Nasal polyp is one of the common causes of nasal obstruction. The diagnosis is usually made on clinical ground and rarely needs histological examination. However, when a candidate is selected for the surgical option of polyp removal, there is tendency to send all specimens for routine histological examination. The objective of this study was to assess the necessity of routinely performed histological examination in all nasal polyp specimens. A retrospective review of all nasal polyp histological reports was done from patients who underwent polypectomy or functional endoscopic sinus surgery in Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital between January 2000 to July 2006. It consisted of 95 patients. Majority of the reports came back as inflammatory nasal polyp (93.6%) and other varieties of benign nasal mass (5.3%). However, one specimen was noted to be malignant (1.1%). In conclusion all nasal polyp specimens should be sent for histological examination in order to confirm the diagnosis.
Smoking is a known established threat playing a definite role in destroying youth, the future foundation for any generation. Whether steps taken are being effective or not have to be tested vigilantly as most of the previous results are based on self-reported questionnaires and the reliability of the questionnaires can be dubious. For most of the Asian parents, tobacco consumption can be a taboo especially if the teenagers are involved. Different studies have shown that prevalence of smoking among youngsters are as high as 37% to as low as 11.5% in Malaysia. How can these figures are verified as they are self-reported and how can be generations protected from ill effects of tobacco consumption. The onus not only lies on the government but also on parents/guardians, healthcare setup at various levels of care and on general population. Despite of stringent steps taken there are loopholes in the system providing these children and adolescents easy access to tobacco.
The complexities of the anatomy of the nose and paranasal sinuses, as well as its variations may create technical difficulties during surgery. The significance of these anatomical variations in pathogenesis of rhinosinusitis, which is the commonest disease in the region, is still unclear.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most common cancers in Malaysia, mainly occurring among the Chinese population. To detect common genetic alterations in NPC, we screened seven cases of NPC using the comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) technique. Before proceeding to the CGH technique, the tumors were first confirmed to consist of 75% tumor cells or more. In brief, the technique consists of binding tumor DNA with normal DNA and human Cot-1 DNA, which is then hybridized to normal metaphase spreads. The slides were then counterstained with 4,6 diamino-2-phenylindole (DAPI II) for detection. Analyses were performed using CGH software (Cytovision). We found genetic alterations in all seven NPC samples. The common chromosomal gains (57%, four cases) were found on chromosome arms 1q, 4p, 5, 7q, 11, 14p, 15q, 18p, and 21p, and common chromosomal losses (43%, three cases) were found on chromosome arm 16p. Our results showed chromosomal alterations in all seven NPC cases in the Malaysian population. This result provides the platform for further investigations to locate tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes at specific chromosomal regions in Malaysian NPC patients.