Congenital anomaly of the toes, microophthalmos and haemangioma

A two-and-half month-old female infant with cavernous haemangioma, agenesis and syndactyly of toes, microophthalmia and microcornea is reported.     

The effects of long-term psychotherapy on patients' self-perception.

A review of the literature regarding the effects of long-term psychotherapy indicates that it has rarely been examined purely from the standpoint of the patient. This study attempts to determine how the patients perceive attitudinal change in themselves and their therapists during the treatment process. Twenty patients who received dynamically oriented psychotherapy in excess of one year in a typical outpatient clinic participated. These patients were randomly assigned a therapist who was either a Clinic staff member or senior resident in psychiatry. Slightly more than half the patients included in the study had a diagnosis of psychoneurosis, while the remainder were viewed as possessing characterological or psychotic disturbances. Evaluation of patient attitudes was achieved through the use of a modified version of Osgood's Semantic Differential Scale. It was determined that patients perceived themselves as becoming significantly more like their therapists after one year of psychotherapy. They saw themselves as more active, independent, dominant, outgoing, realistic and happy. This "psychic shift" is discussed in terms of identification, transference and counter-transference phenomena.     

The influence of reported paternal attitudes on the decision to breast-feed

Objective: To identify factors that influence a woman's decision to breast-feed.
Methodology: Five hundred and fifty-six women were recruited from the maternity wards of two Perth hospitals. Data were collected from a self-administered questionnaire completed by participants prior to discharge. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors influencing the initiation of breast-feeding.
Results: At discharge from hospital 83.8% of women were breast-feeding, including 6% who were giving complementary formula feeds. After controlling for potentially confounding demographic and biomedical factors, the father's reported preference for breast-feeding was found to be the most important factor influencing a woman's decision to breast-feed (OR 10.18).
Conclusion: Fathers participate in and influence the choice of infant feeding method and should be included in breast-feeding discussions.     

Margin of safety for discharge after apnea in preterm infants

OBJECTIVE: Most neonatologists include an apnea-free period in the criteria for the discharge of preterm infants. However, the length of time one should wait after the cessation of apnea before sending an infant home without a monitor is debated. We undertook this study in an attempt to define a minimal and safe observation period between the time of the last apnea episode and discharge. METHODS: We reasoned that in infants with idiopathic apnea of prematurity, the intervals between days on which apnea occurs gradually increase until some point at which clinically significant apnea ceases. Therefore, knowledge about the intervals between days on which apnea occurred just before the last apnea would provide a reasonable estimate of the minimal safe observation interval between the last apnea and discharge. We reviewed the charts of 266 infants born in 1993 and 1994 at 相似文献   

Inhibition of cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adducts in rat tissues by dietary oltipraz

The present study investigated the effects of dietary oltipraz on cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adduct formation. Female Sprague- Dawley rats were exposed daily to sidestream cigarette smoke in a whole- body exposure chamber 6 h/day for 4 consecutive weeks. One group of rats was maintained on control diet while another group received the same diet supplemented with either a low (167 p.p.m.) or high (500 p.p.m.) dose of oltipraz, starting 1 week prior to initiation of smoke exposure until the end of the experiment. Analysis of lipophilic DNA adducts by the nuclease P1-mediated 32P-post-labeling showed up to five smoke-related adducts. Adduct no. 5 predominated in both the lung and the heart while adduct nos 3 and 2 predominated in the trachea and bladder, respectively. Quantitative analysis revealed that the total adduct level was the highest in lungs (270+/-68 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), followed by trachea (196+/-48 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), heart (141+/-22 adducts/10(10) nucleotides) and bladder (85+/-16 adducts/10(10) nucleotides). High dose oltipraz treatment reduced the adduct levels in lungs and bladder by >60%, while the reduction in lungs in the low-dose group was approximately 35%. In trachea, the effect of low and high dietary oltipraz on smoke DNA adduction was equivocal, while smoke-related DNA adducts in the heart were minimally inhibited by high-dose oltipraz. In a repeat experiment that employed a 3-fold lower dose of cigarette smoke, oltipraz (500 p.p.m.) was found to inhibit the formation of DNA adducts in rat lungs and trachea by 80 and 65%, respectively. These data clearly demonstrate a high efficacy of oltipraz in inhibiting the formation of cigarette smoke-induced DNA adducts in the target tissues.      

Genitalverstümmelung und Strafrecht

Some of the girls who live in Germany and have Muslim parents are threatened by female genital mutilation. This report describes the kinds and medical consequences of female genital mutilation as well as the criminal judgement. Female genital mutilation is considered as dangerous bodily harm, not as grievous bodily harm. Consent does not justify the infringement of rights. The argument that Islam justifies the infringement of rights is irrelevant by law. The human right of bodily intactness has priority over the right of religious freedom. Finally the legal regulations about dealing with personal data are presented. A legal compulsory registration still does not exist.     

Intraosseous schwannoma of the metacarpal

Intraosseous schwannoma (neurilemmoma) is an extremely rare, benign neoplasm, constituting less than 0.2% of primary bone tumors. It infrequently involves the bones of the hand. We present a case of intraosseous neurilemmoma of the metacarpal. Received: 26 July 1999 Revision requested: 16 August 1999 Revision received: 16 September 1999 Accepted: 4 October 1999