Sweet syndrome with bitter outcomes in cervical cancer: A case report.

Background: Sweet Syndrome, or acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis, is a non-infectious, painful rash accompanied by fever, leukocytosis and skin biopsy showing neutrophilic dermal inflammation. It is either idiopathic, drug-induced or malignancy associated (MASS). MASS is uncommon in cervical cancer, and usually signals diagnosis, progression or recurrence.

Analysis of chemosensory function in patients with chronic Eustachian tube dysfunction prior to and after balloon dilatation.

Objective: Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) affects approximately 1% of adults in the general population. Non treated Eustachian tube dysfunction can result in chronic middle ear diseases, which have been shown to significantly affect taste sensitivity. A promising treatment is balloon dilatation of the Eustachian tube.

The role of advanced practice providers in pediatric otolaryngology academic practices.

Objective: The goal of this study was to examine the roles of Physician Assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) in pediatric academic otolaryngology programs to provide a better understanding of their scope of practice, levels of autonomy, clinical duties, teaching opportunities and research participation.

Design: An anonymous web-based electronic survey tool was sent to all pediatric otolaryngology fellowship program directors in the United States.

Results: Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants are utilized in approximately 3 out of every 4 pediatric otolaryngology practices.

Are outcomes and care processes for preterm neonates influenced by health insurance status?

Objective: The purpose of this work was to compare the processes of care and to evaluate outcomes of premature neonates delivered to women with Medicaid managed care versus private insurance.

Design/methods: All of the infants born at <37 weeks' gestation between January 2001 and August 2005 in the ParadigmHealth database were included in these analyses (n = 24151). Infants were categorized by maternal health insurance status as private insurance or Medicaid managed care and analyzed for differences in demographic data and length of stay.

Is IMRT needed to spare the rectum when pelvic lymph nodes are part of the initial treatment volume for prostate cancer?

Purpose: To assess whether a 4-field box technique (4FBT), along with its technical refinements, is an adequate approach in terms of rectal sparing and target coverage for patients with localized prostate cancer undergoing whole-pelvic radiotherapy followed by a prostate boost and whether or not intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is needed.

Methods And Materials: For 8 patients, 31 plans were generated, each of them differing in one or more features, including prescription (dose/volume) and/or technical factors. For the latter, several "solutions" to try to reduce the amount of irradiated rectal volume were addressed, including modifications of the 4FBT and the use of sequential IMRT.

Flattening the organization: implementing self-directed work groups.

In response to tremendous growth of managed care and threats to financial stability and job security, the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) restructured itself into independent business units. The radiology department at GBMC resolved to reduce cost per unit-of-service, improve service, determine optimal staffing levels and reduce the number of layers of organization. It was decided to achieve those goals by implementing self-directed work groups.

Built-in antidotes are not the solution.

The Consumers' Association's call for paracetamol combined with an antidote is, unfortunately, not only based on false premise but is also misguided (More painkillers with built-in antidote could reduce overdose risks, study says, Clinical news, April 13).

Velar closure and ear tubings as a primary procedure in the repair of cleft palates.

This ten-year study reviews 36 patients with complete clefts of the hard and soft palates treated with primary velar closure, bilateral myringotomies, and tubings performed when the infant was 12 to 15 months of age. The hard palate and prepalate were not closed until the child was at least 5 1/2 years of age. By early velar closure, a population with an almost 100% incidence of otitis media with effusion has been converted to a population with a 17% incidence of recurrent otitis media requiring repeat myringotomies and tubings.

Comparative hemodynamic effects of intravenous dobutamine and MDL-17,043, a new cardioactive drug, in severe congestive heart failure.

In 14 patients with severe congestive heart failure (CHF) due to ischemic heart disease or idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, the hemodynamic response to intravenous infusion of dobutamine (D) was compared to that of a new non-catechol, non-glycoside, inotropic and vasodilator agent, MDL-17,043 (MDL) administered in incremental intravenous doses. D and MDL produced comparable increases in cardiac index (L/min/m2) (1.8 +/- 0.

Successful reversal of presumed carbon monoxide-induced semicoma.

A semicomatose victim of presumed carbon monoxide poisoning was referred to our hyperbaric chamber facility from a local Japanese hospital after having been treated with an exchange transfusion of 2 L. whole blood. A series of three hyperbaric oxygenation dives, steroid therapy, and supportive measures were used to successfully revive him from semicoma.

[Isotope angiocardiography: amelioration of the measurement of ejection fraction by a new treatment of the image].

Some of the limitations affecting radioisotopic images are their insufficient resolution, structure boundaries and accurate subtraction of background noise. In order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio the images of the recorded heart cycles are treated by the Karhunen-Loeve transformation. Edge detection is based on compression of the image to a bitmap at a chosen level and following of all bits set to one by a pointer.

Echocardiographic changes of cardiac structures and LV function in newborns. A comparative study between normally delivered babies and babies born by caesarian section with regional anaesthesia.

Cardiac chamber size and function indices were studied repeatedly over the first months of life in two groups of babies, born either spontaneously or by caesarian section under peridural anaesthesia. For cardiac chamber size, no significant differences were found between the two groups: cardiac structures increased in size as a linear function of age and weight in all babies. Right ventricular systolic time interval ratios, however, were higher at birth in babies born by caesarian section, and dropped more rapidly during the first 24h.

Echocardiographic growth patterns of intracardiac dimensions and determination of function indices during the first year of life.

Cardiac dimensions and left and right ventricular function indices were studied consecutively in 53 healthy newborn babies throughout their first year of life. Cardiac dimensions, except right ventricular (RV) dimension, increase linearly with age, weight and body surface area, the relation being best described as a linear function of BSA. Left ventricular function indices do no change significantly during the first year of life.

The accident/injury matrix: a tool for aircraft accident investigation.

An accident/injury matrix developed for use in automobile accidents was modified for use in aviation. The matrix subdivides an accident into three temporal phases: preaccident, accident, and postaccident. Each temporal phase is then further divided into specific factors: human, environmental, aircraft, and life support equipment.

Graphical computer techniques for improving the detection of myocardiac ischemia.

Traditional investigative methods to detect and localise cardiac abnormalities are often difficult and time consuming. The use of minicomputers has made a dramatic impact on non-invasive diagnostic techniques in cardiac patients. The Cardiology Division of the Geneva University Hospital has assembled a minicomputer-based data acquisition/visualisation system to study cardiac structures and their associated motions using radionuclide techniques.

Growth patterns of cardiac structures and changes in systolic time intervals in the newborn and infant. A longitudinal echocardiographic study.

A longitudinal study was undertaken in 21 newborns to determine cardiac growth pattern by echocardiography over the course of the first year of life. Most cardiac structures increased in size as a linear function of age and weight; however, the right ventricular end-diastolic diameter remained unchanged so that the RV/LV ratio decreased as a parabolic function of age. Left and right ventricular systolic time intervals (RVSTI, LVSTI) after birth were also studied.

Pasteurella multocida. Infections after domestic animal bites and scratches.

Pasteurella multocida is a common cause of infection followingbites or scratches caused by dogs and cats. However, it is rarely reported and appar-ently often overlooked as a pathogen. It causes the typical clinical manifestationsof a rapidly developing cellulitis at the site of injury.