Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm: does it affect men's quality of life?

A prospective study investigated the psychological wellbeing and quality of life of older rural men after a community-based screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Five hundred and sixteen men aged 65-74 years attended the screening program; 53 had an abnormal aorta detected. These and a subsample of men with a normal aorta were followed up 6 months post-screening.

Diagnosis and management of iron deficiency anaemia: a clinical update.

Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) remains prevalent in Australia and worldwide, especially among high-risk groups. IDA may be effectively diagnosed in most cases by full blood examination and serum ferritin level. Serum iron levels should not be used to diagnose iron deficiency.

Evaluation of a mobile screening service for abdominal aortic aneurysm in Broken Hill, a remote regional centre in far western NSW.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of a mobile screening service model for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in a remote population centre in Australia.

Design: Screening test evaluation.

Setting: A remote regional centre (population: 20 000) in far western NSW.

Optimising collection of autologous blood. A pilot study of the use of recombinant human erythropoietin and parenteral iron.

Objective: To optimise collection of sufficient autologous blood for elective surgery.

Methods: Prospective study of 40 patients referred for donation of autologous blood, who were booked for elective orthopaedic surgery in the period August 1992 - September 1994. Patients received recombinant erythropoietin (r-EPO) to stimulate erythropoiesis, and sufficient iron by injection so that iron deficiency did not limit the bone marrow response to the r-EPO.

Autologous blood stem cell transplantation for haematological malignancy: treatment-related mortality of 2%.

Background: Lengthy remission or cure has remained elusive for patients with many of the common haematological malignancies. Thus high dose chemotherapy followed by autologous haemopoietic stem cell transplantation is being increasingly utilised in these diseases.

Aim: To assess the safety of high dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation in haematological malignancy.

Alpha-interferon and corticosteroids as initial treatment in small cleaved-cell lymphoma.

Small cleaved-cell lymphoma (SCCL) is a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of low clinical grade, highly responsive to radiation and cytotoxic therapy in its early stages, but ultimately fatal as disease progresses and becomes resistant to therapy. This study reports favourable results using recombinant alpha interferon (alpha IFN) and corticosteroids (CS) in five previously-untreated patients with advanced SCCL. Complete response (CR) was seen in three, excellent partial responses (PR) in the other two, with good patient tolerance.