Pulmonary artery sarcoma diagnosed by endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration.

Pulmonary artery sarcoma is a rare disease with poor prognosis that has not been reported in Hong Kong. Its clinical and radiological presentation frequently mimics pulmonary embolism. Diagnosis is usually delayed until surgery, which is the treatment option that provides the best survival. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration is an effective non-surgical technique for lymph node staging of lung cancer and diagnosis of mediastinal lesions via bronchoscopy. Here we discuss a case of pulmonary artery sarcoma diagnosed by this method, the second one in the literature, which serves to illustrate its potential use for early and minimally invasive diagnosis of the condition. Although such aspiration is a safe procedure, tissue sampling of extravascular extensions is advisable wherever possible.

Population-based information on emergency colorectal surgery and evaluation on effect of operative volume on mortality.

INTRODUCTION: Population-based information on emergency surgery for colorectal conditions was limited. The present study was designed to review comprehensively the outcomes of emergency colectomy in Hong Kong population and evaluate the effect of case load on mortality after considering case mixes. METHODS: All adult patients older than aged 18 years who underwent emergency colectomy in 2003 in all 15 Hong Kong public hospitals were included. Demographics and perioperative variables were reviewed and analyzed. Hospitals were classified into low, middle, or high operative volume groups according to their yearly caseloads, and their performance in terms of mortality were compared by using CR-POSSUM. RESULTS: A total of 864 patients with a mean age of 67.8 years were included. Bowel obstruction and peritonitis were the two major clinical indications for the surgery. The crude in-hospital mortality rate was 18.9%; individual hospitals varied from 8.7% to 33.3%. With the risk adjusted model, all hospital groups performed within 95% confidence limits of prediction. There was no statistical difference for mortality of hospitals of different case volume. CONCLUSION: A crude in-hospital mortality of 18.9% after emergency colorectal surgery was observed in Hong Kong public hospitals. Higher hospital case load is not significantly associated with better outcomes in emergency colectomy.

Bronchial artery embolisation can be equally safe and effective in the management of chronic recurrent haemoptysis.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the efficacy and safety of bronchial artery embolisation in patients with acute major haemoptysis and those with chronic recurrent haemoptysis. DESIGN: Retrospective review of clinical records. SETTING: Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS: Clinical records of 70 consecutive patients who had undergone bronchial artery embolisation in Queen Elizabeth Hospital from 1998 to 2003 were reviewed. Altogether 74 bronchial artery embolisation procedures were attempted, 46 (62%) for acute major haemoptysis, and 28 (38%) for chronic recurrent bleeding. Follow-up data were available for 32 patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: After bronchial artery embolisation, the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank tests were used to compare the probability of recurrence in the two patient categories. RESULTS: Overall immediate control was attained following 99% of the procedures, with a complication rate of 13%; all complications were mild and self-limiting. For the 32 patients (19 having acute major haemoptysis and 13 having chronic recurrent bleeding) with follow-up data available, the overall recurrence rate was 36% (26% in the acute and 47% in chronic group). No statistically significant difference in recurrence probability between the two groups was observed (P=0.24). Presence of active pulmonary tuberculosis was associated with increased risk of recurrence (P=0.005). CONCLUSION: Bronchial artery embolisation was noted to be effective and safe in both acute major and chronic recurrent haemoptysis.

Evaluation of various POSSUM models for predicting mortality in patients undergoing elective oesophagectomy for carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to validate the use of the Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and morbidity (POSSUM), Portsmouth (P) POSSUM and upper gastrointestinal (O) POSSUM models in patients undergoing elective thoracic oesophagectomy for carcinoma. METHODS: The observed in-hospital mortality rates in 545 patients undergoing elective thoracic oesophagectomy for squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus in all public hospitals in Hong Kong was compared with rates predicted by POSSUM, P-POSSUM and O-POSSUM. The discriminatory power of these models was assessed using receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: The observed mortality rate was 5.5 per cent, whereas rates predicted by POSSUM, P-POSSUM and O-POSSUM were 15.0, 4.7 and 10.9 per cent respectively. P-POSSUM showed no lack of fit (P = 0.814), but POSSUM (P < 0.001) and O-POSSUM (P = 0.002) showed lack of fit against observed mortality. POSSUM overpredicted mortality across nearly all risk groups, whereas O-POSSUM overpredicted mortality in patients with low physiological scores and in older patients. POSSUM (area under ROC curve 0.776) and P-POSSUM (0.776) showed equally good discriminatory power but O-POSSUM (0.676) was inferior. CONCLUSION: P-POSSUM provided the most accurate prediction of in-hospital mortality in this group of patients who had elective oesophagectomy.

Six month radiological and physiological outcomes in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) survivors.

BACKGROUND: The long term physiological and radiological outcomes of SARS survivors and their possible determinants are uncertain. METHODS: SARS survivors in a follow up clinic in a regional hospital underwent high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the thorax and lung function tests 6 months after admission to hospital. The associations between the clinical and demographic data of the patients and the physiological and radiological outcomes were examined. RESULTS: Fifty seven patients took part in the study. Lung function abnormalities were detected in 43 patients (75.4%), with restrictive defects (n = 16) being most common (28.1%). Radiological abnormalities of any degree were detected in 43 patients (75.4%). Only the use of pulse corticosteroids was associated with the presence of CT abnormalities (p = 0.043, OR 6.65, 95% CI 1.06 to 41.73). CONCLUSIONS: Physiological and radiological abnormalities are still present in a considerable proportion of SARS survivors at 6 months.

Screening for vestibular schwannoma by magnetic resonance imaging: analysis of 1821 patients.

OBJECTIVES: To study the spectrum of diseases that can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging in patients suspected to have vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma) presenting with sensorineural or mixed hearing loss, and to assess the extent of the problem of hearing loss in a screened population. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Diagnostic radiology and imaging department of a regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS: A total of 1821 consecutive patients from September 1999 to February 2001 with sensorineural or mixed hearing loss were referred by otolaryngologists for magnetic resonance imaging of the internal auditory canal. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Vestibular schwannoma; other cerebellopontine angle masses and other diseases that could account for the patients' hearing loss. RESULTS: In all, 132 (7%) patients had positive findings that could explain their hearing loss. Fifty-four (41%) of the 132 patients had vestibular schwannoma; 39 (30%) had inflammation of the middle ear and mastoids; 17 (13%) had ischaemic foci in the brainstem; 10 (8%) had other cerebellopontine angle masses or tumours; four (3%) had inner ear dysplasia; seven (5%) had vascular loop compression; and one (1%) had chronic cryptococcal meningitis. The overall incidence of vestibular schwannoma detected in this screened population was about 3%. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that magnetic resonance imaging is an effective tool to screen for vestibular schwannoma in patients with sensorineural or mixed hearing loss. It can also be used to assess a considerable number of different pathological conditions in patients with audiovestibular disorders.

Attitudes towards mental illness: testing the contact hypothesis among Chinese student nurses in Hong Kong.

This study investigated whether previous contact with mental illness affected the attitudes to mental illness (AMI) of general student nurses in Hong Kong-the contact hypothesis. We employed a quasi-experimental design. We compared the attitudes to mental illness of students who had previous contact with mental illness through having taken a psychiatric secondment with those who had not taken a psychiatric secondment. Also, we compared the AMI of: students who had taken other courses related to mental illness with those who had not; those who had a family history of mental illness with those who had not; and those who lived with a mentally ill relative with those who did not. We found that previous contact with mental illness had no significant effect on the attitudes to mental illness of the students. In other words our findings do not support the contact hypothesis. Our sample expressed positive general attitudes to mental illness when presented with general issues about mental illness. However, their attitudes were less positive when presented with specific issues about mental illness that might impinge upon their daily lives. We discuss the implications of these findings for mental health nursing practice, education and research.