[Use of discharge records to define the oncological diagnoses for outpatient radiotherapy patients].

Objective: Outpatient activity recording system has a potential role in clinical practice evaluation. Nevertheless, up to now, its utilisation has been limited by the paucity of its clinical data. This study describes a procedure for identifying the oncological diagnosis in patients receiving radiotherapy at an ambulatory service in the Piedmont Region.

Magnetically driven growth of anthracene thin films by organic molecular beam deposition.

The possible use of a static magnetic field during organic molecular beam deposition of thin molecular films for inducing some preferential growth is discussed and the magnetic properties of diamagnetic molecules and molecular crystals are recalled. Considering prototypical materials, namely anthracene molecules and potassium phthalate substrates, which interact and may give rise to polycrystalline films with specific orientations, we show that in the presence of a magnetic field the films display a macroscopic preferential orientation as a result of minimization of the magnetic energy contribution. A very good agreement between the results of optical spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and predictions made on the basis of the anisotropic magnetic susceptibility of anthracene is found.

Accessibility as a major determinant of radiotherapy underutilization: a population based study.

Background And Purpose: A survey was conducted of radiotherapy (RT) resources and utilization in a northwestern Italian Region in order to assess geographical variations in radiotherapy utilization rates, and the effects of infrastructure supply on accessibility.

Materials And Methods: The survey was conducted by analysing standardized utilization rates based on administrative records. The data were analysed at both Regional and Local Health Unit (LHU) level.

Imputation of individual cancer cases to occupational causes.

Objectives: Many potential occupational causes of cancer have been documented. Imputation of an individual cancer to occupational or other causes is, however, difficult. A method based on the Bayes theorem is proposed for assessing causal relationships at the individual level.

Spirometric changes following the use of pesticides.

We compared the respiratory function of 19 pesticide factory workers and a control group of 43 other factory workers in Lebanon. The groups had no difference in smoking status. Baseline measurements of respiratory function showed significantly lower forced expiratory volume and flow rates (FEV1, FEF(25-75%), and FEV1/FVC ratio) among subjects working with pesticides, i.

Respiratory diseases and pesticide exposure: a case-control study in Lebanon.

Study Objective: To evaluate the odds of being exposed to pesticides in asthmatic adults.

Design: A case-control study was performed in Lebanon.

Setting: People were approached when consulting physicians as outpatients.

Pesticide contamination of workers in vineyards in France.

In order to build tools to quantify exposure to pesticides of farmers included into epidemiological studies, we performed a field study in Bordeaux vineyards during the 2001 and 2002 treatment seasons to identify parameters related to external contamination of workers. In total, 37 treatment days were observed in tractor operators corresponding to 65 mixing operations, 71 spraying operations and 26 equipment cleaning. In all, four operators with backpack sprayers and seven re-entry workers were also monitored.

Screening of TP53 mutations by DHPLC and sequencing in brain tumours from patients with an occupational exposure to pesticides or organic solvents.

The aetiology of brain tumours remains unclear. Occupational exposures to pesticides and organic solvents are suspected risk factors. The case-control study CEREPHY (221 cases, 442 controls) carried in the Departement de la Gironde in France revealed a significantly increased risk of brain tumours for subjects most exposed to pesticides.

Twenty five year mortality and air pollution: results from the French PAARC survey.

Aims And Methods: Long term effects of air pollution on mortality were studied in 14,284 adults who resided in 24 areas from seven French cities when enrolled in the PAARC survey (air pollution and chronic respiratory diseases) in 1974. Daily measurements of sulphur dioxide, total suspended particles, black smoke, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric oxide were made in 24 areas for three years (1974-76). Cox proportional hazards models controlling for individual confounders (smoking, educational level, body mass index, occupational exposure) were applied, and frailty models used to take into account spatial correlation.

Epidemiology of multiple system atrophy: a prevalence and pilot risk factor study in Aquitaine, France.

We investigated the prevalence of multiple system atrophy (MSA) in Gironde, France, through a network of 120 public and private specialists and assessed the relationship between some environmental factors and MSA in a case-control study involving 50 MSA patients, 50 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and 50 healthy controls. The occupational exposure to pesticides was evaluated through a job-exposure matrix. On prevalence day (November 1, 1998), the crude prevalence of MSA in Gironde was 1.

Incidence of central nervous system tumors in Gironde, France.

The incidence of CNS tumors is subject to geographical and temporal variations which are poorly understood. The incidence of these tumors was studied in Gironde, a department of southwestern France with 1,058,911 inhabitants older than 16 years. We recorded any malignant or benign central nervous system (CNS) tumor diagnosed between May 1999 and April 2001 in adults living in Gironde.

Difference in the relation between daily mortality and air pollution among elderly and all-ages populations in southwestern France.

Numerous time series studies around the world have reported an association between mortality and particulate air pollution. We investigated the distribution over time of effect of air pollution on short-term mortality among subjects aged 65 years and older and of all ages in Bordeaux, France. Statistical analysis was based on generalized additive models using either loess or penalized spline smoothing.

Determinants of in-stent restenosis after carotid angioplasty: a case-control study.

Purpose: To report a retrospective study that sought to identify clinical factors contributing to the development of in-stent restenosis in the carotid arteries, to profile the patients at greatest risk, and to review the treatment modalities evolved from our experience.

Methods: Between December 2000 and April 2003, 195 carotid angioplasty/stenting (CAS) procedures (12 bilateral) were performed in 183 patients (131 men; median age 65.9 years, interquartile range 55.

Rupture of internal iliac artery aneurysm presenting as rectus sheath hematoma: case report.

This report describes a ruptured internal iliac artery aneurysm that presented as a rectus sheath hematoma (RSH). The patient developed abdominal pain and a large, tense lower abdominal wall mass without peritoneal signs. Computed tomography scan demonstrated a massive RSH contiguous with a ruptured left internal iliac artery aneurysm.

Pesticides in Lebanon: a knowledge, attitude, and practice study.

Pesticides, despite their known toxicity, are widely used in developing countries. Evaluating the pattern of their use would be interesting to assess the appropriateness of adequate intervention. Using a standardized questionnaire, a knowledge, attitude, and practice study was performed in two Lebanese regions, in which a group of agricultural workers was compared to workers of the general population and a third group of pesticide distributors.

Urine mutagenicity and lymphocyte DNA damage in fruit growers occupationally exposed to the fungicide captan.

Aims: To determine haematological parameters, urine mutagenicity (on three Salmonella typhimurium strains), and DNA damage (using the comet assay) in mononuclear leucocytes of farmers before and after a one-day spraying period of pear and apple trees with the fungicide captan in usual conditions.

Methods: Fruit growers were exposed to captan during the 1998 (n = 12) and/or the 2000 spraying seasons (n = 17). Biological samples were collected on the morning of the day of spraying (S1), the evening after spraying (S2), and the morning of the day after (S3).

Respiratory symptoms in children and exposure to pesticides.

In Lebanon, childhood asthma is an important disease and pesticides are commonly used. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether exposure to pesticides has chronic effects on the respiratory health of Lebanese children. A cross-sectional study was performed on children from a randomly selected sample of Lebanese public schools.

The retrojugular route: the ideal exposure for carotid endarterectomy performed under locoregional anesthesia.

Background: Scientific evidence exists to support the claim that either general o regional anesthesia can be safely used for CEA: each of the techniques has either theoretical and practical advantages or drawbacks. Since the issue of whether, for CEA, one anesthetic technique is better than another has not yet been explored by randomized trials, any contribution that could reduce the disadvantages of any of the two approaches may contribute to overcome individual diffidence and visceral antagonism. The proposed approach represents a technical improvement of locoregional CEA technique.

Risk factors among elderly for short term deaths related to high levels of air pollution.

Background: Air pollution has been linked to increased rates of mortality, but little is known about individual characteristics related to the increase in risk.

Aims: To examine short term effects of air pollution on daily mortality in elderly people in Bordeaux and compare characteristics of subjects > or =65 years old who died with levels of particulate air pollution.

Methods: Daily mortality data from Bordeaux were used to determine the core model of mortality for the period 1988-97.

Association between Parkinson's disease and exposure to pesticides in southwestern France.

A case-control study was performed in southwestern France in order to assess the relationship between pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease (PD) in the elderly. During the period from 1997 to 1999, 84 cases were recruited together with 252 population-based controls. Experts in occupational health reviewed job codes and provided pesticide exposure levels, making it possible to calculate cumulated exposure lifelong for individuals.

Asthma phenotypes according to the timing of smoking onset in young adults.

Setting: Whether and how cigarette smoking influences asthma are still matters of debate.

Objective: To identify risk factors associated with asthma according to whether individuals began active smoking before or after asthma onset.

Design: A sample of 544 individuals was examined using the protocol of the European Community Respiratory Health Status, Phase 1.

Long-term mortality among adults with or without asthma in the PAARC study.

The Pollution Atmosphérique et Affections Respiratoires Chroniques (PAARC; Air Pollution and Chronic Respiratory Diseases) study provided the opportunity to examine the 25-yr mortality of 940 asthmatic adults drawn from a large population-based sample of 14,267 adults investigated during 1974-1976 in seven French cities. Vital statistics were collected in 2001 for the whole population. Multivariate survival analysis was used to assess exact survival rates in asthmatics and nonasthmatics taking relevant confounders into account.

Neurodegenerative diseases and exposure to pesticides in the elderly.

The authors investigated the hypothesis that exposure to pesticides could be related to central nervous system disorders in a prospective cohort study of 1,507 French elderly (1992-1998). Lower cognitive performance was observed in subjects who had been occupationally exposed to pesticides. In men, the relative risks of developing Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease for occupational exposure assessed by a job exposure matrix were 5.

Long-term air pollution indicator assessment: example of black smoke in Bordeaux, France.

The aim of the second phase of the Pollution Atmosphérique et Affections Respiratoires Chroniques (PAARC) study, started in 1974, was to compare the long-term mortality between populations living in areas with different air pollution levels. In Bordeaux (France), four different areas were concerned by the study. The black smoke measures were realized between 1974 and 1981.

Neuropsychologic effects of long-term exposure to pesticides: results from the French Phytoner study.

The Phytoner study investigated a possible association between neuropsychologic performances and long-term exposure to pesticides in Bordeaux vineyard workers, most of whom use fungicides. Among the 917 subjects interviewed from February 1997 to August 1998, 528 were directly exposed to pesticides through mixing and/or spraying (mean exposure duration: 22 years), 173 were indirectly exposed through contact with treated plants, and 216 were never exposed. All subjects performed neuropsychologic tests administered at home by trained psychologists.