Occlusal variables, bruxism and temporomandibular disorders: a clinical and kinesiographic assessment

summary Seventy-five patients suffering from myofascial pain, headaches and anterior disc displacement were assessed clinically and with a kinesiograph. Twenty-eight asymptomatic dental staff served as a control group. The prevalence of awareness of bruxism was significantly greater in our TMD patients than the controls. Bruxism patients recorded a higher prevalence of incisor dentine wear suggestive of a forward mandible posture. Class II, Division 1 malocclusions formed a significantly higher proportion of the TMD patient group than the controls. Kinesiographic recordings showed that the vertical and lateral components of movement from postural position to intercuspal were significantly greater in the patient group.     

An in vivo comparison of two circumferential penile strain gauges: The introduction of a new calibration method

This study assessed the comparability of two types of penile strain gauges using both a circular and a newly developed oval calibration device. A group of 25 sexually functional participants places both an electromechanical and an indium/gallium-in-rubber strain gauge on the penis and viewed an erotic film. The electromechanical gauge as calibrated on the circular device resulted in greater penile circumference changes than the indium/gallium-in-rubber gauge. Mean circumference changes were not different for the two strain gauges when the oval calibration device was used. The use of an oval calibration device improves ecological validity of calibration of penile strain gauges. Standard inclusion of this method in studies on male sexual response will increase comparability of research findings.     

METHIMAZOLE-INDUCED AGRANULOCYTOSIS IN JAPANESE PATIENTS WITH GRAVES'' DISEASE

We reviewed the records of approximately 7000 Japanese patients whose hyperthyroidism was treated with methimazole (MMI) alone. Four patients (Group I) developed agranulocytosis during a second course of MMI therapy and eight patients (Group II) during an initial course. Six patients (three in each group) received less than 30 mg MMI daily. Agranulocytosis occurred after more than 2 months of therapy (12 weeks-1 year) in five patients. Seven patients were less than 40 years of age. One patient displayed a gradual protracted development of agranulocytosis. These results indicate that agranulocytosis after MMI may occur irrespective of dose, age, duration of treatment, and with a second exposure.     

CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN AS A MARKER OF ALCOHOL INTAKE: A STUDY WITH HEALTHY SUBJECTS

This paper reports the results of a 3-week drinking experimentin 51 healthy male subjects, examining the value of %CDT (carbohydrate-deficienttransferring in the context of different levels of alcohol intake.All healthy persons were urine-tested drug-free and underwentdaily breath alcohol tests for the 7 days preceding, and duringthe whole 3 weeks of, the experiment. Subjects were dividedinto five groups, consuming different amounts of alcohol dailyover a 3-h period in the presence of the investigators. Thefive groups consisted of 10, 9, 10, 16 and 6 subjects respectivelyand consumed a daily dose of ethanol of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 80g respectively for 3 weeks. No significant changes in %CDT weredetected in most subjects, even in the 80 g alcohol-consuminggroups. The results suggest that CDT is not sensitive for thedetection of short-term heavy drinking by healthy subjects.     

Damage to Cardiologists'Gloves During Cardiac Catheterization, Pacemaker Implantation, and Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty

Glove perforation during catheter laboratory procedures exposes the operator to potentially infected fluids and the patient to wound infection. To assess the extent of this problem, 200 consecutive pairs of surgical gloves worn during cardiac catheterization, percutaneous transluminal coronary angio-plasty (PTCA), or permanent transvenous pacemaker (PPM) insertion were examined for perforations by a water distension test. The overall puncture rate for pairs of gloves was 18%. The rate of glove puncture differed between cardiac catheterization, PPM implantation, and PTCA (21.4%, 25.6%, and 4.8%, respectively; P = 0.018). The incidence of glove damage at cardiac catheterization was significantly higher when arterial access was obtained by a brachial cut-down rather than by the Seldinger technique (25.7% and 11.3%, respectively; P = 0.015) and was independent of operator experience. Glove perforation is common. Operators should be aware of the problem and be particularly vigilent during brachial arteriotomy and PPM implantation, especially when operating on potentially infected patients. (J Interven Cardiol 1991; 4:167–170)     

Asymptomatic Pulmonary Embolism Following Pacemaker Implantation

The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the incidence of pulmonary embolism after pacemaker implantation, and to assess the benefits, if any, of postoperative prophylactic heparin therapy. Twenty of 40 patients were given low-dose heparin therapy; the remaining 20 patients were the control group and were not treated. Assignment to one of these groups was made alternately, in chronological order according to the time of implantation. Only tined leads with silicone insulation were used. All patients were mobilized on their first postoperative day. Pulmonary scintigraphy was performed before implantation, two weeks after implantation and again 12 months later. A pulmonary embolism was defined as evidence of new perfusion defects after implantation. There were no such defects in the group treated with heparin; the control group (20 patients) had three cases of perfusion defects within a 14-day postoperative period. Twelve months later, no further perfusion defects were observed in any patient. Thus, our study revealed a 15% incidence of asymptomatic pulmonary embolism following pacemaker implantation in patients not given prophylactic heparin therapy.     

On the validity of estimating EEG correlation dimension from a spatial embedding

We demonstrate by using simulations that spatial embedding of single-variable time series data does not reliably reconstruct state-space dynamics. Instead, correlation dimension estimated from spatially embedded data is largely a measure of linear cross-correlation in the data set. For actual electroencephalographic (EEG) data, we demonstrate a high negative correlation between spatial correlation dimension and the average amount of lag-zero cross-correlation between “nearest-neighbor” embedding channels (the greater the cross-correlation, the lower the dimension). We also show that the essential results obtained from spatially embedding EEG data are also obtained when one spatially embeds across a set of highly cross-correlated stochastic (second-order autoregressive) processes. Although, with appropriate surrogate data, correlation dimension estimated from spatially embedded data detects nonlinearity, its use is not recommended because correlation dimension estimated from temporally embedded data both reconstructs state-space dynamics and, with appropriate surrogate data, detects nonlinearity as well.     

Current Management of Mitral Valve Incompetence Associated with Coronary Artery Disease

At a time when hospital mortality for adult cardiac operations is continuing to fall, the combined mitral valve coronary bypass subset remains at relatively high risk. Efforts to improve results should be directed toward a more general application of mitral reconstruction in this population, tailoring the type of repair to the pathological anatomy of valve dysfunction. Other promising therapeutic measures include the liberal use of reperfusion therapy in the acute papillary muscle dysfunction group, better selection patients for operation, and perhaps operative recommendation to a greater proportion of the more stable patients that previously were treated medically. Finally increasing the general awareness of this problem should hasten the development of improved management strategies.