The Breast Cancer Screening Program in Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island Department of Health has undertaken a Breast Cancer Screening Program which incorporates assessment, policy development, and assurance functions, following the model proposed in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, The Future of Public Health. With the community's help, projects have been implemented to increase screening capacity with dedicated, state-of-the-art equipment, to increase screening accessibility, to publicize the need for mammography, and to minimize false test results. In the program's first 15 months, the proportion of women ages 40 and over who were screened with mammography according to current guidelines increased from 35 to 46 percent (from 38 to 49 percent among women ages 40-49; from 31 to 43 percent among women ages 50 and over), including 15 percent who received their first screening mammogram. Providers' recommendations and knowledge of screening guidelines were important in explaining first-time use. The Department plans to apply the IOM model in other program areas. Its adoption by others is urged.     

Evaluation of peripheral blood involvement of mantle cell lymphoma by fluorescence in situ hybridization in comparison with immunophenotypic and morphologic findings.

Mantle cell lymphoma is non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphoma characterized by the t(11;14)(q13;q32) translocation. Peripheral blood involvement of mantle cell lymphoma is usually associated with a poor prognosis and therefore, its identification is clinically important. In this study, we performed cyclin D1/IgH-probe fusion fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis on 223 peripheral blood samples: 185 from 125 mantle cell lymphoma patients, and 38 normal controls. The cutoff values for the test were established using normal controls. Flow cytometry on peripheral blood and corresponding bone marrow samples was used to evaluate this test. In all, 26% of the 185 peripheral blood samples and 27% of the 161 corresponding bone marrow samples were flow cytometry positive for mantle cell lymphoma. The mean numbers of single and- double-fusion signals and the mean number of CD5/CD19-positive cells, absolute blood lymphocyte count, and white blood cell count were significantly higher in peripheral blood and corresponding bone marrow samples with mantle cell lymphoma-positive flow cytometry. Double-fusion signals were more specific than single-fusion ones. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was far more likely to be positive for mantle cell lymphoma when the peripheral blood and the corresponding bone marrow samples had positive flow cytometry results or morphology (P<0.01). Our study indicates that cyclin D1/IgH-fusion fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis could be used to determine the presence and character of circulating mantle cell lymphoma cells in peripheral blood, thus enhancing our ability to evaluate leukemic mantle cell lymphoma and minimum residual disease.     

Evidence for reduced cerebellar volumes in trichotillomania.

BACKGROUND: Limited knowledge exists regarding the neurobiology of trichotillomania (TTM). Cerebellum (CBM) volumes were explored, given its role in complex, coordinated motor sequences. METHODS: Morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were obtained for 14 female subjects with DSM-IV diagnoses of TTM and 12 age-, education-, and gender-matched normal control (NC) participants. Parcellation was performed utilizing a recently developed methodology to measure subterritory volumes of the CBM. Regions were defined based on knowledge of the structural and functional subunits of the CBM. RESULTS: As predicted, significant group differences were reported for CBM raw cortical volumes (p = .008) that survived correction for total brain volume (TBV; p = .037) and head circumference (HC; p = .011). A priori and post hoc group raw volume comparisons for CBM subterritories and functional clusters revealed many significant differences. However, most differences failed to withstand correction for total CBM volumes (TCV). Smaller volumes were consistently reported for the TTM versus NC cohorts. Total Massachusetts General Hospital Hair Pulling Scale (MGHHPS) scores were significantly inversely correlated with left primary sensorimotor cluster volumes (p = .008), with smaller volumes associated with more severe TTM symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These findings implicate the CBM in the neurobiology of TTM, with reduced subterritory volumes reported for the TTM versus NC groups.     

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses' national survey of facilities and units providing critical care.

BACKGROUND: Little information is available nationally about critical care units and nurses. What is known about nurses in hospitals is generally not broken down among all the specialties. OBJECTIVES: To describe issues of workforce, compensation, and care specific to critical care units and nurses who work in them. METHODS: The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses conducted a survey of randomly selected facilities with critical care units in the United States. Facilities were solicited via e-mail to respond to a survey on the World Wide Web and provide information on operations, evaluations, nursing staff reimbursement and incentives, staffing, and quality indicators. Responding facilities also provided contact information for units in the facilities. Those units were surveyed about operations, acuity systems, staffing, policies on visitation and end-of-life care, administrative structure, documentation, certification, professional advancement, vacancy/floating, staff satisfaction, orientation, association membership, wages, advanced practice nursing, and quality indicators. RESULTS: The initial response rate (120 of 658 eligible facilities) was 18.2%, and 300 of 576 solicited units nominated by the facilities responded, yielding a 52.1% response rate for the second phase. CONCLUSIONS: These survey data define the scope and intensity of services offered and provide more specific figures about staffing issues and unit practices than has been accessible before. Healthcare providers may use this information for benchmarking purposes, especially for instances in which the tables provide data for each particular type of critical care unit.     

Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS): Process, format, and clinimetric testing plan.

This article presents the revision process, major innovations, and clinimetric testing program for the Movement Disorder Society (MDS)-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), known as the MDS-UPDRS. The UPDRS is the most widely used scale for the clinical study of Parkinson's disease (PD). The MDS previously organized a critique of the UPDRS, which cited many strengths, but recommended revision of the scale to accommodate new advances and to resolve problematic areas. An MDS-UPDRS committee prepared the revision using the recommendations of the published critique of the scale. Subcommittees developed new material that was reviewed by the entire committee. A 1-day face-to-face committee meeting was organized to resolve areas of debate and to arrive at a working draft ready for clinimetric testing. The MDS-UPDRS retains the UPDRS structure of four parts with a total summed score, but the parts have been modified to provide a section that integrates nonmotor elements of PD: I, Nonmotor Experiences of Daily Living; II, Motor Experiences of Daily Living; III, Motor Examination; and IV, Motor Complications. All items have five response options with uniform anchors of 0 = normal, 1 = slight, 2 = mild, 3 = moderate, and 4 = severe. Several questions in Part I and all of Part II are written as a patient/caregiver questionnaire, so that the total rater time should remain approximately 30 minutes. Detailed instructions for testing and data acquisition accompany the MDS-UPDRS in order to increase uniform usage. Multiple language editions are planned. A three-part clinimetric program will provide testing of reliability, validity, and responsiveness to interventions. Although the MDS-UPDRS will not be published until it has successfully passed clinimetric testing, explanation of the process, key changes, and clinimetric programs allow clinicians and researchers to understand and participate in the revision process.     

Local anesthesia for inguinal hernia repair in adolescents

Background Many centers use local anesthesia for adult inguinal hernia surgery in the setting of day-case surgery. There are no reports on, or guidelines for, use of anesthesia for inguinal hernia surgery in adolescents. We describe our initial experience with the use of local anesthesia and intravenous sedation for inguinal hernia surgery in adolescents in the setting of a day-surgery facility. Methods The charts of 14 consecutive adolescent patients (aged 12–17) who had inguinal hernia surgery from July 2004 to March 2005 were reviewed retrospectively. Intravenous sedation was administered 1–3 min before injection of local anesthetic. Sedation consisted of midazolam 0.085 mg kg⁻¹ and either fentanyl 0.85 μg kg⁻¹ or ketamine 0.085 mg kg⁻¹, according to the preference of the anesthesiologist. Additional sedation with half the initial dose was administered if required. Local anesthesia using a combination of lignocaine and bupivacaine was administered by the surgeon with infiltration in the skin and deep tissues. Results Fourteen adolescents aged 12–17 years (mean 14.8 ± 1.37), weighing 34–100 kg (mean 61.2 ± 16.5), had 15 inguinal hernia repairs with sedation and local anesthesia. All the patients were male. All completed the surgery with sedation and local anesthesia. None required conversion to general anesthesia. There were no immediate or subsequent complications. Mean time from the end of surgery to discharge home was under 2 h (mean 106 ± 36 min). Examination of patient charts did not reveal any complaints regarding the surgery or the postoperative course at the postoperative follow up visit. Conclusions The use of local anesthesia with intravenous sedation for inguinal hernia repair in the adolescent age group seems feasible and requires further prospective study.