Intervertebral disc impingement syndrome in a child. Report of a case and suggested pathology

Nerve root impingement syndrome is rare in children and adolescents. The symptomatology of the pediatric group sometimes differs from that of the adult. An accurate diagnosis is often delayed because of concerns for neoplasm, infection, and spondylolisthesis. A case report of an 11-year-old boy with symptoms and myelographic findings consistent with a herniated disc is presented. A review of the literature disclosed only four cases of herniated disc in children under the age of 12 years. Our case represents one of the youngest patients with documented intervertebral disc impingement syndrome. Rather than a herniation due to degenerative changes in the annulus, a slipping of the entire disc, and vertebral end-plate (a "slipped vertebral apophysis") may precipitate a central disc impingement in children and adolescents. This has been reported in cases of trauma previously. However, the authors think that this slipped vertebral apophysis may, in fact, represent a large number of the so-called herniated discs in adolescents. It is also suggested that this may be an identifiable syndrome with a susceptible age range, activity level and body habitus.     

Relative production of IL-1 beta and TNF alpha by mononuclear cells after exposure to dental implants.

Interleukin-1 (also known as osteoclast activating factor, OAF) is a cytokine produced primarily by monocytes and macrophages and is thought to mediate many of the immunologic, metabolic, and endocrine alterations seen with microbial infection, tissue injury, inflammatory disease, and bone loss. Stimuli for IL-1 production include microorganisms, endotoxins (LPS), antigen-antibody complexes, clotting components, and other cytokines. The purpose of this study was to determine whether dental implants stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to produce IL-1 beta (OAF) as well as tumor necrosis factor (TNF alpha). This production may lead to bone loss or failure of an implant. Three duplicates of five different implants were incubated with 2 x 10(6) PBMCs/ml in 20% autologous serum; the esterase positive PBMCs amounted to 14.5%. Measured by radioimmunoassay techniques and compared to controls, all of the implants except one caused significant in vitro generation of IL-1 beta and TNF alpha. The stimulation of IL-1 beta/TNF alpha production by these materials suggests that they are not physiologically inert and that the IL-1 beta (OAF) production may contribute to a less favorable osseoadaptation. OAF has a physiologic (homeostatic) role in maintenance and alteration of osseous structures, but the level at which physiologic becomes pathologic is unknown. Although there were statistical differences between the cellular response to these implants, the clinical significance of the differences remains to be determined.     

House staff member awareness of older inpatients' risks for hazards of hospitalization

BACKGROUND: Many hospitalized older adults develop iatrogenic complications unrelated to their presenting diagnoses that can result in longer hospitalizations, functional impairment, or unanticipated medical or surgical interventions. These complications are often referred to as "hazards of hospitalization" and include delirium, malnutrition, urinary incontinence, pressure ulcers, depression, falls, restraint use, infection, functional decline, adverse drug effects, and death. The aims of this study were to assess house staff member awareness of older patients' risk factors for developing hazards of hospitalization and to determine areas in which interventions may help improve recognition. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed, from December 1, 1999, through August 31, 2002, of internal medicine and medicine or pediatric house staff members and their patients from 4 medical units at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Each house staff member completed a 23-item survey on 3 of their recently admitted patients. These patients and, if appropriate, their surrogates were interviewed by the study investigator within 2 hours of the completion of the house staff survey. House staff member responses are compared with those obtained by the study investigator. The completed house staff surveys were compared with the reference standard, and areas of agreement and disagreement were noted. RESULTS: Eighty-six house staff teams, consisting of 1 intern and 1 resident (in either the second or third postgraduate year), and 105 patients were enrolled in the study. The house staff members were in frank disagreement or poor agreement with the reference standard in knowing the following: how well their patients were oriented to place or how long they had been hospitalized; patients' quality of sleep, presence of pain, history of falls, mood, quantity of food intake, and use of hearing aids, glasses, or an ambulation assistive device when at home; and the name of their patients' primary care physicians. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that internal medicine house staff members are not aware of many of their patients' risk factors for developing the hazards of hospitalization. Some of these deficits are glaring, particularly the lack of awareness of patients' orientation to place and time (duration of hospitalization), presence of pain, and the identity of their primary care physician. It will likely take education and cultural change to improve this performance. Such improvement could be accomplished as part of 3 of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education competencies: interpersonal communication, patient care, and systems-based practice. Such a process might improve not only house staff member awareness but also patient outcomes, since interdisciplinary communication and interventions are key to preventing the hazards of hospitalization.     

Arthritis in the family practice setting: associations with education and community poverty

OBJECTIVE: To examine associations of self-reported arthritis in 25 urban and rural family practice clinics with education (individual socioeconomic status) and community poverty (community socioeconomic status). METHODS: A total of 7,770 patients at 25 family practice sites across North Carolina self-reported whether they had arthritis. Education was measured as less than a high school (HS) degree, a HS degree, and more than a HS degree. The US Census 2000 block group poverty rate (percentage of households in poverty in that block group) was grouped into low, middle, and high tertiles. We assumed heterogeneity by race (non-Hispanic white and African American) for the effects of these sociodemographic variables, and therefore stratified by race. Multilevel analyses were performed using a 2-level mixed logistic model to examine the independent associations and joint effects of education and poverty with self-reported arthritis as the outcome, adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index. RESULTS: White participants with less than a HS degree living in block groups with high poverty had 1.55 times the odds (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.10-2.17) of reporting arthritis compared with white participants with more than a HS degree and low poverty rates. African American participants with less than a HS degree and high poverty rates had 2.06 times the odds (95% CI 1.16-3.66) of reporting arthritis compared with African American participants with more than a HS degree and low poverty rates. CONCLUSION: In the family practice setting, both disadvantaged white and African American participants showed increased odds of self-reported arthritis, with stronger associations in African Americans.     

The HLA-DRB1 shared epitope is associated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis in African Americans through European genetic admixture

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether shared epitope (SE)-containing HLA-DRB1 alleles are associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in African Americans and whether their presence is associated with higher degrees of global (genome-wide) genetic admixture from the European population. METHODS: In this multicenter cohort study, African Americans with early RA and matched control subjects were analyzed. In addition to measurement of serum anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies and HLA-DRB1 genotyping, a panel of >1,200 ancestry-informative markers was analyzed in patients with RA and control subjects, to estimate the proportion of European ancestry. RESULTS: The frequency of SE-containing HLA-DRB1 alleles was 25.2% in African American patients with RA versus 13.6% in control subjects (P = 0.00005). Of 321 patients with RA, 42.1% had at least 1 SE-containing allele, compared with 25.3% of 166 control subjects (P = 0.0004). The mean estimated percent European ancestry was associated with SE-containing HLA-DRB1 alleles in African Americans, regardless of disease status (RA or control). As reported in RA patients of European ancestry, there was a significant association of the SE with the presence of the anti-CCP antibody: 86 (48.9%) of 176 patients with anti-CCP antibody-positive RA had at least 1 SE allele, compared with 36 (32.7%) of 110 patients with anti-CCP antibody-negative RA (P = 0.01, by chi-square test). CONCLUSION: HLA-DRB1 alleles containing the SE are strongly associated with susceptibility to RA in African Americans. The absolute contribution is less than that reported in RA among populations of European ancestry, in which approximately 50-70% of patients have at least 1 SE allele. As in Europeans with RA, the SE association was strongest in the subset of African American patients with anti-CCP antibodies. The finding of a higher degree of European ancestry among African Americans with SE alleles suggests that a genetic risk factor for RA was introduced into the African American population through admixture, thus making these individuals more susceptible to subsequent environmental or unknown factors that trigger the disease.     

Improving the transition to home healthcare by rethinking the purpose and structure of the CMS 485: first steps

Transition points are the weak links in communication between providers. As an example, the discharge home often is a hurried "handoff" from inpatient physician to home care agency, whose visiting nurse admits the patient for a period of observation, medication management, rehabilitation, and teaching. The primary means of communication between physician and home health agency is the CMS 485, a form that contains the orders and that physicians frequently sign well after patients begin receiving services. This paper describes the first phase of a project that restructured and automated the CMS 485 using an existing electronic health record. The principles guiding the restructuring are described along with early reaction to and revision of the form to address operational issues. The paper also discusses evaluation plans and a web-based system of communication that will be developed in the second phase of the project.     

Decrease in rabbit bladder mucosal glycoprotein after oophorectomy

Hormonal manipulation has been shown to result in less efficient bladder clearance of bacteria. We describe the use of a double antibody technique to semiquantitatively demonstrate the diminution of bladder glycoproteins from the transitional epithelium in oophorectomized rabbits. Rabbit bladder glycoprotein was isolated and used to immunize Swiss-Webster mice. Bladders of normal and oophorectomized rabbits were sequentially stained with mouse antirabbit sera and fluoresceinated goat antimouse antibody. A significant loss of bladder epithelial glycoprotein was evident in oophorectomized rabbits as compared to controls. This study, utilizing a semiquantitative immunologic staining technique, suggests an intact glycoprotein layer is important in the bladder defense mechanism.