New-world and transcultural impact on Thai medical practices and professional behaviour.

Thailand, which is barely recovering from the 1997 economic collapse, has passed a new constitution, has a new government and all of this will have a profound effect on the way doctors practice and interact with their patients. Some of the factors that have been responsible for this are 1) Passage of a patient's rights bill 2) Legal definition of what is a proper consent form 3) The public's demand for openness, better communication and transparency in medicine These concepts, which now have a legal as well as moral basis, will impact directly on doctors and nurses as their practices will be subject to increasingly intense scrutiny and criticism. Doctors and nurses in past generations were among the most respected members of Thai society. They were trusted almost without exception and their judgment was not questioned. Only rare cases of malfeasance and malpractice came to public notice though, no doubt, they existed but to a much lesser degree. A physicians' life was much simpler for our teachers, fathers and grandfathers. Life was inexpensive, families were less demanding and the doctor did not have to surround himself with expensive foreign-made apparatus which can bankrupt the doctor as well as the patients who have to pay the bills. Medical decisions were made mostly on the basis of observation, past experience at the bedside and not in the laboratory or imaging rooms. Honest errors in diagnosis were common, treatment was limited and simple and this was all tolerated or expected by the public. Few if any disappointments on the part of patients ended up before a judge.

Fetal transverse cerebellar diameter in Thai population.

We developed a nomogram for transverse cerebellar diameter (TCD) in Thai fetuses by recruitment of 153 normal pregnant women in the first trimester. The gestational age calculated by the certain last menstrual period and the first trimester ultrasound were in agreement. The pregnant women were stratified into 4 groups and scanned at four weekly intervals: group A was first scanned at 14 weeks, group B at 15 weeks, group C at 16 weeks, and group D at 17 weeks. A total of 699 measurements from 14 to 40 weeks of gestation were obtained. The data were analyzed for mean and standard deviation; and the best fit mathematical model was derived. The TCD grew progressively along gestational age. The growth rate was slightly less than that of a Western study after 28 weeks of gestation. This could serve as the basis for gestational dating in fetuses with aberrant fetal growth.

Vaginal vault granulations after total abdominal hysterectomy using polyglactin for vault closure.

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of vaginal vault granulation after total abdominal hysterectomy using polyglactin (Vicryl) for vault closure. Fifty women who underwent total abdominal hysterectomy for benign and elective conditions were included into the study. Standard surgical technique of total abdominal hysterectomy was employed except for closure of the vaginal vault performed by interrupted figure-of-eight sutures using No. 1 polyglactin. All patients were prospectively followed-up at approximately 6 weeks postoperatively and vaginal vault granulation was diagnosed as present or absent. It was found that 5 patients had vaginal vault granulation without any symptoms, giving the incidence of 10 per cent. One patient who developed vault granulation had postoperative morbidity from cuff cellulitis. The remaining 49 patients had no immediate postoperative complications.

Sonographic findings in clinically diagnosed threatened abortion.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the sonographic appearances in pregnant women who presented with vaginal bleeding in the first 20 weeks of gestation. METHOD: Pregnant women of under 20 gestational weeks diagnosed clinically as threatened abortion were recruited for ultrasound scan at the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University. The sonographic findings were reported as viable pregnancy, anembryonic pregnancy, embryonic death, incomplete abortion, complete abortion, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy and inconclusive findings. Patients with inconclusive findings were followed weekly until final diagnoses were established. All patients were followed-up to 20 weeks or until the final outcomes were revealed. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty eight pregnant patients were enrolled. Ultrasound scans demonstrated 100 viable fetuses (37.3%), 73 embryonic deaths (27.3%), 46 anembryonic pregnancies (17.2%), 6 molar pregnancies (2.2%), 3 ectopic pregnancies (1.1%), 14 complete abortions (5.2%) and 26 inconclusive findings (9.7%). Follow-up scan on patients with inconclusive findings revealed 9 anembryonic pregnancies (3.3%), 9 incomplete abortions (3.3%), 1 embryonic death (0.4%) and 1 viable pregnancy (0.4%). Six patients (2.3%) were lost to follow-up. The viable pregnancy rate according to maternal age was highest at the maternal age of 25 to 29 years old (49%), whereas, it was lowest at the maternal age of 40 to 44 years old (0%). The viable pregnancy rate according to gestational age was highest at 6 to 8 weeks (61.2%), whereas, it was lowest at 18 to 20 weeks (20%). CONCLUSION: Sonographic findings in patients with clinically diagnosed threatened abortion demonstrated viable pregnancies in around one-third of the cases. Use of ultrasound in clinically diagnosed threatened abortion may assist clinicians in establishing a definite diagnosis so that appropriate care could be offered to the patients.

Short fetal acoustic stimulation test for rapid antepartum assessment of fetal well-being.

Short fetal acoustic stimulation test (FAST) was prospectively studied in 604 high risk pregnancies after 28 weeks of gestation. Fetal heart rates were recorded 3 minutes before and 5 minutes after fetal acoustic stimulation. The results of the tests performed within a week of delivery were compared with perinatal outcomes. Reactive response to short FAST occurred in 597 cases (98.8%) while nonreactive response was found in 7 cases (1.2%). Nine fetuses were considered poor outcomes. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of short FAST to predict poor fetal outcomes were 66.7, 99.8, 85.7, 99.5, and 99.3 per cent, respectively. Short FAST has high specificity, negative predictive value and accuracy for prediction of poor perinatal outcome. This rapid test should be used as a screening method for antepartum assessment of fetal well-being in a busy antenatal clinic.

Transvaginal sonography for fetal crown-rump length measurement in a Thai population.

A prospective descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University to establish a reference interval for fetal crown-rump length (CRL) in a Thai population using transvaginal ultrasound. This study was performed on normal pregnant women registered at the antenatal clinic in their first trimester. All had a good menstrual history. CRL measurement was obtained by a 5 MHz vaginal probe. All of the newborns were proved to be normal at birth. We constructed and compared CRL (mm) relating to gestational age (GA) (days). Five hundred and forty seven cases were enrolled into the study. CRL was correlated with gestational age. The best fit regression equation was the quadratic model: CRL (mm) = -13.872 - 0.014 GA (day) + 0.0097 GA (day)2, R = 0.92, p < 0.0001). Centiles and a chart for CRL derived from the regression equation are presented. In conclusion, a reference interval for fetal crown-rump length in a Thai population has been established. This data may be useful in the early detection of genetic or environmental disorders affecting fetal growth in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Humanistic learning in medical curriculum.

This paper argues for more attention and exposure to humanistic learning in the Thai medical curriculum. Humanistic learning traditionally consists of literature, history and philosophy, and is advantageous for medical education in that it tends to foster sensitivities to feelings, awareness of social traditions, and creating of skills in deliberating complex, ethical issues. These dispositions are necessary for a doctor in the world where there is an ever increasing public demand for communication, accountability and transparency on the part of doctors. It is proposed that the Thai medical curriculum should include more humanistic learning, and that medical students should be given opportunities to interact more with students from other disciplines throughout their studies and later professional life.