From Innumeracy to Insight: The Uncertainty of Help versus Harm in Treatment of Asymptomatic Aortic Aneurysms

There is insufficient evidence that the surgical treatment of asymptomatic infrarenal aneurysms > 5.5 cm. is beneficial to patients. This is the result of serious complications of aneurysm surgery and the dearth of information from randomized trials. Based on evidence from the literature we defined scenarios and translated data into natural frequency trees to improve understanding of the uncertainty of help versus harm due to treatment of aneurysms. Our analysis shows that the majority of patients can expect little on longevity from surgery while they are at risk of dying from surgery or suffering from serious morbidity. We conclude that, as long as uncertainty persist, patients should be treated in hospitals that can show very low surgical mortality and major morbidity rates. To further resolve the problem of uncertainty randomized trials for larger aneurysms should be performed. Important issues to discuss are the lower and upper limits of the diameter of the aneurysms and the age and risk profiles of the patients to be included in such trials.     

Patient-proxy response comparability on measures of patient health and functional status

The present study evaluates the response comparability between 361 elderly hip fracture patients admitted from the community to seven Baltimore area hospitals between 1984 and 1986 and interviewer selected proxies on items pertaining to patients' pre-fracture health and functional status. Agreement across items ranges from very poor to good and varies with respect to the health or functional area assessed. Proxies tend to overestimate patient disability relative to the patients themselves, especially with regard to capacity to perform instrumental activities of daily living. Although proxies who report the greatest contact with patients respond most comparably to the patients, when they do disagree, proxies with the greatest patient contact tend to overestimate patient disability. The authors suggest that attention to item construction and phrasing may improve response comparability.     

膀胱肿瘤2350例临床病理学特点分析

目的 探讨膀胱肿瘤的发病现状、总体趋势和病理特点.方法 整理1980-2007年2350例膀胱肿瘤病理档案,分为1980-1989、1990-1999和2000-2007年3个时间段.应用SPSS 13.0软件分析3时间段患者性别、年龄及肿瘤组织学类型间的关系.结果 2350例膀胱肿瘤中男1854例,女496例.良性92例,恶性2258例,膀胱恶性肿瘤的发病人数逐年上升.发病高峰年龄从50～69岁推迟到60～79岁.1980-1989、1990-1999和2000-2007年3个时间段中男、女恶性肿瘤病例数分别为524例和113例(4.64:11 00)、589例和164例(3.59:1.00)、675例和193例(3.50:1.00),男性约为女性的3.80倍;3时间段男性发生膀胱尿路上皮癌年龄分别为(57.5±11.7)、(62.6±12.3)、(65.9±11.3)岁,女性分别为(58.7±13.6)、(60.7±12.1)、(65.8±12.0)岁,男女各年龄段分别比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05).男性发生鳞状细胞癌、尿路上皮癌和腺癌年龄分别为(68.05±9.7)、(59.85±14.1)、(63.4±9.9)岁,差异有统计学意义(P相似文献   

睾丸旁促结缔组织增生性小圆细胞肿瘤1例报告及文献复习

目的:探讨睾丸旁促结缔组织增生性小圆细胞肿瘤的临床、病理特征、诊断及治疗。方法:回顾分析1例睾丸旁促结缔组织增生性小圆细胞肿瘤的诊治及随访资料,并复习相关文献。患者,男,27岁,因阴囊内无痛性肿块4个月就诊。体检于左侧阴囊内可扪及囊性肿块,同侧睾丸不能扪及。行左侧睾丸根治性切除术,术后辅以化疗。结果:术中见左侧睾丸旁多发结节状隆起肿块,质偏硬;术后病理检查肿瘤细胞呈巢状或梁索状结构并埋没在增生的纤维结缔组织中;免疫组化显示瘤细胞具有上皮源性、间质性和神经源性等多向分化的特点。术后已随访3年无瘤生存,预后良好。结论:促结缔组织增生性小圆细胞肿瘤有特异的临床病理特征,好发于年轻男性,手术切除肿瘤联合化疗是治疗的主要方法,睾丸旁促结缔组织增生性小圆细胞肿瘤比腹腔型预后相对好。     

金地鼠颊囊癌前病变的细胞增殖动力学研究

目的研究口腔上皮组织癌和癌前病变的细胞动力学变化特征。方法采用Ｓａｌｅｙ的ＤＭＢＡ涂布诱导法，建立金地鼠颊囊癌前病变模型，并用溴脱氧尿苷流式细胞动力学检测方法，对３０只叙利亚种金地鼠进行分组对照研究。结果涂药组光镜下的细胞病变程度随涂药时间延长而逐渐加重，而空白对照组无变化；ＦＣＭ检测显示涂药组与对照组在Ｓ期阳性细胞检出率存在显著差异。即使在光镜下表现为轻度不典型增生时，ＦＣＭ检测结果也有显著差别。结论金地鼠颊囊癌前病变具有细胞异常增殖的细胞动力学特征     

聋幼儿情绪状态对认知发展的影响

为促进聋幼儿各方面的正常发展，使其早日回归主流社会，我们对聋幼儿进行了认知和情绪表现的研究。通过问卷调查、观察和实验研究得知，聋幼儿的认知发展和良好情绪的培养是分不开的，认知内容适中有利于聋幼儿良好情绪的培养，而良好积极的情绪又可促进聋幼儿认知的发展。对此，我们实验并总结了培养聋幼儿积极情绪和促进认知发展的方法。     

东北地区2000～2005年住院军事飞行人员疾病构成和常见病疾病谱调查

目的 探讨东北地区2000～2005年住院军事飞行人员疾病的发生、发展与分布规律,为完善新时期飞行人员疾病预防、诊治和医学鉴定提供客观依据. 方法 采用流行病学回顾性调查方法 ,统计分析东北地区2000～2005年2223人次住院军事飞行人员的病例资料,并按国际疾病分类法第9版(ICD-9)编制"东北地区2000～2005年军事飞行人员疾病构成"和"东北地区2000～2005年军事飞行人员常见病疾病谱".应用SPSS 10.0统计软件进行统计分析. 结果 疾病构成显示,军事飞行人员肌肉骨骼系统疾病多年居首位,构成比是居第2位的消化系统疾病的2～3倍.与1995年比较,肌肉骨骼系统、感觉器官及泌尿生殖系统疾病的构成比上升显著;疾病谱显示腰椎间盘突出症、颈椎病、头痛、神经性耳聋和心律失常居前5位. 结论 21世纪前6年东北地区军事飞行人员常见病是腰椎间盘突出症、颈椎病、头痛、神经性耳聋和心律失常.提示转氨酶增高、半月板损伤和颈椎间盘突出症增加迅速,应引起关注.     

Validation of a self-administered diet history questionnaire using multiple diet records

The validity of a self-administered diet history questionnaire has been estimated using as the reference data the mean of three 4-day diet records collected over the year prior to the administration of the questionnaire, in 1985–1986. Subjects were women ages 45–70 years, participants in the Women's Health Trial Feasibility Study, a multi-center clinical trial in which some women were randomized to be taught to adopt and maintain a low-fat diet, while others maintained their usual diet. The questionnaire produced group mean nutrient estimates closely approximating the values obtained by three 4-day records, e.g. in the usual-diet group, 37.7% of calories from fat by both food records and by questionnaire, and in the low-fat, group, 21.3% of calories from fat by food records and 23.7% of calories from fat by questionnaire. Correlations between questionnaire and diet records for per cent of calories from fat were 0.67 and 0.65 respectively in the two groups; most correlations were in the 0.5–0.6 range, and were similar to those achievable by a single 4-day food record.     

Improved intracranial lesion characterization by tissue segmentation based on a 3D feature map

Our aim was to develop an accurate multispectral tissue segmentation method based on 3D feature maps. We utilized proton density (PD), T₂-weighted fast spin-echo (FSE), and T₁-weighted spin-echo images as inputs for segmentation. Phantom constructs, cadaver brains, an animal brain tumor model and both normal human brains and those from patients with either multiple sclerosis (MS) or primary brain tumors were analyzed with this technique. Initially, misregistration, RF inhomogeneity and image noise problems were addressed. Next, a qualified observer identified samples representing the tissues of interest. Finally, k-nearest neighbor algorithm (k-NN) was utilized to create a stack of color-coded segmented images. The inclusion of T₁ based images, as a third input, produced significant improvement in the delineation of tissues. In MS, our 3D technique was found to be far superior to that based on any combination of 2D feature maps (P < 0.001). We identified at least two distinctly different classes of lesions within the same MS plaque, representing different stages of the disease process. Further, we obtained the regional distribution of MS lesion burden and followed its changes over time. Neuropsychological aberrations were the clinical counterpart of the structural changes detected in segmentation. We could also delineate the margins of benign brain tumors. In malignant tumors, up to four abnormal tissues were identified: 1) a solid tumor core, 2) a cystic component, 3) edema in the white matter, and 4) areas of necrosis and hemorrhage. Subsequent neurosurgical exploration confirmed the distribution of tissues as predicted by this analysis.