD) are two chronic pulmonary conditions which are the result of incomplete resolution or abnormal repair of lung injury in the neonatal period. Although BPD and CLD are closely related, they have differing diagnostic criteria and the spectrum of severity...

A Case Report of Neurologically Unstable Fracture of the Lumbosacral Spine in a Patient with Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis is associated with progressive ossification of the spinal ligaments and ankylosing of the facet joints leading to a totally stiff spine. It is often associated with osteoporosis due to chronic inflammation and disuse. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Hepatolithiasis —A Case Series

Intrahepatic biliary stone or hepatolithiasis is an uncommon entity worldwide, with a higher incidence in East Asia in comparison to the West. As yet, the aetiology remains to be clearly defined. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Intussusception: A Three-Year Review

Intussusception is the most common cause of intestinal obstruction in infants and young children. It occurs when one segment of the intestines telescopes into another. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Osteoporosis in Relation to Menopause

Singapore has a rapidly ageing population. In 1990, only 6% of the population was above the age of 65 years but this percentage of elderly citizens will rise rapidly to 17% by the year 2030. As Singaporean women achieve longer life expectancy and live a greater portion of their...

Osteoporotic Hip Fractures in Singapore—Costs and Patient’s Outcome

Singapore is facing a rapidly ageing population. Osteoporosis, which is an age-related illness, will become an increasing problem. Osteoporotic hip fracture, because of the need for hospitalisation and surgery, represents an important economic burden to society, in addition to its medical morbidities and social implications upon the patient and...

Acute Embolic Occlusion of the Superior Mesenteric Artery: A Case Report and Discussion of Management

Acute ischaemia of the bowel is a devastating condition. Recently published figures on mortality range from 30% to 60%. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Outcomes of Acute Arthroscopic Repair and Conservative Treatment Following First Traumatic Dislocation of the Shoulder Joint in Young Patients

Traumatic dislocation of the shoulder is a serious problem especially in active and young patients. Shoulder instability and recurrent dislocation hinder patient activities. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Burch Colposuspension: Review of Perioperative Complications at a Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Singapore

Genuine stress incontinence (GSI) is the most common cause of female urinary incontinence. When conservative treatment fails, surgery is indicated. Open Burch colposuspension is an established surgical procedure1 and remains the gold standard upon which the efficacy of newer surgical options is evaluated. This article is available only as a...

From Genesis to Genes

I would like to thank the Singapore Orthopaedic Association (SOA) for inviting me to deliver this year’s SOA lecture. When your President, Dr AK Mitra first asked me to deliver the lecture, I felt deeply honoured but was rather hesitant about accepting it – honoured as this annual lecture...

Endometrioid Adenocarcinoma of the Uterus: Surgico-Pathological Correlations and Role of Pelvic Lymphadenectomy

Endometrial cancer is the most common female genital malignancy in industralised countries today. Despite the overall favourable prognosis in this neoplasia, survival is associated with several prognostic factors. In endometrial cancer, one of the most potent prognostic factors is nodal metastasis. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

FIGO Stage 1B2 Cervical Carcinoma – The KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital Experience

Important prognostic factors in stage 1B cervical carcinoma include primary tumour diameter, nodal metastases, depth of stromal invasion, lymph-vascular invasion, microscopic parametrial extension and status of surgical margins.1 In 1994 FIGO addressed the significance of tumour diameter by designating stage 1B into 1B1 (clinical lesions no greater than 4.0...

Bowel Surgery for Epithelial Ovarian Cancer – An Early Case Series

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death in patients with gynaecological malignancies in Singapore and developed countries, the main reason being the advanced stages of the disease (stage III or IV) at diagnosis. This is largely due to the lack of an effective screening tool to detect...

Pregnancy Following Embolisation of Uterine Arteriovenous Malformation – A Case Report

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) of the uterus are rare but potentially life-threatening lesions. The common presentation is vaginal bleeding and, if not diagnosed correctly, can result in torrential bleeding, especially following dilatation and curettage. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Severe Newborn Encephalopathy Unrelated to Intrapartum Hypoxic Events: 3 Case Reports

Since Little’s article of 1862, it was popularly believed that brain damage in the majority of cases of cerebral palsy occurs during labour and delivery. However, the growing evidence in literature has refuted this belief. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

A Case Series of Gastrointestinal Abnormalities in Fetuses with Echogenic Bowel Detected During the Antenatal Period

Although the presence of fetal echogenic bowel (EB) has been largely regarded as benign, it has been viewed as a soft marker for various congenital anomalies. To date, no studies have been conclusive and the importance of antenatal EB amongst the low-risk population has remained confusing. This article is available...

A Case Series of Pre-Viable Severe Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome

Monozygotic twinning has an incidence of approximately 3.5 per 1000 pregnancies. Only 25% of monozygotic twins have a dichorionic placenta. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Idiopathic Chronic Fetomaternal Haemorrhage Resulting in Hydrops – A Case Report

Small amounts (<0.1 mL) of fetal blood are commonly found in maternal circulation. Massive fetomaternal haemorrhage (FMH) involves fetal blood loss into the maternal circulation of greater than 150 mL or more than half the fetal blood volume. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Audit of ‘Crash’ Emergency Caesarean Sections Due to Cord Prolapse in Terms of Response Time and Perinatal Outcome

Umbilical cord prolapse is an uncommon intrapartum event with a reported incidence of 1 in 160 to 714 deliveries. Predisposing factors include fetal malpresentation, prematurity, small fetal size, multiple gestation, polyhydramnios and membranes rupture prior to head engagement. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Quality Control Assurance in National Screening Programmes for Cervical Cancer

The National Health Service (NHS) was established in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1948, against a post-war background of poverty and ill health. The aim was to provide healthcare based on need to all citizens of the UK, free at the point of delivery. This article is available only as...

The Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill in Women Over Age Forty

In the 1970s, several studies appeared to suggest that users of oral contraceptives (OCs) were at increased risk of cardiovascular events. More recently following newer studies on lower dose OCs and re-analysis of the old studies, it was concluded that the risk of cardiovascular accidents was attributable primarily to...

Contemporary Management of Fibroids

Fibroids are the most common, solid benign pelvic tumours occurring in about 30% of women beyond the age of 30. They are asymptomatic in most women. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Investigating the Infertile Couple

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after 1 to 2 years of unprotected intercourse. In general, an estimated 84% of all women would conceive after a year of intercourse. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Use of Hormone Replacement Therapy in the Asymptomatic Postmenopausal Woman: What is the Current Evidence?

The understanding of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for postmenopausal women has undergone dramatic change since the publication of the results of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study in July 2002. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Fetal Cells in Maternal Blood: State of the Art for Non-Invasive Prenatal Diagnosis

Without prenatal diagnosis, 1 in 50 babies are born with serious physical or mental handicap, and as many as 1 in 30 with some form of congenital malformation. These may be due to structural or chromosomal abnormalities, or single gene disorders. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Human Papillomavirus Triage of Patients with Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance on Cervical Papanicolaou Smear

Cervical cancer affects >400,000 women a year worldwide, and represents a significant health issue for women. In the United States (US) however, screening programmes have reduced the incidence to 8.3 cases per 100,000 women with only 14,000 cases and 5000 deaths annually. This article is available only as a PDF....

Screening for Chromosomal Anomalies: First or Second Trimester, Biochemical or Ultrasound?

A chromosome abnormality contributes significantly to fetal loss during pregnancy, and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The contribution of chromosomal abnormalities to fetal loss decreases as pregnancy progresses; an estimated 50% of first-trimester spontaneous abortions are due to chromosomal abnormalities. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

Should Doctors Perform an Elective Caesarean Section on Request?

Caesarean sections performed without medical indication, better known as maternal request caesarean sections, have generated intense debate in recent times. While uncommon in the past, a recent national audit in the United Kingdom (UK)1 revealed that 7% of all elective caesarean sections were performed for precisely this reason. This article...

Recent Advances in Obstetrics and Gynaecology

The science and art of providing quality health care to women has made tremendous strides in recent years. In the subspecialties of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, recent advances in laboratory techniques and in clinical diagnostic, surgical and laparoscopic skills have improved the prevention and early detection of disease. This article is...

Imaging of Paediatric Mediastinal Masses

A review of mediastinal masses in children, emphasising imaging features, is important for several reasons. Firstly, the mediastinum is the most common location for thoracic masses in children. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

MR Imaging of the Fetal Brain and Spine: A Maturing Technology

The introduction of a new diagnostic test into a clinical arena goes through a number of stages. The first stage is technical development. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The Relationship Between Scoring Systems and Cytokine Levels in Neonatal Sepsis

In newborn infants, the early diagnosis of sepsis is an important problem because the early signs and symptoms of septicaemia in term or preterm infants are usually nonspecific. Many clinical and haematological scoring systems have been developed in the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. This article is available only as...

Clinical Characteristics of an Outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Singapore

The enterovirus family causes a wide array of illnesses, some easily recognised clinically and others diagnosed as non-specific viral illnesses. This large family of viruses, composed of more than 70 serotypes, accounts for at least 10 to 15 millions of asymptomatic infection per year in the United States. This article...

Perinatal Care at the Threshold of Viability—From Principles to Practice

One of the major challenges in neonatal-perinatal medicine in the new century is the optimal management of the mother and infant when delivery is imminent or at the threshold of viability. Considerable debate has arisen regarding the appropriate approach and strongly polarised viewpoints are held with and without supporting...

Eight-year Outcome of Very-low-birth-weight Infants Born in KK Hospital

The outcome of very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) premature babies with birth weights of <1500 g has remained an area of great concern for both parents and medical personnel. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Long-term Follow-up and Outcome of Extremely-low-birth-weight (ELBW) Infants

With the progressive improvement in the survival of premature neonates, including those born at the extreme edge of viability, there has been a great degree of interest focused on the functioning of these high-risk survivors and their outcome into childhood and recently up to adolescence and early adulthood. Prospective...

Exogenous Surfactant Therapy in Newborn Infants

Exogenous surfactant therapy is widely used in the management of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and may have a role in the management of other neonatal respiratory disorders as well. Numerous randomised controlled trials have been conducted in neonatology to study different aspects of surfactant therapy. This article is available...

The Use and Abuse of Steroids in Perinatal Medicine

Preterm birth, delivery prior to 37 weeks of gestational age, accounts for a major and disproportionate amount of infant and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Despite advances in medical technology, the prevalence of preterm birth in Singapore has increased, secondary to an increase in multiple gestations and obstetric interventions. This article...

Mass Newborn Screening in Singapore—Position and Projections

Mass newborn screening is an essential preventative public health programme which aims to diagnose, in the presymptomatic phase, diseases that have a better outcome with early intervention. The development in 1960 by the late Dr Robert Guthrie of a simple test, the GuthrieTest, that enabled the detection of phenylketonuria...

Neonatology In Singapore: The Way We Were, The Way Forward

Over a span of 35 years of my working life, I have witnessed the growth of, and also grown together with, neonatology in Singapore. As I look at the present-day status of neonatology, it gives me a sense of achievement and accomplishment. This article is available only as a PDF....

Chorioamnionitis and Outcome in Extremely Preterm Infants

Preterm delivery is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality, especially among the 1% to 2% infants delivered at less than 32 weeks. Chorioamnionitis is a major predisposing factor for preterm delivery. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Changing Trends in Indications for Caesarean Sections in a Tertiary Hospital

Increasing rates of caesarean deliveries have received widespread attention in recent years and has increased widespread discussion in the public domain. The ideal caesarean section rate has never been defined and national rates of caesarean delivery vary from country to country. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Obstetric Cholestasis: Current Opinions and Management

Obstetric cholestasis (OC) is a pregnancy-specific liver disorder. It is also known by other names, such as pruritus gravidarum, recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and obstetric hepatosis. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Advances in Imaging in Prenatal Diagnosis and Fetal Therapy

Technology in sonography has advanced tremendously in recent years, contributing to improvements in clinical applications for prenatal diagnosis and fetal therapy. These include transvaginal scanning, harmonic imaging, Doppler imaging, 3-dimensional (3D) ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) ultrafast sequences. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

Factors Influencing Fetal Growth

Birth weight remains one of the most important measures we have of the health status of a population, being a strong predictor of both mortality and morbidity, and reflecting nutritional status and growth rates. Yet, the estimation of the normal growth potential — and hence the definition of growth...

Challenges in Perinatal Medicine

One of the significant milestones in the perinatal care in Singapore is the birth of the Perinatal Society of Singapore in March 1989. This signaled the beginning of increased collaboration between the obstetricians and neonatologists in the management of high-risk pregnancies through multidisciplinary birth defect clinics and high-risk perinatal...

Book Review

A lot of young orthopaedic surgeons embark on research projects with little guidance. This book is especially directed towards young investigators in the Southeast Asian region. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Predicting Significant Hyperbilirubinaemia and Early Discharge for Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficient Newborns

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency occurs in 2.5% of Singapore’s population, and affected newborns are at risk for severe neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia and kernicterus. In the past four decades, neonatology units in local restructured hospitals have hospitalised all affected newborns for at least 14 days after birth because of this risk. This...

Significance of the Lateral Epiphysis of the Acetabulum to Hip Joint Stability

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) remains one of the most difficult disorders to understand and treat in Paediatric Orthopaedics. The aetiology have not been clearly understood and therefore the management remains controversial. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Autoimmune Liver Disease in Children

Autoimmune liver disorders are inflammatory liver diseases characterised histologically by a dense mononuclear cell infiltrate, including plasma cells, in the portal tract (Fig. 1) and serologically by the presence of non-organ and liver-specific autoantibodies and increased levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG), in the absence of a known aetiology. They...

HIV/AIDS in Children

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in Asia has grown from a handful of cases to a major public health threat with wide-ranging medical, social and economic consequences. First gaining foothold among intravenous drug users and commercial sex workers, HIV quickly spreads to...

Hepatic Resection for Colorectal Metastases to the Liver: The National Cancer Centre/Singapore General Hospital Experience

Colorectal carcinoma is the fourth most common malignancy and the second leading cause of death worldwide. Although surgical resection in combination with adjuvant chemotherapy in certain cases provide curative treatment, more than 50% will develop metastases in the course of their disease. This article is available only as a PDF....

Practical Issues in Adjuvant Therapy for Rectal Cancer

This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Total Mesorectal Excision (TME) – Twenty Years On

In 1982, Heald et al1 at the Basingstoke District General Hospital introduced the concept of total mesorectal excision (TME) as a means of performing optimal tumour clearance for patients with rectal cancer. Five cases were described where minute foci of adenocarcinoma was demonstrated in the mesorectum several centimetres distal...

Flat and Depressed Lesions of the Colon and Rectum: Pathogenesis and Clinical Management

It was previously thought that the vast majority of colorectal cancers were derived from polypoid adenomas. However, several investigators have noted that most colorectal cancers which developed from flat or depressed neoplastic lesions remained undetectable by conventional colonoscopy. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Improving the Uptake of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Antenatal Screening in a Primary Healthcare Setting

Since the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first diagnosed in Singapore in 1985, its incidence rose from 15 cases in 1988 to 226 in 2000. There has also been a change in the profile of AIDS patients over this period. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Adolescent Health Education Programmes: Theoretical Principles in Design and Delivery

Over the past three decades, the patterns of health need in youth have changed. Psychosocial problems such as depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy, accidental and intentional injury, including suicide, affect youth disproportionately and appear to be increasing. This article is available only as a...

Art and “the Language of Well-Being” in Adolescent Health Care

Creative processes involve imagining, making unexpected connections, maintaining discipline while letting go of controlling the outcome, opening oneself to pleasure, and moving beyond frustration. Creative activity parallels important strategies for mental and spiritual health—people who participate in well-designed creative processes report that it is powerfully restorative. This article is available...

From Recreation to Creative Expression: The Essential Features of an Adolescent Inpatient Psychosocial Support Programme

In 1984, the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne, Australia opened a new ward specifically for adolescent inpatients. This initiative was the result of many years of observation, patient survey, discussion and debate about the possibility of allowing teenagers to stay in a children’s hospital. This article is available only...

Adolescent Admissions to a Tertiary Paediatric Hospital: A Dynamic Pattern

The nature of paediatric practice is changing worldwide. In developing countries, infant mortality from infectious diseases continues to fall with improved immunisation, medical care and pharmaceutical advances. This has resulted in a corresponding rise in the number of adolescents, who now constitute 30% of the world’s population. This article is...

Clinical Assessment, Management and Outcomes of a Group of Adolescents Presenting with Complex Medico-psychosocial Conditions

Increased sensitivity to biological change can make adolescents particularly vulnerable to non-organic symptomatic disorders. A variety of pains, headaches, dizziness and fatigue may remain unexplained after medical assessment. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Adolescent Chronic Illness: A Qualitative Study of Psychosocial Adjustment

Chronic illness during adolescence can have significant psychological and social consequences within many life domains. Growing up with a chronic medical condition presents many challenges including dealing with the symptoms of illness, side effects of medications, altered body image, unpredictable disease progression, depression and anxiety. This article is available only...

Strategies to Promote Better Outcomes in Young People with Chronic Illnesses

The epidemiology of child health in the developed world is changing. Mortality from infectious diseases has fallen sharply over the past century due to public health measures, such as sanitation and immunisation, better housing and sweeping improvements in health care. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Adolescent Alcohol and Other Substance Use: Sharing the Australian Experience

The most common causes of morbidity in adolescence often have behavioural or social determinants, and can have enormous social and economic consequences for adolescent and future adult health and well being. Adolescent substance use and abuse is an example of this. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Sexually Transmitted Infections in Singapore Teenagers

Adolescence can be a difficult period for many individuals who have to navigate their way through complicated emotional, psychological, physical and social demands and changes. The transition from childhood to adulthood includes the formation of successful intimate relationships and avoidance of the pitfalls of sexually transmitted infections (STI), including...

Eating Disorders in Singapore: A Review

Anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge-eating disorder are the three best described ‘eating disorders’. All three are predominantly disorders of women with the core symptoms of shape/weight dissatisfaction and eating abnormalities. Anorexia nervosa is characterised by significant self-induced weight loss secondary to fear of fatness, amenorrhoea (cessation of menstruation for...

Youth Suicide and Parasuicide in Singapore

The World Health Organization defines suicide as an act with a fatal outcome that is deliberately initiated and performed by the person himself or herself in the knowledge, or expectation, of its fatal outcome. Parasuicide or attempted suicide is distinguished from suicide by the non-fatal outcome. This article is available...

Five-Year Review of Adolescent Mental Health Usage in Singapore

The past 20 years have seen much growth in the knowledge of child and adolescent psychiatric practice. Research has provided an improved understanding in almost every area, including epidemiology, classification and treatment. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the...

The Perils of Puberty

Adolescence is a biopsychosocial maturational process, with the biological changes including completion of linear growth and sexual maturation (puberty), maturation of enzyme systems such as cytochrome P450 systems, accretion of peak bone mass, and the development of sexually dimorphic adult patterns in blood lipids, blood pressure, haemoglobin and red...

Adolescent Health—A New Perspective in Singapore

In the past five decades, there have been significant advances in the fields of Paediatrics and Adult Medicine in Singapore. However, the bridging field of Adolescent Health has only recently been recognised to be an important specialty which has not received due emphasis in the medical curriculum for undergraduates,...

Patterns and predictors of sound levels in hospital rooms

Dear Editor,      Excessive sound levels in the hospital can impair the work performance of healthcare professionals and affect patient well-being.1 Previous studies have also linked excessive sound levels with sleep disturbances and cardiovascular morbidity.2 While there have been data published regarding noise levels in the intensive care unit (ICU),3...

Labour epidural practice in a tertiary training centre

Dear Editor, Labour analgesia provided through the central neuraxial approach is offered for parturients who are in their active stage of labour, usually after 2–4cm of cervical dilatation. Lumbar epidural, the gold standard for labour analgesia, is recently recommended over other alternative methods of analgesia such as pressurised gaseous nitrous...

MELAS: A Case Report

A 6-year-old Chinese boy presented at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery clinic with gingival bleeding due to poor oral hygiene, odontogenic pain due to multiple dental caries, phenytoin-induced gingival hyperplasia and severely worn-down and eroded dentition. He is under regular follow-up by the Paediatrics Department of the National University...

Inflammatory Fibroid Polyp of the Caecum in a Patient with Neurofibromatosis

Inflammatory fibroid polyp is an uncommon nonneoplastic lesion found in the gastrointestinal tract. It is a benign, non-encapsulated submucosal lesion, composed mainly of loose connective tissues, vessels and with an eosinophilic inflammatory component. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Evaluation of a Bedside Test for Phosphorylated Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Protein-1 in Preterm Labour

The diagnosis of preterm labour poses a problem. Preterm labour accounts for about 50% of preterm births; however, most data reveal that only about 20% of women presenting with suspected preterm labour actually deliver preterm. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Oropharyngeal Carriage and Penicillin Resistance of Neisseria meningitidis in Primary School Children in Manisa, Turkey

Infections by Neisseria meningitidis are significant causes of mortality and morbidity in young children and adolescents. The epidemiology of serious meningococcal disease is an area of considerable interest, and many unanswered questions surround this organism and the types of diseases it causes. This article is available only as a PDF....

Inaugural College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists Lecture: Recent Developments in Obstetric Care and Maternal Fetal Medicine in Singapore

Has it done any good to pregnancy outcome as promised? This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

1st College of Physicians Lecture: The Role of Internal Medicine as a Specialty in the Era of Subspecialisation

It humbles me to accept the invitation to give this lecture, the First College of Physicians Lecture, titled “The Role of Internal Medicine as a Specialty in the Era of Subspecialisation”. I believe I am given this honour as I am one of the few of a seemingly dying...

15th Chapter of Surgeons Lecture: Surgeon of the New Millennium – Surgeon, Scientist and Scholar

Next year, we celebrate a hundred years of medical education in Singapore. We have come a long way since 1821 – from a small, sleepy medical outpost catering to the British Armed Forces in the Far East, to an excellent state-of-the-art medical hub. This article is available only as a...

Standards and Revalidation or Recertification

In my Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration and other papers, I have described the nature and development of patient-centred professionalism, the key features of which are summarised in Figure 1. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Continuing Professional Development – a Surrogate for Recertification?

The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine is a statutory body set up in 1993 with the objectives of fostering the development of postgraduate medical education and continuing medical education, the study and practice of medicine and its specialties, and medical research. It is concerned with the standard of specialist...

Teaching and Learning of Professionalism in Medical Schools

There is now worldwide consensus that the elements of medical professionalism need to be enhanced and explicitly taught in medical schools. Medical schools in the United Kingdom (UK) have recently published a model for a core ethics curriculum. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

The Challenge of Teaching Professionalism

For the past 25 years, professionalisation, industrialisation, large-scale infusions of technology into the healthcare system and consumerism, to name a few factors, have definitely contributed to changes in the healthcare environment. At the same time, society has moved from modernity to post-modernity with the adoption of pluralism, relativism and...

2004 Runme Shaw Memorial Lecture: Professionalism – A Concept in Need of Nurturing

It is a great honour to be invited to deliver the Runme Shaw Memorial Lecture. I am grateful to the Runme Shaw Foundation for their support of this lecture. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

17th Gordon Arthur Ransome Oration: Patient-centred Professionalism

When sickness strikes we all need doctors. People everywhere know that the quality of medical care can affect the outcome and possible consequences of illness, and at times mean the difference between life and death. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

The Importance of High Resolution Chromosome Analysis in the Diagnosis of Birth Defects: Case Reports of Holoproscencephaly and Cystic Hygroma

Optimal chromosome preparation is a function of many factors. These include cell density culture initiation, optimal time for harvest, concentration and exposure duration to a mitotic arrestant, appropriate hypotonic treatment and adequate fixation with modified Carnoy’s fixative. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF”...

Littoral Cell Angioma of the Spleen

The littoral cells line the vascular channels of the red pulp of the spleen and have characteristics of endothelial and histiocytic cells. In 1991, Falk et al described and characterised the tumoural component. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Condensing Osteitis of the Medial Clavicle – An Intermediate-term Follow-up

Condensing osteitis of the clavicle is an idiopathic condition affecting the medial end of the clavicle, and is characterised by sclerosis and expansion of the inferior part of the clavicular head. The rarity of this disorder is highlighted by the experience of the senior author (SN Bell). This article is...

Tailoring the Field and Indication of Adjuvant Pelvic Radiation for Patients with FIGO Stage Ib Lymph Nodes-Negative Cervical Carcinoma Following Radical Surgery Based on the GOG Score – A Pilot Study

Although no significant survival difference exists between primary surgery and radiotherapy (RT) for the treatment of FIGO stage Ib cervical cancer, radical surgery is the preferred modality of treatment as conservation of the ovarian and vaginal function is of prime importance. It also allows the study of prognostic histopathological...

Refining Clinical Practice: Transforming Science Research into the Art of Medicine

I am humbled by the invitation given to me by Changi General Hospital to deliver this lecture at your 5th Annual Scientific Meeting with the theme “Frontiers of Medicine”. Thank you very much for the honour accorded me. Your CEO, Mr Udairam, and your CMB, Prof Fock Kwong Ming,...

A Case of Cystic Leiomyoma Mimicking an Ovarian Malignancy

Uterine leiomyomas are the most common gynaecological tumour. Typical appearances of leiomyomas are easily recognised on imaging. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Plantar Dislocation of Lateral Tarsometatarsal Joint: A Case of Subtle Lisfranc Injury

Lisfranc fracture dislocations are uncommon injuries and the diagnosis may be easily missed. There are several variations and we present one such variant. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Thoracic Myelopathy Secondary to Ligamentum Flavum Ossification

Acquired thoracic spinal canal stenosis is an uncommon condition compared to myelopathy and radiculopathy frequently seen in the cervical and lumbar spine, respectively. Because the rib cage restricts its movement, the thoracic spine is less prone to degenerative changes in the disc and facet joints, which result in loss...

Marijuana in Pregnancy

Marijuana has been used for thousands of years for both medical and recreational purposes. Because the pharmacological actions of marijuana are complex and include a unique blend of effects of alcohol, opioids, tranquilisers and hallucinogens, the clinical picture could be very unpredictable and the diagnosis is often difficult. This article...

Extended-spectrum Beta-lactamases in Clinical Isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. in a Singapore Hospital: Clinical Spectrum

Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) in gram-negative bacillary pathogens are a growing and important problem in hospital practice and it is tied to extensive use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The emergence of ESBLs has increased the possibility that traditional, empiric antimicrobial regimens may be ineffective. This article is available only as a PDF....

Rising Trend of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Females in a Regional Hospital

Female athletes are at a greater risk for injuries involving the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) than their male counterparts in high schools and colleges in the United States. Noyes et al reported that 78% of all ACL injuries were non-contact in nature and they most often occurred on landing...

Routine Microbiological Screening in Septic Patients in a Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit

Compared to in-hospital patients, patients treated in an intensive care unit (ICU) have the highest risk of contracting an infection. The risk correlates well with underlying and accompanying diseases and invasive monitoring. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the...

Profunda Femoris Artery Pseudoaneurysm Presenting with Triad of Thigh Swelling, Bleeding and Anaemia

Pseudoaneurysms of the profunda femoris artery have been reported following blunt and penetrating trauma to the thigh, and orthopaedic procedures of the proximal femur. These pseudoaneurysms can present in various forms, such as a painful pulsatile mass, or even thigh compartment syndrome. This article is available only as a PDF....

Medical Education in Asia: Is it a Time for Optimism?

Asia, the largest continent, is also an immensely diverse region with countries that vary in their socio-economic status, degree of urbanisation and health and disease profile. The objective of medical education is to create efficient and compassionate healers to serve indigenous society’s aspiration and priorities. This article is available only...

Issues and Priorities of Medical Education Research in Asia

Medical schools traditionally rest on the “three-legged stool” of research, education and service. Hence, medical teachers are sometimes referred to as “triple-threat academicians”. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Cancellous Screw Fixation for Femoral Neck Fractures: One Hundred and Sixteen Patients

The incidence of hip fractures rises with increasing age, doubling for each decade beyond 50 years of age. With the increase in life expectancy and the accompanying ageing population, there has been an increase in the incidence of hip fractures from 1.17 per 1000 females >60 years old in...

Deep Vein Thrombosis Following Hip Fracture and Prevalence of Hyperhomocysteinaemia in the Elderly

Western literature reports a high incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after hip surgery in the absence of prophylaxis. It is reported to be as high as 50% of which 20% to 30% are in the proximal vein. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Septic Arthritis after Arthroscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Arthroscopic-guided reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is now recognised as the preferred reconstructive option in restoring anterior knee joint stability. According to a report by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons on ACL reconstruction in October 2000, approximately 50,000 ACL surgeries were performed each year in the...

Morbidity Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using Hamstring Autograft

Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) impairs the stability of the knee, resulting in difficulty with athletic performance, increased risk of subsequent meniscal injury and increased risk of degenerative joint disease. Reconstruction of the ACL is a frequently performed procedure used to restore functional stability in ACL-deficient knees,...

Abnormal Liver Function Tests in the Symptomatic Pregnant Patient: The Local Experience in Singapore

The diagnostic work-up of abnormal liver function tests (LFT) in pregnancy is challenging, as the conditions peculiar to pregnancy have to be considered in addition to the causes affecting the non-pregnant population. The spectrum of disease is varied and the abnormal LFT can be mild with no long-term consequence,...

Genital Herpes in a Sexually-transmitted Infection Clinic in Singapore: A 1-year Retrospective Study

Genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is a commonly notified sexually transmitted infection (STI). Genital herpes can be caused by both herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), with HSV-2 being the predominant infection in genital herpes. This article is available only as a...

Twin Births in Singapore: A Population-Based Study Using the National Birth Registry

Twin studies are regarded as one of the better ways to study the effects and significance of gene, environment and interactions of both. The study of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins allows for an estimation of the relative importance of genes and environment. This article is available only as...

A Fatal Turkish Case of Campomelic Dysplasia

Paediatric Medicine (CD) is a rare form of congenital short-limbed dwarfism, classically characterised by campomelia (bowing of the long bones of the lower extremities) in association with a posterior cleft palate, flattened facies and hypoplastic scapulae. It was first fully and originally described by Spranger et al and Maroteaux...

Familial Risk of Allergic Rhinitis and Atopic Dermatitis among Chinese Families in Singapore

Family history has been shown to be a risk factor for the development of allergic rhinitis (AR) and atopic dermatitis (AD). However, the increase in prevalence has also been attributed to the changes in lifestyle and urbanisation in developed countries. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Clinical Report: A Case of Williams Syndrome and Klinefelter Syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare but well recognised neurodevelopmental disease affecting the connective tissue and the central nervous system. The syndrome was first described in 1961 and the phenotype was subsequently expanded in 1972. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Skin Manifestation of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Infection – A Case Report and Review Article

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an aerobic gram-negative bacillus that is found in aquatic environments. It is a frequent coloniser of fluids used in the hospital setting, such as nebulisers, water baths, dialysis machines and intravenous fluids. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Gender Disparity in Paediatric Hospital Admissions

Gender difference in the incidence of childhood diseases has long been recognised. but the magnitude of this effect and consistency across many disease categories appears not to attract much attention or research interest. Gissler and colleagues, in a longitudinal follow-up of all children born in Finland in 1987, reported...

The Effectiveness of Transvaginal Anterior Colporrhaphy Reinforced with Polypropylene Mesh in the Treatment of Severe Cystoceles

Using the Baden-Walker halfway system, Grade 4 cystoceles are defined as extrusions of the bladder base beyond the vaginal introitus with patient straining maximally and represent the extremes of anterior vaginal wall prolapse (Table 1). They result from increased laxity and weakness of the urethrovesical supporting system comprising the...

Professionalism: Looking For Your Blind Spots

In 1996 a major breakthrough was reported in the medical literature. A 5-week ectopic pregnancy was re-implanted into the uterus via the cervix, and the fetus was successfully carried to term. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Study of Inherited Metabolic Disorders in Singapore – 13 Years Experience

Inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) described in the early 1900s by Garrod were due to a block in a metabolic pathway, arising from an enzyme deficiency which led directly to the disruption of cellular metabolism. However 40 years later, it was discovered that many inherited diseases were not due...

Does Visual Turbidity Correlate With Serum Triglyceride Levels in Babies on Total Parenteral Nutrition?

Intravenous lipid infusion is commonly used as part of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in newborn babies. Upon infusion, it forms an emulsion that resembles endogenously produced chylomicrons. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Methodological Aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a long history but its efficacy is not as well-documented as one would hope. Proof of efficacy has to come from clinical trials, i.e., prospective experiments for assessing the results of medical interventions. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

A Practical Way of Research in Chinese Medicine

Chinese medicine individualises its treatment plan and practice and refutes any general law. Therefore, Chinese medicine practitioners do not have the tradition of research. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Corticosteroids are not Present in a Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulation for Atopic Dermatitis in Children

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common, chronic inflammatory skin disease. It has been estimated that 15% of schoolchildren aged 13 to 14 years have a history of AD. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Paediatric Oncology Patients in Singapore

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been gaining acceptance throughout the world. The efficacy of CAM is unproven, yet it remains popular with the general public, with many of them utilising it for a whole spectrum of ailments. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and Traditional Chinese Medicine: Time for Critical Engagement

Practice outside of mainstream or conventional medicine has always been an important part of public healthcare in some countries, particularly in the developing world. Recently the use of complementary-alternative medicine (CAM) has grown in popularity worldwide. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

Book Review

This handbook is written by 3 obstetricians and gynaecologists based at the KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Singapore. It is an excellent book that answers the everyday questions that general practitioner (GP) will ask in their clinical practice. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download...

Recurrent Non-immune Fetal Hydrops: A Case Report

The incidence of non-immune hydrops (NIH) has been reported to be 1/10001 and is associated with high perinatal morbidity and mortality at all gestational ages with an overall perinatal mortality rate (PNMR) of 86.6%. If the diagnosis is made before 24 weeks’ gestation, the PNMR is 95%, with 30%...

The Epidemiology of Paediatric Intussusception in Singapore: 1997 to 2004

Intussusception (IS) is the most common cause of intestinal obstruction in infants and young children. The peak age of presentation is 4 to 8 months. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Student Academic Committees: An Approach to Obtain Students’ Feedback

The shift of medical curricula from a traditional subject based to an integrated module-based system can be seen in many medical schools worldwide. The change in curricular design was introduced to encourage student-centred learning and equip students with essential skills for future practice. This article is available only as a...

Curricular Trends in Malaysian Medical Schools: Innovations Within

Medical educators continue to evaluate and introduce innovations into their curriculum with the objective of achieving appropriate outcomes for their graduates so that they can meet the healthcare needs of the society locally and globally. They sought to develop approaches to teaching and learning that would address the goals...

A Problem-Based Learning Pathway for Medical Students: Improving the Process Through Action Research

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centred, self-directed, integrated and contextual mode of learning. It has been widely perceived by many to confer advantages in promoting critical thinking, retention of knowledge, independent learning and interpersonal skills. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

A Simple Instrument for the Assessment of Student Performance in Problem-based Learning Tutorials

Assessment can be done in a variety of ways, for many purposes, and for different populations. It can occur at the classroom level, programme level, college level or even national level. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

An Online Evaluation of Problem-based Learning (PBL) in Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan – A Pilot Study

The goal of problem-based learning (PBL) is to motivate students to develop self-learning skills in a small group. PBL embraces principles of good learning and teaching. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Evidence-based Medicine in Clinical Curriculum

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is “the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of the best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.” Considering the vast amount of medical knowledge available today through various media outlets with almost no boundaries, it is essential that our medical graduates should have...

Leadership and Professionalism Curriculum in the Gross Anatomy Course

Healthcare delivery systems worldwide are currently undergoing significant changes to create resilient learning organisations that are able to adapt with ever-increasing speed to shifting business, regulatory, and competitive environments. The delivery of healthcare is no longer a single-provider responsibility; modern group practice organisations require a physician to be not...

Constructing Multiple Choice Questions as a Method for Learning

Students in general and medical students in particular are often described as “strategic learners”, but in reality many become superficial learners out of necessity when faced with the seemingly boundless volume of material in today’s curriculum. The apparent enormity of the task might encourage rote learning and much of...

Computer-based Versus Pen-and-paper Testing: Students’ Perception

Computer-based testing (CBT) has gained popularity as a testing modality, with large-scale professional examinations such as the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) adopting a CBT format since 1999, replacing the written pen-and-paper (PNP) format. Studies have found that testing format does not affect test scores, and that CBT...

Curriculum TIPS For All of Us

Medical education is a lifelong learning process. Just as we remind our students and ourselves that the practice of medicine is a lifelong process in which we continually seek to improve our knowledge so that we give our patients the most effective care, so too with medical education. This article...

Cutaneous and Subcutaneous Metastases of Adenocarcinoma of the Colon and Rectum

Cutaneous metastasis from colorectal adenocarcinoma is an interesting condition not only because of its rarity, it occurs in less than 4% of patients with colorectal cancers, but also because it implies a poor prognosis. We discuss 3 patients with rectal adenocarcinoma who subsequently developed cutaneous metastases. This article is available...

A Report of Two Families with Sarcosinaemia in Hong Kong and Revisiting the Pathogenetic Potential of Hypersarcosinaemia

Sarcosinaemia (OMIN 268900) is an autosomal recessive condition due to the deficiency of sarcosine dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.5.99.1). It is a rare condition with an estimated incidence of 1 in 350,000 in a newborn screening programme. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Infected Pancreatic Necrosis – An Evaluation of the Timing and Technique of Necrosectomy in a Southeast Asian Population

The management of necrotising pancreatitis has improved significantly over the last 2 decades, with a corresponding improvement in mortality rates. This improvement is largely attributed to advances in supportive therapy, diagnostic radiology and a better understanding of the pathophysiology of necrotising pancreatitis. This article is available only as a PDF....

Complications Relating to Intravenous Buprenorphine Abuse: A Single Institution Case Series

Buprenorphine, more commonly known as Subutex (Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals), has been released in Singapore since 2002. Initially marketed as an opiate substitute to help addicts wean off their dependence, it has another formulation, Suboxone, which additionally contains naloxone as an active ingredient. This article is available only as a PDF....

Community-associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Overview and Local Situation

The emergence and spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from the community that are distinct from their archetypal healthcare-associated counterparts (HA-MRSA) marked a critical evolutionary milestone for the organism. In less than 2 decades, particularly in the last 3 years, this initially sporadic phenomenon of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus...

Translational Research – A Multidisciplinary Approach

Translational research aims to convert laboratory discoveries into therapeutic gains for patients – in oncology, drug development is a prime example. This multifaceted process is often complicated and requires huge investments in time, money and expertise. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

A Complex, Contagious, Evolutionary Habit

Yawning is often noted in medical seminars and conferences – be they surgical, orthopaedic, gastroenterological, endocrinological or neurological. Yet, this condition receives little coverage by professors in medical schools. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Amendment of the Human Organ Transplant Act

Kidney transplants have been carried out in Singapore for more than 35 years, with the first cadaveric kidney transplant operation performed on 8 July 1970. However, prior to the commencement of the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) in 1988, there was only a small number of kidney transplants; between...

Neonatal Priapism Associated With Spontaneous Bilateral Pyocavernositis

Priapism is a pathological state of prolonged, generally painful erection, unassociated with sexual desire and not ending in ejaculation. Rare before the 1980s, this entity became more frequent after the introduction of vasoactive drugs for intracavernosal injections. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF”...

Paediatrics to Geriatrics: The Continuum

In many parts of Asia today, paediatricians are still grappling with the childhood problems of infectious diseases, diarrhoeal diseases and malnutrition. In Singapore, it was no different up to the mid 1980s. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the...

Radiographic Features of SARS in Paediatric Patients: A Review of Cases in Singapore

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly emerged atypical pneumonia caused by the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). It is easily transmitted via droplet infection from close contact. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Necrotising Fasciitis and Traditional Medical Therapy – A Dangerous Liaison

The first case was a 54-year-old lady, with a history of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia, who presented with bilateral hand pain and stiffness of 4 days’ duration. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Interesting In- and Outpatient Attendances at Hogwarts Infirmary and St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies

With the return of “You Know Who” (YKW) and the rise of Death Eaters, injuries amongst both muggle and wizarding folk (MF and WF) have escalated. Muggle medicine, with its quaint dependence on potions and “technology”, is inadequate to deal with magical injuries, and has much to learn from...

The Doctor’s Multi-instrument Tool of the Future?

It is just another day in 2020, except that the eyes of the medical world are eagerly awaiting the latest invention to be revealed: the ingenious multi-instrument pocket tool. Precision, quality, functionality and versatility are what this invention promises to deliver. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Relationship Between Item Difficulty and Discrimination Indices in True/False-Type Multiple Choice Questions of a Para-clinical Multidisciplinary Paper

Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are used more and more in departmental examinations or as comprehensive examinations at the end of an academic session. They may be used to determine progress or to make decisions regarding the certification of a candidate. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

A Rotavirus Vaccine for Infants: The Asian Experience

Of all the enteric pathogens that infect young children, rotavirus is recognised as the leading cause of severe gastroenteritis worldwide. Rotavirus accounts for 20% of all diarrhoea-related deaths and global mortality among children less than 5 years of age is estimated at nearly half a million. This article is available...

Therapeutic Hypothermia for Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischaemic Encephalopathy

Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is an important cause of death and later neurological disability in full-term neonates worldwide. Perinatal asphyxia causes about 19% of the over 5 million neonatal deaths worldwide annually. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Outcome of Organic Acidurias in China

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Organising Services for IMD in Thailand: Twenty Years Experience

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Newborn Screening in Pakistan – Lessons from a Hospital-based Congenital Hypothyroidism Screening Programme

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Newborn Screening in Bangladesh

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Newborn Screening in China: Phenylketonuria, Congenital Hypothyroidism and Expanded Screening

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Minimising Harm from Newborn Screening Programmes

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Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip: Universal or Selective Ultrasound Screening?

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Financing Newborn Screening Systems: US Experience

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Inborn Errors of Metabolism Presenting as Neonatal Encephalopathy: Practical Tips for Clinicians

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Legal Issues in Neonatal Screening

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Neuroblastoma Screening in Japan: Population-based Cohort Study and Future Aspects of Screening

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External Quality Assurance Programme for Newborn Screening of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency

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Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency: Correlation between the Genotype, Biochemistry and Phenotype

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Disorders of Vitamin B12 Metabolism Presenting Through Newborn Screening

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Diagnosis of Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) Responsive Mild Phenylketonuria in Japan over the Past 10 Years

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Fatty Acid Oxidation Defects

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Disorders of the Carnitine Cycle and Detection by Newborn Screening

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Spectrum of Inherited Metabolic Disorders in Malaysia

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Establishing a Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme

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Current Understanding of Auditory Neuropathy

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A Multidisciplinary Approach to Paediatric Hearing Loss: Programme at the Centre for Hearing Intervention and Language Development, National University Hospital, Singapore

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Early Intervention For Hearing Impairment: Appropriate, Accessible and Affordable

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Impact of the National Hearing Screening Programme in China

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Outcome of Early Cochlear Implantation

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Eliminating Iodine Deficiency: Obstacles and Their Removal

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Neuro-developmental Deficits in Early-treated Congenital Hypothyroidism

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Issues on Universal Screening for Galactosemia

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Newborn Screening for all Identifiable Disorders with Tandem Mass Spectrometry is Cost Effective: The Negative Case

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Newborn Screening for all Identifiable Disorders with Tandem Mass Spectrometry is Cost Effective: Supporting Arguments

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My Early Experiences in Establishing Neonatal Screening and the Reason for Regional Meetings of the International Society for Neonatal Screening

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Diagnosis and Management Support for an Expanded Newborn Screening Programme

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Considerations in Choosing Screening Conditions: One (US) Approach

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Clinical Applications of Molecular Genetics: The Model of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

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Newborn Screening in Japan: Restructuring for the New Era

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Improved Health and Development of Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing Following Early Intervention

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Towards Universal Newborn Screening in Developing Countries: Obstacles and the Way Forward

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Improving Child Health – Newborn Screening for All?

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Neonatal Screening – A Global Perspective

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Towards a Global Educational Matrix for Tomorrow’s Health Systems

Society supports medical schools expecting them to produce physicians who can improve both the health of the population as well as the health system itself. This goal has not been achieved yet; deaths from tuberculosis (1.7 million, 2006) are but one of many examples that points to that failure...

Harnessing the IT Factor in Medical Education

In this digital age, we are constantly inundated with breathtaking images worthy of an Ansel Adams photograph or a Zhang Yimou film. Is it any wonder, then, that we educationists feel compelled to “wow” our students, who may have become jaded by this daily barrage of digital wizardry to...

A Systems Approach to Teach Core Topics across Graduate Medical Education Programmes

Core curricula including Ethics, Medico-legal issues, Socioeconomics, and Quality Improvement (QI) are relevant and significant for graduate medical education programmes, regardless of specialty. A lack of faculty expertise in these content areas is a frequently cited concern among specialty programmes in graduate medical education. This article is available only as...

World Federation for Medical Education Policy on International Recognition of Medical Schools’ Programme

There is an increasing need for international quality assurance of medical education. However, there are no present mechanisms for international recognition of medical educational institutions and programmes. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Quality Management of Medical Education at the Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine, University of Technology Dresden, Germany

In Germany, medical education is an undergraduate programme for which the students applying at the “Zentralstelle für die Vergabe von Studienplätzen” (ZVS); the final admission is primarily based on the grades of the “Gymnasium”. The number of applying students is about 4 times higher than the number of university...

Supporting Learners who are Studying or Training Using a Second Language: Preventing Problems and Maximising Potential

Travel and immigration are vibrant aspects of the international medical and educational field. Patients are increasingly mobile and finding healthcare professionals in a foreign country who can bring additional insights to help address their cultural and language needs can only benefit their care. This article is available only as a...

Development of a Tool to Evaluate Health Science Students’ Experiences of an Interprofessional Education (IPE) Programme

A shortage of healthcare professionals and resources in rural areas is well documented. These workforce shortages necessitate new models of healthcare in rural areas that focus on increased collaboration and communication to optimise patient care. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

Step-2 Thai Medical Licensing Examination Result: A Follow-up Study

The Center for Evaluating and Accrediting Medical Competency of the Thai Medical Council has established the regulation that Thai medical graduates matriculated as of 2003 have to pass the Medical Licensing Examination of Thailand (MLET) to qualify for medical practice. There are 3 steps in this national test. This article...

Does Team Learning Motivate Students’ Engagement in an Evidence-based Medicine Course?

Team-based learning (TBL) is a well-defined instructional strategy that has generated considerable interest within the medical education community because of its potential to promote active learning with a limited number of faculty facilitators. This mode of learning was originally developed more than 20 years ago for college business and...

A Survey of Medical Students’ Perceptions of the Quality of their Medical Education upon Graduation

Founded in 1934, Tehran University of Medical Sciences School of Medicine (TUMS-SoM) is the oldest modern medical school in Iran. It has the most number of academic staff and research productivity in the country, as well as the highest number of both undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolment per year. This...

Implementation and Evaluation by Formal Assessments and Term End Student Feedback of a New Methodology of Clinical Teaching in Surgery in Small Group Sessions

In clinically-oriented subjects such as surgery, specific guidelines for conducting small group teachings are lacking. Different methods are being practiced and researched in different clinical subjects. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The Learning of 7th Year Medical Students at Internal Medical – Evaluation by Logbooks

In 1945, Taihoku (Taipei) Imperial University was renamed the National Taiwan University and the Japanese teaching system was replaced with a system implemented by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China. The 7-year curriculum in the School of Medicine, College of Medicine and the National Taiwan University...

Use of Knowledge-sharing Web-based Portal in Gross and Microscopic Anatomy

The extensive use of and the rate at which medical technology is becoming an integral force in medicine has impacted on the way in which physicians are being trained to practise within this new environment. Medical informatics and the era of interacting over web-based systems require competencies that need...

Assessment of Psychometric Properties of a Modified PHEEM Questionnaire

In Sri Lanka, after a 5-year medical undergraduate curriculum, graduates from the medical faculties undergo a one year mandatory internship or housemanship, 6 months each in 2 selected disciplines of clinical medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics & gynaecology and paediatric surgery in a recognised government hospital. After successful completion of...

Medical Education in a Flat World

In 2005 Thomas Friedman published the international best-seller The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. He asserted that as the world becomes more connected, it becomes a level playing field, in which all players have equal opportunities. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Successful Management of an Iatrogenically-ingested Sharp Foreign Body

A 37-year-old man with no significant medical history underwent dental treatment. An injection dental needle used in the course of root canal treatment came loose, fell into the oral cavity and became directly irretrievable. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation Should Not Only Be a Test of Clinical Skill

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was originally a test (or summative assessment) specifically of clinical skills, using standardised patients (SP), anatomical models and itemised checklists3 for scoring medical students. However, if OSCE was restricted to a test, as with any other test, many students would learn tricks for...

5th College of Physicians Lecture – A Physician’s Odyssey: Recollections and Reflections

Allow me to thank you Mr President and your Council for asking me to deliver the 5th College of Physicians Lecture. Your President has suggested that with over 50 years of association with Medicine, the title be “In the Service of the Medical Profession”. This article is available only as...

Standard Setting in Student Assessment: Is a Defensible Method Yet to Come?

To validate any “adjective”, be it for living or non-living, a criteria or standard is needed. Globalisation, mobility of doctors and the rising number of medical institutions make it imperative to have comparable standards in medical teaching learning and assessment. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Innovative “Case-Based Integrated Teaching” in an Undergraduate Medical Curriculum: Development and Teachers’ and Students’ Responses

In Asia, the challenges facing medical education are similar across different countries. The learning process is still problematic with large classes, and most of the curriculum time being spent on traditional lectures. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the...

Prevalence of Refractive Error in Malay Primary School Children in Suburban Area of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia

Refractive error remains one of the primary causes of visual impairment in children worldwide. Prevalence of visual impairment in children, is defined as uncorrected vision equal to or worse than 20/40, and it varies from as low as 2.72% in South Africa to as high as 15.8% in Chile. This...

A Review of Clinical Pathway Data of 1663 Total Knee Arthroplasties in a Tertiary Institution in Singapore

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been established as an effective treatment modality for patients with symptomatic knee arthritis. It provides predictable decrement in pain, correction of deformity and improved functional outcomes. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Right Atrial Isomerism – Preponderance in Asian Fetuses. Using the Stomach-distance ratio as a Possible Diagnostic Tool for Prediction of Right Atrial Isomerism

Atrial isomerism is a disorder of lateralisation characterised by symmetric development of normally asymmetric cardiac atria and organ systems. The synonyms for these defects include heterotaxy syndrome, polysplenic/ asplenic syndrome, right/left isomerism, isomerism of the atrial appendages and situs ambiguous. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

When Words Really Matter

I think a lot these days about doctors giving advice. Nobody taught me, back in medical school, how to give advice. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) for Undergraduate Medical Students

The practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM), which integrates individual clinical expertise with the best available evidence from systematic research, demands a set of skills. These skills help clinicians retrieve, appraise and apply the current best evidence. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

Transudates in Malignancy: Still a Role for Pleural Fluid

According to Light’s criteria, an exudate is defined by at least one of the following: a total protein pleural fluid to serum ratio greater than 0.5, an lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) pleural fluid to serum ratio greater than 0.6, or an absolute pleural fluid LDH greater than 2/3 of the...

Behavioural Sleep Disorders in Children and Adolescents

Overall, children spend one-third to one-half of their life sleeping. Although sleep comprises such a significant portion of a child’s day, sleep disturbances are often overlooked by healthcare practitioners. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Cardiovascular Changes in Children with Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a spectrum of diseases ranging from primary snoring to obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). A recent review suggested that the prevalence of childhood OSA diagnosed by varying criteria was 1% to 4%. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

Obesity and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Hypopnoea Syndrome in Singapore Children

Obesity is becoming a problem of epidemic proportions and is perhaps, the most pervasive medical problem faced by medical providers today. It is a problem affecting about 10% to 15% of our school-going population in Singapore, affecting disease burden in virtually every medical subspecialty. This article is available only as...

Sleep Disorders in Children: The Singapore Perspective

Sleep problems are common in children. For example, snoring occurs in more than 25% of Singapore children1 and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) occurs in 1% to 3% of children. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Diagnosis and Evaluation of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea in Children

Children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) may present with nocturnal and/or diurnal symptoms. The history is best obtained from parents, or siblings who share a bedroom, since the child is often unaware of what happens when he or she is asleep. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

The Scope of Paediatric Sleep Medicine

Despite apparent similarities to adult sleep medicine, the disorders of paediatric sleep medicine have a distinct epidemiology and pathophysiology. During childhood, the physiology of sleep develops and matures, resulting in changing patterns of normal behaviours and of sleep disorders. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

Sleep Disturbances in Singaporean Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood psychiatric disorder with various studies reporting prevalence rates of between 1.7% and 16%. The most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Diseases (DSM), fourth edition, has 2 lists of behavioural symptoms grouped under “inattentive” and “hyperactive-impulsive” symptoms,...

Inflammatory Cytokines and Childhood Obstructive Sleep Apnoea

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is characterised by repeated episodes of upper airway occlusion during sleep that are associated with daytime behavioural changes and abnormalities in cardiovascular function. In adults, it has been shown that OSA is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. This article is available only as a...

Nasal Obstruction in Children with Sleep-disordered Breathing

Nasal breathing is critical in infants and children; for example, neonatal choanal atresia often leads to respiratory distress and may require urgent intervention in the newborn nursery. Later, during development in the first years of life, abnormal nasal breathing has important consequences for facial growth. This article is available only...

“Bone Block” and Congenital Spine Deformity

A 14-year-old female who presented with a limited range of neck motion with various congenital vertebral anomalies that included improper segmentation or extensive “fusion” of the cervical spine, hemivertebrae, and a right rigid convex thoracolumbar scoliosis (Figs. 1 and 2). She was diagnosed with Klippel-Feil syndrome (KFS) with congenital...

Chylous Ascites in Recurrent Gynaecological Malignancies

Chylous ascites is an unusual phenomenon where there is accumulation of chyle in the peritoneal cavity. It is especially rare following treatment of gynaecological cancers. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Placental Calcification in Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an inherited multisystem disorder of the elastic tissue leading to skin disease as well as ocular and cardiovascular complications. Although earlier literature on pregnancy in PXE contained reports of severe complications, most patients show no serious complications during pregnancy. This article is available only as a...

Holoprosencephaly: An Antenally-diagnosed Case Series and Subject Review

Holoproscencephaly (HPE) is an uncommon congenital developmental defect of the forebrain structures to divide into separate hemispheres and ventricles during embryogenesis. The prevalence rate of HPE is estimated to be between 1 in 11,000 to 1 in 20,000 live births, and 1 in 250 during early embryogenesis. This article is...

Self-directed Learning in Health Professions Education

More than 600,000 new citations were published in MEDLINE in 2005; this raised the total number of indexed citations to more than 14 million citations. In a study be Williamson et al, 2 out of 3 primary care physicians described the volume of literature as unmanageable, and 1 out...

Autologous Bone Marrow Plasma Injection after Arthroscopic Debridement for Elbow Tendinosis

Elbow tendinosis is a term used to describe a syndrome of pain involving the extensor or flexor tendon origin of the forearm musculature. It is a common problem in adults and it is called “medial” or “lateral epicondylitis” depending on the site of involvement. This article is available only as...

Immunogenicity, Reactogenicity and Safety of a Diphtheria-Tetanus-Acellular Pertussis-Inactivated Polio and Haemophilus Influenzae Type b Combination Vaccine in a Placebo-controlled Rotavirus Vaccine Study

Singapore’s national immunisation programme for the 6 traditional Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) vaccines (i.e. BCG, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and measles) and hepatitis B has been in place for many years and its success has been dramatic. Despite being previously endemic to Singapore in the 1950s, diphtheria has...

Transfusion-dependent Microcytic Anaemia in a 10-year-old Girl

A 10-year-girl from Bangladesh presented with a moderately severe anaemia (lowest recorded haemoglobin level of 5.6 g/dL) and a mild jaundice (latest serum bilirubin, 31 μmol/L) 3 years ago (Figs. 1 and 2). Test for haemoglobin electrophoresis on agarose gel did not reveal any abnormal bands. This article is available...

Caudal Regression Syndrome

A white female with an uncomplicated history of birth delivery and a familial history of diabetes mellitus presented to the orthopaedic clinic at the age of 16 months old with bowel dysfunction, inability to walk, one kidney, and a gibbus noted at T12. A “frog-like” appearance was noted of...

Laparoscopic Heller’s Cardiomyotomy for Achalasia of the Cardia in a Pregnant Patient

Laparoscopy was first used for the evaluation of acute abdominal pain in pregnancy by gynaecologists in 1980. The most commonly reported laparoscopic procedure during pregnancy is laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Primary Hydatid Disease of the Humerus

Hydatid disease is a parasitic tapeworm infection caused by Echinococcus species. E.granulosus and E.alveolaris are the most common causes of hydatid disease in humans. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Spontaneous Vaginal Expulsion of a Filshie Clip

Laparoscopic sterilisation is a common method of permanent contraception. The Filshie clip system is a safe and effective method of female sterilisation. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

3rd College of Paediatrics and Child Health Lecture – The Past, the Present and the Shape of Things to Come…

In the post-war days of the 1950s, Singapore children were faced with problems of malnutrition and infectious diseases. There was poverty, overcrowded housing and lack of hygiene, and the social conditions were apparently appalling. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Sir Gordon Arthur Ransome (1910-1978) – His Teaching Style and His Legacy

Sir Gordon Arthur Ransome was born in Salop, England, in 1910.1 He came to Singapore in 1938, where he taught and practised medicine for 33 years before his retirement in 1971. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Translating the Family Medicine Vision into Educational Programmes in Singapore

The core of the Family Medicine (FM) vision is patient-centred care, requiring specific education and vocational training. Modern day FM began its existence as a “counterculture” to the disease-and-body-part focus of the hospital specialties in the 1960s. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF”...

Auricular Anthropometry of Newborns at the Singapore General Hospital

Abnormalities of the external ear are described in many syndromes and genetic conditions. Melnick et al reported an incidence of 1 in 90 births for external ear malformations and branchial sinuses and tags, with about 1 in 670 births having malformations of the pinna. This article is available only as...

Recurrent Patellar Dislocation: Reappraising our Approach to Surgery

Traumatic patellar dislocations affect mainly adolescents and young adults. Up to 44% of patients will develop recurrent dislocation. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Triple Endobuttton Technique in Acromioclavicular Joint Reduction and Reconstruction

Acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) dislocation is a common injury often affecting young athletes. Cyclist, ice hockey players, weight lifters, rugby players and martial exponents are the most common athletes sustaining the injuries. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Return to Sports After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction – A Review of Patients with Minimum 5-year Follow-up

Complete anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture results in a mechanically unstable knee. ACL reconstruction is recommended in athletes to help restore knee stability for return to pivoting sports. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Clinical Evaluation of Arthroscopic-assisted Allograft Meniscal Transplantation

The menisci of the knee are fibro-cartilaginous structures essential for the normal biomechanic of the knee joint. They play a critical role in shock absorption, load transmission, joint lubrication and congruency, nutrition, stability of the knee and facilitating the rotation of the opposing articular surfaces of the joint. This article...

Erysipelothrix rhuseopathiae Septicaemia with Prolonged Hypotension: A Case Report

Erysipelothrix sp. is a gram-positive, non-spore forming bacterium that was first isolated by Robert Koch. It has the unusual ability to infect a large variety of vertebrate and invertebrate animals, including various species of domestic and wild animals, mainly swine, cattle, fish and birds. This article is available only as...

Advanced Burkitt’s Lymphoma Presenting With Jejunal Perforation

Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) is a high grade B-cell neoplasm under the umbrella of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. It is predominantly seen in children but may also present in adults. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Renal Cell Carcinoma Bony Metastasis Treatment

Patellar metastases are extremely rare, ironically, primary tumours of the patella are more common than metastatic disease. A Medline search from 1960 to the present yielded only 23 reported cases of patellar metastases. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view...

Treatment of Cardiogenic Pulmonary Oedema by Helmet-delivered Non-invasive Pressure Support Ventilation in Children With Scorpion Sting Envenomation

Scorpion stings represent an important and serious public health problem worldwide due to their high incidence and potentially severe and often fatal clinical manifestations, especially among children. The severity of the envenomation is related to haemodynamic and cardiorespiratory alterations, with cardiac failure and cardiogenic pulmonary oedema being the major...

Angioplasty in Critical Limb Ischaemia: One-year Limb Salvage Results

Critical limb ischaemia (CLI) is the most severe form of peripheral vascular disease where there is inadequate blood flow to a limb to maintain reasonable metabolic requirement of the tissues at rest. Eventual loss of limb is the feared sequelae of CLI. This article is available only as a PDF....

Care of Women in Menopause: Sexual Function, Dysfunction and Therapeutic Modalities

Menopause is a life change described by biological alterations occurring in the context of important social changes. There is an increasing appreciation for the role of sexual function in menopause and its importance for a woman’s health and well-being. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on...

Screening Tools for Bacteraemia in a Selected Population of Febrile Children

Bacteraemia refers to the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream. The presence or absence of toxicity differentiates occult bacteraemia, which is relatively asymptomatic, from bacteraemia and sepsis, which is accompanied by findings of serious systemic illness. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

Review of the Management Outcome of Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis and the Role of Prophylactic Contra-lateral Pinning Re-examined

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis is the commonest hip problem in the adolescent age group. The goals of treatment are aimed at avoiding the complications of osteonecrosis and chondrolysis, preventing further slips, and promoting physeal closure. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

The Hospitalist Movement – A Complex Adaptive Response to The Hospitalist Movement – A Complex Adaptive Response to Fragmentation of Care in Hospitals

Healthcare systems are complex adaptive systems. They are capable of self organisation through interacting agents that adapt to changes to the internal and external environment. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Medication Use in the Transition from Hospital to Home

Hospital discharge can be a complex and challenging time for physicians and patients alike. Patients are being discharged sooner, often in the process of convalescence rather than at baseline health status. This requires physicians to more effectively communicate instructions for post discharge care to patients, family members, and outpatient...

Family Medicine Education in Singapore: A Long-standing Collaboration between Specialists and Family Physicians

In the US, Canada and Australia, the postgraduate training of family physicians (FPs) involves the attachment of family medicine (FM) trainees to specialist departments, similar to the model currently employed in Singapore. Unlike Singapore, however, FM training outside these hospital attachments is largely administered by senior FPs with minimal...

Bridging the Gap between Primary and Specialist Care: Formidable Challenges Ahead

The strong guiding hand and deep pockets of the state have brought about the growth of hospitals and national specialist centres while leaving the primary care sector largely to free market forces. Thus, it is not surprising that the evolution of Singapore’s healthcare system has largely favoured specialisation and...

An Unexpected Presentation of Endometriosis – A “Parasitic” Cyst of the Bowel in a Menopausal Woman on Hormone Therapy

Endometriosis commonly affects women during their reproductive years and may involve any organ. Although rare, endometriosis has been reported in postmenopausal women and is often associated with hormone replacement or tamoxifen. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full...

Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus

Osteochondral lesions of the talus are a known cause of chronic ankle pain. They are frequently found in the active population after ankle sprains. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Menopause, Hormone Therapy and Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity among postmenopausal women. Up to the age of 50 years, the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) among women is lower than among men, but the incidence rises significantly after the menopause. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click...

Clinical Skills in Final-year Medical Students: The Relationship between Self-reported Confidence and Direct Observation by Faculty or Residents

In clinical medical education, instructors train students in their medical knowledge and clinical skills. Medical educators also aspire to develop students’ self-confidence in medical practice. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Paediatric perineal skin pit: More than skin deep?

A 2.5-year-old boy was referred to our clinic for abnormal genitalia and a febrile urinary tract infection (Escherichia coli >105 colony-forming units/mL). At birth, his parents were informed that he had a “bilobed scrotum and a deep perineal skin pit” that may pose hygiene and cosmetic issues. They had...

Multimodal prehabilitation before major abdominal surgery: A retrospective study

Ageing is one of the biggest public health concerns of the 21st century, presenting a challenge to the practice of medicine globally. As the Singapore population ages, research is needed to refine our knowledge in the care of older persons and the frail, so that better methods of care...

Recurrent Group B Streptococcal Septicemia in a Very Low Birth Weight Infant with Infective Endocarditis and Submandibular Cellulitis

Maternal Group B streptococcal colonisation can lead to neonatal pneumonia, meningitis or sepsis. Neonatal Group B Streptococcal (GBS) sepsis is common, but infective endocarditis is rare. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Morbidity of Parainfluenza 3 Outbreak in Preterm Infants in a Neonatal Unit

Parainfluenza type 3 virus (PIV-3) is an important nosocomial pathogen. It closely mimics respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in its clinical presentations, and in infants. It is the second commonest cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis after RSV. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

The Natural History and Prognosticative Factors of Adult Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcomas: An Asian Perspective

Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) are extremely rare tumours, making up about 1% of all malignancies. In Singapore, they accounted for 0.7% of all cancers in males and 0.5% of all cancers in females with 217 case presentations in the period between 1998 and 2002. This article is available only as...

An Unexpected Outcome following Radial Head Excision for Jeffrey Type II Fracture-Dislocation of the Proximal Radius in a Child

We present a case of a 10-year-old child who sustained a traumatic fracture-dislocation of his proximal radius and subsequently underwent surgical removal of the radial head. At 3 years of follow-up, he had regained full painless flexion and extension with loss of pronosupination. This article is available only as a...

Temporary Tattoo Associated Type IV Delayed Hypersensitivity Dermatitis in a Child – A Case Report and Call for Parental Caution in Singapore

A 5-year-old, previously healthy French Caucasian boy was seen at a Paediatric Emergency Department for a skin rash over his left forearm. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Peritoneal Metastases: Report of Three Cases and Collective Review of the Literature

Peritoneal dissemination of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare presentation, with an incidence of 2% to 6% detected during autopsy or laparoscopy. Although uncommon, the morbid and fatal complications associated with peritoneal metastases, especially in patients with liver cirrhosis and coagulation deficiencies, deserve renewed attention given recent advances in...

Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases – Understanding the Differences in the Management of Synchronous and Metachronous Disease

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the commonest cancers worldwide with age standardised incidence rates of 22.8 to 64.2 and 19.0 to 46.7 per 100,000 in males and females, respectively. The disease accounts for one of the commonest causes of cancer death and the prognosis is closely related to...

The Influence of Maternal Ethnic Group and Diet on Breast Milk Fatty Acid Composition

Human milk is the ideal food which provides the complete nutritional requirements for infants during the first 6 months of life. The lipids accumulated in an infant represent the majority of all energy retained in the growing tissues during this crucial period of rapid growth and development. This article is...

A Case of Congenital Haemolytic Anaemia and Thrombocytopenia

A 20-month-old boy came from Bangladesh to Singapore for medical consultation. He presented with progressive pallor, easy bruising, intermittent dark-coloured urine, and failure to thrive since birth. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

An Exanthem with An Annular Pattern in a 2-year-old Girl

A 2-year-old Chinese girl was seen in clinic with an erythematous annular itchy rash which began on the thighs and had spread to the trunk and hands. The parent’s concern was the rash’s duration and association with 2 episodes of fever. This article is available only as a PDF. Please...

Clinical Features Differentiating Biliary Atresia from Other Causes of Neonatal Cholestasis

Causes of neonatal cholestasis (NC) are long and diverse but the responses of newborn liver, either physiological or anatomical, are limited. This is because the ability of a developing liver of responding in the face of a variety of insults are limited. This article is available only as a PDF....

Surgical Metastasectomy in AJCC Stage IV M1c Melanoma Patients with Gastrointestinal and Liver Metastases

The prognosis of patients with stage IV melanoma or recurrent melanoma is poor with an estimated median survival period of 6 months. The recent revised version of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for cutaneous melanoma has further sub-divided melanoma metastatic sites to 3 specific categories;...

Comparison of Clinical Outcomes and Cost Between Surgical and Transcatheter Device Closure of Atrial Septal Defects in Singapore Children

Congenital heart defects (CHD), with an incidence of approximately 1 in 100 live births, are the most important and frequent congenital malformations. It can cause significant morbidity and mortality in children as well as adults. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top...

A Clinicopathologic Study of Uterine Smooth Muscle Tumours of Uncertain Malignant Potential (STUMP)

Smooth Muscle Tumours of Undetermined Malignant Potential or STUMPs are interesting tumours from both the standpoint of histological diagnosis and classification as well as clinical management mainly because, as a group, its natural history is poorly understood. Prognostic criteria of how STUMP tumours will behave have been studied and...

Effect of Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Biological Healing of Allografts in Critical-sized Tibial Defects Simulated in Adult Rabbits

Bridging of large bone defects is a challenging problem in orthopedic and reconstructive surgery. Options include vascularised bone autografts, non-vascularised bone autografts, allografts, bioceramics and custom-made prostheses. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Bannayan Riley Ruvalcaba Syndrome

Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome (BRRS) classically presents with macrocephaly, subcutaneous and visceral lipomata, haemangiomata, hamartomatous intestinal polyps and pigmented macules involving the genitalia. This autosomal dominant disorder is linked to germline mutations of the phosphatase and tensine homologue gene (PTEN), a tumour suppressor gene which has a significant role in the...

Dyke-Davidoff-Masson Syndrome

An 8-year-old boy presented with uncontrolled seizures. He was born as the second child to non-consanguineous parents. He had significant perinatal asphyxia in the newborn period. He had developmental delay since infancy and was noticed to have right-sided tonic clonic seizures since the age of 3 years, which was...

Emergency Surgery for a Ruptured Intra-abdominal Desmoid Tumour

Desmoid tumours are fibrous benign tumours that are often indolent until local symptoms evolve. We highlight a rare case of a ruptured intra-abdominal desmoid tumour presenting as acute abdomen. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The Need for a System of Prognostication in Skeletal Metastasis to Decide Best End-of-life Care – A Call to Arms

Decisions regarding potential surgery for metastatic disease are influenced by estimates of patient survival. For example, patients with long life expectancy may be appropriately treated with extensive resection and durable reconstruction to provide long lasting function and mobility; in contrast, a patient with a very short life expectancy may...

Evaluation of Intensive Care Unit-acquired Urinary Tract Infections in Singapore

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common types of nosocomial infections encountered in the inpatient settings including intensive care unit (ICU). Amongst patients admitted to ICU, studies have revealed the incidence of nosocomial UTIs to range from 9% to 29%. This article is available only as a...

Childhood Food Allergy: A Singaporean Perspective

Food allergy is defined as reaction to a food which has an immunologic mechanism. If immunoglobulin E (IgE) is involved in the reaction, the term IgE-mediated food allergy is appropriate. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is Expressed During Articular Cartilage Growth and Re-expressed in Osteoarthritis

Growth factors are polypeptides that direct cells to proliferate, differentiate, migrate or produce matrix. They exert their effects by interacting with specific receptors on the surfaces of cells. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

Transcatheter Closure of Atrial Septal Defects – Is Balloon Sizing Still Necessary?

Device closure of atrial septal defects through the transcatheter approach has now been well accepted as an option to surgical treatment. A range of devices has been developed for use over the years, with significant advances achieved in terms of profile and safety. This article is available only as a...

Effectiveness of Vacuum-assisted Closure (VAC) Therapy in the Healing of Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Diabetes mellitus is a common problem in Singapore, with an incidence of 8.2% in the local population aged between 18 and 69 in 2004. Ten per cent to 25% of diabetics developed foot ulcerations. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to...

Medical Professionalism in the Internet Age

Medical professionalism encompasses the conduct and practices of physicians, both as individuals and as a collective organisation. Professionalism enhances the trust and confidence of patients and society in doctors. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.