Twenty-nine adult patients with culture-positive thoracic empyema were seen at the University Hospital Kuala Lumpur from 1984 to 1988. Cough, fever, chest pain, dyspnoea and weight loss were the common presenting symptoms. The empyema in 16 patients was associated with primary bronchopulmonary infections, nine occurred following thoracentesis of culture-sterile pleural effusions, two occurred a...

The culture of a home directly affects the quality of life of residents. A positive culture has the ethos of care built around the resident. It is based on evidence of what makes good care and is continually effective within a changing health and social care context. Effective leadership and management and the availability of expert advice are paramount in creating and maintaining a positive cu...

We have reviewed the clinical presentation of 100 consecutive culture positive cases of brucellosis which came under our care during the last two years. Of these, six had atypical presentations and but for the routine practice of sending blood for brucella culture, the diagnosis would have been missed. The unusual presentations included a 19 year old boy presenting as an acute abdomen ending in...

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, many of us are planning ahead for our favorite and most elaborate meal of the year. We make shopping lists, line up our kitchen hardware, choreograph our stoves and microwaves, and delegate dessert to the people we trust. It works best when managed from the top down (by my UC Berkeley friend Matt Francis, for example), with attention to detail, careful risk ass...