Abdominal compartment syndrome--an old syndrome, a new perspective.

The abdominal compartment syndrome is a life threatening condition resulting from pathologic elevation of the intraabdominal pressure. Prompt diagnosis is required to avoid significant sequelae. Diagnosis of this syndrome is based on clinical findings and intra abdominal pressure monitoring. Treatment consists of decompressive laparotomy, which corrects the pathology. Various surgical techniques are described to manage the open abdomen. Despite considerable attention accorded to this disorder, it is still associated with high morbidity and mortality. This review article deals with the identification of risk factors, pathophysiology, diagnostic criteria and treatment of critically ill patients with the abdominal compartment syndrome.     

Policy Perspective on Housing and HIV/AIDS

For persons battling HIV/AIDS a stable place to live may decide the length and quality of life itself. It is nearly impossible for a person on the streets to engage in a needed continuous AIDS treatment regimen when the very basic question of where that person will rest his or her head when darkness comes in just a few hours is unresolved. When danger lurks on the streets, when cold numbs the limbs, when tiredness overwhelms the mind, when fear breaks the spirit, a place to call home would make all the difference.     

Circulating testosterone in pure motor stroke

Serum LH, FSH and testosterone were quantitated in 9 patients with pure motor stroke within 24-48 h of its reported onset. High circulating LH with normal or low testosterone was noted in 8 of them. In response to an intravenous bolus of GnRH, the LH responses were exaggerated in all, but the FSH responses in 7 of them were comparable to those in eugonadal age matched controls. The rise in testosterone following 2000U hCG daily for 3 consecutive days was insignificant in the patients group compared to the controls. The data suggest normally operative pituitary testicular feed-back but decreased Leydig cell response in pure motor stroke.     

Classification tree analysis of second neoplasms in survivors of childhood cancer

Background  

Reports on childhood cancer survivors estimated cumulative probability of developing secondary neoplasms vary from 3,3% to 25% at 25 years from diagnosis, and the risk of developing another cancer to several times greater than in the general population.     

Sleep and recovery in physicians on night call: a longitudinal field study

Background  

It is well known that physicians' night-call duty may cause impaired performance and adverse effects on subjective health, but there is limited knowledge about effects on sleep duration and recovery time. In recent years occupational stress and impaired well-being among anaesthesiologists have been frequently reported for in the scientific literature. Given their main focus on handling patients with life-threatening conditions, when on call, one might expect sleep and recovery to be negatively affected by work, especially in this specialist group. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a 16-hour night-call schedule allowed for sufficient recovery in anaesthesiologists compared with other physician specialists handling less life-threatening conditions, when on call.     

Associations between street connectivity and active transportation

Background  

Past studies of associations between measures of the built environment, particularly street connectivity, and active transportation (AT) or leisure walking/bicycling have largely failed to account for spatial autocorrelation of connectivity variables and have seldom examined both the propensity for AT and its duration in a coherent fashion. Such efforts could improve our understanding of the spatial and behavioral aspects of AT. We analyzed spatially identified data from Los Angeles and San Diego Counties collected as part of the 2001 California Health Interview Survey.     

Does chair type influence outcome in the timed “up and go” test in older persons?

Objective  

To test the effects of the use of a collapsible, portable chair (chair B), as opposed to a ‘standard’ chair (chair A), on the outcome of the timed “Up and Go” (TUG) test.