The correlation of student performance in preclinical and clinical prosthodontic assessments.

Tracking student performance in preclinical and clinical courses can be helpful in developing and refining a curriculum. Our objective was to correlate student performance on three fixed prosthodontic examinations taken by eighty junior dental students. Examinations included a knowledge-based objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), a manual skills exercise completed on a typodont (Typodont), and a competency casting exam (Casting CE) on a patient.

Early cytokine response to multiple injury.

Serial measurements of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) were made in four patients with multiple injuries to characterize secretion patterns and to relate them to severity of injury and degree of haemorrhage. IL-6 and TNF alpha were assayed using a sandwich ELISA. Injury scores varied from 9 to 50, and transfusion requirements varied from 7 to 14 units.

Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, spider naevi and oestrogen hyperexcretion associated with adenocarcinoma.

We describe two patients with hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, spider naevi and elevated 24 h urinary oestrogen excretion associated with an adenocarcinoma. In one of the patients, the spider naevi and the clinical signs of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy disappeared and the 24 h urinary oestrogen returned to normal following removal of the tumour.

Target-like skin lesions in primary amyloidosis.

A case of primary amyloidosis is described, during the course of which transient, purpuric haloes appeared around long-standing Campbell de Morgan spots, forming target-like lesions of the skin.

Treatment of malignant pleural effusions with intrapleural Corynebacterium parvum or tetracycline.

Thirty two patients with malignant pleural effusion were randomly allocated to treatment with intrapleural Corynebacterium parvum or tetracycline hydrochloride in an attempt to prevent symptomatic recurrence of pleural fluid. Success in preventing recurrence of fluid at one month, using up to 2 doses of each drug, was 14 of 16 cases for Corynebacterium parvum, 5 of 9 for tetracycline given via an intercostal needle, and 6 of 7 for tetracycline given through an intercostal tube. These difference were not statistically significant.

Normal joint mobility in mitral valve prolapse.

Thirty-seven adults (19 male, 18 female) with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) were examined for evidence of joint hypermobility scored on a 0-9 scale. None of the patients had hypermobility scores exceeding 3, and comparison with 37 healthy age and sex matched controls recruited from hospital staff failed to show an increased prevalence of hypermobility in MVP. There was no evidence that the MVP syndrome is a forme fruste of a heritable disorder of connective tissue.

Mitral valve prolapse: an assessment of clinical features, associated conditions and prognosis.

One hundred and eighty-two patients (100 females, 82 males) with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) confirmed by echocardiography are described. Their ages range from 12 to 87 years (mean 48 years). The symptoms of breathlessness, pain in the chest and palpitations were analysed.