Winter peaks in web-based public inquiry into epistaxis

European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Epistaxis represents the most frequent ear, nose, throat-related emergency symptom. Seasonal variation in epistaxis incidence, with peaks during winter...     

Rationale and principles of early rehabilitation care after an acute injury or illness

Patients hospitalized for an acute illness or injury are at risk of experiencing a significant loss of functioning as defined by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The risk of a significant loss of functioning is increased in critically ill patients, in patients with complications or long-term intensive care stays, in persons with disabilities or with pre-existing chronic conditions and in the elderly. Early identification of rehabilitation needs and early start of rehabilitation can reduce healthcare costs by reducing dependence and nursing care, length of stay and prevention of disability. Two principles of rehabilitation for acute and early post-acute care can be distinguished. First, the provision of rehabilitation by health professionals who are generally not specialized in rehabilitation in the acute hospital. And second, specialized rehabilitation care provided by an interdisciplinary team. There is large variation how this specialized, typically post-acute rehabilitation care is organized, provided, and reimbursed in different countries, regions, and settings. For instance, it may be provided either in the acute hospital or in a rehabilitation or nursing setting. Most in-patients do not receive specialized rehabilitation at all during their whole stay in the acute hospital. But, it is important to point out that health professionals working in acute hospitals and who are not specialized in rehabilitation need to be able to recognize patients' needs for rehabilitation care and to perform rehabilitation interventions themselves or to assign patients to appropriate rehabilitation care settings. The principles outlined in this paper can serve as a basis for the development of clinical assessment instruments to describe and classify functioning, health and disability of patients receiving acute or early post-acute rehabilitation care.     

Super-resolved thickness maps of thin film phantoms and in vivo visualization of tear film lipid layer using OCT

In optical coherence tomography (OCT), the axial resolution is directly linked to the coherence length of the employed light source. It is currently unclear if OCT allows measuring thicknesses below its axial resolution value. To investigate spectral-domain OCT imaging in the super-resolution regime, we derived a signal model and compared it with the experiment. Several island thin film samples of known refractive indices and thicknesses in the range 46 – 163 nm were fabricated and imaged. Reference thickness measurements were performed using a commercial atomic force microscope. In vivo measurements of the tear film were performed in 4 healthy subjects. Our results show that quantitative super-resolved thickness measurement can be performed using OCT. In addition, we report repeatable tear film lipid layer visualization. Our results provide a novel interpretation of the OCT axial resolution limit and open a perspective to deeper extraction of the information hidden in the coherence volume.OCIS codes: (170.4500) Optical coherence tomography, (170.4470) Ophthalmology     

Identification of relevant ICF categories by geriatric patients in an early post-acute rehabilitation facility

PURPOSE: To describe functioning and health of elderly patients in an early post-acute rehabilitation facility and to identify the most common problems using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). METHODS: Cross-sectional survey in a convenience sample of elderly patients requiring rehabilitation in an early post-acute rehabilitation facility. The second-level categories of the ICF were used to collect information on patients' problems. For the ICF components Body Functions, Body Structures and Activities and Participation, absolute and relative frequencies of impairments/limitations in the study population were reported. For the component Environmental Factors absolute and relative frequencies of perceived barriers or facilitators were reported. RESULTS: The mean age in the sample was 79.9 years. Sixty-nine percent of the patients were female. In 150 patients, 82 ICF categories (34%) had a prevalence of 30% or above. The 82 categories included 22 categories (45%) of the component Body Functions, six categories (15%) of the component Body Structures, 25 categories (34%) of the component Activities and Participation and 29 (57%) categories of the component Environmental Factors. CONCLUSION: This study is a first step towards the development of ICF Core Sets for geriatric patients in early post-acute rehabilitation facilities.     

《国际功能、残疾和健康分类》:对康复策略进行统一概念描述的模式

成功开展康复实践和研究工作的重要基础是将其作为健康策略来全面地描述康复概念，而一个被广泛接受的概念模式与人类功能概念和分类则是健康策略的基础。2001年，世界卫生大会批准了《国际功能、残疾和健康分类3（ICF），并在2005年召开的世界卫生大会上通过关于ICF的《残疾，包括预防、管理和康复》的决议，因此，我们可以依据一种被广泛接受的概念模式解决相关的残疾与康复问题。我们应抓住机遇，及时发展基于ICF的概念描述，它可以作为类似领域概念描述的基础，并根据专业的定义在人类功能与康复研究的不同科学领域中运用康复策略。目前，通过与欧洲医学联盟（UEMS）物理和康复医学（PRM）专业委员会的专家和其专业委员会的紧密合作，笔者已经完成了第一个基于ICF的概念描述的版本，用简短的文字描述康复的定义。PRM专业委员会、卫生部门和其他行业的专业人士共同将该定义应用于服务人群，其目的是让那些健康状况处于残疾或可能会有残疾的人在与环境的交互作用中实现和保持最佳功能。     

Serologic evidence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infections in patients with a history of tick bite in central Slovakia

The aim of this study was to determine the risks of human anaplasmosis in an area of central Slovakia endemic for Lyme borreliosis. The circulation of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in ticks and wild animals has been observed in natural foci in this area for several years. Samples of human sera from patients with Lyme borreliosis and persons with a history of recent tick bite and clinical symptoms indicating Lyme borreliosis were collected in central Slovakia. A total of 76 human sera were analyzed using an indirect HGE IgG immunofluorescent assay kit. IgG antibodies against A. phagocytophilum were found in 19 (25%) sera (15 female, 4 male patients). A. phagocytophilum infection was serologically confirmed in one (3.8%) child, 12 (38.7%) persons aged 22-56 and six (31.6%) persons older than 56. A statistically significant difference in seroprevalence (P < 0.01) was observed between children (3.8%, 1/26) and adults (36%, 18/50). Antibodies against A. phagocytophilum were detected in seven patients with clinically diagnosed Lyme borreliosis and in another seven individuals with assessed antiborrelia antibodies. IgG antibodies against A. phagocytophilum were detected in five persons seronegative for borrelia. The most frequent clinical symptoms in patients with positive A. phagocytophilum serology were cephalalgia, arthralgia, myalgia, fever, exanthema, neurological symptoms and lymphadenopathy. Positive sera were obtained from patients living in villages and towns in the orographic entities Vtácnik (5/19), Stiavnické vrchy (1/19), Kremnické vrchy (10/19) and Ziarska kotlina (3/19). Our results demonstrate the risk of acquiring A. phagocytophilum infection in natural foci in central Slovakia. Human anaplasmosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis, especially in cases of acute febrile illness with tick-bite history.     

Explaining the Disability Paradox: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Swiss General Population

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Disability can be broken down into difficulties in different components of functioning such as impairments and limitations in activities and participation (A&P). Previous studies have produced the seemingly surprising result, that persons with severe impairments tend to report high quality of life (QoL) including perceived health regardless of their condition, the so-called ``disability paradox'. This paradox may be resolved by introducing contextual factors (i.e.~the personal and environmental situation). We aim to study the role of contextual factors in explaining the disability paradox. METHODS: The Swiss Health Survey provides information on the perceived health of 18,760 participants from the general population. We construct a conditional independence graph applying random forests and stability selection in order to represent the structure of impairment, A&P limitation, contextual factors, and perceived health. RESULTS: We find that impairment and A&P limitations are not directly related but only via a cluster of contextual factors. Similarly, impairment and perceived health are not directly related. On the other hand, perceived health is directly connected with A&P limitations. We hypothesize that contextual factors seem to have a moderating and/or mediating effect on the relationship of impairment, A&P limitations, and perceived health. CONCLUSION: The disability paradox seems to dissolve when contextual factors are put into consideration. Contextual factors may be responsible for some persons with impairments developing A&P limitations and others not. In turn, persons with impairments may only then perceive bad health when they experience A&P limitation. Political interventions at the level of the environment may reduce the number of persons who perceive bad health.     

Absence of the fourth cranial nerve in congenital Brown syndrome

Purpose: To elucidate the aetiology of congenital Brown syndrome. Methods: Four consecutive patients diagnosed with unilateral congenital Brown syndrome had a comprehensive standardized ocular motility examination. Any compensatory head posture was measured. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with regard for the IV cranial nerve (CN) was performed in all patients. Orbital MRI was performed in 2/4 patients, with images acquired in eight directions of gaze and superior oblique (SO) muscle areas compared. Results: CN IV could not be identified bilaterally in two patients, but was absent only on the side of the Brown syndrome in the two other patients. On the normal side, orbital MRI revealed a smaller SO muscle area in upgaze than in downgaze, demonstrating normal actions of this muscle. On the side of the Brown syndrome, the SO area remained the same in upgaze and in downgaze and approximately symmetric to the area of SO in downgaze on the normal side. Conclusions: These cases add further anatomical support to the theory of paradoxical innervation in congenital Brown syndrome. CN IV was absent in two patients on the side of the Brown syndrome, but without muscle hypoplasia. SO muscle size did not vary in up‐ and downgaze, which we interpreted as a sign of constant innervation through branches of CN III.