Allergen avoidance in the secondary and tertiary prevention of allergic diseases: does it work?

Although allergen avoidance is widely recommended as part of a secondary and tertiary prevention strategy for allergic diseases, a clear-cut demonstration of its effectiveness is still lacking. Ongoing observational secondary prevention cohorts show that sensitisation to mite can be prevented in the short term by allergen avoidance measures, but further follow-up of these children is needed to show if this effect can be sustained, as well as to ascertain its impact on allergic disease. More well-designed trials are still required before we can give any conclusive advice to our patients. Considering the management of allergy, current evidence suggests that interventions in children (either single or multifaceted) may be associated with some beneficial effect on asthma control, but no conclusive evidence exists regarding rhinitis or eczema. Conversely, there is little evidence to support the recommendation of allergen avoidance methods in adults with asthma and rhinitis. There is a need for an adequately designed trial assessing the effects of a multifaceted intervention in this age group.     

Intracranial Angioplasty and Stenting in the Awake Patient

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Endovascular treatment for intracranial atherosclerosis is evolving, but complications remain an issue. Most interventions are performed under general anesthesia, preventing intraprocedural clinical evaluations. We describe our approach to intracranial angioplasty and stenting, using local rather than general anesthesia, and intraprocedural neurological assessment. METHODS: We prospectively collected procedural and outcome information on all patients undergoing intracranial angioplasty and stenting. Patients underwent interventions under local anesthesia with mild intravenous sedation or analgesia only if needed. Intraoperative neurological evaluations were performed, and symptomatology was used to guide the interventional technique. RESULTS: Forty-eight arteries in 40 patients with a mean age of 65.2 years were treated. Thirty-two anterior and 16 posterior circulation segments were treated. Technical success was achieved in 100% of patients with reduction of the mean pretreatment stenosis from 85 +/- 8.6% to 7 +/- 10.1%. Stents were deployed in 40 segments; five patients were treated with drug-eluting stents. The cobalt-chromium coronary stents were the easiest to deliver. Thirty-seven patients were treated under local anesthesia and, of those, 61.4% experienced intraprocedural symptoms that led to some alteration of the interventional technique. Headache was the most common symptom, and, when persistent, it heralded the occurrence of subarachnoid hemorrhage. There were seven total neurological complications, but only five (10.5%) led to permanent morbidity (4 strokes) or mortality (1 death). CONCLUSIONS: Intracranial angioplasty and stenting can be successfully performed using coronary techniques and equipment including drug-eluting stents. Local anesthesia permits neurological evaluations and often leads to the adjustment of the interventional technique, potentially making the procedure safer.     

1992～2001年海南省结核病防治工作情况分析

目的　分析海南省结核病防治工作现状和经验。方法 根据全省各市(县)上报的结核病报表和有关总结材料,分析结核病现状、防治对策及效果。结果 海南省应用现代结核病控制策略以来,1992～2000年共检查可疑肺结核病患者192077例,查痰48670例,查痰率25.3%。发现并登记活动性肺结核病人31822例,其中涂阳病人22946例,涂阳新登记率从1992年12.8/10万上升到2000年48.4/10万。至2001年12月止,共治愈了21625例涂阳病人,总治愈率达94.2%。结论 海南省结核病疫情严重,近10年来经过应用现代结核病控制策略,取得显著成效,证明该策略是控制结核病流行最有效的技术措施。     

胸腰椎骨折术后内固定松动、断裂的原因及预防

目的 探讨椎弓根螺钉系统用于胸腰椎骨折术后出现松动、断裂的原因，并提出相应的预防对策。方法 12例胸腰椎骨折术后内固定失效病例，采用RF系统3例，AF系统9例。均未行植骨融合，AF系统中未按要求安装横连结3例，术后伤椎前缘高度平均恢复至正常的85．2％。结果 术后8—21个月出现棒断裂4例，螺钉断裂3例，钉帽松动5例。结论 内固定物的自身问题、术者的经验欠缺及操作不规范是胸腰椎骨折术后椎弓根螺钉系统松动、断裂的原因，但伤椎骨结构未能得到良好重建及术后椎间盘退变可能是其更重要的因素。因此重视内固定物的选择、加强规范操作，强调对损伤椎体及椎间盘的全面处理是预防内固定失效的有效措施。     

Toward affordable,sustainable eye care

Adapted from Keynote Addresses to the 5th General Assembly of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Berlin, Germany, May 9, 1994, and to the International Congress of Ophthalmology, Toronto, Canada, June 29, 1994.     

Nontraumatic glenohumeral instability and coracoacromial impingement in swimmers

Competitive swimming is one of the most demanding and time-consuming sports. Swimmers at elite level practice 20–30 h per week. During 1 year's practice, the average top level swimmer performs more than 500,000 stroke revolutions per arm. These innumerable repetitions over many years of hard training together with an increasing muscular imbalance around the shoulder girdle seem to be the main etiological factors in the development of the overuse syndrome swimmer's shoulder. Shoulder pain in swimmers has in general been regarded as synonymous with coracoacromial impingement, i.e. anterior shoulder pain due to rotator cuff tendinitis, but new knowledge suggests that a concomitant glenohumeral instability plays an additional role. The diagnostic complexity of the problem is as challenging as the search for the gold standard of treatment. The condition should ideally be diagnosed as early as possible, and intensive functional rehabilitation of the shoulder girdle including the scapular muscles should be started in order to restore muscle balance. The surgical possibilities include subacromial decompression in cases of purely mechanical impingement. If a painful glenohumeral instability persists after intensive functional rehabilitation, anterior capsulolabral reconstruction can be performed. Still, however, short- and long-term results show that surgery is less successful in elite athletes involved in overhead sports. Prevention protocols include education of coaches in primary injury prophylaxis and the institution of resistance strength training in prepubescent swimmers. Emphasis should be made to improve muscular balance around the glenohumeral and scapulothoracic joints.     

The biomechanics of vibration and low back pain

This work is a review of the mechanical factors related to low back pain production in a vibration environment. The sitting posture is an extreme orientation for the lumbar intervertebral disc that 1) increases its internal pressure, 2) increases its anteroposterior shear flexibility, while: 3) decreasing its resistance to buckling instability and 4) stressing the posterior region of the disc. Vibration is an additional mechanical stressor. Several studies suggest that the following preventive measures be taken to reduce the risk of low back pain due to driving: 1) minimize the vibration reaching the driver, 2) avoid lifting or bending immediately following driving, and 3) walk around for a few minutes following driving. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Advances in Statistical Methods for Substance Abuse Prevention Research

The paper describes advances in statistical methods for prevention research with a particular focus on substance abuse prevention. Standard analysis methods are extended to the typical research designs and characteristics of the data collected in prevention research. Prevention research often includes longitudinal measurement, clustering of data in units such as schools or clinics, missing data, and categorical as well as continuous outcome variables. Statistical methods to handle these features of prevention data are outlined. Developments in mediation, moderation, and implementation analysis allow for the extraction of more detailed information from a prevention study. Advancements in the interpretation of prevention research results include more widespread calculation of effect size and statistical power, the use of confidence intervals as well as hypothesis testing, detailed causal analysis of research findings, and meta-analysis. The increased availability of statistical software has contributed greatly to the use of new methods in prevention research. It is likely that the Internet will continue to stimulate the development and application of new methods.     

Familias Unidas: The Efficacy of an Intervention to Promote Parental Investment in Hispanic Immigrant Families

This paper reports a test of the efficacy of Familias Unidas, a Hispanic-specific, ecologically focused, parent-centered preventive intervention, in promoting protection against and reducing risk for adolescent behavior problems. Specifically, the intervention was designed to foster parental investment, reduce adolescent behavior problems, and promote adolescent school bonding/academic achievement, all protective factors against drug abuse and delinquency. One-hundred sixty seven Hispanic families of 6th and 7th grade students from three South Florida public schools were stratified by grade within school and randomly assigned to intervention and no-intervention control conditions. Results indicated that Familias Unidas was efficacious in increasing parental investment and decreasing adolescent behavior problems, but that it did not significantly impact adolescent school bonding/academic achievement. Summer-vacation rates of adolescent behavior problems were six times higher in the control condition than in the intervention condition. Furthermore, change in parental investment during the intervention was predictive of subsequent levels of adolescent behavior problems. The findings suggest that Familias Unidas is efficacious in promoting protection and reducing risk for adolescent problem behaviors in poor immigrant Hispanic families.