ABSTRACT
<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Hand tumours are frequently encountered in clinical practice. A list of differential diagnoses of the most common hand tumours based on anatomical location would be helpful for clinicians. We aimed to determine the anatomical distribution of hand tumours seen at a hand surgery practice in Singapore.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The medical records of 50 men and 65 women (mean age 41.7 [range 17-74] years) who underwent excision of hand tumours between 1 June 2010 and 31 December 2012 were reviewed. The histological diagnoses and anatomical locations of the tumours were analysed. The locations were divided into three main groups: (a) distal to the metacarpophalangeal joints (MCPJs); (b) between the MCPJs and carpometacarpal joints (CMCJs); and (c) between the CMCJs and the radiocarpal joint (RCJ).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Overall, the most common tumours excised from the hand were ganglions (n = 66/116, 56.9%) and giant cell tumours of the tendon sheath (GCTTSs; n = 11/116, 9.5%). However, distal to the MCPJs, GCTTSs (n = 11/39, 28.2%) were more common than ganglions (n = 7/39, 17.9%). Most of the ganglions (n = 59/66, 89.4%) arose from between the CMCJs and RCJ.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Most hand tumours were benign. Ganglions were the most common tumours between the CMCJs and RCJ, while GCTTSs were the most common tumours distal to the MCPJs.</p>
ABSTRACT
<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>This study aimed to determine ethnic differences in the proximal femur morphology of elderly patients with femoral neck fractures in Singapore.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We reviewed the medical records of 101 men and 288 women aged 60-109 (mean 76.4) years who underwent hip hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fractures between 1 June 2010 and 31 December 2015. Patients' age, gender and race were recorded. Plain anteroposterior radiography was used to measure the following: calcar width to canal width ratio of the ipsilateral femur; neck-shaft angle; hip offset; neck length; and neck width of the contralateral proximal femur.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Chinese women had slightly larger femoral heads (mean 43.88 mm) as compared to Malay (mean 42.92 mm, p = 0.044) and Indian (mean 42.34 mm, p = 0.025) women. Chinese women also had a significantly lower mean calcar-to-canal width ratio (0.606) as compared to Malay (0.664, p = 0.002) and Indian (0.693, p = 0.004) women. The mean neck-shaft angle of Chinese women was significantly greater than that of Indian women (137.48° vs. 127.00°, p = 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>We found statistically significant differences in the femoral head sizes and calcar-to-canal width ratios among women of different ethnic groups. There were also differences in neck-shaft angles between Chinese and Indian women, and between Malay and Indian women.</p>
