Community mental health centers and insurance reimbursements

This study represents the first of a two-stage project. The first phase of the study examined the funding sources for the 40 Community Services Boards in Virginia. Data provided from the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation in Virginia examined fee collections which are comprised of direct client, commercial insurance, Medicaid and Medicare. An analysis of quarterly reports from 1982 to 1984 revealed that Medicaid collections have decreased significantly, while commercial insurance reimbursements have increased significantly. These results, although limited to data from Virginia, point to the need to examine if these shifts are occurring nation-wide, and to determine if the shift toward commercial insurance is impacting upon the delivery of services in Community Mental Health Centers.     

Addition of bevacizumab to bolus fluorouracil and leucovorin in first-line metastatic colorectal cancer: results of a randomized phase II trial.

PURPOSE: Bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, increases survival when combined with irinotecan-based chemotherapy in first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). This randomized, phase II trial compared bevacizumab plus fluorouracil and leucovorin (FU/LV) versus placebo plus FU/LV as first-line therapy in patients considered nonoptimal candidates for first-line irinotecan. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients had metastatic CRC and one of the following characteristics: age > or = 65 years, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 1 or 2, serum albumin < or = 3.5 g/dL, or prior abdominal/pelvic radiotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned to FU/LV/placebo (n = 105) or FU/LV/bevacizumab (n = 104). The primary end point was overall survival. Secondary end points were progression-free survival, response rate, response duration, and quality of life. Safety was also assessed. RESULTS: Median survival was 16.6 months for the FU/LV/bevacizumab group and 12.9 months for the FU/LV/placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.79; P = .16). Median progression-free survival was 9.2 months (FU/LV/bevacizumab) and 5.5 months (FU/LV/placebo); hazard ratio was 0.50; P = .0002. Response rates were 26.0% (FU/LV/bevacizumab) and 15.2% (FU/LV/placebo) (P = .055); duration of response was 9.2 months (FU/LV/bevacizumab) and 6.8 months (FU/LV/placebo); hazard ratio was 0.42; P = .088. Grade 3 hypertension was more common with bevacizumab treatment (16% v 3%) but was controlled with oral medication and did not cause study drug discontinuation. CONCLUSION: Addition of bevacizumab to FU/LV as first-line therapy in CRC patients who were not considered optimal candidates for first-line irinotecan treatment provided clinically significant patient benefit, including statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival.     

Gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography in the clinical outcomes utilizing revascularization and aggressive drug evaluation (COURAGE) trial, Veterans Administration Cooperative study no. 424

Background  Stress gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (gSPECT) is increasingly used before and after intercurrent therapeutic intervention and is the basis for ongoing evaluation in the Department of Veterans Affairs clinical outcomes utilizing revascularization and aggressive drug evaluation (COURAGE) trial. Methods and Results  The COURAGE trial is a North American multicenter randomized clinical trial that enrolled 2287 patients to aggressive medical therapy vs percutaneous coronary intervention plus aggressive medical therapy. Three COURAGE nuclear substudies have been designed. The goals of substudy 0 are to examine the diagnostic accuracy of the extent and severity of inducible ischemia at baseline in COURAGE patients compared with patient symptoms and quantitative coronary angiography and to explore the relationship between inducible ischemia and the benefit from revascularization when added to medical therapy. Substudy 1 will correlate the extent and severity of provocative ischemia with the frequency, quality, and instability of recurrent symptoms in postcatheterization patients. Substudy 2 (n _ 300) will examine the usefulness of sequential gSPECT monitoring 6 to 18 months after therapeutic intervention. Together, these nuclear substudies will evaluate the role of gSPECT to determine the effectiveness of aggressive risk-factor modifications, lifestyle interventions, and anti-ischemic medical therapies with or without revascularization in reducing patients’ ischemic burdens. Conclusions  The unfolding of evidence on the application of gSPECT in trials such as COURAGE defines a new era for nuclear cardiology. We hope the evidence that emerges from the COURAGE trial will further establish the role of nuclear imaging in the evidence-based management of patients with stable coronary disease. The COURAGE trial was supported by the Cooperative Studies Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Unrestricted research grants were obtained from Merck & Co; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging; Astellas Pharma; Kos Pharmaceuticals; Data Scope; Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals; Astra-Zeneca-Canada; Schering-Plough Coorporation, Ltd; Sanofi-Aventis, Inc; First Horizon; and GE Healthcare. All industrial funding for this trial was directed through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additional funding for this substudy was provided by grants to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Canadian Institutes of Health Research from Astellas Pharma and Bristol-Myers-Squibb Medical Imaging.     

Evaluation of gastric emptying in familial and sporadic Parkinson disease

ObjectiveTo assess for the presence of gastric dysmotility in familial and sporadic Parkinson disease (PD).Methods10 subjects with familial Parkinson disease (fPD), 35 subjects with sporadic Parkinson disease (sPD), and 15 controls, all from academic tertiary care movement disorders centers, were studied. fPD was defined as the presence of at least 2 affected individuals within 2–3 consecutive generations in a family. Molecular genetic analysis has not revealed, thus far, any known genomic abnormality in these families. Gastric emptying was assessed by dynamic abdominal scintigraphy over 92 min following ingestion of a solid meal containing 99mTc-labeled colloid of 40 MBq activity. The main outcome measures were gastric emptying half-time and radiotracer activity over the gastric area at 46 and at 92 min.ResultsGastric emptying time was delayed in 60% of subjects with PD. In comparison to mean t_1/2 of 38 ± 7 min in controls, mean t_1/2 was 58 ± 25 min in fPD (p = 0.02) and 46 ± 25 min in sPD (p = 0.10). Both fPD and sPD groups included subjects with delayed gastric emptying at an early stage of disease.ConclusionsPatients with fPD showed significantly delayed gastric emptying in comparison to normal age-matched individuals. Further studies of gastrointestinal dysfunction in PD, particularly fPD, are warranted.     

Trigeminal amyloidoma: case report and review of the literature.

The authors present a case of amyloid infiltration involving the trigeminal nerve that mimicked a malignant cavernous sinus tumor with perineural tumor infiltration. A 64-year-old man presented with trigeminal nerve numbness. Imaging revealed a plaque-like enhancing lesion along the right lateral cavernous sinus extending anteriorly into Meckel's cave and involving the proximal V2 and V3 branches of the trigeminal nerve. The patient underwent an extradural frontotemporal craniotomy with middle fossa exposure of the cavernous sinus to diagnose and treat the presumed malignant cavernous sinus tumor. A reddish mass involving the lateral dural wall of the cavernous sinus was resected. The gasserian ganglion, V2, and V3, the latter of which was biopsied, were enlarged. Permanent histopathological studies showed microscopic eosinophilic, amorphous material, which stained positive for Congo red, and an absence of neoplastic cells. The final diagnosis was amyloidoma. Thus, amyloidomas can involve the trigeminal nerve or ganglia and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a cavernous sinus lesion mimicking a tumor. Patients may have symptomatic improvement of trigeminal neuropathy with resection of the amyloidoma outside the nerve capsule that is compressing the nerve, while resection of the lesion from within the capsule may result in permanent trigeminal nerve dysfunction.     

Evidence-based assessment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents.

This article examines evidence-based assessment practices for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The nature, symptoms, associated features, and comorbidity of ADHD are briefly described, followed by a selective review of the literature on the reliability and validity of ADHD assessment methods. It is concluded that symptom rating scales based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM-IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), empirically and rationally derived ADHD rating scales, structured interviews, global impairment measures, and behavioral observations are evidence-based ADHD assessment methods. The most efficient assessment method is obtaining information through parent and teacher rating scales; both parent and teacher ratings are needed for clinical purposes. Brief, non-DSM based rating scales are highly correlated with DSM scales but are much more efficient and just as effective at diagnosing ADHD. No incremental validity or utility is conferred by structured interviews when parent and teacher ratings are utilized. Observational procedures are empirically valid but not practical for clinical use. However, individualized assessments of specific target behaviors approximate observations and have both validity and treatment utility. Measures of impairment that report functioning in key domains (peer, family, school) as well as globally have more treatment utility than nonspecific global measures of impairment. DSM diagnosis per se has not been demonstrated to have treatment utility, so the diagnostic phase of assessment should be completed with minimal time and expense so that resources can be focused on other aspects of assessment, particularly treatment planning. We argue that the main focus of assessment should be on target behavior selection, contextual factors, functional analyses, treatment planning, and outcome monitoring.     

Usher syndrome: clinical findings and gene localization studies

The issue of genetic heterogeneity is a critical problem in the localization of the gene(s) for Usher syndrome. Based on the data obtained on families studied to date, the differences between type I and type II Usher syndrome appear quite distinct with regard to auditory and vestibular function. Although the majority of families can be confidently diagnosed as typical type I or type II, clinical investigations revealed four families with findings that did not fit into either of the two more common subtypes. These findings emphasize the critical importance of an in-depth clinical analysis concomitant with the linkage investigation to assure accurate subtyping of Usher syndrome. Based on an analysis of only those families with definite type I or type II Usher syndrome, approximately 17% of the genome can be excluded as a potential site of the gene for type I, and 14% can be excluded as the site for the type II gene. This study will continue until the Usher gene(s) is successfully localized.