Physicians' experiences of palliative care for heart failure patients.

Background: Although heart disease is the single most common cause of death knowledge about palliative care for this group of patients is deficient.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe physicians' experiences of palliative care for heart failure patients.

Methods: Fifteen physicians at a medical geriatrics clinic were interviewed.

Moyamoya disease in patients of Finno-Ugric origin.

The terms moyamoya disease, moyamoya syndrome and moyamoya phenomenon can be found dispersed throughout the literature. The diagnostic criteria for moyamoya disease are: (1) stenosis or occlusion of the anterior cerebral, middle cerebral and internal carotid arteries, (2) an abnormal vascular network near these arteries and (3) bilateral findings. When only the two first conditions are present, the term moyamoya syndrome is used.

Combined use of bone grafts and implants in the severely resorbed maxilla. Postoperative evaluation by computed tomography.

Combined horseshoe-shaped iliac bone grafts and Brånemark fixtures were used to rehabilitate patients with severely resorbed maxillae. Twenty patients were followed-up by computed tomography (CT) examination with axial slices to assess the fixture sites and to study the changes in height and width of the bone graft 3 weeks and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. The mean height of the bone graft at the 3-week postoperative examination was 8.

CT assessment of subarachnoid haemorrhage. A comparison between different CT methods of grading subarachnoid haemorrhage.

A number of different CT classifications of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) were applied to a consecutive series of 50 patients with aneurysmal SAH. The best correlation with delayed ischaemic deficits (DID) was obtained with a score formed by the sum of the individual cisternal grades except that of the cortical subarachnoid space. The findings emphasize the significance of the extent of the SAH, rather than the presence of a localized cisternal clot with regard to the development of DID.

Subarachnoid blood on CT and memory dysfunctions in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Ninety patients with a previous subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) were given a set of memory tests comprising immediate free recall of words (indexing long-term memory, LTM, and short-term memory, STM), final free recall of words (indexing LTM), final cued recall of words (indexing LTM), and a digit span test (indexing working memory, WM). Patients with a large amount of blood on CT, carried out within 72 h of the bleed, showed LTM as well as STM dysfunction, whereas patients with a small amount of subarachnoid blood evidenced only STM dysfunction. Patients with the ruptured aneurysm located on the anterior cerebral artery, however, constituted an exception with dysfunction of both LTM and STM together with intact WM, independent of the amount of subarachnoid blood.

Features of Sjögren's syndrome in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Twenty-six consecutive patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) from northern Sweden were studied regarding the occurrence and features of Sjögren's syndrome (SS). In more than 50% of the patients the rose bengal dye test showed conjunctival and/or corneal staining. In six patients keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) was present with positive rose bengal and Schirmer tests.

Vertical odontoid fracture. Case report.

A case of vertical odontoid fracture is presented in which a concomitant fracture of the skull indicated possible pathogenetic mechanisms. The radiological diagnosis and the management of this case are discussed.

Hypercortisolism revealed by the dexamethasone suppression test in patients [corrected] with acute ischemic stroke.

Using the dexamethasone suppression test, we studied the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis within the first week after onset in 62 patients with acute ischemic stroke. Compared with two control groups (one comprising 25 elderly patients with various acute medical disorders and the other comprising 33 80-year-old volunteers), stroke patients had higher postdexamethasone cortisol levels (p = 0.08 and p = 0.

Verbal memory function after subarachnoid haemorrhage determined by the localisation of the ruptured aneurysm.

A total of 219 patients who had suffered from subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) were given a set of memory tests. The tests comprised immediate free recall (indexing long-term memory, LTM, and short-term memory, STM), final free recall (LTM) and final cued recall (LTM) of words as well as a digit-span test (an index of working memory, WM). STM was highly sensitive to brain damage caused by SAH whereas WM was not.

Co-existence of abdominal aortic aneurysms and intracranial aneurysms.

The occurrence of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) and intracranial aneurysms (IAs) in the same patient and in the same family was studied among 89 patients with AAAs and 485 patients with IAs. Among the AAA-patients two had IAs themselves and five had IAs in the family, whereas three IA-patients had AAAs themselves and eight had AAAs in the family. Moreover, one of the patients with both AAA and IA had a blood relative with AAA, and in six of the families with both types of aneurysms there were more than two subjects with aneurysms.

Antifibrinolysis with tranexamic acid in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a consecutive controlled clinical trial.

A randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out to study the effect of tranexamic acid (AMCA, Cyklokapron; AB Kabi, Stockholm, Sweden) in the prevention of early rebleeding after the rupture of an intracranial aneurysm. The incidence of vasospasm, hydrocephalus, cerebral ischemic and thromboembolic complications, morbidity, and mortality was also evaluated. The series comprises 59 patients, 30 treated with tranexamic acid and 29 controls.

Occlusion of the carotid artery using catheter with detachable balloon in pigs.

A new catheter with detachable balloon for vascular occlusion was successfully used for permanent occlusion of the internal carotid artery as well as branches of the external carotid artery in 5 pigs. The technique is intended for clinical use in man.

Computed tomography of the paranasal sinuses.

The diagnostic value of computer tomography in lesions of the paranasal sinuses has been investigated in three cases with maxillary carcinoma and in five cases with fractures of the facial bones. In most of the cases, particularly in carcinoma, computer tomography was found to provide additional information to that obtained with conventional X-ray techniques. In fractures, however, a supplementary plain film examination was found to be indispensable.

Computer tomography of the neurocranium.

The experience with computer tomography of the neurocranium in 300 patients submitted for computer tomography of the brain is reported. The more appropriate projections which may be obtained with the second generation of scanners in combination with an elaborated reconstruction technique seem to constitute a replacement of conventional skull films.