Quality of life in patients with seasonal affective disorder: summer vs winter scores.

OBJECTIVE: To compare perceived quality of life (QoL) in patients diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) during the winter and summer months. METHODS: Twenty-six patients who were enrolled in an ongoing multicentre study in Canada completed 2 measures of QoL (the 20-item Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form General Health Survey [SF-20] and the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire, [Q-LES-Q]) during the winter, when suffering from depression, and again during the summer months. RESULTS: Both general and health-related QoL scores were significantly improved in patients with SAD during the summer months, with scores for the most part falling within normal range. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived QoL in patients with SAD is markedly impaired during the winter months but shows a substantial rebound during the summer months. The findings of this study provide further evidence that SAD is a distinct diagnostic entity.     

Isokinetic eccentric exercise can induce skeletal muscle injury within the physiologic excursion of muscle-tendon unit: a rabbit model

Background and Purpose  

Intensive eccentric exercise can cause muscle damage. We simulated an animal model of isokinetic eccentric exercise by repetitively stretching stimulated triceps surae muscle-tendon units to determine if such exercise affects the mechanical properties of the unit within its physiologic excursion.     

Variation in the diagnosis of vesicoureteric reflux using micturating cystourethrography

  Variability in the interpretation of micturating cystourethrography by paediatric radiologists for the diagnosis of vesicoureteric reflux in children was evaluated. All 265 micturating cystourethrograms (MCUs) that were available from 304 consecutive children aged 0.5 – 61 months  –  who were investigated after their first urine infection between 1993 and 1995 as part of a prospective cohort study  –  were selected for interpretation. Three experienced paediatric radiologists from the same department independently interpreted the MCUs according to the grading system of the International Reflux Study in Children, from grades 0 to V, with the presence of intrarenal reflux also noted. Apart from being informed that urine infection was the indication for the MCU, no other clinical information was given to the radiologists. The indices of variability used were the percentage of agreement and the kappa statistic, expressed as a percentage. Both measures were weighted with integers representing the number of categories from perfect agreement. Disagreement was analysed for children and kidneys. For the diagnosis of vesicoureteric reflux in individual patients, including grade, the percentage of agreement was 96% – 97% (kappa 90% – 91%) and the weighted percentage of agreement was 96% – 98% (weighted kappa 93% – 94%). The same high level of agreement was present for individual kidneys, with a percentage of agreement of 97% – 98% (kappa 89% – 92%) and a weighted percentage of agreement of 98% – 99% (kappa 94% – 95%). There was near perfect agreement in the interpretation of radiological micturating cystourethrography among three experienced paediatric radiologists for the diagnosis and grade of vesicoureteric reflux. Any variations in the medical care of children suspected of having vesicoureteric reflux are not explained by differences in the reporting of this diagnostic test. Received June 19, 1996; received in revised form November 1, 1996; accepted December 6, 1996     

Cognitive behaviour therapy approach to disputing automatic thoughts: a two-stage model

Research shows that clients with automatic thoughts (dysfunctional thinking) often do not think of alternative explanations in relation to negative events. Furthermore, these automatic thoughts are characterized by a broad global, self-evaluative and ambiguous nature that could make disputing (or changing the ways they think) the most difficult part of the therapeutic process. This paper proposes a two-stage practise-based disputing model, guided by research, that aims to 'bring' an automatic thought to a specific, objective, quantifiable and concrete level at which not only is the particular aspect(s) of the automatic thought that causes emotional disturbances finely focused, but the disputing is also likely to be effective and manageable. Furthermore, it will also generate alternative explanations that are helpful in reducing emotional disturbances and in facilitating problem solving approach. In this paper, the authors use a case example to discuss the rationale that underpins the conceptualization of the model and to illustrate the process in which the strategies of the model are effectively used.     

Post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis in Hong Kong.

Of 74 paediatric inpatients with acute glomerulonephritis, 58 (78%) had a raised (greater than 1/200) antistreptolysin O titre. Serum C3 concentration was low in 73, but returned to normal within six weeks. Streptococcal infection remains the commonest cause of acute nephritis in children in Hong Kong, possibly due to overcrowded living conditions.     

RESULTS OF OPEN CARPAL TUNNEL RELEASE: A COMPREHENSIVE,RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF 188 HANDS

Background : Many recent reports of the results of decompression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel have concentrated on only one aspect of recovery (numbness, grip etc.), and there are no reports of a comprehensive study of outcome. The aim of the present study was to review comprehensively the results of the direct visualization method of decompression of the carpal tunnel and to compare them with the published results of endoscopic release. Methods : Patients' perceptions of the severity of pain, numbness and paraesthesiae due to carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), before and after open carpal tunnel release (CTR) in 188 hands were reviewed retrospectively at a minimum time of follow-up of 18 months. Motor and sensory testing, provocation testing and measurement of scar tenderness in 135 hands were performed at a clinical review. Results : Subjective results showed that 70% experienced a reduction in the severity of pain after CTR, 78% of hands experienced a reduction in the severity of paraesthesiae and 77% experienced a reduction in the severity of numbness. A total of 49% had improvements in all three symptoms after CTR. At the clinical review, sensory testing revealed that 59% of hands had normal or slightly diminished light touch, 35% had normal static two-point discrimination and 61% had normal dynamic two-point discrimination. Results for Tinel's test, Phalen's test and pressure provocation testing were positive in 10% of hands. There was no scar tenderness in 38%, no persisting thenar atrophy in 90%. Normal grip strength was found in 93% and 91% had normal pinch strength. Conclusions : It was concluded that open carpal tunnel release remains a safe and reliable treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome. The very low incidence of serious complications from the open technique of CTR, when compared with endoscopic CTR as published by different authors in the literature, and the comparable clinical results, appears to make the open technique a safer and preferable option. However, a properly controlled trial of both techniques is necessary to compare them.     

Graded stress radiography of injured anterior cruciate ligaments.

Fifty-five patients with clinical suspicion of injury to their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) were examined by graded stress radiography before arthroscopic verification in an effort to determine the loss of ACL function as a result of ligament tearing. Using a commercially available stress device capable of applying varying pressures to the mid-calf, anterior drawers were measured from lateral radiographs at 0-, 7-, 14-, and 21-kiloPascal pressures and used to calculate the equivalent elastic modulus of the remaining ACL fibers. According to viscoelastic theory, this modulus is proportional to the number of elastically active fibers in the ligament. To verify the validity of this concept, the stress-strain relationship of a freshly excised ACL ligament was examined in a tensile testing machine, and the procedure was repeated after the ligament had been partially transsected with a scalpel. Comparison with the elastic modulus of the (intact) ACL of the opposite knee permits an estimate of the percentage of rupture in cases of partial tears. Overstretched ligaments show essentially normal viscoelastic properties once the slack in the ligament has been taken up. Complete tears, on the other hand, show a complete breakdown in the viscoelastic properties of the ACL. The results show that partial tears can be diagnosed by graded stress radiography with a sensitivity of 20% and specificity of 90%. Diagnosis of overstretched ligaments had sensitivity of 50% and specificity of 94%. Complete tears were detected with sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 75% as diagnosed against all other ACL lesions and including normals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)