Introducing dental students to clinical patient care: The complete denture prosthodontics transition clinic

Using complete denture treatment as an introduction to clinical patient care for dental students, the purposes of the Complete Denture Prosthodontics Transition Clinic at the University of Colorado School of Dentistry are to reduce the time lapse between the preclinical complete denture prosthodontics course and the first denture patient experience, and to encourage development of student self-confidence and skills. In the 2002 spring semester, faculty at the University of Colorado School of Dentistry initiated the Complete Denture Prosthodontics Transition Clinic for DS-II (second-year) dental students, as an introduction to clinical patient care. Each patient was assigned to a team of two dental students. Three Division of Prosthodontics faculty members staffed each clinic session, providing a student-to-faculty ratio of approximately 6.6:1 and a patient-to-faculty ratio of approximately 3.3:1. All DS-II students in the Class of 2004 delivered their first complete dentures no later than 8 months (average, 184 days) after the last day of the preclinical complete denture prosthodontics course. The time from the diagnostic appointment through the denture placement appointment averaged 39 days for patients treated in this program, compared with an average of 98 days or more for previous classes. The program was successful in achieving the goal of reducing the time lapse between the preclinical complete denture prosthodontics course and the first denture patient experience.     

Interobserver Agreement for the Diagnosis of Venous Thromboembolism on Computed Tomography Chest Angiography and Indirect Venography of the Lower Extremities in Emergency Department Patients

Objectives: To determine interobserver agreement between radiologists for computed tomography (CT) angiography and venography. CT venography of the lower extremities combined with standard CT angiography of the chest may result in an increased overall diagnosis rate of venous thromboembolism (pulmonary embolism or deep venous thrombosis).
Methods: The study had a retrospective cohort design. The population consisted of emergency department patients who were evaluated for suspected pulmonary embolism. A random sample of 50 patients diagnosed and treated for venous thromboembolism and 50 age- and gender-matched patients whose CT angiograms and venograms were read as negative were enrolled. The original reading (R1) was compared with readings of two study radiologists: R2, a general radiologist, and R3, a radiologist with fellowship training in cross-sectional imaging. All readers were blinded to each other.
Results: Both R2 and R3 found both CT angiogram and venogram components technically adequate in 95% (95% CI = 89% to 98%) and 86% (95% CI = 78% to 92%) of studies, respectively. The agreement was very good for CT angiography (lowest agreement = 92%; lowest κ = 0.83) and was good for CT venography (85%, κ = 0.65). In nine cases, R1 read the CT angiogram as negative but the venogram as positive for DVT, whereas both R2 and R3 read both components as negative in four of these nine, suggesting a false-positive isolated DVT rate of 44% (95% CI = 19% to 73%). In no case did R1 read both scan components as negative when R2 and R3 agreed on presence of pulmonary embolism or DVT.
Conclusions: Diagnosis of pulmonary embolism on CT angiography is more reliable than diagnosis of isolated DVT on CT venography.     

Relative incidence of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in six Melbourne hospitals

Information on the relative incidence of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis was obtained by a prospective investigation at six Melbourne teaching hospitals. One hundred and eleven patients who presented with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases between 1980-1981 were admitted to the study. Forty (36%) patients were diagnosed as having Crohn's disease and 63 (57%) patients as having ulcerative colitis. The type of chronic inflammatory bowel disease could not be determined in eight (7%) patients. These findings suggest that the relative frequency of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in Melbourne hospitals is within the range that is reported for northern Europe and the United States.     

Nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia in renal patients: recognition and prevention of intestinal gangrene

Nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) is a disorder with an extremely high mortality. Salvage of affected patients requires early recognition and aggressive intervention to prevent intestinal gangrene. Dialysis patients represent a group at particularly high risk for this condition. Clinicians should develop a high index of suspicion for NOMI in dialysis patients to lessen the risk of death. A high interventional posture must be maintained due to the notoriously unreliable signs and symptoms of this disorder.     

Benign intracranial hypertension and recombinant growth hormone therapy in Australia and New Zealand

Benign intracranial hypertension (BIH) is reported in three children from Australia and one from New Zealand, who were being treated with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). Three males and one female, aged between 10.5 and 14.2 y, developed intracranial hypertension within 2 weeks to 3 months of starting treatment. A national database, OZGROW, has been prospectively collecting data on all 3332 children treated with rhGH in Australia and New Zealand from January 1986 to 1996. The incidence of BIH in children treated with growth hormone (GH) is small, 1.2 per 1000 cases overall, but appears to be greater with biochemical GHD (<10IUml ^-1), i.e. 6.5/1000 (3 in 465 cases), relative risk 18.4, 95% confidence interval 1.9-176.1, than in all other children on the database. The incidence in patients with Turner's syndrome was 2.3/1000 (1 in 428 cases). No cases in patients with partial GHD (10–20 IUml ^-1) or chronic renal failure were identified. Possible causative mechanisms are discussed. The authors'practice is now to start GH replacement at less than the usual recommended dose of 14IUm-² week^-1 in those children considered to be at high risk of developing BIH. Ophthalmological evaluation is recommended for children before and during the first few months following commencement of rhGH therapy and is mandatory in the event of peripheral or facial oedema, persistent headaches, vomiting or visual symptoms. The absence of papilledema does not exclude the diagnosis.     

Normative study of grip and wrist flexion strength employing a BTE Work Simulator

The BTE Work Simulator is used in strengthening and endurance programs providing objective information concerning a patient's progress from such programs. This study establishes normative data for grip and wrist flexion strength employing a BTE Work Simulator. For each part of this study, the right hand of 200 normal men between the ages of 30 and 40 years were tested. This study has established benchmark or reference values for the BTE Work Simulator. Normative values provide both objective data, for comparison of the patient to the general population, and long-term goals for which to strive during the rehabilitation process.     

Interactions of retinoic acid and androgens in human prostatic tissue.

The effect of retinoic acid (RA) on testosterone metabolic pathway was investigated in hyperplastic and neoplastic human prostatic tissues, and also the effects of steroids on RA binding to its receptor. Steroids only had a minimal effect on the binding of RA by its receptor. The conversion of testosterone to DHT by 5 alpha-reductase was reduced in the presence of retinoic acid. The inhibition was probably due to competition with NADPH for enzyme binding sites. The degree of inhibition found with retinoic acid at a concentration of 10(-4)M was greater for hyperplastic (41%) than that for neoplastic tissue (24%). The inhibition of 5 alpha-reductase by retinoic acid was dose-dependent. The activity of 5 alpha-reductase is significantly less in neoplastic compared with hyperplastic tissue.