Is a 24-h cyclic closed enteral feeding system microbiologically safe in geriatric patients?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The microbiological quality of a 1-l closed enteral feeding system (CS) was prospectively monitored under clinical conditions simulating cyclic feeding over a 24-h period in geriatric patients. METHOD: The set was connected after diet sampling (T0). After 5-h feeding, the set was disconnected and a sample taken (T5). Diet was sampled after 12 h before (T12A) and after a 10 ml diet-flush of the set (T12B), after 24-h (T24) and in the pouch (P24). Concentrations of micro-organisms were considered significant when above 10(4) colony-forming units per millilitre. RESULTS: Twenty-one CS were examined. T0 samples were all sterile; 10 out of 21 T5 were contaminated. The microbiological content of the diet was lower in T12B, compared to T12A (P=0.002). None of the P24 samples was contaminated; 19 were sterile and two contained low levels of micro-organisms that had been previously found in the sets. CONCLUSION: The CS was sterile before connecting to the patient. Retrograde contamination of the set was observed without contamination of the pouch after 24-h hanging time. Performing a diet-flush decreased the rate of diet contamination at the distal extremity of the set. Thus, cyclic enteral nutrition using the same pouch during a 24-h period seems to be safe in geriatric patients.     

Observing decision‐making in the general practice consultation: who makes which decisions?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate opportunities for, and types of decision making in the general practice (primary care) consultation, and examine differences in skills of those doctors who are successful at meeting their patients' preferences and those who are less successful. DESIGN: Observation study of doctor-patient consultations in general practice. PARTICIPANTS: Patients attending for routine appointments in 12 general practice surgeries across Oxfordshire. METHODS: A total of 212 doctor-patient consultations were video-recorded. The patients involved completed a questionnaire to elicit their perceptions of how decisions were made. The video-taped recordings were coded with a new instrument, the Evidence Based Patient Choice Instrument (EBPCI), to classify the number and type of decision-making opportunities arising during each consultation. A total of 149 recordings were coded using the Oxbridge Rating Scale to assess the doctors' consultation styles. RESULTS: There was a range of decision-making opportunities in addition to those involving medical treatment. With the exception of 'fitness for work', decisions were generally 'doctor led'. There was only moderate agreement between patient perceptions of their level of involvement in decision making and the objective ratings using the EBPCI. There was wide variation in the ability of doctors to meet their patients' preferences for involvement. CONCLUSIONS: There are many decisions made in primary care consultations, in addition to those about medical treatments, in which patients could be involved to a greater extent than they currently are. Some doctors are significantly better than others at meeting different patients' preferences for their decision-making role. Patients' perceptions of shared decision making appears to be influenced by the doctors' general consultation skills.     

Elevated Serum Alpha Fetoprotein and Normal Liquor Alpha Fetoprotein Values in Association with an Abdominal Pregnancy

Summary: A case report is described in which abdominal pregnancy was misdiagnosed by ultrasound scanning as a pregnancy within a horn of a bicornuate uterus. Two serum alpha fetoprotein (SAFP) results were greatly elevated and an amniocentesis was performed, the liquor alpha fetoprotein (LAFP) and karyotype were normal. Elective Caesarean section was performed at 38 weeks for a persistent transverse lie and an abdominal pregnancy was found. The outcome was excellent for both the mother and child.
This is the first reported case of amniocentesis and measurement of LAFP in an abdominal pregnancy and confirms abdominal pregnancy as a rare cause of an elevated SAFP.     

Screening for a raised rectal temperature in Africa

The main purpose of this study was to compare rectal and axillary temperature measurements in African children. Altogether 573 sick children were seen in an outpatient setting in rural West Africa. Rectal and axillary temperatures were measured and the parent or guardian was asked if they thought that the child had a raised body temperature. Normal ranges were defined from an age matched population of 203 healthy children. A raised axillary temperature predicted a raised rectal temperature with a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 88%. The parents' impression that their child had a fever was a less sensitive (89%) and less specific (59%) indicator of raised rectal temperature. A raised axillary temperature is a good screening test for a raised rectal temperature in African children.     

Fibromatosis of bone in children

Radiographs, computed tomograms, and radionuclide bone scans were obtained preoperatively in three children with fibromatosis involving the bones and soft tissues of the extremities. Two of the children had identical scar-like bone lesions of the proximal tibia, which, to the authors' knowledge, have not been reported before in this disease. The lesions recurred in two children.     

Emphysema in the renal allograft

Two diabetic patients in whom emphysematous pyelonephritis developed after renal transplantation are described. Clinical recognition of this unusual and serious infection is masked by the effects of immunosuppression. Abdominal radiographic, ultrasound, and computed tomography findings are discussed. The clinical presentation includes urinary tract infection, sepsis, and acute tubular malfunction of the allograft in insulin-dependent diabetics.     

A population-based study of anxiety as a precursor for depression in childhood and adolescence

Background  

Anxiety and depression co-occur in children and adolescents with anxiety commonly preceding depression. Although there is some evidence to suggest that the association between early anxiety and later depression is explained by a shared genetic aetiology, the contribution of environmental factors is less well examined and it is unknown whether anxiety itself is a phenotypic risk factor for later depression. These explanations of the association between early anxiety and later depression were evaluated.