Viral Nervous Necrosis due to Betanodavirus: A Case Study in Pot-Bellied Seahorses (Hippocampus abdominals).

Betanodaviruses, members of the Nodaviridae family, are the causative agents of viral nervous necrosis in fish, resulting in great economic losses worldwide. This is the first case study describing the detection and confirmation of viral nervous necrosis in pot-bellied seahorses (Hippocampus abdominalis) in Australia. Clinical signs of this infection in the seahorses included whirling, floating and cessation of feeding.

Critical Considerations in Emergency Repair of Giant Bilateral Inguinoscrotal Hernias.

This article examines the emergency surgical management of giant bilateral inguinoscrotal hernias through a representative case report. In this case, surgical intervention was required due to an associated cecal volvulus. While acute complications such as bowel strangulation are rare in hernias of this size, delayed presentation and the lack of timely surgical consultation permit significant inguinoscrotal hernia growth.

Partial splenectomy for massive malarial splenomegaly: A unique case from an Australian regional centre.

Introduction And Importance: This report describes a rare and remarkable case of partial splenectomy (PS) performed to manage the sequelae of massive malarial splenomegaly. It is likely the first reported case to date.

Case Presentation: A 40-year-old female from Papua New Guinea presented shocked to a remote hospital in the Torres Strait Islands.

Complex perianal abscess: a case report of shooting from the hip.

The perianal abscess is a common emergency surgical presentation. While in most cases simple drainage suffices, occasionally the abscess can track deeply presenting a management challenge. We describe the case of a complex circumferential horseshoe ischioanal abscess with extension below the levator ani through the greater sciatic notch and into the left gluteal region, with the collection involving the intergluteal space and gluteus maximus.

The evolution of two transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils.

Tasmanian devils have spawned two transmissible cancer lineages, named devil facial tumor 1 (DFT1) and devil facial tumor 2 (DFT2). We investigated the genetic diversity and evolution of these clones by analyzing 78 DFT1 and 41 DFT2 genomes relative to a newly assembled, chromosome-level reference. Time-resolved phylogenetic trees reveal that DFT1 first emerged in 1986 (1982 to 1989) and DFT2 in 2011 (2009 to 2012).

Overview of stab injuries in Far North Queensland: A new insight into the demographics, injury patterns and management.

Background: Cairns Hospital is the northernmost tertiary referral hospital in Far North Queensland (FNQ) and manages trauma from a large catchment area. A large burden of stab injuries occurs in at-risk patient groups, such as Indigenous and mental health patients, in this region. This research aims to present an overview of the demographics, injury patterns, management and outcomes for stabbings injuries in FNQ.

Ventral hernia repair with a hybrid laparoscopic technique.

Background: Ventral hernias are increasingly managed with minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. Invasive open surgery is typically used for the repair of large-sized hernias (>10 cm diameter). The two methods are often considered mutually exclusive.

The impact of acute surgical unit rostering on National Emergency Access Targets during the COVID-19 pandemic: a single hospital experience.

Background: Surgical departments have been dramatically impacted by the novel coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, with the cancellation of elective cases and changes to the provision of emergency surgical care. The aim of this study was to determine whether structural changes made within our facility's surgical department during COVID-19 altered National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) times and impacted on patient outcomes.

Methods: Emergency surgical cases over a 4-month time period were retrospectively collected and statistically analysed, divided into pre- and mid-COVID-19 pandemic.

Appendicitis in Far North Queensland: a new take on an old story.

Background: Appendicitis is a leading cause of surgical hospital admission. To date, there have been no published epidemiological studies describing appendicitis in tropical and remote Australia and none specifically documenting appendicitis in Indigenous Australians. This descriptive study used available state data to investigate appendicitis across Far North Queensland (FNQ).

Expectant management of traumatic intussusception.

Mesenteric injuries and traumatic intussusception are rare surgical presentations following blunt trauma, with potentially life-threatening complications. Diagnosis relies on high clinical suspicion and judicious use of imaging in trauma. Literature suggests that these presentations should always be managed operatively for diagnostic clarity, manual reduction of intussusception and, if indicated, resection of involvement segment.

Caravan explosions: a case series of burns patients at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.

Background: Caravan explosions due to gas cylinder explosions or gas leaks are responsible for a small but significantly injured group of burns patients. Those involved in explosions are sometimes assumed to be at risk of primary blast wave injury; however, the likelihood of such injuries is unclear. The aim of this research was to seek evidence of primary blast injury in groups defined by clinicians as having sustained burns in explosive and non-explosive events.

Evolution and lineage dynamics of a transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils.

Devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1) is a transmissible cancer clone endangering the Tasmanian devil. The expansion of DFT1 across Tasmania has been documented, but little is known of its evolutionary history. We analysed genomes of 648 DFT1 tumours collected throughout the disease range between 2003 and 2018.

Tasman-PCR: a genetic diagnostic assay for Tasmanian devil facial tumour diseases.

Tasmanian devils have spawned two transmissible cancer clones, known as devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1) and devil facial tumour 2 (DFT2). DFT1 and DFT2 are transmitted between animals by the transfer of allogeneic contagious cancer cells by biting, and both cause facial tumours. DFT1 and DFT2 tumours are grossly indistinguishable, but can be differentiated using histopathology, cytogenetics or genotyping of polymorphic markers.

Demonstration of immune responses against devil facial tumour disease in wild Tasmanian devils.

Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a recently emerged fatal transmissible cancer decimating the wild population of Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii). Biting transmits the cancer cells and the tumour develops in the new host as an allograft. The literature reports that immune escape mechanisms employed by DFTD inevitably result in host death.

A second transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils.

Clonally transmissible cancers are somatic cell lineages that are spread between individuals via the transfer of living cancer cells. There are only three known naturally occurring transmissible cancers, and these affect dogs, soft-shell clams, and Tasmanian devils, respectively. The Tasmanian devil transmissible facial cancer was first observed in 1996, and is threatening its host species with extinction.

Transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils: localized lineage replacement and host population response.

Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a clonally transmissible cancer threatening the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) with extinction. Live cancer cells are the infectious agent, transmitted to new hosts when individuals bite each other. Over the 18 years since DFTD was first observed, distinct genetic and karyotypic sublineages have evolved.

Anthropogenic selection enhances cancer evolution in Tasmanian devil tumours.

The Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) provides a unique opportunity to elucidate the long-term effects of natural and anthropogenic selection on cancer evolution. Since first observed in 1996, this transmissible cancer has caused local population declines by >90%. So far, four chromosomal DFTD variants (strains) have been described and karyotypic analyses of 253 tumours showed higher levels of tetraploidy in the oldest strain.

Reversible epigenetic down-regulation of MHC molecules by devil facial tumour disease illustrates immune escape by a contagious cancer.

Contagious cancers that pass between individuals as an infectious cell line are highly unusual pathogens. Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) is one such contagious cancer that emerged 16 y ago and is driving the Tasmanian devil to extinction. As both a pathogen and an allograft, DFTD cells should be rejected by the host-immune response, yet DFTD causes 100% mortality among infected devils with no apparent rejection of tumor cells.

Evolution in a transmissible cancer: a study of the chromosomal changes in devil facial tumor (DFT) as it spreads through the wild Tasmanian devil population.

Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) are the largest extant marsupial carnivores. This species, now confined to Tasmania, is endangered from the emergence of a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). In the present study, we use cytogenetic and molecular techniques to examine the stability of devil facial tumor (DFT) cell lines across time and space.