Comparison of a novel methadone rotation method with other commonly used methods.

Objectives: To compare a novel method of methadone rotation used in a specialist palliative care inpatient unit (SPCU) in Cork, Ireland, with rapid titration methods using Perth and Brisbane Protocols as well as the Edmonton method of methadone rotation.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed in March-June 2022. All patients who completed rotation to methadone during 2018-2019 in the SPCU were included.

Perceived Palliative Care Education Needs of GP Trainees: A National Study.

Context: GP's provide palliative care in the community. Managing complex palliative needs can be challenging for GPs and even more so for GP trainees. During the postgraduate training period GP trainees are working in the community but have more time for education.

Heart failure symptom burden in outpatient cardiology: observational cohort study.

Objectives: To assess the self-reported symptom burden in patients with a diagnosis of heart failure attending an outpatient cardiology clinic through the utilisation of validated patient-reported outcome measures.

Methods: Eligible patients were invited to partake in this observational cohort study. Participant demographics and comorbidities were recorded, followed by participants recording their symptoms using the Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale (IPOS) and Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) outcome measure tools.

Video consultations in community palliative care - patient satisfaction: mixed methods study.

Objectives: Community palliative care (CPC) has traditionally been delivered face to face in the home or in the outpatient clinic setting. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the introduction of video consultation (VC) as a modality of CPC service provision. Evidence supports the feasibility of VC in CPC.

Patients with Congestive Cardiac Failure Referred to Specialist Palliative Care.

Background: Congestive cardiac failure is a chronic, progressive condition with a significant symptom burden. There is limited data available regarding the palliative care requirements of the heart failure population.

Aims: To characterise patients with a primary diagnosis of congestive cardiac failure referred to a specialist palliative care (SPC) service in Ireland.

Cross-sectional examination of extrapyramidal side effects in a specialist palliative care inpatient unit.

Objectives: Extrapyramidal side effects (EPSEs) are serious potentially reversible side effects of antipsychotic and other medications that can cause distress for patients. A core principle of palliative care involves optimising quality of life. If side effects of medications are burdensome, it is imperative that we address this issue.

Doctor-Related Medication Safety Incidents on a Specialist Palliative Medicine Inpatient Unit: A Retrospective Analysis of Three Years of Voluntary Reporting.

Patients receiving palliative care and those at the end of life are known to be susceptible to medical errors. Errors related to medications are the most avoidable cause of patient harm. This retrospective study examined reported anonymized medication safety incidents, related to physician errors, assessed by the risk committee in a specialist palliative care unit over a 3-year time period.

Self-Reported Quality of Life and Symptom Burden in Ambulatory Patients With Multiple Myeloma on Disease-Modifying Treatment.

Background: Knowledge of health-related quality of life (QoL) of patients with multiple myeloma on disease-modifying treatments is limited.

Aim: (1) Determine symptom prevalence in patients with multiple myeloma on disease-modifying treatment. Identify the range and nature of these symptoms within the dimensions of physical, psychological, social, and financial well-being.

Auditory symptoms as an unrecognized manifestation of opioid toxicity: two case reports.

Neuropsychiatric and gastrointestinal side effects of opioids are well documented, but self-reported hearing disturbance from opioids is often unrecognized. Two cases are presented illustrating a possible association between auditory symptoms and opioid toxicity. Possible mechanisms are discussed.

Information transfer to out-of-hours co-operatives: a survey of general practitioners' views in relation to palliative patients.

Background: In Ireland, weekend and night medical cover for community based patients is largely provided by general practice co-operatives. Doctors working in this service do not have direct access to patients' medical records which challenges continuity of care.

Objectives: This study investigates the opinion of general practitioners (GPs) on the potential value of a formalised method of information transfer regarding their palliative patients to out-of-hours GP co-operatives.

Interventional cardiovascular procedures among HIV-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy 1995-2000.

Objective: To calculate the rate of interventional cardiac procedures (ICP) among HIV-infected individuals ever treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to describe clinical and sociodemographic characteristics associated with ICP.

Methods: Since 1992, ART in British Columbia (BC) has been centrally distributed by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. The BC Cardiac Registry maintains information regarding all cardiac procedures performed in BC.

Co-morbidity data in outcomes research: are clinical data derived from administrative databases a reliable alternative to chart review?

Evaluation of co-morbidity data is essential in health outcomes research. Co-morbidity data derived from administrative databases has been criticized for lacking the accuracy required for clinical research. We compared co-morbidity data derived from a Canadian provincial hospitalization database with chart review in 817 adults treated with a percutaneous coronary intervention at a single tertiary care hospital between 1994 and 1995.

Molecular analysis of simple variant translocations in acute promyelocytic leukemia.

The primary cytogenetic abnormality in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL; FAB M3) is a reciprocal translocation, t(15;17)(q22;q12), which serves to fuse the PML gene on chromosome 15 to the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA) gene on chromosome 17. A PML-RARA fusion message transcribed from the der(15) is thought to mediate leukemogenesis. Two APL patients with simple variants of this translocation, t(3;15)(q21;q22) and t(X;15)(p11;q22), have previously been reported who lack cytogenetic involvement of chromosome 17, although their breakpoint positions on chromosome 15 still suggest the involvement of the PML gene.

Ordering of probes surrounding the Ewing's sarcoma breakpoint on chromosome 22 using fluorescent in situ hybridization to interphase nuclei.

Eight probes were localized by fluorescent in situ hybridization to the region surrounding the Ewing's sarcoma breakpoint on chromosome 22. Three of these were initially ordered by pair-wise hybridization to metaphase chromosomes with differential detection of the probes. These and the remaining probes were then ordered by hybridizing two or three probes simultaneously to interphase nuclei.

Diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma and peripheral neuroectodermal tumour based on the detection of t(11;22) using fluorescence in situ hybridisation.

Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) has been used increasingly for gene mapping and ordering probes on interphase and metaphase preparations. The association of consistent chromosomal aberrations with certain malignancies allows the possibility of using interphase cytogenetics as a diagnostic tool. In small round cell tumours of children accurate diagnosis may be difficult using existing methods.

A novel and rapid method for isolating sequences adjacent to rare cutting sites and their use in physical mapping.

We describe a simple PCR based technique which can be used to isolate sequences adjacent to rare cutter sites and can subsequently be employed for the construction of long range physical maps. The method involves the ligation of an adaptor to rare cutter sequences and its use as a target for forward priming in PCR. Primers to Alu repeat elements initiate synthesis of the reverse strand.

The 200/220 kDa antigen recognized by monoclonal antibody (MAb) UJ127.11 on neural tissues and tumors is the human L1 adhesion molecule.

MAb UJ127.11, raised against 16 week human fetal brain, recognizes an antigen present primarily on normal and tumor tissues derived from the neuroectoderm. The antigen has previously been identified as a 220/240 kDa cell surface glycoprotein as determined by immunoprecipitation studies.

Expression of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) isoforms in neuroblastoma.

A comparative study on the expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) in human neuroblastoma cell lines and tissues was undertaken. NCAMs are a family of closely related cell surface glycoproteins involved in cell-cell interactions. Using antibodies that recognise distinct epitopes on NCAM, their presence was shown in neuroblastoma, but these studies do not yield any information on the specific NCAM isoforms associated with the tumour.

Expression of the cluster 1 antigen (neural cell adhesion molecule) in neuroectodermal tumours.

In this study, we have investigated the expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) in the human brain, primary brain tumours and neuroblastoma. Adult brain was found to express discrete isoforms of 180, 170, 140 and 120 kDa, which on neuraminidase treatment resolved into bands of 180, 170, 140, 120 and 95 kDa. Primary brain tumours such as Schwannoma and medulloblastoma expressed embryonic NCAM characterised by a high level of glycosylation, whereas other tumours, e.