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Biomedical subjects

Tor Chiu

Publications and source records attributed to Tor Chiu.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

An anatomical study of the arteries of the anterior nasal septum.

OBJECTIVE: The anterior nasal septum is a clinically important area, yet anatomical descriptions of its arterial pattern are hitherto incomplete. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the arteries of the anterior nasal septum form a fine random network of vessels. STUDY DESIGN: The arterial pattern of the nasal septum was traced by microdissection of 12 cadaveric septa (24 sides). SETTING: Each septum was microdissected with a Watson-Barnet dissecting microscope. Specimens were photographed and the vascular patterns were analyzed. RESULTS: The anterior septum has a consistent large arterial anastomotic triangle receiving major contributions from sphenopalatine, anterior ethmoidal, and superior labial arteries. CONCLUSION: Systematic microdissections clearly demonstrate that the arteries of the anterior septum do not form a random network. Instead, they form a consistent arterial anastomotic triangle consisting of large, thin vessels. SIGNIFICANCE: The study provides background material useful to the understanding of nasal physiology and pathology including epistaxis.

Arteries↗
PubMed2004

Plastic surgery in the undergraduate curriculum: the importance of considering students' perceptions.

As the undergraduate medical curriculum becomes increasingly crowded the competition for time inevitably increases and surgical specialties have decreasing representation. Plastic surgery is regarded with some confusion in terms of its relevance to the generic doctor. Plastic surgeons have no doubt about the relevance of the specialty to undergraduates. Others see this as a very technical specialty dealing with complex reconstructions and surgical interventions or, as a rather indulgent specialty focusing mainly on glamour and cosmesis. This study focuses on students' perceptions of an undergraduate teaching program in plastic surgery. The reality is that highly pressured undergraduates do not have the luxury of time to consider the finer details of the specialties to which they are exposed. Their priority is to pass their examinations and, having addressed that concern, further information becomes an acceptable bonus. The conclusion is that if plastic surgeons are going to gain greater involvement in the undergraduate curriculum they must start with involvement in examinations and assessments. The students will then ensure that adequate and appropriate teaching time is allocated.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2004

Syncope and burns.

Syncope is a common condition that may lead to serious injuries including burns and head injury. To date, here has been no specific discussion of syncope and burns in the literature. A retrospective case-note review of consecutive patients admitted to a Tertiary Burns Centre over a 3.5-year-period was conducted. Five hundred and fifty nine patients were admitted during the study period. Six of these had burns related to alterations of consciousness that excluded alcohol/drug ingestion and epilepsy. The mean percentage body surface area burnt was 9.7%, the mean length of hospital stay was 28.5 days and the mean length of stay per percentage surface area burnt was 4.0 days per percent body surface burnt. The mean size of the injury in syncopal patients is slightly larger than the general burns patients (8.4%) but the length of stay is doubled. This is partly related to surgery being delayed due to investigation of the syncope episode. Focused investigations should reduce both the overall length of hospital stay and the number of investigations.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Allogenic skin in the treatment of burns.

Allogenic skin has had a major role in acute burns care for over 100 years. The principle source of allogenic skin is from cadavers. Allogenic skin provides the gold standard for temporary skin substitutes. The main drawbacks to its wider use are availability and disease transmission. The major obstacle to prolonged use is its immunogenicity. As more effective means are developed to ensure the supply and safety of allogenic skin and novel ways of circumventing the immunologic problems are developed, it is possible that allogenic skin may find a new role as a permanent skin replacement in future burns care.

Burns↗
PubMedDate not supplied

"Xenograft" dressing in the treatment of burns.

Biologic dressings (xenografts and allografts) are an integral part of modern burns care. They provide; reduction of pain and adherence without need for additional fixation; antibacterial action that is a function of its adherence; protection against physical trauma; appropriate heat and moisture retention. Allografts are more effective but supply may be severely restricted. Porcine skin is our standard dressing for partial-thickness burns; it also has a role in providing temporary coverage of full-thickness defects and for debriding burns/ulcers.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Screening Internet websites for educational potential in undergraduate medical education.

This paper addresses the difficulty of finding suitable websites to support undergraduate medical students in learning key concepts and skills in plastic surgery in particular, and other areas of undergraduate medical education in general. Based on a model of the pedagogical elements contained in educational websites, the authors developed a short objective scoring system with five criteria. Pre-university students were used to find websites in plastic surgery. One hundred and fifty of those that were still in place after a year were evaluated using the objective scoring system. Sixty of these were then selected and were subjectively evaluated by final year medical students in terms of their perceived educational potential. There was only a moderate correlation between the objective and subjective scores. Our conclusion is that it does not seem possible to construct any objective system of medical website evaluation. The discussion of the results of this study focuses on the issues involved in finding suitable web-based material and the diversity between students. New strategies such as formally organized consortia involving agreements between medical schools may evolve.

Education, Distance↗