Gender Trends in Emergency Medicine Publications

Background In recent years, the number of women entering the field of emergency medicine (EM) has increased.
Objectives To determine if authorship in EM publications has increased in parallel with this trend.
Methods The gender of first and last authors of EM articles in Academic Emergency Medicine , American Journal of Emergency Medicine , Annals of Emergency Medicine , and Journal of Emergency Medicine were examined. The authors reviewed articles from 1985, 1995, and 2005 for American Journal of Emergency Medicine , Annals of Emergency Medicine , and Journal of Emergency Medicine and from 1999 and 2005 for Academic Emergency Medicine . The primary outcomes were the proportions of female authors.
Results A total of 2,016 articles were reviewed. Overall, 18% of first and last authors were female. Respectively, for 1985, 1995, 1999, and 2005, the proportions of female first authors were 9%, 15%, 19%, and 24%; the proportions of female last authors were 9%, 18%, 19%, and 22%. The trend of increases in female authorship was statistically significant.
Conclusions Although female authorship remains a minority in EM publications, it has increased significantly in parallel with increases in female participation in EM.     

Identifying undiagnosed diabetes: cross-sectional survey of 3.6 million patients' electronic records.

BACKGROUND: Around 1% of the UK population has diabetes that is either undiagnosed or unrecorded on practice disease registers. AIM: To estimate the number of people in UK primary care databases with biochemical evidence of undiagnosed diabetes. To develop simple practice-based search techniques to support early recognition of diabetes. DESIGN OF STUDY: Cross-sectional survey of 3 630 296 electronic records. SETTING: Four hundred and eighty UK practices contributing to the QRESEARCH database. METHOD: Electronic searches to identify people with no diabetes diagnosis in one of two categories (A and B), using the most recently recorded blood glucose measurement: random blood glucose level >or=11.1 mmol/l or fasting blood glucose level >or=7.0 mmol/l (A); either a random or a fasting blood glucose level >or=7.0 mmol/l (B). An additional outcome measure was the proportion of the population with at least one blood glucose measurement in the record. RESULTS: The number (percentage) identified in category A was 3758 (0.10% of the total population); the number in category B was 32 785 (0.90%). Projected to a practice of 7000 patients, around eight patients have biochemical evidence of undiagnosed diabetes, and 68 have results suggesting the need for further follow-up. One-third of people aged over 40 years without diabetes have a blood glucose measurement in the past 2 years in their record. CONCLUSION: People with possible undiagnosed diabetes are readily identifiable in UK primary care databases through electronic searches using blood glucose data. People with borderline levels, who may benefit from interventions to reduce their risk of progression to diabetes, can also be identified using practice-based software.     

Island Pectoralis Major Myocutaneous Flap: An Indian Perspective

The aim of this study is to conceive a method of raising an island PMMC flap, so as to circumvent its drawbacks of bulk, flap length and the difficulty of developing this flap in female patients. And to consider island PMMC flap as a viable reconstructive option in head and neck surgeries, especially in peripheral centres. Ours is an experimental case series. The study was done at Sri Devaraj URS Medical college, Tamaka, Kolar. Between 2009 and 2010, head and neck reconstruction was performed using this method in 20 patients who had oral cancer (18), carcinoma supraglottis (1) and mucoepidermoid carcinoma parotid (1). The patients age ranged from 16 to 75 years, and there were 15 women and 5 men. Nineteen of our patients underwent primary surgery and one patient was operated for residual disease. In (16) patient, island pmmc flap was used for intra oral closure. In (4) patients the flap was spiraled for providing skin cover. Four patients developed complications. Three were minor complications of margin necrosis and wound dehiscence, which were managed conservatively. One patient developed orocutaneous fistula, which required secondary suturing. None of our patients had a total necrosis of the flap. Island PMMC flap is still a very useful and viable option for reconstruction in head and neck surgeries, especially in lateral gingivo buccal tumours and other head and neck tumours. In institutions where microvascular expertise is not available, island PMMC flap can be an alternative with results comparable to that of free tissue transfer.