Haemoptysis: A case report with tetralogy of Fallot with absent pulmonary valve leaflets and anomalous origin of left pulmonary artery

A 6 month old female child with tetralogy of Fallot with absent pulmonary valve leaflets and anomalous origin of left pulmonary artery was admitted to hospital with a mild adenoviral lower respiratory tract infection. She had a large haemoptysis 1 week after admission, and recovered with simple supportive measures. This case illustrates a previously unreported complication of a rare anomaly.     

The preparedness to share injecting equipment: an analysis using vignettes

This paper reports on the use of vignettes to study drug injectors’preparedness to share injecting equipment. Separate vignettes referring to borrowing and passing on injecting equipment have been submitted to 505 injecting drug users in Glasgow. Injectors were asked to identify their own likely response in each of the situations described within the vignettes. It was shown that even among those injectors not reporting any actual sharing in the last 6 months a significant proportion would still be prepared to share injecting equipment within certain situations. The preparedness to share injecting equipment was seen to be influenced by such factors as social distance, sex and length of time injecting. It is suggested that even in situations where drug injectors may have modified their behaviour in the direction of lower levels of reported sharing, a propensity to share may remain. This suggests the continuing need to provide injectors with easy access to sterile injecting equipment; in addition, services working with injecting drug users may need to focus not only upon actual sharing behaviour but also upon what we have described here as the preparedness to share. Indeed, the latter dimension should stand as a warning to services of the potential for sharing injecting equipment to increase in the future.     

AGGRESSIVENESS, ONSET OF DEPENDENCE, AND TREATMENT OUTCOME IN SOCIALLY WELL-ADAPTED ALCOHOLICS

Current typologies of alcoholism derive from the whole spectrumof afflicted persons. One type is characterized by variablessuch as early onset of dependence, violence, and aggressiveness.In previous research, this has been shown to be correlated withpoorer prognosis. We tested this association in a fairly homogeneoussubgroup of 258 socially rather well-adjusted male inpatients.Aggressiveness was assessed psychometrically. As a group, patientsdid not differ from general population norms. However, age wasnegatively correlated with aggressiveness. Even after takingpatients' age and duration of dependence into account, aggressivenesswas associated with an early onset of dependence and furtheraspects of drinking history, thus confirming results from previoustypology research. Overall treatment outcome after 6 and 12months was quite good, but was not influenced by aggression.