The history of ideas of Nordic midwives’ excursions from the early 19th century to the millennium

The midwifery art has emphasised the uniqueness of human beings throughout its Nordic history. The educated Nordic midwife has in the last decade celebrated several hundred years of memories. This article studies how the key ideas of the midwifery art and patterns of ideas become evident in the zeitgeist from the beginning of the 19th century to the millennium in the Nordic countries. The legacy and pattern of ideas of the art of midwifery are interpreted in relation to the texts of the selected historical sources and based on Ricoeur's phenomenological-hermeneutic approach to the text and further to the dedication of understanding and interpretation. The historical sources refer to unprinted primary sources from historical archives and printed secondary and tertiary sources. The patterns of ideas include a tripartite whole: the true cultivation of the head, the philosophy and aesthetics of the hand, the strength of the heart and the drive of calling. These ideas open for unique visions and attest to the evident in modern midwives. Today's midwives have academic training with examinations, and the education is based on scientific evidence. The midwife profession is authorised by the state and supervised by the authorities.     

Local demineralization as a model for bone strength reductions in lytic transcortical metastatic lesions.

The structural consequences of bone density changes associated with lytic metastatic lesions were investigated using an experimental model of regular, lytic metastatic lesions in bone. Circular holes were drilled in the mid-diaphyseal cortex of paired adult canine femora. The region around the defect was demineralized in one bone of each pair with 0.8 N HCl. Specimens were tested to failure in four-point bending. Defect size was determined from conventional planar radiographs as the maximum apparent defect diameter divided by the periosteal diameter. Demineralization resulted in irregular defect geometries, which increased the maximum defect dimension 33% to 57% with respect to the original drill hole diameter. Demineralization resulted in additional strength reductions beyond those expected from the original drill hole alone. Despite the irregular demineralization patterns observed, strength reductions were in close agreement with those predicted from data for regular, nondemineralized holes (r2 = 0.93). The results demonstrate that irregular diaphyseal defect borders may not require more complex fracture risk predictors than can be determined from analytic and experimental studies of regular defect geometries. Our results also demonstrate that errors of over 100% can occur when measuring diaphyseal defect size from radiographs that are not optimally aligned with respect to the defect.     

Gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography in the clinical outcomes utilizing revascularization and aggressive drug evaluation (COURAGE) trial, Veterans Administration Cooperative study no. 424

Background  Stress gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (gSPECT) is increasingly used before and after intercurrent therapeutic intervention and is the basis for ongoing evaluation in the Department of Veterans Affairs clinical outcomes utilizing revascularization and aggressive drug evaluation (COURAGE) trial. Methods and Results  The COURAGE trial is a North American multicenter randomized clinical trial that enrolled 2287 patients to aggressive medical therapy vs percutaneous coronary intervention plus aggressive medical therapy. Three COURAGE nuclear substudies have been designed. The goals of substudy 0 are to examine the diagnostic accuracy of the extent and severity of inducible ischemia at baseline in COURAGE patients compared with patient symptoms and quantitative coronary angiography and to explore the relationship between inducible ischemia and the benefit from revascularization when added to medical therapy. Substudy 1 will correlate the extent and severity of provocative ischemia with the frequency, quality, and instability of recurrent symptoms in postcatheterization patients. Substudy 2 (n _ 300) will examine the usefulness of sequential gSPECT monitoring 6 to 18 months after therapeutic intervention. Together, these nuclear substudies will evaluate the role of gSPECT to determine the effectiveness of aggressive risk-factor modifications, lifestyle interventions, and anti-ischemic medical therapies with or without revascularization in reducing patients’ ischemic burdens. Conclusions  The unfolding of evidence on the application of gSPECT in trials such as COURAGE defines a new era for nuclear cardiology. We hope the evidence that emerges from the COURAGE trial will further establish the role of nuclear imaging in the evidence-based management of patients with stable coronary disease. The COURAGE trial was supported by the Cooperative Studies Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Unrestricted research grants were obtained from Merck & Co; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging; Astellas Pharma; Kos Pharmaceuticals; Data Scope; Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals; Astra-Zeneca-Canada; Schering-Plough Coorporation, Ltd; Sanofi-Aventis, Inc; First Horizon; and GE Healthcare. All industrial funding for this trial was directed through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additional funding for this substudy was provided by grants to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Canadian Institutes of Health Research from Astellas Pharma and Bristol-Myers-Squibb Medical Imaging.     

Retrospective review of pemetrexed with or without platinum in malignant mesothelioma: The Australian 'Special Access Scheme' experience

Background: Pemetrexed and cisplatin have recently been shown to significantly improve survival compared with cisplatin alone. However, there are only limited data reflecting teaching hospital experience outside a clinical trial. Pemetrexed has only been available in Australia on a restricted basis since 2002. We reviewed our experience of patients treated on the Australian ‘Special Access Scheme’ at three major thoracic oncology units. Methods: Charts were reviewed for all patients enrolled on the scheme. Data was extracted on age, World Health Organization (WHO) performance status, histology, prior therapy, time from diagnosis to starting pemetrexed, chemotherapy (pemetrexed alone or with a platinum), cycle number, response rate, actuarial progression‐free and overall survival. Doses were cisplatin 75 mg/m² or carboplatin AUC = 5 and pemetrexed 500 mg/m² every 21 days. Results: 52 patients (32 male and 20 female) were reviewed. Median age was 58 years and 88% were WHO 0–1. Histology included 54% epithelial, 17% biphasic (epithelial and sarcomatoid) and 21% undefined. The median time from diagnosis to administration of pemetrexed was 145 days. Sixty‐five percent had minimal surgical intervention with video assisted thoracoscopy, pleurodesis and biopsy, while 19% had received prior palliative radiation. Seventy‐one percent were chemotherapy naïve, the remaining 29% having received previous platinum and/or gemcitabine regimens. Twenty‐three percent had pemetrexed alone, 35% in combination with carboplatin and 42% with cisplatin. The median number of cycles was 4 (range 1–13). The response rate was 33%. No toxicity was observed in 20% grade 3–4 toxicity in 10% (majority nausea/vomiting). The median progression‐free and overall survival times from starting pemetrexed were 184 days and 298 days, respectively. Conclusions: Pemetrexed‐based regimens are safe and effective in a community setting in malignant mesothelioma.     

Early results of immediate repair of obstetric third-degree tears: 65% are completely asymptomatic despite persistent sphincter defects in 61%

OBJECTIVE: The outcome of immediate repair of obstetric third-degree tears is poorly documented. Immediate repair may give better functional results than delayed repair because scarring is reduced. This aim of this prospective study was to examine the early outcome of immediate repair of third-degree tears. METHOD: A total of 121 women who had immediate repair of obstetric third-degree tears underwent interview, anal ultrasonography and anorectal physiology. RESULTS: At review, 79 (65%) were completely asymptomatic (score = 0), 23 (19%), had minor flatus incontinence or mild urgency causing no compromise to their quality of life (score 1-4), and 19 (16%) had clinically embarrassing faecal incontinence (score 5-24). Thirty-nine (32%) had an intact internal anal sphincter (IAS) and external anal sphincter (EAS) (i.e. a successful repair), eight (7%) had a defect in the IAS alone but the EAS was intact (i.e. a successful repair but a residual IAS defect), 43 (35%) had a residual defect in the EAS alone (IAS intact) and 31 (26%) had a persistent defect in the IAS and EAS. Residual defects in either or both of the sphincters were associated with a significantly higher incidence of abnormal resting and squeeze anal pressures. Anal manometry had no correlation with symptoms. The highest proportion of severe incontinence was in those with an IAS defect alone (37%) and when there was a residual IAS and EAS defect (24%). Only 2 of 39 (5%) with an intact IAS and EAS had severe incontinence and only 8 of 43 (18%) with a residual EAS defect alone had severe faecal incontinence. CONCLUSION: These results indicate a good outcome following immediate repair of third-degree obstetric tears and emphasize the role of the IAS in providing continence.