The awareness of oral cancer in adult patients attending School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia: a preliminary study

OBJECTIVE: Lack of awareness of signs and symptoms and risk factors of oral cancer can lead to late presentation of the disease that contributes to poor survival of patients who contract it. This study aims to determine the level of awareness regarding oral cancer in adult patients attending School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study in which face-to-face interview of 108 subjects aged 20-65 was conducted. The questionnaire consisted of personnel details and questions regarding awareness of risk factors, complications, signs and symptoms, and prevention of oral cancer. Each response was assigned scores where one (1) mark was given for a correct answer and one (1) mark was subtracted for every wrong answer. The scores were added up to obtain total individual score. RESULTS: Majority of the patients interviewed were from the age range of 20-29. Most of the respondents were Malays with females having a higher percentage (52.8%) than males (47.2%). Majority of the patients (89.9%) were aware regarding the presence of the oral cancer. However, there was no significant association of age range and gender (p > 0.05). 96.7% of subjects who have had higher education were significantly more aware about the presence of oral cancer when compared to those without any schooling (p < 0.05). There was a high awareness of the link between smoking, tobacco chewing, betel nut chewing, and alcohol (93.5%, 85.2%, 75.9%, and 68.5%, respectively) with oral cancer. Almost three-fourth (73%) scored between 10 and 19 out of the maximum of 23 with the mean score of 13.4 (standard deviation, 4.37). All our subjects agreed that early detection of oral cancer could improve chances of successfully treating them. CONCLUSION: There was a moderate level of awareness regarding oral cancer towards its risk factors, complications, signs and symptoms, and prevention of oral cancer.     

Fcγ receptor polymorphisms do not predict response to intravenous immunoglobulin in myasthenia gravis

ABSTRACT: We studied 63 patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) requiring treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, to determine if polymorphisms within the FCγR2A (rs1801274), FCγR2B (rs1050501), FCγR3A (rs396991), and FCγR3B (NA1/NA2) genes are correlated with response to treatment. There was no significant difference in any of the polymorphisms studied between responders and nonresponders. Patients with the FCγR2B-232I/I polymorphism had higher disease severity measured by the quatitative myasthenia gravis score (QMGS). There was no difference in the distribution of the FCγR2B-232 polymorphisms between the patients and 90 healthy controls. The finding of greater disease severity in patients with the FCγR2B-232I/I polymorphism requires confirmation in a larger population of patients with myasthenia gravis.     

Effect of some curing methods on acrylic maxillary denture base fit

The aim of this study was to investigate the fit of acrylic maxillary denture bases processed by the methods of microwave, quick-wet-heat, slow-wet-heat, and self curing. Forty stone-casts were obtained using a mould of an undercut-free acrylic resin master cast of an edentulous maxilla. Standard acrylic replicas patterns sealed on casts and randomized to four groups (10 in each) were used to make denture bases using different processing methods for each of the four groups. The resultant discrepancy of fit between the denture base and the casts were measured using a silicone wafer. Varying fit discrepancies both within and between denture base groups was observed. The proportional fit-loss in the palatal region was significantly greater than the sulcular areas for all materials tested (p < 0.05). The fit-loss observed was greater in microwave-cured bases than for other materials examined. Careful selection of appropriate denture base materials and processing technique is important when providing complete dentures for edentulous patients.     

Potential possibilities of using adrenergic beta blockers in chronic heart failure]

The study was undertaken to examine the efficacy of beta-adrenoblockers used in 26 patients with chronic heart failure which had been caused by coronary heart disease in 12 patients, by rheumatic heart disease in 8 patients, by dilated cardiomyopathy in 5 patients, and by chronic myocarditis in 1 patient. beta-Blockers such as oxprenolol, propranolol, and metoprolol were supplemented to the therapy of the patients with chronic heart failure who were resistant to cardiac glycosides, diuretics, and vasodilators. This resulted in functional class improvement by the New York Heart Association from 3.67 +/- 0.1 to 2.29 +/- 0.1. The authors defined the following predictors of the efficacy of beta-blockers in chronic heart failure: duration of the disease, diastolic pressure, cardiac rhythm, and left ventricular ejection fraction and discussed the mechanisms responsible for their positive effect in chronic heart failure.     

Acral pseudolymphomatous angiokeratoma of children in an elderly man: report of a case and review of the literature

Acral pseudolymphomatous angiokeratoma of children (APACHE) is clinically characterized by angiomatous papules that preferentially affect acral areas of children. It is currently believed to be a variant of pseudolymphoma rather than angiokeratoma. Histopathologically, a mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate comprising B‐ and T‐lymphocytes and a proliferation of thick‐walled blood vessels are the hallmark. In the literature, although more adult cases are being described, the clinical, epidemiologic and histopathologic data of this presentation is scant. We report a 76‐year‐old man who presented with a 5‐year history of progressively increasing asymptomatic dusky dome‐shaped papules and plaques on his upper and lower extremities. Histology was consistent with APACHE. After reviewing all the adult cases in the literature and comparing them to the classical variant in children, we found no significant difference warranting separating these two variants. We prefer the designation “papular angiolymphoid hyperplasia” to APACHE as it encompasses all the childhood and adult cases involving acral and nonacral sites and highlights the histological and sometimes clinical similarities this entity shares with angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia.     

Lack of gender difference in ventilatory chemoresponsiveness and post-hypoxic ventilatory decline

Altered chemoresponsiveness has been postulated to explain the gender difference in the incidence of sleep disordered breathing (SDB). The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain a gender difference in the effect of hypocapnic hypoxia on ventilation. Hypocapnic hypoxia was induced in stable NREM sleep for 3 min periods. In the first analysis, hypoxic ventilatory response in a steady state (SHVR) was defined as the amount of change in minute ventilation (VI) between mean room air (RA) and hypoxia divided by the change in Sa O2 between RA and hypoxia (DeltaVI/DeltaSa O2). The mean group SHVR values were 0.23+/-0.15 and 0.20+/-0.10 L/min per %SaO2, for men and women, respectively (P = ns). In the second analysis, we analyzed the decline in ventilatory parameters after the cessation of hypoxia. There was no difference in VI between the genders (men, 5.6+/-1.7 L/min vs. women, 4.9+/-1.9 L/min, P = ns). We conclude that the gender difference in SDB is not explained by a difference in the ventilatory response to hypocapnic hypoxia.     

Sampling biases and missing data in explorations of sexual partner networks for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases

The structures of sexual partner networks are important in determining patterns of transmission of STDs including HIV. Empirical data on sexual partnerships and sexual partner networks collected through sampling individuals are a non-random sample of partnerships and network structures even if individuals are sampled randomly. This has the potential to bias estimates of measures describing the sexual partner network. In addition, biases may be introduced through non-response and missing data. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we investigate the biases that are introduced in estimated measures of the sexual partner network through three common sampling methods. The results indicate that substantial systematic biases are introduced. The direction and magnitude of these biases suggest that, by ignoring them, the risk for the establishment and persistence of infection in a population may be underestimated. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.