Spontaneous rupture of uterine fibroid is rarely encountered. We present a case of a 31-year-old who presented with acute abdominal pain at 9 weeks postpartum. On examination, the abdomen had diffuse tenderness, with rebound tenderness in the suprapubic area and in both iliac fossae. On ultrasonography, a 12.7 × 8.6 × 8.9-cm sized hyperechoic mass was visible on the posterior wall of the uterus. A large amount of fluid was visible in the paracolic gutters and the Pouch of Douglas (POD). The patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy. A ruptured, cystic degenerated uterine fibroid with active bleeding was found, as well as approximately half a liter of free, bloodstained peritoneal fluid and pus. Myomectomy was performed, followed by evacuation of the fluid and clots. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful. In conclusion, preoperative diagnosis of a perforated, uterine fibroid with spontaneous intra-abdominal hemorrhage is difficult; exploratory laparotomy is both diagnostic and therapeutic in this rare, life-threatening condition.
Acute laryngeal injury is a rare, potentially lethal injury. It often poses difficulty in airway management. Commonly described are external laryngeal or blunt injuries. We report a case of penetrating neck injury resulting in complete transection of cricoid cartilage. A lady presented with a large, deep slash wound in her neck from a knife injury. There was complete laryngotracheal separation. The airway was secured before she was taken to the operating theatre. A tracheostomy was performed. Exploration revealed the cricoid ring was cut horizontally into two. Anastomosis of the cartilaginous framework was undertaken. Fibreoptic laryngoscopy showed bilateral vocal cords paralysis. After two months the patient recovered without airway compromise, she regains her voice. Repeat laryngoscopy showed good mobility of the vocal cords. In conclusion surgical reconstruction should be meticulously done to ensure good respiratory and phonatory abilities.
Hemangiomas are the most common congenital lesions in man and occur predominantly in the head and neck region. Massive hemangioma especially near vital organs or structures pose a challenge to surgeons. With the availability of expertise in embolization of feeding vessel of the hemangioma and reconstructive techniques we were able to manage successfully a complicated case of massive facial hemangioma.
Desmoid tumours are uncommon. They are locally invasive and incomplete excision leads to recurrence, which can pose a significant management challenge. Patients therefore require effective treatment, which essentially entails tumour excision with a clear surgical margin. The resulting wide defect may lead to difficulty in closure of the anterior abdominal wall. We report our experience in treating large desmoid tumours of the anterior abdominal wall. Between January 2000 and December 2001, three patients with large desmoid tumour of the anterior abdominal wall were treated with wide excision, which included a 3-cm margin of uninvolved tissues. This led to a considerable abdominal wall defect. The peritoneal defect was closed as a separate layer, though under considerable tension, while the abdominal wall musculature defect was closed with a polypropylene mesh. All three patients recovered well with no immediate or late postoperative morbidity. Follow-up until December 2006 has not revealed any tumour recurrence or hernia development. Wide excision of an anterior abdominal wall desmoid tumour with a clear margin of 3 cm including the peritoneum should be considered when managing such tumours. Closure under tension of the peritoneum did not seem to produce any morbidity.
A 20 year-old woman presented with features of a twisted ovarian cyst and had an emergency laparotomy Intraoperative findings revealed bilateral, solid ovarian tumors and a left oophorectomy with biopsy of the contralateral ovary performed. Histopathology report confirmed Burkitt lymphoma of ovary. There was no other evidence of lymphoma elsewhere. The primary Burkitt lymphoma of the ovaries was successfully managed with six courses of highly toxic chemotherapy (Berlin-Frankfurt- Munster 1986 protocol). The patient has remained disease free for the last 36 months.
Parotid swelling is a common presentation in ENT clinic. Most of the cases involve pathology of the gland. There are not many reported cases about parotid duct pathology. We describe a case of a large parotid duct mucocele with a calculus. Excision of the mucocele and superficial parotidectomy was performed. The post-operative recovery was uneventful.
Hip dislocation in pregnancy is an uncommon injury. We report a case of traumatic hip dislocation in the third trimester of pregnancy to highlight potential problems associated with its treatment. The rationale for choosing the preferred treatment options is discussed.
Matched MeSH terms: Hip Dislocation/surgery*; Pregnancy Complications/surgery*
Mature cystic teratomas of the pancreas are extremely rare tumours encountered in day-to-day clinical practice. Only few cases have been reported to date involving all age groups. The management, diagnosis and evaluation of this tumor are questionable, with definitive diagnosis taking place intra-operatively. We hereby report the case in a 30 year-old-male who presented with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus and during the follow up he was noted to have elevated liver enzymes clinically, he was asymptomatic. The computerized tomography revealed a retropancreatic mass and pushing the mesenteric veins anteriorly. The mass was hypodense in nature and there was presence of calcification. Although the patient was asymptomatic, the decision for resecting the mass was made in view of the size and possibility of malignancy. In conclusion, considering the size and approximity of the mass to the pancreas, Whipple procedure's is the most appropriate approach although the histological diagnosis has not been established preoperatively.
Inverted papilloma is the most common benign tumor of nose and paranasal sinuses arising from lateral nasal wall and middle meatus. Histologically these tumors are composed of epithelial nests that are inverted, exophytic and cylindrical. Here we describe a clinical case of nasal cylindrical cell papilloma, which was treated by endoscopic excision.
Matched MeSH terms: Nose Neoplasms/surgery*; Papilloma/surgery*
Skin-sparing mastectomy is still in its infancy in Malaysia. The option of skin-sparing mastectomy is rarely given to patients as many general surgeons perform the conventional mastectomy. This could also be compounded by the lack of awareness amongst the local surgeons on the safety, surgical technique and treatment outcome of this relatively new procedure. This case report demonstrates the feasibility of this procedure performed on a Malaysian patient with a comparable outcome of those reported in the Western countries.
Matched MeSH terms: Breast Neoplasms/surgery; Carcinoma, Ductal/surgery
Mediastinal teratoma is an infrequent germ cell tumour and comprises of 1 to 5% of all mediastinal tumours. We report a case of mediastinal mature teratoma in a 12 year old boy who presented to us with persistent non-productive cough, fever and dyspnoea for the past 7 months. Computed tomographic scan of thorax revealed a large anterior mediastinal mass measuring 11.2x9.9x14cm with calcification within. He subsequently underwent a median sternotomy with left subcostal extension (L-incision) and excision of tumour. Histopathology of the tumour revealed a mature cystic teratoma. We would like to report a case of successful surgical management of a large mediastinal mature teratoma in a child.
This paper proposes the reconstruction of craniofacial fracture using rational cubic Ball curve. The idea of choosing Ball curve is based on its robustness of computing efficiency over Bezier curve. The main steps are conversion of Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (Dicom) images to binary images, boundary extraction and corner point detection, Ball curve fitting with genetic algorithm and final solution conversion to Dicom format. The last section illustrates a real case of craniofacial reconstruction using the proposed method which clearly indicates the applicability of this method. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) has also been developed for practical application.
We report a neonate with anorectal atresia in whom preoperative evaluation prior to definitive operation revealed a short gap atresia. However, bidigital evaluation at operation revealed a septal atresia that was easily perforated from below through the anus. Unnecessary division of the anorectal sphincter complex was thus avoided.
Cysts of the adrenal gland are uncommon. We report a case of symptomatic pseudocyst of adrenal gland in an adult male, which was excised through retropertoneoscopic route. Surgery was uneventful and patient returned to pre-operative activity within seven days of operation. At ten months of follow up patient is asymptomatic and doing well.
Sixty-five patients with congenital kyphosis and kyphoscoliosis who underwent spinal arthrodesis are reviewed to determine the factors that influenced the outcome of arthrodesis. Mean follow up after surgery was 6 years and 6 months with all patients having a minimum of 2 years follow up. A satisfactory outcome, or a stable arthrodesis was defined as a loss of correction of less than 10 degrees from the time of surgery till review. An unsatisfactory outcome, or unstable arthrodesis was considered when there was more than 10 degree loss. Type of vertebral anomaly and type of arthrodesis procedure were significantly influenced stability of arthrodesis, whereas age when arthrodesis was performed and size of curve at surgery were not significantly related to stability of arthrodesis.
Adrenal tumours are either functioning or non-functioning. Non-functioning adrenal tumours are generally asymptomatic and usually of enormous proportions at the time of presentation. A case is presented here of a patient with a huge right adrenal haemangioma which was successfully treated surgically. This unusual tumour was 25 cm in diameter, was well encapsulated and weighed 4 kg. The literature pertaining to this interesting case is reviewed.