Some personality correlates of hypnotic susceptibility

The present research was directed principally toward determining the relationship of a number of personality variables to hypnotic susceptibility. The personality variables utilized were selected to cover the personality domain as broadly as possible. Hypnotic susceptibility was measured by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A. A correlational analysis was completed for 30 Ss. This included (a) the correlations between each of the personality variables and hypnotic susceptibility and (b) the intercorrelations among all of the personality measures. It was found that the following variables correlated with hypnotic susceptibility at the 5% level of confidence: age (—.37), year in college (—.36), and missionary service (.37).Social class rating of father's occupation correlated significantly at the 1% level of confidence (.54).     

THE MYTH OF THE REPLACEMENT CHILD: PARENTS' STORIES AND PRACTICES AFTER PERINATAL DEATH

Parents bereaved by perinatal death adapt to their losses in different ways. When bereaved parents give birth to a child or children subsequent to a perinatal death, their constructions of the family necessarily change. The subsequent child is thought to be at risk of psychopathology (the replacement child syndrome) if parents have not sufficiently grieved their losses. This qualitative interview study examines the family stories told by bereaved parents, with particular attention to how parents represent the dead child and subsequent children in the current family structure. We categorized parents' stories as those which suggested that parents replaced the loss by an emphasis on parenting subsequent children, or maintained a connection to the dead child through storytelling and ritual behavior. The two ways in which parents maintained the connection were to preserve the space in the family that the dead child would have inhabited, or to create an on-going relationship with the dead child for themselves and their subsequent children. There seem to be multiple paths to parenting through bereavement. The place of rituals and memorial behavior is also examined.     

Amylase Isoenzymes in the Acute Abdomen: An Adjunct in those Patients with Elevated Total Amylase

The role of routine isoamylase determinations in differentiating acute pancreatitis from other causes of an acute abdomen with hyperamylasemia and/or hyperamylasuria was evaluated. Values were analyzed from a control group of 21 patients with acute pancreatitis (group I) and from 100 consecutive patients diagnosed in our emergency department as having an acute abdomen (group II). In group I, 100% of patients had hyperamylasemia, hyperamylasuria, and a P isoamylase fraction greater than 0.75 of the total amylase value. In group II, 50% of patients had hyperamylasemia and/or hyperamylasuria. Of these patients, 44% had a P isoamylase fraction less than 0.75 of the total amylase value, a finding apparently incompatible with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis as identified by our control group. We conclude that routine isoamylase determinations in patients with an acute abdomen and hyperamylasemia and/or hyperamylasuria allows the differentiation from acute pancreatitis in 44% of cases.     

Characteristics of calcaneal bone infarction: an MR imaging investigation

Objective. Bone infarction (BI) of the calcaneus is an uncommon entity which has received little mention in the recent literature. In this paper, we review the MR images of six calcanei with BI, which demonstrate a pattern of presentation that may explain the etiology of BI at this unusual location. Design. A retrospective review was performed of the transcribed reports of the foot or ankle MR examinations at our institution. MR images of examinations with any marrow signal abnormality were reviewed for presence of BI and its distribution. Patients. Based on MRI criteria, four patients had calcaneal BI (none biopsy proven); they ranged in age from 37 to 51 years old. Two patients were diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, one with fibrositis, and another with polymyositis. All were treated with corticosteroids. Results. Six calcanei (in four patients) contained a region of calcaneal BI. In five of the six, the lesions were entirely or predominantly located in the posterior half of the calcaneus. Conclusion. Two theories are proposed which may explain why BI predominantly occurs in the posterior half of the calcaneus. First, the convergence of the recurrent intraosseous calcaneal vessels may occasionally produce the equivalent of a single dominant vessel that is more prone to vascular accidents. Secondly, the region between the recurrent and the epiphyseal vessels may act as a watershed zone, increasing its susceptibility to ischemia.     

Comparison of two superparamagnetic viral-sized iron oxide particles ferumoxides and ferumoxtran-10 with a gadolinium chelate in imaging intracranial tumors

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide particles result in shortening of T1 and T2 relaxation time constants and can be used as MR contrast agents. We tested four hypotheses by evaluating MR images of intracranial tumors after infusion of two iron oxide agents in comparison with a gadolinium chelate: 1) Ferumoxtran in contrast to ferumoxides can be used as an intravenous MR contrast agent in intracranial tumors; 2) ferumoxtran enhancement, albeit delayed, is similar to gadolinium enhancement; 3) ferumoxtran-enhanced MR images in contrast to gadolinium-enhanced MR images may be compared with histologic specimens showing the cellular location of iron oxide particles; 4) ferumoxtran can serve as a model for viral vector delivery. METHODS: In 20 patients, ferumoxides and ferumoxtran were intravenously administered at recommended clinical doses. MR imaging was performed 30 minutes and 4 hours after ferumoxides infusion (n = 3), whereas ferumoxtran-enhanced MR imaging (n = 17) was performed 6 and 24 hours after infusion in the first five patients and 24 hours after infusion in the remaining 12. MR sequences were spin-echo (SE) T1-weighted, fast SE T2- and proton density-weighted, gradient-recalled-echo T2*-weighted, and, in four cases, echo-planar T2-weighted sequences. Representative regions of interest were chosen on pre- and postcontrast images to compare each sequence and signal intensity. RESULTS: Despite some degree of gadolinium enhancement in all tumors, no significant T1 or T2 signal intensity changes were seen after ferumoxides administration at either examination time. Fifteen of 17 patients given ferumoxtrans had T1 and/or T2 shortening consistent with iron penetration into tumor. Histologic examination revealed minimal iron staining of the tumor with strong staining at the periphery of the tumors. CONCLUSION: 1) Ferumoxtran can be used as an intravenous MR contrast agent in intracranial tumors, mostly malignant tumors. 2) Enhancement with ferumoxtran is comparable to but more variable than that with the gadolinium chelate. 3) Histologic examination showed a distribution of ferumoxtran particles similar to that on MR images, but at histology the cellular uptake was primarily by parenchymal cells at the tumor margin. 4) Ferumoxtran may be used as a model for viral vector delivery in malignant brain tumors.     

Detection of colorectal carcinoma on double contrast barium enema when double reporting is routinely performed: an audit of current practice

PURPOSE: To determine the sensitivity of double contrast barium enema (DCBE) in the detection of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) when double reporting is routinely performed. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Over a 1-year period all patients with a diagnosis of CRC within a large teaching hospital were identified. Using computer records, any patient with CRC who had had a DCBE within 5 years of diagnosis was identified. During this time period all DCBE were double reported by the radiographer or radiology trainee who performed the enema and by a consultant radiologist specializing in gastrointestinal radiology. RESULTS: Over the 1-year period 169 patients were identified with a diagnosis of CRC. Seventy patients had had a DCBE within the preceding 5 years. Sixty-four patients had had CRC diagnosed on the DCBE. One patient had a sessile polyp diagnosed, which was removed at colonoscopy and found to be an invasive adenocarcinoma. In five cases (7%) the CRC was not diagnosed on DCBE. In three cases the lesions could be seen retrospectively, in one case the lesion could not be seen and in one case the examination had been incomplete. CONCLUSION: In our series the miss-rate for CRC was 7%. Previous studies have shown miss-rates of 15-24%. These studies have not routinely employed double reporting. Our results suggest that double reporting of DCBE significantly reduces the miss-rate and that this reduction is due to fewer perceptive errors.     

Emotion categories and patterns of change in experiential therapy for depression

Objective: This investigation examined the relationship between in-session types of emotional experience operationalized by the emotion category coding system and the reduction of depressive symptoms in emotion-focused therapy (EFT). Method: Segments of videotaped sessions were coded and the different emotion categories were related to reduction in depressive symptoms in a sample of 30 clients who received EFT for depression. Results: Both fewer secondary and more primary adaptive emotions, in the working phases of therapy, were found to significantly predict outcome. Moderate levels of primary maladaptive emotion in the middle working session were associated with outcome and the frequency with which clients moved from primary maladaptive to primary adaptive emotions in this session-predicted outcome. Conclusions: Results of this study support a transformational model of changing emotion with emotion.