Teleradiology is the most mature and rapidly evolving specialty in telemedicine. The use of teleradiology has grown tremendously during the past few years. This article describes the role of teleradiology in health care along with a brief history of its development in tandem with advances in telecommunications and computer technologies. Teleradiology standards, image acquisition, data compression, transmission and image interpretation are summarised. The impact of teleradiology in the practice of radiology, traces the evolution of the modality especially in the Malaysian perspective and its current and future role are discussed.
X-ray based radiological procedure statistics and trend in Malaysia for 1990-1994 is reported; this information allows comparisons to be made with the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) Report. Additionally it is essential information for health care planners and providers. Malaysia is categorised as a health care level II country based on the UNSCEAR definition. In 1994, the number of physicians, radiologists, x-ray units and x-ray examinations per 1000 population was 0.45, 0.005, 0.065 and 183 respectively. 3.6 million x-ray examinations were performed in 1994, with chest radiography being the commonest study (63%). Information on x-ray examinations, number of hospitals and x-ray units is reported for the Ministry of Health, private practice and teaching hospitals. Examination frequency increased in computed tomography (161%), cardiac procedures (190%), and mammography (240%); while a decrease in barium studies (-23%), cholecystography (-36%), and intravenous urography (-51%) was noted. There is a potential and need to expand and upgrade radiological services.
We report two cases of body piercing as a religious practice that subsequently led to the development of granulomatous nodules at previously punctured sites of the skin and oral mucosa. These lesions were diagnosed as sarcoid-like foreign body reaction after other possible causes including sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, tuberculoid leprosy, fungal infections, viral infections, and Crohn's disease were excluded.
A case of denture hyperplasia of the upper labial sulcus with concomitant oncocytic metaplastic changes is described. The patient concerned is an elderly male wearing an ill-fitting upper full denture.
Leiomyomas are benign neoplasms of smooth muscle origin. They represent rare entities in the oral cavity. A case arising from the incisive papilla region of a 3-month-old infant is described and the histogenesis as well as the biologic potential of this tumor are discussed.
X-ray microradiography of surgically excised breast specimens offers the possibility of morphological characterization of calcifications. When combined with digital imaging techniques there exists added potential for obtaining valuable basic quantitative morphometric information regarding differences between microcalcifications in tissues exhibiting evidence of fibrocystic change, benign and malignant tumours. A total of 157 excised breast specimens from 84 patients were microradiographed using a Softex Super Soft X-ray unit and Kodak AA high resolution industrial film. A Quantimet 570C image analysis system was used to digitize and analyse the microradiographs. Of the 157 microradiographs, 51 (from 30 patients) revealed microcalcification clusters. The existence of significant differences between the three identified categories of tissue were indicated by clustering parameters. These included the number of particles per cluster, area of clusters, maximum distance to nearest neighbour, and geometric mean distance to nearest neighbour. The distribution pattern index (DPI), another of the clustering parameters used in this study, has been observed to be a particularly powerful discriminator. The value for fibrocystic change was found to be significantly smaller (0.514) than that for benign tumour (0.796) whilst that for benign tumour was observed to be significantly larger than that for malignant tumour (0.604) at a p-value of less than 0.05 (Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance).
Adenomatoid odontogenic tumours (AOT) are benign, hamartomatous odontogenic lesions that not uncommonly mimic a dentigerous cyst radiographically. Such a case as found involving an unerupted left maxillary canine in a 19-year-old Chinese female is described. The differential diagnosis of some common odontogenic cysts and neoplasms occurring in Malaysians, that may present in a dentigerous relationship to an unerupted tooth is discussed. A brief review of the radiographic literature on AOT is also included.
The clinical and histologic features of Kimura's disease are briefly outlined. A case presenting as a subcutaneous nodule in the region of the angle of the right mandible of a 20-year-old male is presented. The relationship of this disease to angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia is discussed.
Ameloblastomas formed 1.1 percent of all oral pathology cases reported. The race, sex and age group distribution of 133 cases are shown. The peak age incidence (70.6 percent) was between 11-40 years. The mandible was involved 9 times more commonly than the maxilla. The anatomical sites of distribution, clinical and radiological features, histological variants and their correlation are discussed. Twenty two patients (15 percent) had ameloblastomas associated with a dentigerous cyst and/or unerupted teeth. Ameloblastomas with the above clinical features represented a much less aggressive form of neoplasm. The authors could not correlate histological variants of ameloblastoma with recurrence rates. The various treatment methods and the respective recurrence rates are outlined. Radiotherapy and marsupialization as treatment of ameloblastoma are not recommended. The indications for enucleation curettage, resection en bloc, segmental resection and hemimandibulectomy
are emphasized. Ameloblastomas involving the maxilla should be treated by complete removal en bloc with a margin of normal tissue. Since ameloblastoma has the capacity to recur after several years of apparent cure patients who have been treated for ameloblastoma must be followed up periodically during their life time. So far no case of ameloblastoma in this study has shown evidence
ofmetastasis.
Despite the high prevalence of oral ulcers little is known about what causes them and how best they can be treated. Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a' chronic inflammatory disease characterized by painful recurring ulcerations of the oral mucosa. RAS can be clinically subdivided into four varieties viz - minor aphthous ulcer, major aphthous ulcer, herpetiform ulcers and Behcet's syndrome. A report on 134 patients with RAS is reported. Minor aphthous ulcer (63%) followed by major aphthous ulcer (29%) were the most frequent. A review of current research on RAS is summarized.
Study site: Department of Stomatology, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Plexiform granular cell odontogenic tumor of the mandible has recently been described. The cardinal histopathologic feature, as its name suggests, is a monophasic plexiform pattern of granular cells; the principal tumor in the differential diagnosis is granular cell ameloblastoma. Unlike the two previously reported cases of plexiform granular cell odontogenic tumor, which occurred as solid tumors in elderly men, the lesion reported here is a unicystic variant occurring in a middle-aged woman.
The records of the Division of Stomatology were reviewed for the incidence of adenomatoid odontogenic tumour diagnosed between 1968 and 1986. Forty-five cases were found. The prevalence of this tumour according to their age, sex, site and its distribution in the various states in Malaysia are reported. Many features were similar to previous reports of this entity. However the incidence of AOT appears to be higher among the Indians and lower in the Chinese population. It is suggested that this feature may be peculiar to Malaysians.
Granular cell ameloblastomas are uncommon lesions accounting for about 3-5% of all histologic subtypes of ameloblastoma. The plexiform granular cell odontogenic tumour, on the other hand, is a newly described lesion characterised by a monophasic plexiform pattern of granular cells. This article reports a tumour found occurring in the left mandible of a 67-year-old Indian male which histologically showed features of both the aforementioned lesions.
Squamous cell carcinoma is the commonest malignant tumour of the mouth (91 percent) in people living in Peninsular Malaysia. Since the histological grading of oral carcinoma ·is one of the several important factors to be considered in the long term survival of patients a more detailed study of anaplastic carcinoma of the mouth in 100 patients is made in this study. As reported in an earlier study the Chinese seem to be more prone to develop anaplastic carcinoma of the mouth. In contrast although oral carcinoma occurs most commonly in the Indians, the development of anaplastic carcinoma seems to be the least in them. The Indians seem to have a better host immune response to oral carcinoma than the Chinese and the Malays occupy an intermediary position. The peak age incidence was between 51-70 years (50 percent). In descending order of frequency anaplastic carcinoma involved the gingiva (29 percent), buccal mucosa (22 percent), palate (20 percent), and tongue (16 percent). Further studies may help to formulate a more effective tailor-made regime of treatment for each individual oral carcinoma patient.
A thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) postal dose inter-comparison was carried out amongst radiotherapy centres in Malaysia. The aim of this TLD inter-comparison was to compare the uniformity involved in the measurement of absorbed dose among the participating centres. A set of 5 TLD chips placed within acrylic trays were mailed to all participating centres for irradiation to an absorbed dose to water of 2 Gy. Measurements were made for 6 MV and 60Co photon beams. Results show an agreement of +/- 5% for all but three radiotherapy centres. The ratios of the TLD readings to that of the reference centre are comparable with other national/regional dose inter-comparisons. The importance of a proper ongoing quality assurance program is essential in maintaining the consistency and uniformity of doses delivered.
This is a prospective study conducted from February 2000 to July 2002 in a single neurosurgeon neurosurgical service in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. There were 66 cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage or intracranial aneurysm presenting to this hospital over the study period. Fifty cases had their aneurysms clipped. Eighty percent of our patients were operated within 48 h of presentation. Forty-four percent presented with poor WFNS grades of 4 and 5. We had a 20% operative mortality and 29% total management mortality. Twenty-nine (58%) of the operated cases had a favorable outcome with a mean follow-up of 32 weeks. Multiple aneurysms were less common. The diagnosis of aneuysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and clipping of aneurysms have increased dramatically over the previous two and half years indicating an increased awareness of the diagnosis and treatment. This series supports the previously reported beliefs that the lower rate of aneurymal subarachnoid hemorrhage in developing countries is likely due to both underdiagnosis and undertreatment. Good results can be achieved in developing countries with early diagnosis and intensive management.