Morphology of Mandibular Condyle in The Population of Sarawak: A Retrospective Cross-sectional Study Using Digital Panoramic Radiograph

@#Introduction: The morphology of the condyles changes naturally with age, gender, face type, occlusal force, functional load, malocclusion type, and the right and left sides. Although condylar shape and size differ throughout populations, there have been few investigations on condylar morphology, particularly in the Malaysian population. Methods: This retrospective, observational, cross-sectional survey was conducted at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic of Sarawak General Hospital from September 2021 to March 2022, involving radiographic assessment of condylar morphology from 893 panoramic radiographs. Age, gender, ethnicity and dentition status using Eichner index were extracted from the data. Descriptive statistics were used. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to determine the association between the independent variables (age, gender, ethnicity and dentition status) and the shape of the mandibular condyle. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Only 450 panoramic radiographs were included in this study. The condyles were outlined and grouped into four categories, namely pointed (40.2%), round (32.8), angled (18.8), and flat (8.2%). Condylar morphology was found to be significantly associated with gender (p<0.005) and insignificant with other independent variables. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the most prevalent condylar morphology among the Sarawak population is the pointed shape, in contrast with other previous studies that reported the round shape condylar morphology as the majority shape.

Household Catastrophic Health Expenditure from Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders and Oral Cancer in Public Healthcare of Malaysia.

OBJECTIVE: Oral cancer causes a significant disease burden and financial distress, especially among disadvantaged groups. While Malaysia has achieved universal health coverage via its highly subsidized public healthcare, patient and family expenditure for treatment of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) and oral cancer remains a concern in the equitability of care. This study thus aims to estimate household out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures and the extent of catastrophic healthcare expenditure (CHE) while identifying its predictors. METHODS: This three-part study consists of a cross-sectional survey to collect sociodemographic and health utilization data of patients, a retrospective medical record abstraction to identify resources consumed, and cost modeling to simulate expenditures in two tertiary public hospitals. Loss of productivity was calculated based on absenteeism related to disease management in the hospital. OOP payments for transport, care in public healthcare facilities, and other healthcare expenditures were tallied. A CHE was defined as OOP spendings of more than 10% from total annual household income. Multivariable logistic regression was further applied to identify the association between sociodemographic factors and the incidence of CHE. RESULTS: A total of 52 patients with OPMD and 52 with oral cancer were surveyed and medical records were abstracted. A Kruskal-Wallis test showed a statistically significant difference in OOP share over household income between OPMD, early- and late-stage cancer, χ2(2)=51.05, p<0.001, with the mean percentage of 9%, 22%, and 65% respectively. This study found that the prevalence of CHE in the first year of diagnosis was 86.5% for oral cancer and 19.2% for OPMD. Indian ethnicity (OR=6.24, p=0.046) and monthly income group 'less than USD 2,722' (OR=14.32, p=0.023) were shown as significant predictors for CHE. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated the provision of subsidies may not be adequate to shield the more vulnerable group from CHE when they are diagnosed with OPMD and oral cancer.

Health-Related Quality of Life among Patients with Oral Potentially Malignant Disorder and Oral Cancer in Malaysia

ABSTRACT@#Presently there is a lack of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measure and its corresponding utility values for oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD). This limits patient-centered outcomes for cost-effectiveness evaluations. The study aimed to determine post-treatment HRQOL of patients and ascertained differences between OPMD, early and late-stage oral cancer. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among patients in oral maxillofacial specialist clinics in two public tertiary hospitals. Consented participants were required to complete the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire with the EQ Visual Analogue System (VAS). Kruskal-Wallis test was used to explore differences in values between stages. Multiple linear regression was used to explore factors that influenced the HRQOL. A total of 50 OPMD and 52 oral cancer patients were surveyed. The mean EQ-5D-5L health utility values was 0.842 (n = 50, SD = 0.139), 0.822 (n = 10, SD = 0.150) and 0.626 (n = 42, SD = 0.310) for OPMD, early- and late-stage cancer, respectively. The mean values of the EQ-5D-5L index and EQ-VAS scale showed significant differences between groups and between early- and late-stage cancer with good discriminative properties. Results of the multiple linear regression indicated that ethnicity, income, residency, diagnosis, and treatment modality were able to significantly account for 25% of EQ-5D-5L utility values, F(10,91) = 3.83, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.360. Indian ethnicity, rural location, income less than RM4,360, late-stage cancer, and multi-modal therapies were all predictors of poorer HRQOL. This study evidenced disease severity and treatment modality to greatly impact the HRQOL of patients, in addition to socio-demographic factors such as ethnicity and income.

Provider cost of treating oral potentially malignant disorders and oral cancer in Malaysian public hospitals.

Oral cancer has been recognized as a significant challenge to healthcare. In Malaysia, numerous patients frequently present with later stages of cancers to the highly subsidized public healthcare facilities. Such a trend contributes to a substantial social and economic burden. This study aims to determine the cost of treating oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) and oral cancer from a public healthcare provider's perspective. Medical records from two tertiary public hospitals were systematically abstracted to identify events and resources consumed retrospectively from August 2019 to January 2020. The cost accrued was used to estimate annual initial and maintenance costs via two different methods- inverse probability weighting (IPW) and unweighted average. A total of 86 OPMD and 148 oral cancer cases were included. The initial phase mean unadjusted cost was USD 2,861 (SD = 2,548) in OPMD and USD 38,762 (SD = 12,770) for the treatment of cancer. Further annual estimate of initial phase cost based on IPW method for OPMD, early and late-stage cancer was USD 3,561 (SD = 4,154), USD 32,530 (SD = 12,658) and USD 44,304 (SD = 16,240) respectively. Overall cost of late-stage cancer was significantly higher than early-stage by USD 11,740; 95% CI [6,853 to 16,695]; p< 0.001. Higher surgical care and personnel cost predominantly contributed to the larger expenditure. In contrast, no significant difference was identified between both cancer stages in the maintenance phase, USD 700; 95% CI [-1,142 to 2,541]; p = 0.457. A crude comparison of IPW estimate with unweighted average displayed a significant difference in the initial phase, with the latter being continuously higher across all groups. IPW method was shown to be able to use data more efficiently by adjusting cost according to survival and follow-up. While cost is not a primary consideration in treatment recommendations, our analysis demonstrates the potential economic benefit of investing in preventive medicine and early detection.

Transient loss of power of accommodation in 1 eye following inferior alveolar nerve block: report of 2 cases.

Unintended intravascular injection from inferior alveolar nerve blocks can result in frustrating distant complications affecting such structures as the middle ear and eyes. Possible complications affecting the eyes include blurring of vision, diplopia, mydriasis, palpebral ptosis and amaurosis (temporary or permanent). In this article, we present a complication that has been reported only rarely. Two patients developed transient loss of power of accommodation of the eye resulting in blurred vision after routine inferior alveolar nerve blocks on the ipsilateral side. Clear vision returned within 10-15 minutes after completion of the blocks. The possible explanation for this phenomenon is accidental injection into the neurovascular bundle of local anesthetic agents, which were carried via the blood to the orbital region. This resulted in paralysis of a branch of cranial nerve III, the short ciliary nerves that innervate the ciliary muscle, which controls accommodation.

Osteosarcoma presenting as an aggressive nodular mass in the region of the mandible.

Osteosarcomas are highly malignant neoplasms of bone that are challenging to diagnose. These neoplasms often show atypical behavior. In the initial phase they may present as nondescript bony swellings with an indolent growth rate, only to become overtly aggressive and malignant towards the later phase of the disease. Similarly, the histological growth pattern of this neoplasm can be quite diverse, presenting with areas that mimic benign myofibroblastic tumors, giant cell granulomatous conditions and partial encapsulation. The final diagnosis of an osteosarcoma is often reached after thorough sampling and examination of multiple biopsy specimens. All these clinical features and histological diagnostic difficulties were encountered in a case of osteosarcoma affecting the right mandible of a 62-year-old Chinese woman described here. The diagnostic lessons accrued from this case are discussed.