Pin-tract complications in external fixation of fractures of the distal radius

We analyzed retrospectively the rate and outcome of pin-tract complications in 314 unstable fractures of the distal radius, treated with the Hoffmann small-frame external fixator. The overall rate of complications was 27%. The commonest complication (21 %) was pin-tract infection, which was treated with oral antibiotics. There were no cases of osteitis. Complications led to premature removal of the fixator in 17 of the cases. Women over the age of 75 years had a significantly higher rate of pin loosening (17%), but not a higher rate of premature removal of the fixator due to complications. 4% of the cases had a pin-site fracture, all women. The rate of pin-tract complications was high, but severe complications were rare, even in old women.     

The volumes of the fornix in schizophrenia and affective disorders: A post-mortem study

Structural and functional pathology of limbic structures including the hippocampus are frequently replicated in schizophrenia. Although the fornix is the main afferent system of the hippocampus to the septal nuclei and the hypothalamus (especially the mammillary bodies), relatively few studies have investigated structural changes of the fornix in schizophrenia. We measured the volume of the fornix in post-mortem brains in 19 patients with schizophrenia, 9 patients with bipolar disorder, 7 patients with unipolar depression, and 14 control subjects by planimetry of serial sections. The volumes, the mean cross-sectional areas, and the anterior to posterior distances of the fornix did not differ among patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, unipolar depression, and control subjects. No lateralization existed between the right and the left fornices in among patients in the diagnostic groups and the control subjects. The fornix does not show morphometrical abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and unipolar depression compared with control subjects, which might indicate that the fornix is not a primary focus of structural changes in these diseases.     

Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis versus contrast‐induced nephropathy: Risks and benefits of contrast‐enhanced MR and CT in renally impaired patients

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) have become essential to diagnostic evaluation of many, or most, important medically and surgically treated diseases. It is important to consider comprehensively the implications in making decisions when choosing one or the other cross‐sectional imaging modality. Factors to consider include the relative risks of the contrast agent. Other factors include the relative procedural risks, including radiation risks and the relative expected diagnostic yield of the examination technique ( 1 , 2 ). In this review we describe both nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and contrast‐induced nephropathy to compare the implications with regard to relative risks and benefits of contrast‐enhanced MRI or CT in patients with impaired renal function. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;30:1350–1356. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Colorectal cancer incidence, mortality and survival in South-east England between 1972 and 2001.

We report incidence, mortality and survival from colorectal cancer in South-east England using data from 162,022 incident cases and 97,697 deaths collected between 1972 and 2001 at the Thames Cancer Registry, which currently covers 14 million people. Overall, there was an increase in the incidence of colorectal cancer among men aged 50 years and over, and a decrease among the youngest age groups. In women, there was a clear decrease in incidence among those aged less than 60 years but a slight increase among those aged 60-79 years. Furthermore, there has been a steady decrease in mortality for all ages, larger in women than in men, and an increase in the 10-year relative survival for both sexes from just over 30% among those followed-up during 1981-1986 to just over 45% among those followed-up during 1997-2001.