Pre-Operative Temporal Bone CT Scan Readings and Intraoperative Findings During Mastoidectomy

@#<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To determine the correlation between pre-operative in-house temporal bone CT scan readings and intraoperative findings during mastoidectomy for cholesteatoma in a tertiary government hospital from January 2018 to December 2019.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong></p><p><strong>Design:</strong> Review of Records</p><p><strong>Setting:</strong> Tertiary Government Hospital</p><p><strong>Participants:</strong> A total of 25 charts were included in the study. Surgical memoranda  containing intraoperative findings were scrutinized. Data on key structures or locations were  filled into a data gathering tool. Categorical descriptions were used for surgical findings:  "present" or "absent" for location, and "intact" or "eroded" for status of ossicles and critical structures. Radiological readings to describe location and extent of disease were recorded as either "involved" or "uninvolved," while "intact" or "eroded" were used to describe the status of ossicles and critical structures identified. Statistical correlations were computed using Cohen kappa coefficient. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were also computed.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> No correlation between radiologic readings and surgical findings were found in terms of location and extent of cholesteatoma (? < 0). However, moderate agreement was noted in terms of status of the malleus (? = .42, 95% CI, .059 to .781, p<.05), substantial agreement noted for the incus status (? = 0.682, 95% CI, .267 to .875, p<.05), and fair agreement noted for the stapes status (? = .303, 95% CI, -.036 to .642, p>.05). Slight agreement was also noted in description of facial canal and labyrinth (? =.01, 95% CI, -.374 to .394, p>.05), while no correlation was noted for the status of the tegmen (? = 0, 95% CI, -.392 to .392, p<.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Our study shows the unreliability and shortcomings of CT scan readings in our institution in detecting and predicting surgical findings. An institutional policy needs to be considered to ensure that temporal bone CT scans be obtained using techniques that can appropriately describe the status of the middle ear and adjacent structures with better reliability.</p>

Classification and stages of middle ear cholesteatoma at the Southern Philippines Medical Center using the European Academy of Otology and Neurotology / Japan Otological Society (EAONO / JOS) system

Objective@#To determine the stage of middle ear cholesteatoma of patients who underwent middle ear surgery at the Southern Philippines Medical Center from January to December 2019, based on European Academy of Otology and Neurotology / Japan Otological Society (EAONO/JOS) system.@*Methods@#Design: Case Series. Setting: Tertiary Government Hospital. Participants: A total of 42 charts were included in the study.@*Results@#Of the 42 cases evaluated, congenital cholesteatoma was seen in 4 while acquired cholesteatoma was noted in 38, (further subdivided into 34 retraction pocket cholesteatoma and 4 non-retraction pocket/traumatic cholesteatoma). A majority (57%) had Stage II cholesteatoma (mass occupying at least two sub-sites in the middle ear) at the time of surgery. Eight (19%) had stage I cholesteatoma (confined to one sub-site), five (12%) had stage III cholesteatoma evidenced by extracranial complications such as subperiosteal abscess and erosion of the semi[1]circular canals. Stage IV cholesteatoma was seen in 5 (12%) presenting with intracranial abscess. Canal wall down mastoidectomy was the most common surgical approach performed. The sinus tympani (S2 ) was the most commonly involved difficult to access site across all classifications of middle ear cholesteatoma (60%). @*Conclusion@#Our study provided an initial profile of the stages and severity of middle ear cholesteatoma in our institution based on actual surgical approaches. Such a profile can be the nidus for a database that can help us to understand disease prevalence and compare local surgical practices with those in the international community.

The changing pattern of Tinea capitis in Jamaica / El patrón cambiante de la tinea capitis en Jamaica

The species of dermatophyte fungi causing tinea capitis vary from country to country and may also change with time. This study was done to identify the predominant organisms causing tinea capitis in the Jamaican population. It was a retrospective study looking at all fungal culture requests to the Microbiology Department at the University Hospital of the West Indies during the period January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2002. The results showed a gradual switch from the dominance of Microsporum audouinii (61.5) in 1998 to the dominance of Trichophyton tonsurans (85) in 2002. The mean age was 8.6. Females constituted 55.7of positive cases and males, 44.3.

Las especies de hongos dermatofitos que causan la tinea capitis varían de país en país, y también pueden cambiar con el tiempo. Este estudio se realizó con el propósito de identificar los organismos predominantes que causan la tinea capitis en la población jamaicana. Se trata de un estudio retrospectivo que revisó todas las solicitudes de cultivos fúngicos hechas al Departamento de Microbiología del Hospital Universitario de West Indies durante el periodo del 1ero. de enero de 1998 al 31 de diciembre de 2002. Los resultados mostraron un cambio gradual del predominio de Microsporum audoinii (61.5%) en 1998 al predominio de Trichophyton tonsurans (85%) en 2002. La edad promedio fue 8.6. Las hembras constituyeron el 55.7%, y los varones el 44.3% de los casos positivos, respectivamente.

Rickettsia tsutsugamushi infections in chiggers and small mammals on a mature oil palm estate.

An epidemiological study in a mature oil palm estate in Peninsular Malaysia has demonstrated a low prevalence of R. tsutsugamushi infection in small mammals. The direct fluorescent antibody technique for assaying infections in chiggers proved more sensitive than mouse inoculation. Most infections in both chiggers and rodents were caused by the Karp strain.

Virulence and antigenic properties of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi in a naturally infectei laboratory colony of Leptotrombidium (leptotrombidium) arenicola.

Over 1,200 isolations of R. tsutsugamushi were obtained over 7 generations of L. (L.) arenicola and no reproducible differences in virulence or antigenic markers could be detected among these isolations. The F8 generation yielded rickettsia with the same antigenic makeup and virulence properties as the original female parent mite. When these isolates were inoculated into mice they elicited the same predominant antibody specificities, i.e. they all produced antibody which reacted with the TA 763 and Karp strains. These were the same as the major antigens detected by direct fluorescent antibody staining of the isolates.

Numbers of Leptotrombidium (Leptotrombidium) deliense (Acarina: trombiculidae) and prevalence of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi in adjacent habitats of peninsular Malaysia.

Numbers of L. (L.) deliense larvae were determined in adjacent habitats over a 16 month period. Both R. argentiventer and R. tiomanicus were highly efficient hosts for L. (L.) deliense. R. argentiventer was host to significantly greater numbers of chiggers per rat than was R. tiomanicus. The 2 habitats were similar in numbers of chiggers collected. No consistent correlation was apparent between numbers of chiggers and any single weather factor, but the chigger population seemed to be adversely affected by a 2 month period during which total evaporation greatly exceeded total rainfall. Direct fluorescent antibody examination of tissues from unfed L. (L.) deliense showed that 2 of 420 larvae (0.5%) contained organisms morphologically resembling R. tsutsugamushi. Considering the vector load and numbers of chiggers being returned to the ground by a given host, a rate of 0.5% appeared adequate to account for the prevalence rate of R. tsutsugamushi observed in the 2 host species.

Presence of antibodies to scrub typhus and murine typhus in dogs from Selangor, Peninsular, Malaysia.

Dog sera, collected from different communities throughout Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia, were investigated for the presence of antibodies to R. tsutsugamushi and R. typhi. Scrub typhus antibodies were present in animals from the rural areas only, whereas murine typhus antibodies were observed in equal numbers of dogs from both rural and metropolitan areas. Greater percentage of dogs from suburban areas had demonstrable antibody titers to murine typhus than from the urban area.

Protection against scrub typhus infection engendered by the passive transfer of immune sera.

The passive transfer of convalescent sera did not protect the majority of mice against challenge with the homologous strain and was completely ineffective against challenge with strains unrelated by fluorescent antibody techniques. When the immune sera was incubated with the rickettsia in vitro and then inoculated into the mice a dramatic increase occurred in the number of surviving mice. The importance of these data in relation to published results with other species of rickettsia is discussed.