Evaluation of oxytetracycline leaching from pregelatinized starch-coated medicated fish feed.

The rapid growth and intensification of aquaculture industries have led to an increased use of antibiotics. Consequently, growing concerns have mounted over the environmental contamination of these drugs from medicated feeds and the risk that this poses for antimicrobial resistance. To circumvent environmental leaching, farmers topcoat medicated feeds with oil; however, this only partially addresses the issue. This study investigated the potential of food-grade pregelatinized corn starch (PGS) as a second top-coating agent to reduce oxytetracycline (OTC) leaching from the hand-mixed medicated feed. We immersed top-coated medicated feeds for different periods of time and measured the concentration of OTC in the water to determine leaching. We found a significantly lower level of OTC in water samples collected from the PGS-coated medicated feed compared to the non-PGS-coated medicated feed, with concentrations of OTC approximately 4 and 2.6 times the latter after 5 min and 2 h of water immersion, respectively. We also fed PGS-coated antibiotic feed to jade perch to determine if fish accepted the top-coating and whether they absorbed the OTC. Results from a feeding trial suggested no difference in palatability between PGS and non-PGS-coated medicated feed. We also found that muscle tissue from fish fed with the aforementioned diets had similar levels of OTC concentrations, suggesting that PGS coating does not alter the gastrointestinal absorption of this medication. From our experiment, we conclude that PGS is potentially a new top-coating agent to reduce leaching in hand-mixed OTC medicated feed.

The impact of psychological abuse by an intimate partner on the mental health of pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this first population-based study in Hong Kong was to assess the impact of psychological abuse by an intimate partner on the mental health of pregnant women. DESIGN: Survey. SETTING: Antenatal clinics in seven public hospitals in Hong Kong. POPULATION: Three thousand two hundred and forty-five pregnant women. METHODS: The Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS) and demographic questionnaires were administered face-to-face at 32-36 weeks of gestation. At 1 week postpartum, the AAS, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and SF-12 Health Survey were administered by telephone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intimate partner violence, postnatal depression and health-related quality of life. RESULTS: Two hundred and ninety six (9.1%) of the participants reported abuse by an intimate partner in the past year. Of those abused, 216 (73%) reported psychological abuse only and 80 (27%) reported physical and/or sexual abuse. Forty six (57.5%) in the physical and/or sexual abuse group also reported psychological abuse. Women in the psychological abuse only group had a higher risk of postnatal depression compared with nonabused women (adjusted OR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.12-3.02). They were also at a higher risk of thinking about harming themselves (adjusted OR: 3.50, 95% CI: 1.49-8.20) and had significantly poorer mental health-related quality of life (P < 0.001). The higher risks of postnatal depression and thinking of harming themselves were not observed in the physical and/or sexual abuse group although significantly poorer mental health-related quality of life (P < 0.001) was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological abuse by an intimate partner against pregnant women has a negative impact on their mental health postdelivery. Furthermore, psychological abuse in the absence of physical and/or sexual abuse can have a detrimental effect on the mental health of abused women. The findings underscore the importance of screening pregnant women for abuse by an intimate partner and the need for developing, implementing and evaluating interventions to address psychological abuse.

Management of primary postpartum haemorrhage with arterial embolisation in Hong Kong public hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the utilisation, effectiveness, and safety of arterial (angiographic) embolisation for management of severe primary postpartum haemorrhage in Hong Kong public hospitals. DESIGN. Retrospective study. SETTING: All eight obstetrics and gynaecology units of the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong. PATIENTS: Women who underwent arterial embolisation for primary postpartum haemorrhage from July 1999 to June 2004 inclusive. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cause of primary postpartum haemorrhage, estimated blood loss, patient condition before embolisation, and the intervals between the diagnosis of postpartum haemorrhage and the procedure. RESULTS: Primary postpartum haemorrhage occurred in 7200 (3.9%) cases of 183,700 deliveries; 90 (0.05%) underwent total hysterectomy, whilst 29 (0.016%) received angiographic embolisation. Arterial embolisation was 90% effective in treating medically uncontrollable primary postpartum haemorrhage, except in three patients who failed to respond and underwent a hysterectomy. All 29 patients survived, although due to severe haemorrhage one had a cardiac arrest, whilst another had transient right-leg claudication. Six patients developed mild fever. CONCLUSIONS: In Hong Kong, arterial embolisation for severe primary postpartum haemorrhage is a safe and effective treatment modality but is underutilised. If first-line medical treatment fails and patients are haemodynamically stable, the procedure should be considered an alternative management option. A prompt decision and early resort to arterial embolisation are advisable so as to reduce the morbidity and avoid resorting to open surgery.

Treatment results of endometrial carcinoma with positive peritoneal washing, adnexal involvement and serosal involvement.

AIMS: To review the treatment results of patients with endometrial carcinoma having positive peritoneal washing (PPW), adnexal involvement, uterine serosal involvement, or all three. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The treatment records of patients who had undergone primary surgery for endometrial cancer without distant metastasis during 1990--2001 at the Department of Clinical Oncology, Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong, were reviewed. Thirty-five patients were found to have involvement of positive PPW, adnexal involvement, uterine serosal involvement, or all three. Seven (20%) of them had gross or microscopic lymph-node metastasis. Thirty-three (94.3%) patients received adjuvant radiotherapy (28 whole-pelvic irradiation [WPI]; five abdominal radiotherapy [WART]). Two patients with solitary ovarian metastasis received chemotherapy, and one with isolated PPW also received adjuvant hormonal therapy. The median follow-up was 50.4 months (range 2.4-151.2 months). Multivariate analysis was carried out using the Cox regression proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Among the 28 patients with clinical or pathological node-negative disease (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics [FIGO] stage IIIA), only two patients with solitary ovarian metastases developed recurrence. The 5-year actuarial disease-free survival (DFS) rates for the whole group and patients without lymph-node involvement were 77.9% and 91.7%, respectively. Five out of the seven patients with lymph-node involvement developed recurrences. Univariate analysis showed that lymph-node involvement (P < 0.0001) and high-grade disease (P = 0.011) were the significant poor prognostic factors. Multivariate analysis showed that lymph-node involvement was the only significant poor prognostic factor to predict poor 5-year DFS (P = 0.0001). Only one patient (3.7%) who had received WART developed grade 4 toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that good treatment results could be obtained from patients with stage IIIA endometrial carcinoma without clinical or pathological lymph-node involvement after adjuvant radiotherapy, with acceptable late side-effects. The relative prognostic importance of individual IIIA involvement and the optimal adjuvant treatment remain to be determined.

Clinical significance and management of cervical atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the clinical significance of a cervical cytological diagnosis of atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance and to formulate the most appropriate management guidelines for patients with such a diagnosis. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS: Seventy-two patients with diagnoses of atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance who were managed in a colposcopy clinic between January 1998 and December 1999. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Age, cytological diagnoses of atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance and its subtypes, method of evaluation, final diagnosis, and outcome after 2 years. RESULTS: Atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance were diagnosed in 83 (0.4%) of 21 854 cervical smear samples taken during the 2-year study period. Follow-up data were available from 72 patients, whose mean age was 43 years (range, 22-69 years). Forty-three percent of these patients had significant diseases of the genital tract. Patients with the subtype diagnosis of atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance-favour neoplasia had the worst outcome, with 90% of patients having significant disease, followed by patients with atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance "not otherwise specified" (43%), and atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance-favour reactive (8%). CONCLUSION: Patients with atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance should be investigated early and thoroughly, because many of them will have premalignant or malignant disease.

Laparoscopy for the treatment of women with endometrial cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of a laparoscopic approach for the management of endometrial cancer. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Regional hospital, Hong Kong. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Individual medical records of patients with preoperative histological diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma from January 2000 to December 2001 were reviewed and the data analysed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Success of laparoscopic-assisted surgical staging, intra-operative and postoperative morbidity, and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: Laparoscopic surgery was successful for 93.3% (28 of 30) patients. Two patients were converted to laparotomy. The mean operating time was 102 minutes (standard deviation, 16 minutes) and the mean operative blood loss was 280 mL (standard deviation, 137 mL). The mean hospital stay was 5 days (standard deviation, 2.3 days). The intra-operative and postoperative complication rate was 16.7%, including vaginal tear, injury to the inferior epigastric vessel, lymphocyst, and pulmonary embolism. CONCLUSION: This study illustrated that a laparoscopic approach is feasible for endometrial cancer surgery and may be considered as the primary treatment modality in skilled hands. This approach should be offered to women with endometrial cancer without contraindications for laparoscopic surgery if experienced endoscopic surgeons are available. Prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism and the use of retroperitoneal drainage may be helpful in decreasing the perioperative morbidity.

A multicentre randomized controlled trial of oral misoprostol and i.m. syntometrine in the management of the third stage of labour.

Postpartum haemorrhage accounts for nearly 28% of maternal mortality in developing countries. Syntometrine is an effective and commonly used oxytocic in preventing postpartum haemorrhage, but it requires a controlled storage environment and i.m. administration. Misoprostol is an orally active uterotonic agent. A total of 2058 patients having a singleton pregnancy, low risk for postpartum haemorrhage and vaginal delivery were randomized to receive either 1 ml syntometrine or 600 microgram misoprostol for the management of the third stage of labour. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the mean blood loss, the incidence of postpartum haemorrhage and the fall in haemoglobin concentration. The need for additional oxytocic injection was significantly higher in the misoprostol group [relative risk (RR) 1.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.34-1.96], but that of manual removal of placenta was reduced (RR 0.29, 95% CI 0.09-0.87). Shivering and transient pyrexia were more common in the misoprostol group. Oral misoprostol might be used in the management of the third stage, especially in situations where the use of syntometrine is contraindicated and facilities for storage and parenteral administration of oxytocics are limited.