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Biomedical subjects

T T Alagaratnam

Publications and source records attributed to T T Alagaratnam.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Paraffinomas of the breast: an oriental curiosity.

BACKGROUND: The injection of liquid paraffin wax was a form of breast augmentation practised in Hong Kong 30-40 years ago. Patients may present many years later with complications of this treatment. METHODS: The records of 43 patients diagnosed with paraffinomas of the breast at a teaching hospital in Hong Kong were reviewed. These patients had received paraffin injections 3-41 years (median 17) previously. RESULTS: Patients presented with hard masses in the breast 4-18 cm (median 17) diameter. Ulceration or infection occurred in 10 patients. Mammography revealed a honeycomb appearance in the affected breast. Treatment included biopsy only (7), excision of masses (3) and total mastectomy (30, bilateral in 27). Histology demonstrated hyalinized and densely sclerotic fibrous tissue with cystic spaces of various sizes. CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of this condition facilitates the differentiation from tuberculosis and carcinoma of the breast which often present late in this population of patients. Adequate treatment usually require total mastectomy.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Giant fibroadenomas of the breast in an oriental community.

Twenty-six patients were diagnosed to have giant fibroadenomas of the breast over a 19-year period. The majority of these tumours occurred in adolescents and young adults and the bimodal age incidence described in caucasians was not seen. Tumour sizes ranged from 5 cm to 11 cm. None of the patients presented with a clinical picture simulating malignancy of the breast. All tumours were treated by simple enucleation; no recurrences were observed over a minimum follow-up period of three years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Proximal gastric vagotomy. The preferred operation for perforations in acute duodenal ulcer.

Simple closure, the conventional operation for perforated acute duodenal ulcers, is associated with symptomatic relapse in a large proportion of patients. In order to assess the role of immediate definitive surgery, 78 fit patients with perforated acute ulcers were prospectively randomized to undergo either closure alone or proximal gastric vagotomy with closure (PGV). Patients taking potentially ulcerogenic drugs or who had severe stress were excluded from the study. Both groups were comparable with respect to age, sex, general medical health, duration of perforation, length of ulcer history, and presence of duodenal scarring. There was no hospital mortality. Minor complications occurred in 7.3% after closure and 10.8% after PGV. At 3 years follow-up, the cumulative recurrence rates were 36.6% and 10.6% after closure and PGV, respectively (p = 0.001). Eighty-five per cent of recurrences after closure were symptomatic, and half of them required reoperation. Duodenal scarring itself did not appear to influence the outcome after closure. PGV was not associated with dumping, diarrhea or other unwanted side effects. Although less than that in chronic ulcers, there is a substantial risk of symptomatic relapse after closure of perforated acute duodenal ulcers. With judicious patient selection, PGV effectively reduces this risk without incurring disabling side effects associated with other ulcer operations.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

No decrease in duodenal ulcer surgery after cimetidine in Hong Kong.

We undertook a 12-year review of the elective and emergency surgery for duodenal ulcer in Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, to ascertain whether the introduction of cimetidine as treatment for duodenal ulcer had led to a reduction in the number of elective and emergency operations being performed for duodenal ulcer. There was no decrease in the number of elective operations performed for duodenal ulcer. Indeed, in the same period, emergency operations for bleeding and perforated ulcers had increased.

Cimetidine↗
PubMed1988

Cysticercosis of the breast.

A painless lump in the breast in a 43-year-old Chinese woman was found on surgical excision to be a cysticercus presumed to be that of Taenia solium. Routine investigations failed to reveal infection at any other site.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Risk stratification in perforated duodenal ulcers. A prospective validation of predictive factors.

In order to validate a previously derived set of risk factors, 259 consecutive patients who had simple closure or definitive operation for perforated duodenal ulcers were studied prospectively. Major medical illness, preoperative shock, and longstanding perforation (more than 24 hours) correctly predicted the outcome in 93.8% of patients. Most importantly, 16 patients (6.2%) who died after operation could be identified (no false-negative error). The mortality rate increased progressively with increasing numbers of risk factors: 0%, 10%, 45.5%, and 100% in patients with none, one, two, and all three risk factors, respectively. These findings underscore the importance of patient selection and the feasibility of a risk grading system in guiding surgical management. Definitive surgery can be done safely in good-risk patients. Simple closure is preferable in those patients with uncomplicated perforations if any risk factor is present. Truncal vagotomy and drainage may be required if there is coexisting bleeding or stenosis. Nonoperative treatment deserves re-evaluation in patients with all three risk factors because of their uniformly dismal outcome after operation.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Oestradiol binding activity in rat liver tumours and in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Oestradiol binding activity was studied in normal liver tissues of rats as well as in experimentally induced liver tumours by incubating a cytosol prepared from the tissue with radioactive oestradiol. The free radioactive hormone was absorbed by a dextran-charcoal suspension, and the amount required to saturate the receptors was calculated by a Scatchard plot. Similar activity was observed in normal human liver as well as naturally occurring hepatocellular carcinoma.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

The complementary role of fine needle aspiration cytology and Tru-cut needle biopsy in the management of breast masses.

Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNA) and Tru-cut needle biopsy (TNB) have been used for the pre-operative diagnosis of cancer in breast masses as alternatives to open breast biopsy. The accuracy of clinical examination, fine needle aspiration biopsy and Tru-cut needle biopsy was assessed in 230 patients with palpable breast masses and the value of using both biopsy methods in the management was prospectively evaluated. Clinical diagnosis had a sensitivity of 89.2% and specificity of 78.4% (32.7% false positive, 6.5% false negative). Aspiration cytology was diagnostic in 78.4% of cancers and 71.6% of benign lesions [excluding non-diagnostic samples (27.4%), sensitivity was 96.6% and specificity was 100%]. Tru-cut needle biopsy identified 82.9% of cancers and 61.7% of benign lesions [excluding non-diagnostic samples (33.3%), sensitivity was 96.7% and specificity was 100%]. There were no false positive errors with either aspiration cytology or needle biopsy. Statistical comparison showed that there was no significant difference between aspiration cytology and needle biopsy. The combined result of both biopsies was superior to clinical examination when non-diagnostic samples were excluded. With the routine use of both biopsy techniques, frozen section was avoided in 73% of all cancers and unnecessary operations were avoided in 33.5% of patients which included breast cysts, benign mammary dysplasia and inflammatory lesions.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Idiopathic gynecomastia treated with tamoxifen: a preliminary report.

Sixty-one Chinese men with idiopathic gynecomastia were treated with 40 mg of tamoxifen daily for one of four months (median, two months). Eighty percent had complete regression of their breast swelling. No long-term side effects of tamoxifen were observed over a median follow-up period of 36 months.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Tamoxifen versus chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment in stage III breast cancer.

A randomized prospective trial was conducted to compare Tamoxifen and combination chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide) as adjuvant treatment for patients with locally advanced (Stage III) breast cancer. At the end of 5 years, no significant difference could be found in the disease-free period for both groups.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1986

Bilateral amyloid tumours of the breast.

An 82 year old woman with bilateral amyloid tumours of the breast is described. Clinically, the breast masses were hard and were suspicious of carcinoma. Investigation revealed no evidence of systemic amyloidosis or amyloid related illness. Microscopically there was no neoplasia. Instead there was extensive fibrosis with amyloid deposition in perivascular periductal areas and also in the intervening stroma. The presence of amyloid was confirmed by special stains and by electron microscopy.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Psychosocial effects of mastectomy: is it due to mastectomy or to the diagnosis of malignancy?

Twenty-three consecutive married and sexually active Chinese women treated for breast cancer were compared with a randomly selected group of 34 female patients suffering from different kinds of malignancies. A structured interview was used to study both groups. The breast cancer group were found to be less depressed and more emotionally stable than those suffering from other malignancies, suggesting that the diagnosis of malignancy was the more important factor in the psychosocial morbidity of these patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Proximal gastric vagotomy in emergency peptic ulcer perforation.

In order to evaluate proximal gastric vagotomy (PGV) performed under different clinical conditions, we compared the late results of 93 patients who underwent emergency PGV for perforated duodenal ulcers with those of 60 patients who had elective PGV. The emergency group of patients were slightly younger and there was a higher male predominance but they were otherwise comparable with those in the elective group. There were no operative deaths and the postoperative morbidity rate was low in both groups. Three patients had a recurrence in the emergency group, and seven occurred in those in the elective group during the first three postoperative years. The cumulative recurrence-free rate of the emergency group was not lower than that of the elective group. The performance of the individual surgeon exerted a strong influence on the incidence of recurrent ulceration. In properly selected patients, whether the surgeons perform PGV in emergency or elective situations appears to have little influence on the outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Limitations of mammography in Chinese females.

The usefulness of mammography was evaluated in 50 Chinese female patients with breast disease. There was only 12% accuracy in the diagnosis of benign breast disease and an overall accuracy of 32% for all breast lesions. This low diagnostic rate is due to the difficulty in visualising mammographic detail in the small Chinese breast.

Adult↗