L Zhang, WY Ong and TKY Lee

Induction of P-glycoprotein expression in astrocytes following intracerebroventricular kainate injections.

Published:
Experimental Brain Research, 1999;126:509-516

Subject:
Miscellaneous

 

Amrith, Shantha, Seang Mei Saw, T C Lim and TKY Lee

Ophthalmic involvement in cranio-facial trauma.

Published:
Journal of Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery, 2000; 28: 140-147

Subject:
Miscellaneous

 

Ng, W H, Ning Chou and TKY Lee

Giant aneurysms treated by bilateral cervical carotid artery to proximal middle cerebral artery bypass and balloon embolisation : A case report.

Published:
Journal of Clinical Neurosciences (2001) 8(6), 580-583

Subject:
Miscellaneous

 

TKY Lee, ST Ho, J Khoo

An unusual case of sacrococcygeal teratoma and a short review.

Published:
Annals of Academy of Medicine of Singapore 1985;14(4): 671-5

Subject:
Local Refereed Journals

 

JS Compton, TKY Lee, NR Jones, G Waddell, PJ Teddy

A double blind placebo controlled trial of the calcium blocking drug, nicardipine in the treatment of high doppler flow velocity following severe head injury.

Published:
British Journal of Neurosurgery 1990; 4: 9-16

Subject:
Miscellaneous

 

Biggest tumour, youngest patient

Date of Publication:
26/05/2006

Document:
 application-pdfBiggest_Tumour.pdf

IT was the biggest tumour of this type that he had ever seen.
Dr Timothy Lee also said Asir was the youngest patient he has operated on for such tumours.
‘His tumour was huge. It was about 10cm across and about the size of a tennis ball, sitting in the
middle of the brain,’ said Dr Lee in an interview with The New Paper.
He told Asir’s parents a two-stage operation from two different directions would be needed to take
it out.
‘With this kind of tumour, the only chance is a near total or total excision (removal),’ said Dr Lee.
After the two operations, Asir suffered some complications due to a treatment done before
coming here.
Dr Lee had to do three more minor operations, including inserting tubes to continue draining the
excess fluid build-up in his brain.
Overall, Dr Lee is very happy with the result of the operation.
‘There’s just a tiny bit of tumour left, which is stuck to the hypothalamus and which would have
been too dangerous to remove. That’s why we need chemotherapy,’ said Dr Lee.
Because much of the tumour involved the optical nerve that controls the right eye – that nerve
could not be saved.
‘If I had left that alone, too much tumour would have been left behind and there would been a risk
to his life,’ said Dr Lee.
But Asir’s other optical nerve is intact.
After the operation, when Dr Lee performed the blink test by moving a finger quickly towards his
eye, Asir reacted and blinked.
‘Initially he was also able to stare at the TV.
‘But the water retention problem may have caused some stretching of the nerve, which affected
his eyesight.
‘Hopefully now that the water retention problem is under control, his optical nerve may recover
and he may regain sight in that eye,’ said Dr Lee.
Normally, surgeons treat this type of tumour, known as pilocytic astrocytoma, aggressively.
‘The outcome is very good if we can remove all of the tumour,’ he said.
He said he has treated similar cases.
‘Eight, nine years later, most of those children are well,’ he said.
Asir is also being looked after by an oncologist, an endocrinologist and a paediatrician.

 

Vietnamese Lady Seeks Singapore Surgeon Help

Date of Publication:
01/09/2008

Document:

application-pdf Vietnamese_Minh.pdf

Worried by these health matters, Minh consulted her doctor back in Vietnam who, after a thorough examination, advised her to go for a MRI scan. She was shocked to learn from the results of the scan that she had a brain tumor. That was a mere three months ago.The head of neurosurgery at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam advised her to undergo surgery here and referred her to a well-known neurosurgeon here in Singapore. “We didn’t consider other countries in the region or the western countries,” said Minh’s sister, Hang. “We came to Singapore because it was the most developed city in terms of medicine in Asia. ”They felt that Singapore was well–located geographically and quickly accessible should it be needed for Minh to have more medical help if there were complications after her surgery, during her recuperation period back in Vietnam. Minh quickly corresponded with the neurosurgeon here in Singapore via a flurry of emails immediately after her Vietnamese doctor’s referral. Within a month, Dinh Thi Nguyetminh arrived at Mount Alvernia Hospital in Singapore. Four days later, she went under the knife, for an 18 hour surgery, to remove her brain tumor. Her doctor, Dr. Timothy Lee, pronounced her on the
way to a speedy recovery after the surgery with all her nerves preserved though she was experiencing some
temporary weakness in her facial regions. Both Minh and her sister, Hang, are happy with the help and care they have received here in Singapore, especially with the hospital and are resolute that should they require health care for any other medical problems, they would still return to this “clean, beautiful” island. Minh and Hang have since returned to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, comforted by the fact of a successful surgery and wowed by the level of professional, caring service they have received at the hospital here.

 

Miracle Girl

Date of Publication:
01/11/2007

Document:
application-pdf Miracle_Girl.pdf
Chris Clarissa Wongso was a dedicated student, beautiful little girl and filial daughter until one fateful day that had robbed her innocent childhood. On June 9, 2006, Clarissa was 10 years old then, came out from a swimming pool
experiencing severe headache and nose pain. She vomited and felt weak before she went to sleep that night.
Her condition deteriorated and her parents decided to bring her to the hospital where the doctor found that her blood vessels in the right side of the brain had burst. Knowing her condition, which was so critical, Clarissa was left unattended for 24 hours without receiving any treatment. Mr. Wongso demanded her daughter to be transferred to another hospital as her helplessness had pained and pierced his heart sharply. Clarissa was then operated on June 10, 2006 at 3 pm to remove the blood clot. Two weeks after the first surgery, Clarissa had undergone 5 surgeries to remove fluid and blood clot. Clarissa was then on strong medication as her lungs were infected. The high
dosage of medication had cause liver and kidney failure. A CT Scan was then ordered and found that her left‐brain was bleeding. The team of doctors in Indonesia had expressed their apologies for not being able to manage her
condition any further. Mr. Wongso was devastated hearing that the doctors were able to manage her. He prayed that God would guide him to seek medical treatment in Singapore. Unfortunately, two neurosurgeons that he had met in Singapore had refused to treat Clarissa as her conditions were beyond healing. Mr. Wongso then met Professor/Dr Timothy Lee who was willing to give it a try with God’s hands. Clarissa underwent a major surgery by Dr Lee in October 2006 in Singapore in which Dr Lee had to do a massive clean up of the blood clot in her brain. Another
surgery was performed a week later to install program chiam in order to control the fluid from the brain and to be excreted through urine. She was in the hospital for 2 months before leaving for home. Clarissa had to be back here every 2 months to have her condition monitored. Clarissa has then made a miracle speedy recovery. She is able to utter some words and able to compose notes to make music on her piano. God has given her a “new” life with amazing capabilities to sing and play the piano. She is now undergoing physiotherapies that will teach her to walk and strengthen her muscles. “Thanks Be to God for His Willingness to Walk With Me During My Darkest Days”- I Pray.

 

Beyond Miracle

Date of Publication:
31/07/2008

Document:
application-pdfBeyond_Miracle.pdf
Baby Mohammad Omar Siddiq, the 7th child of Mr. Abdul Razzaq Siddiq was borned on 7 February 2008 in Philippines. He was born healthy and normal weighed 8 pounds. Six months later, in September 2008 during Ramadan month,
his head started to swell and his fontal swelled. He was brought to the Asian Hospital in Philippines where Omar was found to have air in his abdomen and constipated for 5 days. Omar was then diagnosed with Hydrocephaly (water in the brain). Omar was then asked to have CT Scan done and was found to have brain tumor in the right lateral ventricle of the brain with all four ventricles were dilated with water. Omar was diagnosed with Choroid Plexus Papiloma, benign tumor. The surgeon in Philippine had suggested for Omar to undergo a brain surgery to
remove the tumor. Mr. Razzaq hesitated, as he was worried of the risk of his life. He then decided for Omar to have ventricular tap just to put the catheter in the brain ventricle to aspirate the water. The doctor was then able to aspirate 50 ml of water. The second ventricular tap was not as successful as it was only 15 cc of water drawn out.
In October 6, 2008, baby Omar had to undergo a surgery in order to place a tube in the ventricle, which goes under the skin and the other tube, was inserted in the peritoneal cavity. Water could then be drained out from his peritoneal abdominal cavity. Omar was initially responding well as water could be removed. Only after a month later, his abdominal cavity was not able to absorb any more water resulting in enlarged waistline, which reached 62 cm.As baby Omar’s condition worsened, Mr. Razzaq moved him to Manila Medical Center where doctor performed abdominal peracythesis in which a catheter was inserted with the ultrasound guided to aspirate the water. Doctor was able to drain out 2.5 l of fluid from his abdomen. Omar’s condition deteriorated as his blood pressure (BP) was low and he was dehydrated and breathless. He was then on IV fluid to hydrate him. Two days later, baby Omar was brought him and again, his abdomen grew big up to 63 cm. 2 On February 1, 2009, he was brought to ICU in Asian Hospital, Manila, as his condition was critical. Doctor was able to draw out 8 l water. Doctor was then draining water on daily basis with approximately 2 l per day. On February 14, 2008, Omar was then transferred to the ward and the next day, his lungs were filled with water. His chest cavity was filled with water causing his lungs to
collapse. The doctor then drew fluid from both his abdomen and his cavity on a daily basis. On March 8, 2009, Mr. Razzaq finally decided to bring baby Omar to Singapore to seek medical treatment. He was admitted to neonatal ICU upon his arrival. Water had to be drained on a daily basis both from his cavity and abdomen. He was given 5 l of IV fluid to replace the 5 l of water that was drawn daily. Baby Omar was under the care of professor/ Dr Timothy Lee who is a profound neurosurgeon. Dr lee decided to exteriorize so that water could accumulate in the plastic bag instead. His condition was stabilized enough for him to undergo a major surgery to remove his tumor.On March 26, 2009, baby Omar underwent an eight‐hour surgery in which Dr Lee successfully removed the 9 cm tumor. A day after his surgery, he had fit and his BP was high. Medication was administered to lower his BP. A CT Scan was then ordered to determine the cause of the fit. CT Scan revealed no bleeding and the fit was just the irritation of the operation. Omar continued to have high fever till March 31, 2009. Baby Omar’s condition was then progressively improving. He started drinking milk. Dr Lee discharged him on April 4, 2009. He is doing well now. The team of
doctors and nurses organized a party to celebrate his miracle recovery. Indeed, baby Omar is God sent miracle baby.

 

Four men behind made-in-S’pore penile implant.

Date of Publication:

30/11/2002

Document:
application-pdfPenile_Implant.pdf
Tiny implant, the work of British inventor, Hongkonger and two Singaporeans, raises hope for
men with erectile dysfunction
THE world’s smallest and cheapest penile implant made the news recently with a Singapore
company being the only one in the world to reproduce it commercially.
But conceiving it took several years and four people – a British inventor, a Hongkong-born
neurosurgeon, and two Singaporean veterans in the biotechnology business.
The story behind the penile implant, which caught the public’s eye at a sexology conference a
fortnight ago, harks back to 1987, when the Hongkong-born Dr Timothy Lee arrived at the
Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England, for neurosurgical training.
There he met and worked with prominent scientist Giles Brindley, who had invented, among other
things, a microchip implant to help spinal-injury patients regain bladder and bowel control.
In 1990, Dr Lee returned to Singapore with his Singaporean wife, but maintained ties with his
mentor.
Dr Brindley flew over a couple of times to help him start the microchip implant programme, using
implants made in Britain.
Their foray into business started when an American firm bought over the marketing rights to the
microchip device, and started charging more than double the price.
‘It became quite unaffordable for Asian patients,’ said Dr Lee, 45, now a senior consultant
neurosurgeon with his own practice at Gleneagles Hospital.
‘So two years ago, I suggested to Dr Brindley, why not produce it here at a much lower cost for
Asian patients? We can also modify some problems in the previous prototype,’ he told The Straits
Times.
Dr Brindley, 76, decided to give it a shot. ‘Economic conditions in the European Union, though
favourable for big businesses, are very unfavourable for smaller ones,’ he said in an e-mail
interview.
Dr Lee got two local friends on board as well, and the four-man outfit was born. Micro Implant’s
first product was a refined version of the microchip implant, which it prices at about $3,000 – a
steal compared to the $13,000 to $14,000 of the older version.
But, as Dr Lee pointed out, a company cannot survive on just one product.
Three months ago, they began work on the penile implant – yet another brainchild of Dr Brindley –
which has since been tested on two local men. They are reported to be coping well.
The penile implant works through a pump implanted in the scrotum. One squeeze is all it takes to
release a drug dosage into the penis, stimulating an erection.
The device, which could benefit more than two-thirds of men suffering from erectile dysfunction, is
20 times smaller and more than four times cheaper than conventional ones, which cost about
$9,000.
Also on the cards is an electronic device to help patients suffering from chronic pain, revealed Dr
Lee.
While Micro Implant has plans to market its products regionally, details have not yet been firmed
up.
It is still early days yet, and the firm is starting modestly, he stressed.
Undoubtedly, like the penile implant produced here by a contractor in Eunos Technopark, they
hope to rise to the challenge.