Computerized follow-up of discrepancies in image interpretation between emergency and radiology departments

Radiographs are ordered and interpreted for immediate clinical decisions 24 hours a day by emergency physicians (EP’s). The Joint Commission for Accreditation of Health Care Organizations requires that all these images be reviewed by radiologists and that there be some mechanism for quality improvement (QI) for discrepant readings. There must be a log of discrepancies and documentation of follow up activities, but this alone does not guarantee effective Q.I. Radiologists reviewing images from the previous day and night often must guess at the preliminary interpretation of the EP and whether follow up action is necessary. EP’s may remain ignorant of the final reading and falsely assume the initial diagnosis and treatment were correct. Some hospitals use a paper system in which the EP writes a preliminary interpretation on the requisition slip, which will be available when the radiologist dictates the final reading. Some hospitals use a classification of discrepancies based on clinical import and urgency, and communicated to the EP on duty at the time of the official reading, but may not communicate discrepancies to the EP’s who initial read the images. Our computerized radiology department and picture archiving and communications system have increased technologist and radiologist productivity, and decreased retakes and lost films. There are fewer face-to-face consultations of radiologists and clinicians, but more communication by telephone and electronic annotation of PACS images. We have integrated the QI process for emergency department (ED) images into the PACS, and gained advantages over the traditional discrepancy log. Requisitions including clinical indications are entered into the Hospital information System and then appear on the PACS along with images and readings. The initial impression, time of review, and the initials of the EP are available to the radiologist dictating the official report. The radiologist decides if there is a discrepancy, and whether it is category I (potentially serious, needs immediate follow-up), category II (moderate risk, follow-up in one day), or category III (low risk, follow-up in several days). During the working day, the radiologist calls immediately for category I discrepancies. Those noted from the evening, night, or weekend before are called to the EP the next morning. All discrepancies with the preliminary interpretation are communicated to the EP and are kept in a computerized log for review by a radiologist at a weekly ED teaching conference. This system has reduced the need for the radiologist to ask or guess what the impression was in the ED the night before. It has reduced the variability in recording of impressions by EP’s, in communication back from radiologists, in the clinical follow-up made, and in the documentation of the whole QI process. This system ensures that EP’s receive notification of their discrepant readings, and provides continuing education to all the EP’s on interpreting images on their patients.     

INAUGURAL ARTICLE by a Recently Elected Academy Member:Characterization of a 34-kDa soybean binding protein for the syringolide elicitors

Syringolides are water-soluble, low-molecular-weight elicitors that trigger defense responses in soybean cultivars carrying the Rpg4 disease-resistance gene but not in rpg4 cultivars. ¹²⁵I-syringolide 1 previously was shown to bind to a soluble protein(s) in extracts from soybean leaves. A 34-kDa protein that accounted for ¹²⁵I-syringolide 1 binding activity was isolated with a syringolide affinity-gel column. Partial sequences of internal peptides of the 34-kDa protein were identical to P34, a previously described soybean seed allergen. In soybean seeds, P34 is processed from a 46-kDa precursor protein and was shown to have homology with thiol proteases. P34 is a moderately abundant protein in soybean seeds and cotyledons but its level in leaves is low. cDNAs encoding 46-, 34-, and 32-kDa forms of the soybean protein were cloned into the baculovirus vector, pVL1392, and expressed in insect cells. The resulting 32- and 34-kDa proteins, but not the 46-kDa protein, exhibited ligand-specific ¹²⁵I-syringolide binding activity. These results suggest that P34 may be the receptor that mediates syringolide signaling.     

山东省潍坊市乡村卫生组织一体化管理调查

“乡村一体化管理”是农村基层卫生组织主动适应社会主义市场经济发展而创造的一种基层卫生机构管理体制。几年来各地的改革实践已经证明:这一新型的管理体制对于强化乡镇卫生院行政管理职能、调整组织结构和服务功能、优化卫生资源、提高综合效益有着积极的促进作用,是现阶段农村乡镇卫生院求生存、促发展的一条有效途径。本文作者受卫生部委托对山东省潍坊市一体化管理做了实地考察。对潍坊市立足实际、因地制宜地开展多种形式的一体化管理所取得的成功经验给予了充分肯定,并对此种管理体制实施的效果及存在的问题做了客观分析,提出了政策性建议,是迄今为止对“乡村一体化管理”所做的全面、系统、科学的总结和评价,旨在启发各地在实施“一体化管理”的过程中,不断兴利除弊、大胆创新,在实践中开拓新思路,迈出新步伐,探索出一条适应我国农村卫生事业建设和发展的新路子。     

核素动态显像因子分析诊断股骨头缺血性坏死的应用初探

本文介绍了的核素动态显像因子分析成象原理与方法，并对１０例正常人和２８例成人股骨头缺血性坏死（ＡＦＨＩＮ）病人进行了放射性核素显像因子分析，结果表明：ＡＦＨＩＮ病人病变股骨的骨因子图像表现为明显浓聚，随病情加重股骨头头影像增大，且逐渐增浓。Ⅰ、Ⅱ期ＡＦＨＩＮ病人软组织因子图像无异常，Ⅲ期以上者的软组织因子图像可见髋关节处有明显浓聚。因此，核素动态显像因子分析不但可以早期诊断ＡＦＨＩＮ，而且对该病的分期判定也有重要的临床应用价值。     

Crossed inhibition of the soleus H reflex during passive pedalling movement

We hypothesized that sensory input from the moving leg induces presynaptic inhibition of the soleus H reflex pathway in the contralateral stationary leg. The results showed a crossed inhibition during passive pedalling movement of the leg, which was not removed by low levels of tonic contraction of soleus in the stationary leg. The inhibition was correlated exponentially to the rate of the movement (R²=0.934, P<0.05) and was not dependent on the quadrants through which the moving leg was passing. Static flexion of the stationary leg caused ipsilateral inhibition of the reflexes (t=5.590, P<0.05), independent of the orientations of the other leg. We concluded that sensory inflow from the moving leg induces presynaptic inhibition in the stationary leg, that a complex transformation of the sensory input in the spinal cord or brain underlies the tonic crossed inhibition and phasic ipsilateral inhibition, and that descending motor commands exert a powerful control over these sensorimotor modulatory mechanisms.     

微波氚标记法与化合物结构的关系

本文报道了应用微波氚标记了许多不同类型的化合物,这些化合物的放射比度与结构紧密相关,对于在相同条件下研究不同化合物的标记比度提供了一些参考数据。     

易误诊为小肾癌的良性肾占位病变CT诊断及鉴别诊断

本文分析了２７例易与肾癌混淆的良性肾占位病变，包括血管平滑肌脂肪瘤、小的单房和多房囊性病变、脓肿和结核。其中２３例经手术、病理证实，４例结合临床及其它影像学检查并随访复查证实，对于小的肾占位病变应用局部薄层ＣＴ扫描，层厚和间隔均为３．０～５．０ｍｍ。多部位测量发现细微脂肪区为小的肾血管平滑肌脂肪瘤的特征。对于小的肾囊性占位病变，应进行分类。单房肾囊肿，包括高密度囊肿，其形态规则、边缘税利、密度均匀，增强扫描无强化。多房囊性肾瘤少见，应与囊性肾癌鉴别，后者间隔厚薄不均，常呈中断，增强扫描肺癌实质性部分和间隔有强化。感染性疾病则应结合临床，必要时抗炎治疗后短期内复查。     

食管癌切除结肠代食管术44例

我们于１９８９年３月至１９９３年８月间，为４４例食管癌病人行食管癌切除、结肠代食管术。包括上段癌２３例，中段癌１８例，下段癌３例；其中上段癌病变长于７ｃｍ者６例，中段癌病变长于８ｃｍ者５例及下段癌中２例既往曾行胃大部切除术且病变长于９ｃｍ者均先行术前放疗，放疗剂量为３０～４０Ｇｙ。４０例（９０．９％）以结肠左动脉升支供血的横结肠行顺蠕动方向吻合，结果手术死亡１例，颈部吻合口瘘９例（２０．４５％）。我们认为本术式对中、上段癌病人疗效较满意，建议多采用以结肠左动脉为血供的横结肠作为移植段行顺蠕动方向吻合，为减少术后并发症，应注意加强病人围手术期的处置和护理。     

外科切口感染危险因素研究

目的：研究术后切口感染危险因素，以降低切口感染率。方法：以１９９４～１９９６年外科手术病人为对象，进行病例对照研究。结果：病例组１３１例切口感染病人和对照组１００例无切口感染病人在手术持续时间、术前抗生素使用种类、免疫抑制剂应用与否以及手术后抗生素使用天数等方面有显著性差异。且随着手术时间延长，术后切口感染的相对危险度呈明显递增趋势。结论：为降低术后切口感染率，必须尽量缩短手术时间，并减少术前术后抗生素使用天数和种类