The Continuing Value of Electron Microscopy in Surgical Pathology

For decades, transmission electron microscopy has played a valuable diagnostic role in surgical pathology. The continuing importance of electron microscopy, however, can be debated, given the major advances that have occurred in immunohistochemistry and other techniques. Electron microscopy retains excellent educational potential and broad research applicability, and it continues to be a necessity for the evaluation of a small subset of surgical pathology cases, such as renal biopsies and cilia specimens. The real controversy, then, centers on the contribution of electron microscopy in the evaluation of neoplasms. The opinion of many experts indicates that electron microscopy is still vital in the diagnostic assessment of some neoplasms, and that both electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry are more powerful when viewed as complementary rather than competitive techniques. For electron microscopy to be used to its potential, however, electron microscopists must function effectively as consultants. When optimally applied, electron microscopy remains an essential diagnostic tool.     

云南省级某综合医院精神科联络-会诊现状及其相关因素

目的 探讨云南省级某综合医院住院患者精神科联络会诊现状及相关因素.方法 收集某三甲医院1a内向精神科请求会诊服务的487名患者,对患者人口学资料、申请会诊科室、精神障碍病种、会诊后精神科处理情况等进行统计分析.结果 在接受精神科会诊服务的患者中,平均年龄为(57.14±16.59)岁,最大92岁,其中以40 ～ 70岁居多,女性(52.4％)稍高于男性(47.6％).申请会诊较多的科室依次为消化、神内、创伤、心内、呼吸.常见精神障碍为情绪障碍、神经症、器质性精神障碍、睡眠障碍等.会诊后精神科的处理主要有抗抑郁/焦虑药、抗精神病药、抗抑郁药合用抗精神病药、镇静催眠药、心理干预.结论 综合医院普通临床科室有较大的精神科会诊需求,但非精神科医生的对精神障碍的识别、处理能力及生物-心理-社会医学模式的意识还有待提高.     

What to listen for in the consultation. Breast cancer patients’ own focus on talking about acceptance-based psychological coping predicts decreased psychological distress and depression

Objective

To analyze whether qualitative themes in breast cancer patients’ self-presentations predicted symptoms of psychological distress and depression in order to improve the consultation process.

Methods

Ninety-seven breast cancer patients gave unstructured, 10-min self-presentations at their first consultation in a clinical registered trial (CRT identifier: NCT00990977). Self-presentations were categorized thematically and the most prevalent themes investigated as predictors for scores on the symptom check-list 90-revised (SCL-90-R) and the center for epidemiological studies depression scale (CES-D).

Results

Among the qualitative themes, only the percentage of words spent on talking about ‘Acceptance-based psychological coping’ was related to symptoms. In regression models controlling for age, education and time since diagnosis, a stronger focus on acceptance-based coping predicted less psychological distress and depression, respectively. A cross-validation including only the first few minutes of speech per patient confirmed these results and supported their practical utility in health consultations.

Conclusion

Patients’ focus on acceptance-based coping significantly predicted decreased psychological distress and depression, respectively. No other qualitative themes predicted symptoms. Doctor–patient studies may benefit from combined qualitative–quantitative methods.

Practice implications

While quantitative symptom assessment is important for a consultation, health care providers may improve their understanding of patients by attending to patients’ presentations of acceptance-based psychological coping.     

A review of inpatient urology consultations in an Irish tertiary referral centre

IntroductionOur institution is a 680-bed tertiary referral centre with broad medical and surgical subspecialty services. We retrospectively audited the pattern of inpatient consultations from all specialities within our institution to the urology department over a 1-year period.MethodsAll consultations to the urology service were identified from our computerised inpatient consultation system from July 2010 to June 2011. Follow up data on investigations, interventions and subsequent outpatient appointments were also identified by review of individual patient discharge letters.ResultsSeven hundred and twenty five inpatient consultations were received over the period. The male to female ratio was 7:3. Mean age of patients was 66 (15–96) years. Seventy three percent of referrals were from medical sub-specialities, most commonly nephrology (17%), gastroenterology (11%) and respiratory medicine (9%). The remainder were from general surgery (16%) and other surgical sub specialities (11%). Interns (66%) and senior house officers (SHO) (28%) communicated the majority of consults. Male lower urinary tract/benign prostate related issues resulted in 25% of all consultations. Less than half of consults (47%) resulted in interventions initiated by urology, most commonly of which were catheter insertions (48%) and endoscopic procedures (35%). Only 43% of consultations were followed up in the outpatients setting.ConclusionsInpatient consultations constitute a significant workload for urology services. The majority of these referrals did not require any urological intervention and could have been seen routinely in the outpatient setting. Providing structured referral guidelines and achieving better communication with referring teams may help to optimise this service.     

Factors influencing prioritization for carpal tunnel syndrome consultation

BACKGROUND:

In a socialized medicine model, prioritization of referrals for specialist consultation is highly important in the distribution of heath care. For high-burden diseases, such as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), the factors that influence prioritization are not well understood.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the factors that influence the prioritization of referrals for CTS consultation by plastic surgeons in Canada.

METHODS:

All members of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgery with e-mail addresses were invited to participate in an online survey regarding the method by which they prioritize referrals for CTS.

RESULTS:

Forty per cent of invited members completed the survey (150 surgeons). Of these, 118 (79%) stated that they performed CTS surgery. The majority of respondents who performed CTS surgery prioritized their consultation list chronologically (77%). Factors that would alter the chronological order or prioritization included subsequent contact by the referring physician (24%); personal relationship with the patient (16%); and specific information in the referral letter (15%), which usually involved symptom severity or electromyography findings. Sixty-six per cent of plastic surgeons stated that there was no conscious decision on how they came to choose the method of prioritization they used for referrals regarding CTS.

DISCUSSION:

The majority of plastic surgeons in Canada prioritize referrals for consultation on CTS chronologically. A minority of respondents reported reassigning priority based on clinical severity. The rationale for the methods by which Canadian Society of Plastic Surgery members prioritize these referrals is poorly understood. Further study on developing evidence-based prioritization methods may be useful in assisting surgeons and their patients in outcome-based decisions.     

Making drug policy together: Reflections on evidence,engagement and participation

This commentary considers the relationship between evidence, engagement and participation in drug policy governance. It argues that the use of various forms of evidence (for example, statistical data and service user narratives) is critical for meaningful stakeholder engagement and public participation in drug policy, as well as effective policy design and implementation. The respective roles of these different kinds of evidence in consultation processes need to be better understood. It discusses the limits of evidence, which it suggests is rarely conclusive or decisive for drug policy. This is partly because of the incompleteness of most research agendas and the lack of consensus among researchers, but also because issues in drug policy are inherently contestable, involving considerations that lie outside the competency of drug policy specialist as such. In particular, this is because they involve normative and evaluative issues that are properly political (for example, about the relative weight to be accorded to different kinds of harm and benefit). It concludes by supporting calls for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between evidence, engagement and politics than is implicit in the term ‘evidence based policy’. It also argues that we should view the inherent contestability of drug policy not as something that can or should be resolved by ‘objective’ evidence, but as a source of vitality and creativity in policy development and evaluation.     

我院2010-2013年临床药师参与细菌感染性病例会诊分析

目的:分析临床药师参与细菌感染性病例会诊特点及变化趋势,为临床药师进一步开展工作提供参考。方法:对我院2010-2013年临床药师参与会诊的细菌感染性病例进行分析,包括会诊数量、科室分布、会诊目的以及感染部位等。结果:2010-2013年我院临床药师共参与感染性病例会诊1 201例次,2012年总的会诊数量最多,占42.3%;会诊病例以肺部感染为主;会诊意见采纳率及临床有效率均逐年上升。结论:临床药师参与细菌感染性病例会诊的数量、范围、意见采纳程度及临床效果逐年提高,但仍存在临床经验不足、知识陈旧等问题,尚需进一步提高会诊能力。     

Impact of cardiology referral: clinical outcomes and factors associated with physicians' adherence to recommendations

OBJECTIVES:

Cardiology referral is common for patients admitted for non-cardiac diseases. Recommendations from cardiologists may involve complex and aggressive treatments that could be ignored or denied by other physicians. The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of patients who were given recommendations during cardiology referrals and to examine the clinical outcomes of patients who did not follow the recommendations.

METHODS:

We enrolled 589 consecutive patients who received in-hospital cardiology consultations. Data on recommendations, implementation of suggestions and outcomes were collected.

RESULTS:

Regarding adherence of the referring service to the recommendations, 77% of patients were classified in the adherence group and 23% were classified in the non-adherence group. Membership in the non-adherence group (p<0.001; odds ratio: 10.25; 95% CI: 4.45-23.62) and advanced age (p = 0.017; OR: 1.04; 95% CI: 1.01-1.07) were associated with unfavorable outcomes. Multivariate analysis identified four independent predictors of adherence to recommendations: follow-up notes in the medical chart (p<0.001; OR: 2.43; 95% CI: 1.48-4.01); verbal reinforcement (p = 0.001; OR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.23-2.81); a small number of recommendation (p = 0.001; OR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.80-0.94); and a younger patient age (p = 0.002; OR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.96-0.99).

CONCLUSIONS:

Poor adherence to cardiology referral recommendations was associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes. Follow-up notes in the medical chart, verbal reinforcement, a limited number of recommendations and a patient age were associated with greater adherence to recommendations.