Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome: Reports of Fatal Cases.

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is one of the more clinically challenging effects of cannabis consumption. It is characterized by cyclic attacks of nausea and vomiting in chronic cannabinoid users and learned behavior of compulsive hot bathing. The deaths of a 27-year-old female, a 27-year-old male, and a 31-year-old male with a history of CHS are reported.

Evaluation of death certificate-based surveillance for traumatic brain injury--Oklahoma 2002.

Objectives: Death certificate data are used to estimate state and national incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related deaths. This study evaluated the accuracy of this estimate in Oklahoma and examined the case characteristics of those persons who experienced a TBI-related death but whose death certificate did not reflect a TBI.

Methods: Data from Oklahoma's vital statistics multiple-cause-of-death database and from the Oklahoma Injury Surveillance System database were analyzed for TBI deaths that occurred during 2002.

Relationship between severity of rheumatoid arthritis and serum alpha 1-antitrypsin.

We determined serum alpha 1-antitrypsin phenotypes and levels in 281 patients with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The prevalence of the MZ phenotype in our patients with RA was not increased, as there were only 3 MZ cases (1.1% of all cases and 1.

Immunoglobulin (GM and KM) allotypes and relation to population history in native peoples of British Columbia: Haida and Bella Coola.

Differences in the frequencies of GM haplotypes among native peoples of the Americas support the hypothesis that there were three distinct waves of migration from northeast Asia into the Americas: Paleo-Indian, Na-Dene, and Inuit (Eskimo)-Aleut (Salzano and Steinberg: Am. J. Hum.

How many joints in the hands and wrists should be included in a score of radiologic abnormalities used to assess rheumatoid arthritis?

Numerous methods for reading abnormalities of rheumatoid arthritis in hand and wrist radiographs have been proposed over the past several decades. There are many differences among these methods, one of the more striking of which is the variation in the number of joints that are scored. In this study, we tested the number of joints that need to be read in order to represent abnormalities accurately and reproducibly, using the scores of multiple observers.

Persistent low back pain and leg length disparity.

Patients with low back pain who were found to have a leg length discrepancy were treated with a lift to the shoe on the short side. A small group of such patients with longstanding pain had major or total relief over a long period of followup. Clinical characteristics of the low back pain symptoms were distinctive.

Reproducibility of multiple-observer scoring of radiologic abnormalities in the hands and wrists of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Forty-one coded radiographic films from 16 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were read by 13 observers, using 4 different methods for scoring abnormalities. Although absolute scores differed widely among individual observers, correlation coefficients were greater than 0.850 for approximately 2 of 3 comparisons.

Radiographic evaluation of erosion in rheumatoid arthritis: double blind study of auranofin vs placebo.

PA radiographs of hands and wrists from a randomized 6 month study of auranofin (AF) vs placebo followed by 6 months of open AF were scored for progression of erosive disease by 2 independent readers. The readers were blinded both to treatment and sequence (month 0 vs month 12) of the films. The results of our study demonstrate a reduction in the advancement of erosive disease during AF therapy compared to placebo.

HL-A 27 and ankylosing spondylitis in B.C. Indians.

HL-A antigens were determined in Haida and Bella Coola native Indians, two communities known to have a high prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis. Tests were conducted on those with x-ray evidence of sacroiliitis and on a sample of the community at large. Sacroiliitis was found to prevail in approximately 10% of adult Haida males and in over 2% of Bella Coola adult males.

Roentgenographic findings during auranofin treatment.

Roentgenograms of hands and wrists from rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with auranofin for 12 and 24 months were scored for severity of erosive disease. Scores were analyzed by a method in which a calculated mean annual rate of erosion prior to treatment was compared with the annualized rate during therapy. The original films from a previous Myochrysine versus placebo study were reanalyzed in order to compare the results of different scoring methods and to provide an auranofin versus placebo comparison.

Population studies of leukocyte-reactive antinuclear antibody and HLA antigens.

The prevalence of serum leukocyte-reactive antinuclear antibody (LR-ANA) was determined in 31 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), their age-and gender-matched normal controls, and two tribes of 340 West Coast Canadian Indians (Bella Coolas and Haidas). At a serum dilution of 1 : 10, the prevalence of LR-ANA in AS and controls was 45% and 7%, respectively. At 1 : 20 dilution, the prevalence was 23% in AS, 0% in controls, 29% in Bella Coolas and 27% in Haidas.

HL-A27 and ankylosing spondylitis in B.C. Indians.

HL-A antigens were determined in Haida and Bella Coola native Indians, two communities known to have a high prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis. Tests were conducted on those with x-ray evidence of sacro-iliitis and on a sample of the community at large. Sacro-iliitis was found to prevail in approximately 10 per cent of adult Haida males and in over two per cent of Bella Coola adult males.

Studies in osteoarthritis of the hip. IV. Biomechanics and clinical considerations.

Present knowledge of hip biomechanics supports the contention that the stresses imposed on the hip on the side of the longer leg are greater than normal; those on the short side are comparably reduced. Indirect measurements by various authors have demonstrated greater stress on the hip if the pelvis is adducted, a persistent and chronic condition of the hip joint on the side of a long leg. Furthermore the pressure on the acetabulum will be displaced laterally in these circumstances.

Studies in osteoarthritis of the hip. 3. Congenital subluxation and osteoarthritis of the hip.

Although congenital subluxation of the hip is an important primary abnormality, upon which OA hip may later supervene, other factors may also be important in individual patients. When osteoarthritis is seen with subluxation, it probably represents congenital subluxation and not displacement of the femoral head secondary to remodelling. Osteoarthritis in these cases is usually superolateral or supermedial in type, with the major impact of the disease in the superior articular cartilage.

Studies in osteoarthritis of the hip. II. Osteoarthritis of the hip and leg-length disparity.

An x-ray method is described for the determination of leg-length inequality in the standing subject, Its precision is compared to that of other methods in current use. The geometrical considerations which are inherent in any radiographic method of leg-length determination are summarized. Sixty-seven patients with OA hip were studied; 62 were considered to be idiopathic and 36 of these idiopathic cases were superolateral in type.