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BACKGROUND: Recently, the number of implants placed worldwide has increased tremendously, so as the prevalence of peri-implant complications. AIM: This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of peri-implant diseases and technical complications of the implant-supported single crown (ISC) in the population of Kedah State, Malaysia. The characteristics of patients and implants associated with the peri-implant diseases were also explored. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All the patients who received an ISC between January 2008 and December 2016 at a public periodontal clinic and had a loading time between 2 and 10 years were identified. Their medical and radiographic records were examined. A patient and implant-based prevalence analysis of peri-implant diseases and complications were conducted. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients with a total of 43 implants were included in the analysis. Most of the patients were under 65 years of age (69.6%). The prevalence of peri-mucositis and peri-implantitis at the patient's level were both 30.4%. They respectively involved 20.9% and 18.6% of the implants. Poor oral hygiene at the time of last follow-up showed a significant association with the peri-implant diseases. However, the roles of the implants characteristics were insignificant. No implants failed after the placement of a supra-structure, while 3 implants (7%) were reported to have technical complications. CONCLUSIONS: The complications of ISC took placed in a considerable proportion of the studied population during long-term follow-up. As the poor plaque control proved to be the major risk factor of peri-implant diseases, strategies to improve their awareness of oral hygiene are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although surgical resection is routinely used to treat mandibular ameloblastoma, it associates with aesthetic and functional complications, hence a modified conservative management (MCM) comprising surgical enucleation, peripheral ostectomy and chemical cauterisation was practiced in a tertiary care centre in northern Malaysia. This study aims to access the treatment outcome and potential use of MCM. Methods: This cross‐sectional study assessed the demographic and clinical profiles of mandibular ameloblastomas managed with MCM and their outcomes from year 2006 to 2019. Results: A total of 13 cases of mandibular ameloblastoma were identified between 2006 and 2019 with MCM, which consisted of nine cases of solid/ multicystic ameloblastoma (SMA) (84.6%), and two cases of unicystic ameloblastoma (UA). Over mean review duration of 57 month, three recurrences (23.2%) were reported for SMA group and no recurrence was found for UA cases. Conclusions: The relatively low recurrence rates suggest that MCM has potential to be used as an alternative treatment for mandibular ameloblastoma. Further well‐designed prospective study is recommended to understand the effectiveness of MCM, which hopefully can evolve towards a minimally invasive surgical approach in treating mandibular ameloblastoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research employed an experimental design to study the issue of gambling to determine the main and interaction effects of Rotter's personal locus of control and situational locus of control on the amount of betting in a simulated blackjack card game. A total number of 53 undergraduates from a private university in Kuala Lumpur participated in this research. A two-way factorial ANOVA was employed and showed no significant main effects of personal and situational locus of control on the amount of betting. The findings also suggested no significant interaction effect between both measures. With current statistics showing an increase in the number of gamblers, especially among youths in Malaysia, the findings of this research could provide insights into the possible factors contributing to gambling behaviour despite the non-significant effects of personal and situational locus of control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A major challenge in providing hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment at primary healthcare clinics is the lack of radiological facilities to guide the decision making of liver cirrhosis (LC). This study aimed to compare the performance of three commonly used cut-offs of the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) in diagnosing LC among hepatitis C patients in Malaysia., Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on the data collected from the Hepatitis C Elimination through Access to Diagnostics (HEAD-Start) study in 25 primary healthcare clinics across three regions of Malaysia. The findings of biochemical tests were used to calculate the APRI for each study participant. Transient elastography was used as a standard reference for the diagnosis of cirrhosis. The area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) was used to determine the discriminative ability of APRI in both HCV mono-infected and HCV/HIV co-infected patients. The diagnostic performance of APRI at three different cutoffs (>1.0, ≥1.5 and >2.0) were also evaluated., Results: This study included 867 HCV-RNA-positive patients, 158 (16.1%) were co-infected with HIV. For the HCV mono-infected patients, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) for the cut-off of >1.0 were 61.8%, 88.7%, 73.8% and 81.9%, and for the cut-off of ≥1.5, 45.6%, 97.0%, 88.7% and 77.6%, respectively. A much lower sensitivity (29.9%) was observed for the cut-off of >2.0. The diagnostic accuracy of APRI at the cut-off of ≥1.5 in the HCV/HIV co-infected patients was relatively suboptimal., Conclusion: APRI, with a cut-off of ≥1.5, can more accurately predict LC among hepatitis C patients in Malaysia. However, additional physical examination and laboratory assessment are likely to be required to support the diagnosis, especially in those with HCV/HIV co-infection.

Introduction: This study was designed to determine the influence of bariatric surgery on changes in the body mass index (BMI), and the control of diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia among obese patients in Malaysia., Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study undertaken at a public tertiary care centre in the state of Perak, Malaysia. Information of obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery was obtained from their medical records. The changes in the BMI, HbA1C, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), and lipid levels between three months before and after the surgery were assessed., Results: The patients (n=106) were mostly Malay (66.0%), had at least one comorbidity (61.3%), and had a mean age of 40.38±11.75 years. Following surgery, the BMI of the patients was found to reduce by 9.78±5.82kg/m2. For the patients who had diabetes (n=24) and hypertension (n=47), their mean HbA1C, SBP and DBP were also shown to reduce significantly by 2.02±2.13%, 17.19±16.97mmHg, and 11.45±12.63mmHg, respectively. Meanwhile, the mean total cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein levels of those who had dyslipidaemia (n=21) were, respectively, lowered by 0.91±1.18mmol/L, 0.69±1.11mmol/L and 0.47±0.52mmol/L., Conclusion: The findings suggest that in addition to weight reduction, bariatric surgery is helpful in improving the diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia control among obese patients. However, a large-scale trial with a control group is required to verify our findings.

Routine surveillance on resistant status of field mosquito populations is important to implement suitable strategies in order to prevent pest outbreaks. WHO test kit bioassay is the most frequent bioassay used to investigate the susceptibility status of field-collected mosquitoes, as it is relatively convenient to be carried out in the field. In contrast, the topical application of active ingredient is less popular in investigating the susceptibility status of mosquitoes. In this study, we accessed the susceptibility status of Aedes albopictus Skuse collected from two dengue hotspots on Penang Island: Sungai Dua and Persiaran Mayang Pasir. Two active ingredients: permethrin and deltamethrin, were used. WHO test kit bioassay showed that both wild strains collected were susceptible to the two active ingredients; while topical application assay showed that they were resistant. This indicated that WHO test kit bioassay less sensitive to low level of resistance compared to topical application assay. Hence, topical application is expected to be more indicative when used in a resistance surveillance programme.

Mild head injury (MHI) is a common presentation to many hospitals in both rural and urban settings in Southeast Asia, but it is not well studied. We studied 330 patients that presented to Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia Emergency Department with possible MHI, with the intentions to identify prognostic factors that may improve the diagnosis of MHI in the emergency setting as well as to determine which patients would need follow-up. Patients' one-year outcomes were classified as discharged well (DW) for patients without post-traumatic signs and symptoms and discharged with long term follow-up (DFU) for patients with such signs and symptoms. Four patients died and 82 were DFU. An abnormal skull X ray was associated with mode of accident and type of transportation, older age, presence of vomiting, confusion, bleeding from ear, nose or throat, abnormal pupil size on the right side associated with orbital trauma, unequal pupillary reflexes, absence of loss of consciousness (LOC), a lower Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, multiple clinical presentations, and DFU. An abnormal CT scan was associated with older age, multiple clinical presentation, skull X-ray findings, and DFU. A similar analysis on outcomes revealed that mode of accident, older age, vomiting, confusion, headache, bleeding from ear, nose and throat, neurological deficits, absence of LOC, pupil size, multiple presentation, abnormal skull X ray, CT scan of the brain, and a GCS of 13 was associated with DFU. In conclusion, all patients involved in motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), especially motorcycles, aged over 30 years of age, with multiple clinical presentations, including a lower GCS, and with abnormal radiological findings should have a longer follow-up due to persistent post-traumatic symptomatology.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a frequent cause of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) epidemics associated with severe neurological sequelae in a small proportion of cases. There has been a significant increase in EV71 epidemic activity throughout the Asia-Pacific region since 1997. Recent HFMD epidemics in this region have been associated with a severe form of brainstem encephalitis associated with pulmonary edema and high case fatality rates. In this study, we show that four genetic lineages of EV71 have been prevalent in the Asia-Pacific region since 1997, including two previously undescribed genogroups (B3 and B4). Furthermore, we show that viruses belonging to genogroups B3 and B4 have circulated endemically in Southeast Asia during this period and have been the primary cause of several large HFMD or encephalitis epidemics in Malaysia, Singapore, and Western Australia.

Sézary syndrome is a rare form of primary cutaneous T cell lymphoma. It is a distinct systemic variant of mycosis fungoides, marked by erythroderma, lymphadenopathy and circulating cerebriform lymphocytes in the peripheral blood. We report a case of Sézary syndrome in a 61-year-old Malay man with a five-year history of indurated plaques, ulcers and tumours on the head and trunk, with characteristic findings on physical examination, skin biopsy, electron microscopy, immunophenotyping and peripheral blood film. A literature review on Sézary syndrome is presented.