Specialty board certification and clinical outcomes: the missing link.

PURPOSE: Specialty board certification status is often used as a standard of excellence, but no systematic review has examined the link between certification and clinical outcomes. The authors evaluated published studies tracking clinical outcomes and certification status. METHOD: Data sources consisted of studies cited between 1966 and July 1999 in OVID-Medline, psychological abstracts (PsycLit), and the Educational Research Information Clearinghouse (ERIC). Screening criteria included: only U.S. patients and physicians used as subjects; verified specialty board certification status by an American Board of Medical Specialties' (ABMS') member board using the ABMS database or derivative sources; described selection criteria for patients and physicians; selected nationally recognized standards of care for outcomes; and nested patient data by individual physician. The computerized searches that were conducted in 1999 identified 1,204 papers; one author and a research assistant selected 237 papers based on subject relevance, and reduced the list to 56 based on study quality. The authors independently applied inclusion and exclusion criteria to identify 13 of the 56 papers containing 33 separable relevant findings. RESULTS: Of the 33 findings, 16 demonstrated a significant positive association between certification status and positive clinical outcomes, three revealed worse outcomes for certified physicians, and 14 showed no association. Three negative findings and one finding of no association were identified in two papers with insufficient case-mix adjustments in the analyses. Meta-analytic statistics were not feasible due to variability in outcome measures across studies. CONCLUSIONS: Few published studies (5%) used research methods appropriate for the research question, and among the screened studies more than half support an association between board certification status and positive clinical outcomes.     

MR imaging of blood vessels using three-dimensional reconstruction: methodology

Multisection, dual-echo magnetic resonance (MR) transaxial images of blood vessels contain both anatomic and qualitative information about flow. Even so, the images are produced as a series of two-dimensional tomographic sections from which full visualization of connected structures is difficult. A computer algorithm was developed that automatically detects flowing blood based on pixel intensity and calculated T2 and provides reconstructed views of vessels while analyzing and displaying flow characteristics. Images of abdominal vessels, aortic aneurysms, and the heart were encoded by flow and color to demonstrate depth. In addition, these data were reconstructed to derive a more accurate assessment of patency. With this technique, transaxial images can be used to analyze flow patterns, determine patent areas, and visualize all levels of vessels in a single image.     

论我国医疗美容产业的可持续发展

目的探讨我国医疗美容事业的产业化属性、经济学地位,以及如何达到全面、协调和可持续发展的大目标。方法逻辑论证。结果认识到医疗美容产业是“医疗美容经济”系统的核心要素;揭示了医疗美容产业具有“人本经济”的特征,民营医疗美容产业是发展医疗美容事业的重要力量,医疗美容产业的发展是当代中国医学美学与美容医学整体学科建设和发展的社会基础和经济基础。结论医疗美容产业的形成是医疗美容事业在社会主义市场经济条件下发展的必然趋势,同时提出了医疗美容产业健康发展的三大措施：增强产业意识;加强行业规范;实行人本管理。最终的结论是：医疗美容事业利用产业化机制,走产业化发展的道路,促进了整个社会医疗美容事业的全面、协调和可持续发展。     

Ectopic ureterocoele and its treatment (author's transl)]

An ectopic ureterocele is a congenital ballooning of the submucosal part of an extopic ureter in the bladder. It is a relatively common anomaly, usually presenting in childhood. The anatomy, functional pathology, and the clinical symptoms of this disease are described. The authors present a series of 15 cases seen over a 4-year period, 3 patients being adults. Diagnostic and therapeutic problems of this anomaly are discussed in the light of the reported cases.