Useful adjuncts for vitreoretinal surgery.

Many vitreoretinal procedures are performed in offices and hospitals where cost control is important. We describe three useful devices and techniques that facilitate these procedures at minimal expense and often greater convenience. These include an accurate method for localising the pars plana without the use of callipers, an inexpensive, reliable, pressure regulated air pump for fluid-air exchange, and an easy method for intraocular injection of silicone oil through 20 gauge instrumentation without the need for expensive pumps. These procedures and techniques should prove to be useful in the treatment of vitreoretinal disease.     

Evolution of collagenous colitis into severe and extensive ulcerative colitis.

Collagenous colitis is an inflammatory mucosal disorder of the colon with distinctive histopathological features, including a thickened subepithelial collagen layer. The clinical course is usually benign, but serious complications, including death, may occur. In the present report, a 69-year-old woman with watery diarrhea and collagenous colitis developed bloody diarrhea that was refractory to treatment medications, including corticosteroids and azathioprine. Endoscopic and histopathological studies showed a focal neutrophilic inflammatory process that progressed to a diffuse and extensive form of colitis, eventually requiring total proctocolectomy. Careful histological review of the resected colon showed no evidence of persistent collagenous colitis. These findings suggest an important need for continued long-term follow-up of patients with collagenous colitis because superimposed and serious colonic complications may occur, including a severe and extensive pancolitis refractory to medications and necessitating total proctocolectomy.     

Melorheostosis: report of two cases affecting the jaw.

Melorheostosis is a rare sclerosing bone dysplasia that is characterized by a localized, diffuse thickening of the cortical bone. This condition usually affects the appendicular skeleton and associated soft tissue and rarely affects the craniofacial complex. The etiology of this condition is obscure. Diagnosis of melorheostosis relies on clinical, radiographic, and histological correlation. Only 8 cases of melorheostosis involving the craniofacial complex have been reported. We report 2 new cases of isolated melorheostosis involving the maxilla and mandible, together with differential diagnostic considerations. To our knowledge, involvement of the maxilla only has not been previously reported.     

Providence School Asthma Partnership: School-based Asthma Program for Inner-City Families

Over 3 years, 972 families participated in an after-school asthma program at their child's school. Parents and children attended concurrent 2¹/₂ -hour workshops. Parents were 74% Latino; 45% non-English speaking, with 77% of children on Medicaid. Asthma symptoms were significantly reduced, from multiple times per week to less than once per week on average. Oral steroid use decreased to one third of baseline use. Hospital days decreased from 11% to 2%; emergency visits decreased 35% to 4%; and school days missed decreased 48% to 20%. This program has now become sustainable with both private and Medicaid insurance coverage.     

Psychological morbidity after myocardial infarction in an area of deprivation in the UK: evaluation of a self-help package.

BACKGROUND: Psychological morbidity after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is known to be common, but can be addressed by appropriate rehabilitation. The area in which this research was conducted experiences high rates of deprivation and of coronary heart disease and limited access to hospital-based rehabilitation. Responding to concern about psychological needs of AMI patients, a self-help package was introduced and evaluated alongside standard hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation. AIMS: To evaluate the impact of a home-based self-help package (the Heart Manual), alongside existing cardiac rehabilitation provision, on psychological morbidity and health status after AMI. A secondary aim was to assess the suitability of the Heart Manual for older patients aged over 80 years. METHODS: A controlled observational study, comparing two cohorts of patients discharged from hospital after AMI. The intervention group was given the self-help package in addition to standard care. The control group received standard care alone. Outcome measures used were the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the EuroQol. RESULTS: The intervention group showed significant improvement in anxiety and depression scores after 3 months and nonsignificant improvement in general health status. Patients who attended hospital-based rehabilitation classes, and those aged over 80 years, also benefited from the intervention. CONCLUSION: A home-based self-help rehabilitation package is an effective tool alongside hospital-based rehabilitation classes and can be given to all age groups.     

Effects of a monoclonal antibody raised against nerve growth factor on skeletal pain and bone healing after fracture of the C57BL/6J mouse femur.

A closed femur fracture pain model was developed in the C57BL/6J mouse. One day after fracture, a monoclonal antibody raised against nerve growth factor (anti-NGF) was delivered intraperitoneally and resulted in a reduction in fracture pain-related behaviors of approximately 50%. Anti-NGF therapy did not interfere with bone healing as assessed by mechanical testing and histomorphometric analysis. INTRODUCTION: Current therapies to treat skeletal fracture pain are limited. This is because of the side effect profile of available analgesics and the scarcity of animal models that can be used to understand the mechanisms that drive this pain. Whereas previous studies have shown that mineralized bone, marrow, and periosteum are innervated by sensory and sympathetic fibers, it is not understood how skeletal pain is generated and maintained even in common conditions such as osteoarthritis, low back pain, or fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we characterized the pain-related behaviors after a closed femur fracture in the C57BL/6J mouse. Additionally, we assessed the effect of a monoclonal antibody that binds to and sequesters nerve growth factor (anti-NGF) on pain-related behaviors and bone healing (mechanical properties and histomorphometric analysis) after fracture. RESULTS: Administration of anti-NGF therapy (10 mg/kg, days 1, 6, and 11 after fracture) resulted in a reduction of fracture pain-related behaviors of approximately 50%. Attenuation of fracture pain was evident as early as 24 h after the initial dosing and remained efficacious throughout the course of fracture pain. Anti-NGF therapy did not modify biomechanical properties of the femur or histomorphometric indices of bone healing. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that therapies that target NGF or its cognate receptor(s) may be effective in attenuating nonmalignant fracture pain without interfering with bone healing.     

Measurements of acetabular cup position and pelvic spatial orientation after total hip arthroplasty using computed tomography/radiography matching.

This study presents a clinical validation of postoperative measurements of acetabular cup alignment following total hip arthroplasty (THA). The methodology was based on concurrent anatomic three-dimensional (3D) measurements of both the acetabular cup alignment and pelvic orientation, using an original CT/X-ray matching algorithm named Xalign. The subjects were 19 patients who had undergone bilateral THA using CT-based surgical navigation. All patients had postoperative pelvic CT scans and multiple antero-posterior (AP) pelvic X-rays. Using a proprietary software algorithm, the X-rays included in the study were matched with the corresponding postoperative CT scans. The goal of this method was to allow 3D anatomic pelvic and acetabular measurements on two-dimensional AP X-rays. The postoperative cup abduction, version and pelvic flexion angles were determined in three different ways: using CT images directly, applying the Xalign method, and finally by performing conventional (abduction only) measurements on AP pelvic X-rays. The cup orientation measured on CT images was taken as the ground truth. The Xalign measurement errors were defined as the difference between the CT cup values and those obtained by applying the matching method. The mean cup abduction error was 0.85 degrees +/- 1.3 degrees (+/- standard deviation) and the mean version error was 0.01 degrees +/- 1.99 degrees . Conventionally measured cup abduction ranged from 44 degrees to 62 degrees and correlated significantly (p = 0.001, r = -0.5) with pelvic flexion angle, proving the linear negative correlation between pelvic flexion and the error in conventional radiographic cup measurements. The Xalign method offered reasonable accuracy for cup orientation, and allowed cup and pelvic 3D anatomic measurements at different times.     

Attitudes Toward Transplantation in U.K. Muslim Indo-Asians in West London

The worldwide shortage of organs for transplantation makes it important to understand why some oppose donation. Attitudes vary with religion and ethnicity. Accordingly, we undertook a qualitative study of the attitudes of 141 U.K. Muslim Indo-Asians to organ donation. Participants were observed, focus group discussions held and in-depth individual interviews conducted. We identified a high level of alienation from the health care system in general. With respect to organ donation in particular, its importance was generally discounted, often in deference to authority figures within the community who appeared negatively disposed. The culture-specific issues arguing against donation included a sense of the sacredness of the body, a fatalistic approach to illness, a belief that organs took on an independent role as 'witnesses' to an individual's life on Judgement Day and an anxiety that the donor would have no control of the probity of the recipient of an organ. We believe these data suggest a need to improve in a culturally sensitive fashion the provision of health information provided to this community.