Dear Editor, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast media are commonly used in medical imaging and are usually gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). They can be divided...

Early inpatient rehabilitation therapy has been known to have beneficial impact on physical function and mobility, psychological status and cognitive function of patients following...

The last decade has seen a progressive change in the style of management of severe acute renal failure (acute renal failure which requires the...

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Singapore with age-standardised incidence rates increasing markedly from 26.8 to 38.7 per 100 000...

Hyperparathyroidism is well recognised as a clinical problem that has a myriad of presentation. The classical presenting symptoms of hypercalcaemia have been well documented...

Lupus nephritis is a common manifestation of lupus associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The use of cytotoxic agents has resulted in improved renal...

In end-stage renal failure patients, maintaining adequate vascular access continues to be an ongoing challenge. Native arteriovenous fistulas or synthetic arteriovenous grafts are satisfactory...

Predominantly a disease of hot and humid climates, malaria affects 270 million people worldwide annually, and has a mortality rate of 1%. The increasing...

Dunnil and associates first described the association of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with acquired cystic kidney disease (ACKD) and end stage renal disease. The...

A characteristic feature of renal cell carcinoma is the development of tumour thrombus extending into the inferior vena cava (IVC). This takes place in...

Twenty years ago, the therapy of glomerulonephritis (GN) was relatively simple as it was believed that treatment with prednisolone should be confined to patients...

End stage renal failure (ESRF) is the most common end stage organ disease treated with transplantation in Singapore. Though renal transplantation is the preferred...

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), which could lead to visual impairment and blindness, is a recognised serious morbidity amongst surviving premature infants. The inverse relationship...

A 53-year-old man with a history of hypertension and asymptomatic Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome was admitted to the hospital for an elective uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, tonsillectomy and bilateral...

Western literature reports a very high incidence of deep vein thrombosis in its population especially after orthopaedic surgery. In total knee replacement without prophylaxis,...

Cytokines are peptide molecules that are responsible for intercellular signalling during immune activation events. Cytokines are responsible, in large part, for the regulation of...

Proteinuria is considered a marker of renal disease. Traditionally it has been thought that proteinuria is the result of diseased glomeruli. This article is available...

Immunoglobulin (Ig) A nephropathy is the most common primary glomerulonephritis in various parts of the world, and it was detected in 25% of biopsy...

Voiding dysfunction is a relatively common problem in hospitalised older patients. Up to one-third of hospitalised elderly were reported to have post-void residual urine...

There have been many reports on the use of conventional doses of cyclosporine A (CsA) in inducing remission among adults with minimal change nephrotic...

Despite intensive therapeutic efforts, both the incidence and mortality of gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery employing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) have not decreased during the...

Bladder carcinoma is the tenth most common cancer affecting men in Singapore. It is more common in men with an age-standardised incidence rate of...

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...

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...

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...

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and its acute complication–pulmonary embolism (PE), is one of the most important preventable causes of death in hospital patients. It...

One of the significant milestones in the perinatal care in Singapore is the birth of the Perinatal Society of Singapore in March 1989. This...

The most common causes of morbidity in adolescence often have behavioural or social determinants, and can have enormous social and economic consequences for adolescent...

Seasonal variations in the general population in some body functions and diseases incidences have been well-established (e.g., vitamin D levels, allergic rhinitis, blood pressure,...

Liver failure is clinically heterogeneous in aetiology, pathophysiology, clinical severity and prognoses. It can be divided into the following categories: acute liver failure (ALF),...

Minimally invasive donor nephrectomy using laparoscopic techniques has become a very attractive method of procuring kidneys from live donors, compared to the traditional standard...

In our quest to pursue knowledge regarding a patient’s illness or seek a cure for the disease, as doctors we have to derive the...

The heart is difficult to image because of its complex wall motion and variability of the cardiac cycle. Recent advances in 16 and 64-slice...

A 45-year-old Singaporean was seen for review by a nephrologist at a restructured hospital. She had been on follow up by a private nephrologist...

Hospitalisation is a stressful event for the older person. The physiological changes associated with ageing, such as decreased muscle strength and aerobic activity, reduced...

The first case of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was detected in Singapore on 16May 1985. The number of newly diagnosed HIV/acquired immuno-deficiency virus...

In the last few years, hundreds of papers exploring the issue of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) have been published. It has been estimated...

Thyroid eye disease (TED) is a visually and socially disabling condition. Newly diagnosed patients are often fearful of sight-threatening complications that include optic nerve...

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of mortality following ischaemic stroke. The annual risk for myocardial infarction following ischaemic stroke is approximately...

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin II receptor antagonists (ATRA) are both well established drugs utilised to help retard the progression of chronic...

In order to commit to their mission and placement requirement efficiently and effectively, policy-makers need to decide which types of students their training units...

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become a routine surgical procedure in general surgical units all over the world. Its implementation has expanded dramatically and is considered...

Cardiovascular complications account for the highest rate of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), type 1 and type 2, respectively. The...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important therapeutic problem. There is an increasing realisation that renal impairment is under-diagnosed, and this has led to...

Pauci-immune crescentic glomerulonephritis (Pauci-immune CGN) is the most common cause of CGN. Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) defines a clinicopathological syndrome consisting of intraluminal platelet thrombosis...

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common primary glomerulonephritis in Singapore1 and in many parts of the world, contributing significantly to the pool of...

Hand infections are common in the general population, and their management is usually uncomplicated. Several papers have noted that patients with diabetes mellitus have...

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a significant complication of diabetes mellitus and accounts for the majority of amputations among these patients with diabetes. In...

Despite advances in haemodialysis technology over the past 40 years and rapid proliferation of clinical guidelines over the last decade promoting evidence-based practices, the...

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common types of nosocomial infections encountered in the inpatient settings including intensive care unit (ICU)....

What do you see in this intravenous urogram? 1. Left lower ureteric calculus with proximal hydroureteronephrosis 2. Left duplicated ureter with lower ureteric calculus 3. Right triplicate...

The first cases of infection with a novel influenza A (H1N1) strain were reported in 6 cases in California and 2 cases in Texas...

Obesity is a condition characterised by an excess of body fats. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were about 1.6 billion overweight...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing recognised as one of the most important causes of chronic liver disease in Western countries. It encompasses...

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is reaching epidemic proportions and is increasingly a public health issue due to the cost of providing care to these...

An 18-year-old male presented with complaints of abdominal pain. He had history of previous episodes of renal colic and passage of stones in urine....

Kidney cancer accounts for 3% to 4% of all cancers. In a systematic review by Mathew and et al,2 the incidence of kidney cancer...

Clinical practice guidelines recommend different amounts of dietary protein intake for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. The recommended daily protein intake varies according to...

An 18-year-old male presented to the emergency department of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital with knee pain and swelling while playing basketball. He was unable to bear weight....