Improving Prenatal Diagnosis of Coarctation of the Aorta

Background

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the association between fetal echocardiographic measurements and the need for intervention (primary coarctation repair, staged coarctation repair, or catheter intervention) in prenatally diagnosed coarctation of the aorta.

Stress Testing Versus CT Angiography in Patients With Diabetes and Suspected Coronary Artery Disease

Background

The optimal noninvasive test (NIT) for patients with diabetes and stable symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD) is unknown.

Are Medicare's Nursing Home Compare Ratings Accurate Predictors of 90-Day Complications,Readmission, and Bundle Cost for Patients Undergoing Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty?

Background

Nursing Home Compare (NHC) ratings, created and maintained by Medicare, are used by both hospitals and consumers to aid in the skilled nursing facility (SNF) selection process. To date, no studies have linked NHC ratings to actual episode-based outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether NHC ratings are valid predictors of 90-day complications, readmission, and bundle costs for patients discharged to an SNF after primary total joint arthroplasty (TJA).

Learning a high-precision locomotor task in patients with Parkinson's disease.

We evaluated the acquisition and performance of a high-precision locomotor task in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy subjects. All subjects walked on a treadmill and had to step repetitively as low as possible over an obstacle without touching it. During blocks 1 and 2, the subjects had full vision and received additional acoustic warning and feedback signals. During block 3, vision became restricted. Changes in foot clearance and the number of obstacle hits were evaluated. Initially, PD patients performed poorer and improved foot clearance slower. After task repetition, the groups performed similarly. Restricting vision deteriorated performance in both groups. The similar performance of PD patients after task repetition might indicate that adequate training could improve adaptive locomotor behavior in PD patients.     

Increasing the efficiency of Monte Carlo cohort simulations with variance reduction techniques.

The authors discuss techniques for Monte Carlo (MC) cohort simulations that reduce the number of simulation replications required to achieve a given degree of precision for various output measures. Known as variance reduction techniques, they are often used in industrial engineering and operations research models, but they are seldom used in medical models. However, most MC cohort simulations are well suited to the implementation of these techniques. The authors discuss the cost of implementation versus the benefit of reduced replications.     

Proceedings of the 2006 annual meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group.

This article describes the proceedings of the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group (FASDSG), which was held in Baltimore, Maryland on June 24, 2006. The meeting was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism and was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The 2005-2006 FASDSG officers, Daniel J. Bonthius (President), Heather Carmichael Olson (Vice-President), and Jennifer Thomas (Secretary-Treasurer), organized the meeting. Nationally prominent speakers delivered plenary lectures on topics of newborn screening, ethics, and neuroscience. Selected members of the FASDSG provided brief scientific data (FASt) reports, describing new research findings. Representatives from national agencies involved in fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) research, treatment, and prevention provided updates regarding priorities, funding, and agency activities. Presentations were also made by the 2006 Student Merit Award recipient and by the 2006 Rosett Award recipient. The meeting served as a forum for clinicians, neuroscientists, psychologists, social scientists, and other professionals to discuss recent advances in FAS research and to identify the most important gaps in the understanding of alcohol-induced teratology.