A biotin-avidin-linked immunosorbent assay was developed to detect Aspergillus antigens in sera of immunocompromised patients. The assay was based on a double antibody sandwich ELISA using polyclonal antibodies raised against water-soluble antigens of Aspergillus fumigatus. Aspergillus antigens were positive in sera of 9 of 16 (56%) patients who were studied prospectively and in 13 of 73 (19%) patients studied retrospectively. The 9 prospectively studied patients who were antigen positive were febrile neutropenic hematological malignancy patients who exhibited a high risk of acquiring invasive aspergillosis.
Antigens ; assay ; Aspergillus ; Immunocompromised Host ; Biotin

Kimura’s disease (KD) is a rare, benign chronic inflammatory disease of unknown aetiology, typically presents in the Orientals as subcutaneous masses in the head and neck region that could be easily misdiagnosed as a malignant tumour, leading to unnecessary radical surgery or intensive cytotoxic therapy. It has been mainly reported in the Chinese and Japanese literature. It is difficult to diagnose before tissue biopsy and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has limited value. Hence, unless the pathologists are aware of this entity, it might be mistaken as a malignant lesion. We encountered a case of KD in a Malay patient presenting as a parotid mass that was initially diagnosed as Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL). This disorder should be suspected in young male Asian patients presenting with a painless unilateral mass in the head and neck region with associated hypereosinophilia.

Intense myelofibrosis is rarely associated with de novo acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) except in acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia (AML-M7) where there is diffuse marrow fibrosis as a consequence of proliferation of neoplastic myeloid cells. AML associated with significant myelofibrosis developing both de novo or secondary to primary (idiopathic) myelofibrosis is characterised by a fulminant course and extremely poor prognosis, primarily due to treatment-resistant disease. The prognostic value of degree of marrow fibrosis in de novo AML has been poorly investigated. We describe a case of extensive myelofibrosis associated with acute erythroblastic leukaemia (AML-M6) that responded to induction therapy of the leukaemia.
Myelofibrosis ; Acute ; Leukemia, Myelocytic, Acute ; therapeutic aspects ; prognostic

Despite evidence showing that structured rehabilitation after stroke improves functional outcomes, providing seamless rehabilitation from hospital to community has been elusive. The service provided should be able to accommodate variable degree of impairments and needs of the stroke survivors. This study aimed to assess the outcome of a multidisciplinary-based outpatient rehabilitation service for stroke patients living in the community. Patients who were discharged from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre after an acute stroke were referred to the Combined Stroke Rehabilitation Clinic (CSRC). Post stroke patients were assigned individually designed programs which were problem based and used task specific activities to achieve desired goals. Patients were reviewed on a regular basis either up to completion of the 2 year-program, or are able to be discharged to the community, whichever is earlier. Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and Berg Balance Scores (BBS) were used for monitoring. A total of 68 patients were managed in CSRC for two years since its initiation, with mean age of 62.4 years (SD 12.4) with the mean duration of stroke when first reviewed in CSRC was 11.5 months (SD 11.9). Majority of patients (64.7%) received either two or three types of intervention. Both MBI and BBS demonstrated significant improvement over 12-months period (p value of 0.006 and 0.017 respectively). CSRC proved that structured rehabilitation intervention was beneficial in terms of functional status and improvement in balance to post-stroke patients.

Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) is a disease characterised by a distinctive marker that is the Philadelphia Chromosome and an ability to transform into blast phase, which confers a poor prognosis. The median survival was reported to be between three to six months in correlation to blast phase. Extramedullary involvement with CML to sites such as pleural, meningeal and bones have been reported. We report a case of 41-year-old man who was diagnosed with CML in blast phase and presented with ascites. Ultrasound of abdomen showed coarse echotexture of liver suggestive leukaemic infiltration to the liver. The liver profile was severely deranged and associated with coagulopathy. Flow cytometry analysis of the peritoneal fluid revealed presence of myeloblasts consistent with CML in blast crisis with leukaemic ascites. Bone marrow biopsy also confirmed disease transformation. He received standard induction chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukaemia with dose modifications based on liver enzymes performance. Our case highlights an unusual presentation of CML in blast crisis with leukaemic ascites and the challenges in managing cytotoxic treatments due to the liver infiltration.
Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute

Bacteraemia is a common and one of the serious complications in haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). To date, there are no published data on antibiotic resistance and clinical outcome among HSCT recipients in Malaysia. The aims of the present study was to analyse the prevalence, antibiotic resistance and clinical outcome of bacteraemia in HSCT recipients within 100 days following transplantation. We retrospectively analysed the prevalence, antibiotic resistance pattern and mortality rate of early bacteraemia among HSCT recipients in a single centre over a 5-year period (2013-2017). Thirty patients of 85 HSCT recipients developed bacteraemia with 40 positive cultures resulting in prevalence of 47% (40/85). Gram negative bacteria (GNB) accounted for 60.5% of total isolates. Enterobacteriaceae and Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) were the commonest pathogens isolated. GNB showed a high resistance rate to ciprofloxacin. Only 30% of recipients responded to first line empirical antibiotics for febrile neutropenia (FN). The mortality rate was 13.3% (4/30), of which 50% was attributed to multi-drug resistance (MDR) Acinetobacter and 25% to extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) Enterobacteriaceae. Bacteraemia is a frequent and life-threatening early complication among HSCT recipients with MDR GNB being the commonest cause of mortality. The high rate of resistance to ciprofloxacin and failure of the first line empirical antibiotics to treat FN calls for a thorough evaluation of the current antibiotic prophylaxis and empirical treatment protocols. These findings have important clinical implications regarding the use and selection of both prophylactic and empiric antibiotic regimens to treat FN.

The aim of this study was to isolate stem cells from dental pulp of primary molars and incisors to be used as possible source for tissue engineering. Human primary molars and incisors were collected from subjects aged 4-7 year-old under standardized procedures. Within 24 hours, the tooth was cut at the cemento-enamel junction using hard tissue material cutter. The dental pulp tissue was extracted, digested and then cultured in Alpha Modified Eagles’s Medium (α-MEM) supplemented with 20% FCS, 100 mM L-ascorbic acid 2-phosphate, 200 mM L-glutamine and 5000 units/ml Penicillin/Streptomycin. The cells were observed daily under the microscope until confluence. Children’s tooth pulp- derived progenitor cells were found positive for stem cell markers CD105 and CD166, which are consistent with the finding for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from bone marrow.

Introduction: Immunosuppressive state due to haematological malignancies and chemotherapy may cause disruption to wound healing despite optimum conventional treatment and standard wound dressing. Non-healing wounds are predisposed to infection whereas chemotherapy dose reductions or interruptions are associated with poor survival. Background: Mononuclear cells contain progenitor cells including haematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells, endothelial progenitor cells and fibroblasts which facilitate wound healing through cytokines, growth factor secretions, cell-cell interactions and provision of extracellular matrix scaffolding. Clinical applications of autologous mononuclear cells therapy in wound healing in non-malignant patients with critical limb ischaemia have been reported with remarkable outcome. Methods: We report three patients with haematological malignancies undergoing chemotherapy, who received autologous mononuclear cells implantation to treat non-healing wound after optimum conventional wound care. The sources of mononuclear cells (MNC) were from bone marrow (BM), peripheral blood (PB) and mobilised PB cells (mPB-MNC) using granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). The cells were directly implanted into wound and below epidermis. Wound sizes and adverse effects from implantation were assessed at regular intervals. Results: All patients achieved wound healing within three months following autologous mononuclear cells implantation. No implantation adverse effects were observed. Conclusions: Autologous mononuclear cells therapy is a feasible alternative to conventional wound care to promote complete healing in non-healing wounds compounded by morbid factors such as haematological malignancies, chemotherapy, diabetes mellitus (DM), infections and prolonged immobility.