Determinants of decreasing major amputation rates in Germany.

Background: We analysed a potential association between the decrease in major amputations in Germany and the number of doctors, prescribed podologic foot care (PFC) and antidiabetic drugs, and performed percutaneous endoluminal angioplasties (PTA).

Patients And Methods: Data of all lower limb major amputations between 2007 and 2011, the cases hospitalised with an additional diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, and the numbers of PTAs, and the number of doctors in private practices and in hospitals were obtained from the Federal Statistical Office. Furthermore, the number of PFC treatments and prescribed antidiabetics for each of the five years were derived from the federal report of the statutory health insurance.

High-throughput DNA methylation analysis in anorexia nervosa confirms TNXB hypermethylation.

Objectives: Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) are ideally suited to identify differentially methylated genes in response to starvation.

Methods: We examined high-throughput DNA methylation derived from whole blood of 47 females with AN, 47 lean females without AN and 100 population-based females to compare AN with both controls. To account for different cell type compositions, we applied two reference-free methods (FastLMM-EWASher, RefFreeEWAS) and searched for consensus CpG sites identified by both methods.

Healthcare costs and productivity costs of hand and wrist injuries by external cause: A population-based study in working-age adults in the period 2008-2012.

Background: Hand and wrist injuries are very common at the Emergency Departments (ED), and among the most costly injury types in the working population. The purpose of this study was to explore the causes of non-trivial hand and wrist injuries (i.e.

Analysis of Genes Involved in Body Weight Regulation by Targeted Re-Sequencing.

Introduction: Genes involved in body weight regulation that were previously investigated in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and in animal models were target-enriched followed by massive parallel next generation sequencing.

Methods: We enriched and re-sequenced continuous genomic regions comprising FTO, MC4R, TMEM18, SDCCAG8, TKNS, MSRA and TBC1D1 in a screening sample of 196 extremely obese children and adolescents with age and sex specific body mass index (BMI) ≥ 99th percentile and 176 lean adults (BMI ≤ 15th percentile). 22 variants were confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

Long-Term Results From Tonsillectomy in Adults.

Background: Tonsillectomy is performed more than 400 000 times in the European Union each year, making it one of the most common operations. Nonetheless, there have been only a few long-term studies of quality of life after tonsillectomy.

Methods: In 2004, data on the quality of life after tonsillectomy were obtained from adult German-speaking tonsillectomy patients by means of the Glasgow Benefit Inventory and a questionnaire specifically designed for that study.