Shyness and face scanning in children

Contrary to popular beliefs, a recent empirical study using eye tracking has shown that a non-clinical sample of socially anxious adults did not avoid the eyes during face scanning. Using eye-tracking measures, we sought to extend these findings by examining the relation between stable shyness and face scanning patterns in a non-clinical sample of 11-year-old children. We found that shyness was associated with longer dwell time to the eye region than the mouth, suggesting that some shy children were not avoiding the eyes. Shyness was also correlated with fewer first fixations to the nose, which is thought to reflect the typical global strategy of face processing. Present results replicate and extend recent work on social anxiety and face scanning in adults to shyness in children. These preliminary findings also provide support for the notion that some shy children may be hypersensitive to detecting social cues and intentions in others conveyed by the eyes. Theoretical and practical implications for understanding the social cognitive correlates and treatment of shyness are discussed.     

Recovery of memory after severe closed head injury: dissociations in recovery of memory parameters and predictors of outcome

This study examined selective reminding and recognition memory performance of 21 severe closed-head injured patients tested within 6 months of regaining consciousness and then again after at least 1 year. Performances on selective reminding parameters were highly correlated and patients performed significantly worse at both testings than did hospitalized controls matched for age, education, and sex. Patients improved from testing 1 to testing 2 on only four of six memory variables. Average Impairment Rating at testing 1 was a marginally better predictor of memory performance at testing 2 than was length of coma. Results are discussed in terms of (a) utility of selective reminding parameters and predictors of outcome and (b) dissociations in recovery of memory parameters.     

CONGENITAL DISLOCATION OF THE KNEE AS A CONSEQUENCE OF PERSISTENT AMNIOTIC FLUID LEAKAGE

SUMMARY A case congenital dislocation of both knees and dislocation of the left hip in an infant whose mother had a chronic amniotic fluid leakage after mid-trimester amniocentesis.     

Enophthalmos and upper eyelid retraction following osteoplastic frontal sinusotomy

A 38-year-old man presented with hyperophthalmia, enophthalmos, and upper eyelid retraction 18 months following an osteoplastic flap and frontal sinus obliteration for mucocele. Computerized tomography confirmed the presence of frontal bone absorption in the roof of the orbit with traction and elevation of the orbital contents into the obliterated frontal sinus. A fracture of the orbital roof with penetration of periorbita at the time of original surgery was the suspected precipitating cause of the complication. Surgical management included lysis of the cicatrix between the orbit and frontal sinus and interposition of a silicone sheet between the orbit and sinus, which restored the appropriate anatomic relationships and prevented recurrence.     

Evolution of pre-treatment stenting and local anesthesia for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy at a single university center

Evolution of the extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy technique involves not just second generation technology but operator innovations and experience. Retrospective analysis of the first 512 treatments at a university medical stone unit using the Dornier HM3 lithotriptor was compared to 3 intervals of 100 consecutive treatments during the next 2-year period (1985 to 1987). Patient referral and selection as well as treatment techniques and rates of endourological interventions were analyzed. Patient demographics, stone types and retreatment rates remained constant during 2,500 treatments. However, the use of local anesthesia and internal ureteral stents became increasingly common. Of the 1987 cohort 29% were treated with the patient under local anesthesia, and 23 of the 44 with a stent (52%) received internal ureteral stents. Other treatment trends identified during the study period included increasing number of large (greater than 2 cm.) and multiple stones treated; increasing use of internal and external ureteral catheters before treatment, fewer stents for small, mobile renal calculi and decreasing length of hospital stay (2.7 to 2.1 days) with increasing use of stents before lithotripsy. The increasing average number of shock waves per treatment (1,382 versus 1,580) during the study period can be attributed to the larger proportion of patients with high stone burdens and the impact of an increased number of operators with more varied criteria for endoscopy and treatment end point.