Which medical centre?

[weedrunkglasgow]

Hi there.

I would appreciate a little guidance and help here.
I have a friend who needs some good international standard medical examinations in Bangkok (a spinal tap to be precise) and would appreciate any advice or recommendations about which medical centre  he should go to ...he is pretty ill (possible brain bacteria or viral agent picked up in Thailand) so I really appreciate your help with this.

Cheers.

[metisdead]

Moving to the Health forum. 

[lopburi3]

You want to wait for Sheryl to reply as she has extensive experience here - but any other details you can provide and if costs are a concern will help her make that choice.  She will be able to advise doctors and the facilities they work - it is the doctors you need to consult as there are good and less so in every facility/even the most well known.  

[Sheryl]

Yes, I need more information in order to recommend the best doctor.

 

He will not be able to just book a spinal tap, it will have to be prescribed and performed by a doctor. At this point I can't even be sure if he needs and Infectious disease specialist or a neurologist.

 

The choice of hospital is not important, spinal taps and analysis of sponal fluid can be done in any medium to large sized hospital in Bangkok. It is the choice of doctor that matters.

[Kwasaki]

If he is that ill take him to emergency department gov hospital and go from there. 

There not all as bad as many say. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by Kwasaki

[lopburi3]

8 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

If he is that ill take him to emergency department gov hospital and go from there. 

There not all as bad as many say. 

Don't believe many say the actual medical treatment is bad but the red tape and waiting can be daunting and there often is very little English ability below doctor levels.  As language ability is rather important during triage/doctor selection would not consider government hospital my first choice if ambulatory unless having specific doctor to see.

[weedrunkglasgow]

On 12/15/2018 at 2:30 PM, Sheryl said:

Yes, I need more information in order to recommend the best doctor.

 

He will not be able to just book a spinal tap, it will have to be prescribed and performed by a doctor. At this point I can't even be sure if he needs and Infectious disease specialist or a neurologist.

 

The choice of hospital is not important, spinal taps and analysis of sponal fluid can be done in any medium to large sized hospital in Bangkok. It is the choice of doctor that matters.

Hi Sheryl!
 

The guy in question has had differential diagnosis for a brain tumour (we are currently in Europe) with some Oncologists saying its a tumour (but they are not all in agreement) and some radiologists saying it looks like encephalitis (viral or bacterial is unsure).
The patient lived in Thailand for quite a while and perhaps he became infected by something in the time he was there.
At this point the patient is NOT opting for a brain biopsy as (again!) medical opinion is divided about the safety of the procedure. So the strategy now is to try to find an Infectious disease doctor in Bangkok or a major city in Thailand who can write an exhaustive list of bacterial and viral agents specific to that area (also including Japanese encephalitis and any other foreign strains that exist there)and then a spinal tap can be done in a clinic or hospital with those agents being screened for.
Phew!

Sorry about the info overload just now but I thought the more you know about this then perhaps the easier it would be to steer the guy in the right direction.
Thank you for any guidance you can offer me on this Sheryl...its much appreciated.

 

Edited January 4, 2019 by weedrunkglasgow

[Sheryl]

I have closed the other thread you started, please do not open multiple threads for the same thing.

 

I am not clear from this last post  whether the patient will actually come here to be treated or he and his doctors are just looking for an Infectious Disease expert in Thailand they can get some general information from on disease prevalent in Thailand. If the latter it seems very strange that his doctors cannot do that on their own or contact the WHO or CDC for help.

 

If the patient will be coming here then I suggest Assoc. Prof  Methee Chayakulkeeree at Siriraj Hospital. Prof. Methee trained in both the US and Australia, has published  extensively in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and has written several text book chapters on infectious disease.

 

Contact him through  http://www.siphhospital.com/en/home

 

 

 

[weedrunkglasgow]

Sheryl, thank you,thank you so much for your help with this. The person in question will head to Thailand asap to try to resolve this (one way or another) or at least be able to discount things from the possible differential opinions.

 

Thank you so much!