Laparoscopic treatment of tubal pregnancy

Seventeen tubal pregnancies were treated successfully with a laparoscopic procedure over the past four years. Four different laparoscopic techniques were used: salpingectomy, partial salpingectomy (midtube resection), fimbrial expression, and salpingotomy. "Preventive hemostasis" using vasopressin has made salpingotomy our treatment method of choice. Ruptured tubal pregnancy was not considered a contraindication to laparoscopic treatment. Four of the six women who were trying to conceive and were followed for longer than six months have had documented intrauterine pregnancies; one woman subsequently developed a contralateral tubal pregnancy which was treated by laparoscopic salpingotomy. Tubal ectopic pregnancy, even in the presence of rupture, can be managed effectively by a variety of laparoscopic techniques with benefits including minimal incision, short hospitalization, early return to full activity, and in many cases, a patent tube.     

Laparoscopic treatment of tuboovarian and pelvic abscess

Twenty-five women with pelvic abscess were treated laparoscopically. Following intravenous antibiotic coverage, laparoscopic surgical techniques were utilized to lyse bowel adhesions, drain purulent fluid, and excise acute and necrotic inflammatory adhesions, including tuboovarian adhesions. Treatment during the acute phase and results per second-look laparoscopy were documented in five cases, with photomicrographs revealing relatively normal pelvic anatomy. One postappendectomy abscess with a peritoneovaginal fistula in a 10-year-old girl was also managed laparoscopically. Four of seven women desiring pregnancy conceived, and two women had unplanned pregnancies. The treatment of choice for acute pelvic abscess may be a combination of intravenous antibiotics and an early laparoscopic surgical procedure.     

Colonic epithelial cell proliferation decreases with increasing levels of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D.

Epidemiological evidence suggests a potential role for vitamin D in colon cancer prevention. Vitamin D, absorbed from the intestine or derived from solar ultraviolet light, is metabolized in the liver to 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH D(3)). Previous studies examining effects of vitamin D upon carcinogenesis have focused upon the active metabolite 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25-(OH)(2) D(3)], which interacts with nuclear vitamin D receptors in several organs. Until recently, the metabolism of 25-OH D(3) to 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3) was believed to occur only in the kidney, but more recent studies have shown that 25-OH D(3) conversion to 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3) can occur in other tissues. We examined the association between fasting levels of 25-OH D(3), 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3), and BsmI polymorphism of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene with indices of colonic epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation in a chemoprevention study, after giving vitamin D or calcium and taking rectal biopsies that were incubated with bromodeoxyuridine. Vitamin D receptor polymorphism was determined by genotyping of the 3' BsmI polymorphism in intron eight of the VDR gene. No significant changes in cell proliferation or in differentiation were found in subjects between study start and end. However, fasting serum levels of 25-OH D(3) showed a highly significant decrease with whole crypt labeling index and the size of the proliferative compartment (phi h). There was no correlation between serum levels of 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3) and the proliferative parameters. Calcium supplementation induced a significant effect upon the relationship between serum 25-OH D(3) and rectal epithelial cell labeling index and phi h when studied by covariance analysis without a relationship with 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3) levels. VDR genotype did not influence the effects of serum 25-OH D(3) or serum 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3) levels upon proliferation. These data suggest that there might be a local effect of 25-OH D(3) on colonic epithelial cells through conversion of 25-OH D(3) to 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3). Subsequent studies have demonstrated the presence of 1alpha-hydroxylase mRNA in normal colorectal epithelium and in colorectal cancer. Thus, vitamin D may have an important role in determining the effects of calcium on colorectal epithelial proliferation and may explain some of the discrepancies found previously in studies that examine the direct role of calcium on the colorectal epithelium.     

Can health care quality indicators be transferred between countries?

Objective: To evaluate the transferability of primary care quality indicators by comparing indicators for common clinical problems developed using the same method in the UK and the USA.

Method: Quality indicators developed in the USA for a range of common conditions using the RAND-UCLA appropriateness method were applied to 19 common primary care conditions in the UK. The US indicators for the selected conditions were used as a starting point, but the literature reviews were updated and panels of UK primary care practitioners were convened to develop quality indicators applicable to British general practice.

Results: Of 174 indicators covering 18 conditions in the US set for which a direct comparison could be made, 98 (56.3%) had indicators in the UK set which were exactly or nearly equivalent. Some of the differences may have related to differences in the process of developing the indicators, but many appeared to relate to differences in clinical practice or norms of professional behaviour in the two countries. There was a small but non-significant relationship between the strength of evidence for an indicator and the probability of it appearing in both sets of indicators.

Conclusion: There are considerable benefits in using work from other settings in developing measures of quality of care. However, indicators cannot simply be transferred directly between countries without an intermediate process to allow for variation in professional culture or clinical practice.