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Biomedical subjects

S Elango

Publications and source records attributed to S Elango.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Portfolio as a learning tool: students' perspective.

Portfolio writing is a method of encouraging reflective learning among professionals. Although portfolio-based learning is popular among educators, not many studies have been done to determine students' perceptions of portfolio as a learning tool. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 143 medical students to find out their perceptions of the portfolio as a learning tool. A majority of the students felt that the portfolio is a good learning tool. However, they also perceived that it is stressful and time-consuming to develop a proper portfolio. The study indicates that students need appropriate guidance from the academic staff for the system to succeed.

Documentation↗
PubMed2005

Recent trends in the diagnosis and management of allergic rhinitis.

Allergic rhinitis is a global health issue and its prevalence is increasing. Allergic rhinitis and asthma coexist in many patients. Allergic rhinitis is an Ig E mediated reaction. Prostaglandins and Leukotriens do not play a significant role in the pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis. Skin prick test and Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) are useful as diagnostic tests. The three major modalities of treatment for allergic rhinitis are allergen avoidance, pharmacotherapy and immunotherapy.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

Hearing impairment in the elderly.

Hearing impairment is one of the most important health problems of the elderly above 60. Very often it leads to verbal communication difficulty and without treatment it can cause serious psychological and social complications such as depression and social isolation. Prebyscusis remains a leading cause of sensorineural deafness in the elderly. Elderly patient must be encouraged to seek proper hearing assessment if they face hearing difficulty. Active screening by health care workers and patient self-evaluation by answering a simple list of screening questions are possible for early detection and treatment of hearing loss in the elderly. Although hearing loss in the elderly may not have a cure, early rehabilitation helps to restore better quality of life if the problem is detected early.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Reevaluating the use of antibiotics in acute otitis media in children.

Increasing concern about the antibiotic resistance in acute otitis media (AOM) has led to debate over use of antibiotic in AOM and duration of therapy. Many studies have proved that watchful waiting should be used more often for acute otitis media. In children over two years, the most appropriate treatment was found to be initial observation followed by 5 days of an antibiotic if the child failed to improve spontaneously. In children less than 2 years or one with severe symptoms antibiotic can be started after 24 hours if there is no improvement with symptomatic treatment. Physician should be more selective in the prescription of antibiotics early in AOM.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2003

Medical negligence suits: risk management.

Medical negligence suits have become an issue of concern for doctors as well as for the health service departments. The main objectives of medical malpractice law are to compensate patients who are injured by negligence and to improve the quality of medical care. The amount of money and time spent on these cases may not be an effective allocation of social resources to minimize patient safety. Though physicians generally win more malpractice suits, much time and money are spent and results in much stress to those concerned. There are certain controllable events in practice that render a physician more or less vulnerable to malpractice claims. Attempts by physicians to understand and prevent unwanted situations that can lead to litigation is important. The risk factors for medical negligence suits are discussed. The practice of good medicine will be the best form of risk management.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

Oesophageal perforation presenting as oesophageal atresia in a premature neonate following difficult intubation.

Iatrogenic oesophageal perforation in neonates is well recognized in the medical and surgical literature with intubation injury listed as a possible contributing mechanism besides nasogastric tube placement and suctioning. Diagnosis can be difficult and sometimes confused with other entities. With early diagnosis, nonsurgical management often leads to complete resolution in neonates. We report the case of a 1-day-old premature neonate who was brought to the operating room with the preliminary diagnosis of proximal oesophageal atresia with stump perforation and distal tracheo-esophageal fistula. His intubation for respiratory distress at birth had been difficult due to Pierre-Robin sequence with micrognathia. Oesophagoscopy in the operating room revealed a patent oesophagus but perforations in the pharynx and in the proximal oesophagus with the nasogastric tube entering the pharyngeal perforation. Oesophageal perforation and the limitations of the difficult airway algorithm in small neonates are discussed.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1995

Mastoiditis in Kelantan.

Chronic mastoiditis and subperiosteal abscess are rarely seen nowadays in most countries. Thirty-four cases of mastoiditis were reviewed to find out the prevalence of chronic mastoiditis in the east coast of Malaysia. Twenty (58.82%) of these cases were a sequelae of chronic suppurative otitis media with cholesteatoma. All the patients with chronic mastoiditis were more than six years old. Forty-five percent of cases with chronic mastoiditis had a well pneumatized mastoid air cell on the unaffected side. The occurrence of chronic mastoiditis or cholesteatoma in a well pneumatized mastoid is not really as rare as was thought to be. X-ray of the mastoids is very useful in diagnosing patients with chronic mastoiditis and cholesteatoma. Mastoiditis is uncommon in adults and whenever a case is seen, an underlying pathology like cholesteatoma should be suspected.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Additional conductive hearing loss in children from a school for the deaf in Malaysia.

A total of 165 children from a school for the deaf in Malaysia were screened to find out the prevalence of additional conductive hearing loss. Otological examination, tympanometry and pure tone audiometry were performed in all these children. Fifty-one children (30.9%) had additional conductive hearing loss. Middle ear disorders were present in 15 children (9.09%). The deaf children seldom complain about the change in their hearing sensitivity, so there is a need for regular otological examination in deaf children to detect the additional conductive hearing loss.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗
PubMed1994

Ocular abnormalities in children from a Malaysian school for the deaf.

The prevalence of ocular abnormalities was studied in 165 children from a Malaysian school for the deaf. Ninety-five children (57.6%) had one or more ocular abnormalities. Rubella retinopathy was the commonest form of ocular abnormality (35.2%). Refractive errors were found in 23 children (13.9%). Refractive errors in the rubella group were significantly more common than in the non-rubella group of deaf children (p < 0.001) (chi 2 test). Thirteen children had congenital anomalies causing significantly impaired vision. Ophthalmological examination of deaf children helps in the detection of cases with rubella eye signs and thus helps to identify the cause of deafness. Since deaf children are at greater risk of visual and ocular abnormalities, periodical ophthalmological examination should be carried out in these children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Aetiology of stridor in Malaysian children.

Eighty-five children who presented with stridor were reviewed in order to determine the aetiology of stridor in these cases. Congenital causes accounted for 57.6% of cases. Laryngomalacia was the commonest congenital abnormality (77.5%). Other common causes of stridor were a foreign body in the airway (acquired) and laryngotracheobronchitis (33.3%) (infective). Tracheostomized children are a problem in developing countries, requiring prolonged hospitalization. We overcome this problem by teaching parents how to maintain the tracheostomy tube at home.

Child↗
PubMed1993

Aetiology of deafness in children from a school for the deaf in Malaysia.

One hundred and sixty-five children from the school for the deaf were screened to find out the aetiology of deafness. The screening included routine ophthalmological examination. Aetiology was unknown in 33 children (20%). Prenatal infection was found to be the cause of deafness in 61 cases (36.96%). Rubella eye signs were found in 59 children (35.76%), whereas the history of rubella infection during the first trimester of pregnancy was found in only 33 of these cases (55.93%). Perinatal complications were seen in 20 children (12.12%). Twenty children (12.12%) had meningitis during their early childhood period. Routine ophthalmological examination helped us to pick up cases with rubella eye signs. Ophthalmological examination should be included as part of any study done to find out the cause of deafness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Childhood deafness in Malaysia.

One hundred and fifty-five children with childhood deafness were examined over a period of 4 years in order to assess the aetiology of hearing disorder. In 21 (13%) children, deafness was a sequel of meningitis. Perinatal pathology accounted for 34 (22%) cases. The aetiology of deafness was unknown in 44 (28.4%) children. The percentage of unknown causes can be reduced if the deafness is detected early. Hearing loss was diagnosed only in 30 (19%) children by the age of 2 years. The early detection of deafness can be achieved by screening the high risk infants and educating the general practitioners and health assistants.

Child↗
PubMed1991

Hearing loss and ear disorders in Malaysian school children.

In Malaysia 1,307 randomly selected primary school children were screened to find out the prevalence of hearing loss and middle ear disorders. Seventy-six students (5.81%) failed the screening audiometric test. There were 95 students (7.26%) with middle ear disorders. History of ear discharge was absent in 24 out of 57 cases with CSOM (42.11%) (P less than 0.001). Forty-three out of 95 children having middle ear disorders passed the screening audiometric test (P less than 0.01 Fisher exact test). Screening audiometric test fails to detect about 46% of cases with middle ear disorders. Screening audiometric test and otological examination if conducted by the school health medical officers regularly will be able to detect almost all the cases with hearing loss and middle ear disorders.

Audiometry↗
PubMed1991

Parapharyngeal space melioidosis in a diabetic.

Pseudomonas pseudomallei, a gram negative organism causing melioidosis, is found in tropical and subtropical regions. It may manifest as a pulmonary lesion, osteomyelitis, soft tissue abscesses, abscesses in various organs or in septicaemic form. Melioidosis of the parapharyngeal space has not been reported so far. A case of melioidosis of the parapharyngeal space which was successfully treated by drainage and prolonged antibiotic therapy is reported here. Melioidosis should be suspected in severe forms of deep neck space infection, especially if the patient comes from an endemic area.

Adult↗