Issue: IeJSME 2011 5(1)

Authors: Sivalingam Nalliah, Lionel Wijesuriya, Subramani Venugopal.

ABSTRACT

Acute appendicitis is an infrequent yet the commonest surgical emergency in pregnancy occurring in about 1:1500 pregnancies. The classical abdominal pain in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen is the only reliable clinical sign. Delay in diagnosis is attributed to presence of symptoms commonly seen in pregnancy like nausea and vomiting and difficulty in localizing abdominal pain due to displacement of the appendix with advancing gestation. Perforated appendix and generalized peritonitis impacts adversely on pregnancy contributing to increases in miscarriage, pre-term delivery, fetal loss and even maternal mortality. Imaging studies like abdominal ultrasonogram, helical computerized tomography and magnetic imaging have been utilized to complement clinical suspicion and decrease ‘negative appendectomies’ but robust data on their routine use is awaited. Although the laparoscopic approach is a useful diagnostic and therapeutic tool in early pregnancy, its use as the primary approach for appendicectomy in pregnancy requires further evaluation as increases in the incidence of fetal loss of 5.6% has been reported compared to 3.1% in open access surgery.

Keywords: Acute appendicitis in pregnancy, diagnosis, imaging, surgical approaches, perinatal outcome.

Citation: IeJSME 2011: 5 (1): 2-9

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56026/imu.5.1.2

Author: Davendralingam Sinniah

ABSTRACT

Talc’s softness, whiteness, lamellarity, inertness and affinity for organic chemicals make it valuable for industrial and domestic applications. The largest consumers are the paper and ceramic industry; only 5% is used as cosmetics. It is also used for preserving animal feed, and a carrier for drugs, insecticides, pesticides and chemicals. Talc was introduced as baby powder in 1894 and advertised aggressively worldwide. Widespread and indiscriminate use soon raised concerns about its implications for health. The IARC found that talc containing asbestiform fibres is carcinogenic to humans, but inadequate evidence to implicate talc not-containing asbestiform fibres. Pulmonary manifestations of talc inhalation include talcosis, talcosilicosis, and talcoasbestosis. Drug-users administering talc-adulterated oral medications intravenously develop pulmonary granulomas, fibrosis and irreversible pulmonary hypertension. Worldwide reports reveal talc inhalation is fatal to infants; it coats and dries mucus membranes, causes hemorrhage, edema, desquamation of bronchial epithelium, and clogs and compromises mucociliary clearance; larger quantities completely obstruct airways. Progressive diffuse pulmonary fibrosis is a recognized sequel to massive aspiration of baby powder. IARC has classified perineal use of talcum powder as a possible ovarian carcinogen, while a recent study has found that perineal talcum powder increases the risk of endometrial cancer among postmenopausal women. There is a need to raise public awareness of the serious risks associated with the use of talcum powder and for legislation to protect the health of the uninformed who represent the poorer segment of the community, and infants and young children. The dangers associated with cosmetic use of talc outweigh any possible benefits.

Keywords: Endometrial, ovarian cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, granuloma, pulmonary hypertension, talc inhalation.

Citation: IeJSME 2011: 5 (1): 10-16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56026/imu.5.1.10

Author: Ivan K S Yap

ABSTRACT

Metabonomics can be used to quantitatively measure dynamic biochemical responses of living organisms to physiological or pathological stimuli. A range of analytical tools such as high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS) combined with multivariate statistical analysis can be employed to create comprehensive metabolic signatures of biological samples including urine, plasma, faecal water and tissue extracts. These metabolic signatures can reflect the physiological or pathological condition of the organism and indicate imbalances in the homeostatic regulation of tissues and extracellular fluids. This technology has been employed in a diverse range of application areas including investigation of disease mechanisms, diagnosis/prognosis of pathologies, nutritional interventions and drug toxicity. Metabolic profiling is becoming increasingly important in identifying biomarkers of disease progression and drug intervention, and can provide additional information to support or aid the interpretation of genomic and proteomic data. With the new generation of postgenomic technologies, the paradigm in many biological fields has shifted to either top down systems biology approaches, aiming to achieve a general understanding of the global and integrated response of an organism or to bottom up modelling of specific pathways and networks using a priori knowledge based on mining large bodies of literature. Whilst metabolic profiling lends itself to either approach, using it in an exploratory and hypothesis generating capacity clearly allows new mechanisms to be uncovered.

Keywords: Metabonomics; Metabolomics; gut microbiota; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; superorganism.

Citation: IeJSME 2011: 5(1): 17-26

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56026/imu.5.1.17