Olfaction in dentistry

Oral Diseases (2010) 16 , 221–232 Practitioners of oral medicine frequently encounter patients with complaints of taste disturbance. While some such complaints represent pathological processes specific to the gustatory system, per se, this is rarely the case. Unless taste‐bud mediated qualities such as sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami, chalky, or metallic are involved, ‘taste’ dysfunction inevitably reflects damage to the sense of smell. Such ‘taste’ sensations as chicken, chocolate, coffee, raspberry, steak sauce, pizza, and hamburger are dependent upon stimulation of the olfactory receptors via the nasopharynx during deglutition. In this paper, we briefly review the anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology of the olfactory system, along with means for clinically assessing its function. The prevalence, etiology, and nature of olfactory disorders commonly encountered in the dental clinic are addressed, along with approaches to therapy and patient management.     

A SURVEY OF HOSPITAL MORBIDITY,MORTALITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOLLOWING CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS SURGERY IN A UK INDO-ASIAN POPULATION

To survey the in-hospital morbidity, mortality, length of stay in the intensive therapy unit (ITU) and hospital and quality of life in patients of Indo-Asian origin following coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery, 345 consecutive patients (mean age 58 years; SD 8.9; range 32-88 years) undergoing primary, isolated CABG were studied. Non-elective CABG was undertaken in 41% of patients. The left anterior descending artery (LAD) was grafted in 89%, although in 30% of these the internal mammary artery (IMA) was not used. Following CABG, the hospital morbidity and mortality was within the expected range, although there was a trend towards higher in-hospital mortality in the Parsonnet low risk group of patients. The length of ITU and hospital stay was not prolonged. Using the SF-36 questionnaire in postoperative patients, low quality of life scores were obtained for six of the eight modalities tested including physical functioning, bodily pain and general health perception. The low quality of life scores and IMA usage in Indo-Asians needs to be addressed.     

Substantial Reduction in Driveline Infection Rates With the Modification of Driveline Dressing Protocol

Background

Driveline infection (DLI) is a cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs). We hypothesized that an alternate dressing protocol would decrease the rate of DLIs.

Cardiac transplantation. Emerging from an experiment to a service.

Cardiac transplantation was resumed at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh in 1980 after a hiatus of 12 years. Prior to April 15, 1986, 270 hearts had been transplanted. Participants have been forced to reorder personal, professional, and institutional commitments to adapt to new demands of pre- and post-operative care and to develop flexibility in the operative scheduling of routine cardiac surgical cases. The actuarial survival has been 78, 69, and 64% at 1, 2, and 3 years. Much has been learned about evolving immunosuppression based on cyclosporine and of the allogenic response. An increasing proportion of recipients are mortally ill (54%), and for these urgent patients the wait for a donor organ continues to lengthen. The cardiac surgeon performing transplantations will need to grow with allied developments in xenotransplantation and mechanical cardiac support devices in order to keep pace with his evolving specialty.     

Cancer-Free Survival Following Alemtuzumab Induction in Heart Transplantation

Background

The malignancy rate after alemtuzumab (C-1H) induction in cardiac transplantation is unknown.

Methods

A retrospective analysis from a single center for all patients that underwent cardiac transplantation from January 2000 to January 2011 and that had no history of malignancy before transplantation was performed. Patients induced with alemtuzumab were compared with a group of patients receiving thymoglobulin or no induction and assessed for 4-year cancer-free post–heart transplantation survival.

Results

Of 402 patients included, 185 (46.0%) received alemtuzumab, 56 (13.9%) thymoglobulin, and 161 (40.0%) no induction. Baseline characteristics did not differ between groups: mean age 54.0 years, male 77.1%, white 88.6%, ischemic cardiomyopathy 49.0%. The calcineurin inhibitor was tacrolimus in 98.9% of alemtuzumab patients, 98.2% of thymoglobulin patients, and 87.0% of the noninduced (P < .001). The secondary agent was mycophenolate mofetil in all but 16 noninduced patients (9.9%), who received azathioprine. The 4-year cancer-free survival did not differ between groups: 88.1% alemtuzumab, 87.5% thymoglobulin, 88.2% noninduction; P = .088. The 4-year nonskin cancer–free survival was 96.8% for the alemtuzumab group, 96.4% for the thymoglobulin group, and 95.7% for the noninduced; P = .899.

Conclusions

Neither the 4-year cancer-free survival nor the 4-year nonskin cancer–free survival differed between the alemtuzumab, thymoglobulin, and noninduced groups.     

A Medical Curriculum for all seasons - a dialogue

Ten years have now passed since the College of Medicine of the University of Malawi was opened. The College''s Curriculum is firmly based on community needs. We describe the genesis and implementation of the curriculum of the College of Medicine and how it has persisted over the past ten years. The challenges that have so far been met are outlined.     

Sickle cell anemia patients have low erythropoietin levels for their degree of anemia

We have studied serum immunoreactive erythropoietin (SIE) levels in 28 patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) without renal insufficiency and in 17 patients with nonhemoglobinopathy anemias of comparable severity using a sensitive radioimmunoassay procedure. An exponential relationship between SIE level and degree of anemia was noted in all patients. However, in nonhemoglobinopathy anemia, a sharp rise in the SIE level occurred as hemoglobin (Hb) levels fell below about 12 g/dL, whereas in sickle cell patients the increase was not marked until hemoglobin fell to about 9 g/dL. The response was more blunted in older SCA patients than in younger ones. A linear regression model relating SIE level to Hb level, presence/absence of SCA, and age explained 63% of the variation in SIE. We conclude that the serum erythropoietin levels in SCA increased at a lower hemoglobin concentration and are of a lower magnitude than that of the other anemias.